Are you a Yo-Yo?

Are you great at losing weight but really lousy at keeping it off?  Do you have two sets of clothing; the “skinny” clothes and the “fat” clothes?  Do you find it easy to eat well for a short period of time, but find it difficult to get back on the diet as soon as you have a bad day?  Then you are a yo-yo (dieter that is), and it is time to understand the full story about weight loss.

Many conventional diets simply starve your fat cells.  You eat less and your fat cells shrink.  But nobody can starve themselves forever.  Once you start eating again, your fat cells rebound into their normal hearty selves.  Good for your fat cells.  Not so good for you.  Exercise helps change the balance in your body by creating muscle that burns fat.  Yet, there are other factors of weight loss which are rarely talked about.

The digestive system is considered the center of immunity.  Unhappy digestive system- unhappy body.  The inflammation and imbalance that digestive problems create wreak havoc with long term weight loss plans.Your digestive system is like a string of Christmas lights.  Only one missing bulb can cause the whole thing to work incorrectly and shut down.

Think you don’t have digestive problems just because you don’t have indigestion?  Do you suffer from allergies, skin problems (acne, eczema, rashes etc), depression, fatigue or insomnia?  There is a chance that the root of the problem lies in digestion.  If you try and lose weight without addressing the imbalance, you will likely come up short.

Then there is sleep deprivation.  Staying up all night for a Harry Potter marathon might seem fun, but a lack of zzzs leaves you more than feeling groggy in the morning.  Sleep deprivation is associated with higher cortisol levels which contribute to weight gain.  Exhaustion also makes us crave sugary and starchy foods which will sabotage a diet faster than you can say insomnia.

The list of diet saboteurs goes on.  Perhaps you need some extra work with detoxification.  Perhaps your hormones need a little help.  Many factors work together to make your body the wonderful machine that it is and they all play a part in maintaining a healthy weight.

So stop blaming your lack of will power!  Losing weight is a complex process.  By understanding all the details, you empower yourself.  Talking to a weight loss coach, a holistic specialist or someone else knowledgeable about this process will make you that much stronger.

The yo-yo doesn’t define you.  Now that you know the full story, you can spin yourself a new story.