Escape the Yo-Yo Diet Trap: Define Your Own Nutritional Success

For years, the health and fitness industry has preached that the “calories in and calories out” model was the most effective weight loss recipe. Let’s not argue with the logic of this. If you spend more energy than what you take in, you sure will get into caloric deficit and your weight will drop.

I am a personal trainer with a long history of weight loss battles. I am a 43-year-old mom of a 10 year-old and a 1-year-old. I was at war with my body for almost 30 years.  Surprisingly enough, after having my second child, I was able to comfortably lose 50 pounds in 10 months, living a normal life, without spending 1/3 of my time at the gym, or counting calories.

My life, however, wasn’t always like this. That’s why I recognize your story, as you would recognize mine. If you struggle with your weight, remember all the diets you tried? They worked really well for a couple of weeks, right? Then there was a blur and the weight came back up. It didn’t make sense because you were following that diet so well, not cheating, exercising like it was your job! 

You thought that maybe you messed up on your portions, or that one day you missed your workout. Oh, yeah, there was also that ONE BITE of dessert, or ONE COOKIE you ate. You ran your will power to the ground, eating even less and exercising more. Fatigue started to set in, you were getting so hungry, and the night time cravings made you question if you should take a pregnancy test (even if you are a guy!).  You started to slowly give in, eat a bit more here and there, and decided you need to take a break. The story turned into a big blur, fast-forward and a few months later, suddenly you found yourself weighing more than when you started that amazing diet. 

Without rolling on science, here is a quick view of what happened.

When you drop your caloric intake, the body will respond and lose weight for a short time because it’s not used to that decreased intake.  Your metabolism, however, will adapt to that change and it slows down, since there is not as much fuel getting in.  It starts burning fewer calories at rest. 

The most common mistake we make with diets is to cut calories even more, and increase exercise. That actually makes things worse, to the point that your body will become even more resistant to burning fat.  You might notice fatigue or unpredictable energy swings, frequent hunger and food cravings. The “eat less and exercise more” approach disrupts the physiology of the many important hormones that control all that, including leptin, insulin, and thyroid.

To make matters worse, your will power, which is an exhaustible resource, is run down to the ground.

How do we fix that? Stop “dieting” and balance your hormones.  Here is one of the most valuable things I learned as a personal trainer, fat loss coach, and as somebody who battled weight gain for almost 30 years. Our food choices will affect our hormonal balance. If you pay attention to your nutrition, not just calories, you won’t feel hungry all the time, your energy level will be balanced, and your crazy cravings will be gone. 

At the same time, you should be matching your food intake to your exercise schedule. If you eat less, you exercise less, but if you eat more, you exercise more. There are different ways to use both strategies.  Each person will have a different response to food, so the quantities, and timing will vary from person to person. 

One of my clients, who has made a solid lifestyle change told me she couldn’t get over the fact that I never prescribed a menu, or told her a flat yes or no to any foods she asked about. Yet, she has achieved a point where she speaks with confidence that food no longer controls her life. Of course her clothes fitting much better counts as the icing on the cake. I helped her tweak the food choices, but she simply put on her detective hat and found what works for her. 

This is the part where you are either going to love me or hate me. The only way to make this work is to determine what works for you.

THE STRATEGY

 Of course I will not leave you hanging. To get started, you can make some small changes that will lead you to the right direction, again realizing that no one routine is right for everyone:

• Increase your protein intake

Protein can offset metabolic compensation when making dietary changes. It helps you maintain muscle.  But don’t overdo it – generally about 0.4 – 0.8 grams of protein per day per pound of your weight is sufficient (about 60 gm of protein for a 150 pound person).  Generally, most of us should aim for the lower end of this range.  Those with kidney issues should NOT go to the upper range.  

• Have protein as the base of every meal (even snacks). Protein also allows you to stay satiated longer, making you more comfortable between meals without struggle.  Think plain yogurt or apple and peanut butter.

• Drink lots of water. This helps you stay hydrated as well as control hunger and cravings. 

• Increase your fiber intake, eating lots and lots of vegetables: spinach, cauliflower, greens, tomatoes, kale, zucchini, carrots, green beans are some great ideas. Half of your plate should be filled with them.

• Self-regulate your starch intake based on how your body responds with hunger, energy and cravings. The most common starches are: potatoes, sweet potatoes, rice, quinoa, oats, beans. Start with ¼ or 1/6 of your plate.

• Move A LOT: that is completely different from exercising a lot. Moving a lot means taking the highest amount of steps you can per day. Take the stairs instead of the elevator, park your car at a farther spot, simply move around and avoid sitting as much as you can.

Changing your lifestyle to a fat loss friendly one can be a daunting concept. The information overload, and pressure to attain impressive goals make most people feel overwhelmed even before they start to make a change.  The battle of the titans between when, what and how much your should eat, macronutrients ratios, so many numbers that make you feel like you need a college degree to understand something that should be mostly intuitive, and anybody should be able to follow. 

Let’s get you started then. Start here and start now. Don’t wait for the perfect time to start based on your schedule, because life happens anytime, anywhere.