The real challenge (and victory) in weight loss is keeping your waist thin after losing those extra pounds. Weight cycling, commonly known as the yo-yo diet, is a frequent problem for many people who lose substantial pounds. A study in the newspaper Obesity, which followed 14 competitors from The biggest loser for six years after the 2009 season, he found that 13 of the former contestants regained weight after the competition ended. And four contestants weighed more than when they entered the program. The researchers who conducted the study say that after someone loses weight, the body reacts with a potentially harmful combination: a stronger appetite and slower metabolism. So, how do you react?
Put these 10 simple strategies into practice to control hunger, speed up metabolism and prevent a gradual increase in calorie consumption. And while you’re at it, try these 15 underrated weight loss tips that really work.
If you’ve recently lost a ton of weight, you must absolutely celebrate your success – with a large glass of water! Just kidding. Go ahead and treat yourself. You deserve it. However, if your celebrations involve many consecutive happy hours or large portions of your favorite chocolate cakes, loaded with fat and sugar, chances are you’ll see the weight come back before you know it. Remember this worrying statistic before opening a wine bottle: alcohol can decrease your body’s fat burning capacity by up to 73%!
This is a smarter way to celebrate: reward yourself with something you can’t put in your mouth. Leah Kaufman, MS, RD, CDN, a registered nutritionist based in New York, suggests making a concerted effort not to use food as a reward. “I suggest using things like manicures and SoulCycle classes as a reward for all the hard work,” she says. When you eat junk food during times of emotional eating, “it will only lead to a yo-yo diet that is harmful to health.”
The most important concept to keep in mind after losing significant pounds is “metabolic adaptation”.
During weight loss, your body’s metabolism naturally slows down the burning of calories daily to maintain fat. In addition, your levels of leptin, the satiety hormone that warns your body when you are satiated, actually drop after weight loss, so you may feel hungry. The key to avoiding eating the same number of calories you ate before losing weight is to double your awareness of the calorie content and size of meals. Do this by keeping a food diary for at least a week after reaching your weight loss goal. Studies show that being more aware of what you eat (and how many calories they contain) will help you make healthier food choices and reduce snacks on high-calorie processed foods. This type of casual accounting will also indicate the amount (or little) of fiber you are eating in your diet. A diet rich in fiber, especially beans, legumes, fruits and vegetables is essential to maintain weight loss.
Most people who have reached their weight goal stop climbing the scale. This is a mistake. Although the number on the scale is not the only way to judge its continued success, research shows that those who avoid the ritual tend to weigh more than those who do not. Because? The scale keeps you attentive to your diet and quickly alerts you to regain weight. There is no need to be a slave to your scale; checking once a week should resolve. And here’s a tip: as the weight fluctuates naturally throughout the week, the researchers say that weighing on Wednesdays is the most accurate.
These attractive frozen options are marketed as nutritious and convenient, so we can’t say that we blame you for taking one off the shelf. But many of them are disguised enemies who eat healthily and drop the kilo. Just because they are advertised as portion-controlled and low calorie does not mean that you should stock up. Like most ultra-processed foods, many frozen entries from diet programs contain a surprising amount of health-damaging sugar – 7 grams or more, plus processed additives that cause inflammation. And whenever possible, make your meals at home from scratch. Doing so can help to ban these added sugars, as well as reduce calorie consumption by an average of 200 calories per day, according to Johns Hopkins researchers.
After reaching your weight goal, some regulated eating habits are bound to fall by the wayside. And, if eating adequate amounts of protein is one of them, it may be the reason why the weight is starting to come back. While getting enough of the nutrient can prevent your muscle from breaking down, not getting enough can lower your metabolic rate. Just maintaining muscle mass helps you burn calories faster, so your body will burn unwanted fat. Without muscles, you will be more susceptible to unwanted weight gain.
Protein intake differs from individual to individual. However, for many people, consuming 0.8 to a gram of protein per kilogram of body weight per day should be sufficient to help maintain weight loss. For a 54-kilogram person, that would be 46 to 58 grams of protein. Good sources of nutrients include low-fat dairy products, beans, grilled chicken, fish, lean cuts of beef, pork, grains or nuts and quinoa.
It may have worked to lower your water weight and melt your pounds at first, but cutting your carbohydrate intake completely will leave you with some not-so-pleasant side effects that can make it difficult to perform your daily routine. Your body will begin to show signs of exhaustion, irritability and lethargy – all emotions, which are also related to overeating.
“Carbohydrates are essential [in our daily lives] like our brain and [central nervous system] require them to function properly continuously, “says trainer and RD Tim McComsey. Restricting carbohydrates completely will cause any newly added fat-burning muscle mass to be metabolized to energy instead of carbohydrates. As long as you keep those carbohydrates at a reasonable percentage of your daily calories and choose the right ones, these starches don’t have to hit the curb.
While training is critical to maintaining your metabolism, if you haven’t changed your exercise routine recently, your body’s main calorie-burning mechanism may have stopped to burn slowly. Awaken your metabolic rate by shocking your muscles, suggests Sean M. Wells, personal trainer and author of Double-Crossed: a review of the most extreme exercise program.
“If you have been doing the same workout in the past few months, your body is no longer being challenged, which means it is not burning as many calories as it could,” he explains. If you often ride a bike for exercise, try running or playing tennis to give your metabolism a boost. Can’t stand leaving your exercise bike? Look for an intense spin class or challenge yourself by changing your typical route. Work on some steep and long hill climbs to increase endurance.
Antidepressants, birth control pills, beta-blockers, anticonvulsant and migraine medications, steroids and treatments for rheumatoid arthritis can affect appetite, metabolism and weight. Never stop taking a medication on your own. If you believe that a medication is causing your weight gain, tell your doctor; he or she can adjust the medication or suggest an alternative.
Inadequate sleep can slow metabolism and put on weight. In one study, researchers analyzed the sleep diaries of more than 500 participants on weekdays and found that losing just 30 minutes of sleep increased the risk of obesity by 17%! Even mild sleep deprivation causes ghrelin – the hormone that stimulates hunger – to accelerate and, at the same time, reduces leptin levels – the hormone that suppresses appetite. This in turn stimulates hunger even when you are full, which can lead to overeating and gaining weight.
The National Sleep Foundation suggests recording seven or eight hours of quality sleep every night. If you want to be slimmer again, try going to bed 15 minutes before normal. See how you feel in the morning. Keep adjusting your bedtime until you wake up without the help of an alarm clock and feel refreshed and well rested.
This is an easy way to combat the slowdown in metabolism that usually occurs after weight loss: Drink green tea, a natural rocket to boost metabolism. In one study, participants who added the daily habit of drinking 4 to 5 cups of green tea to their 25-minute exercise routine lost on average an extra pound and more belly fat than those who did not drink tea. How it works? The drink contains catechins, a type of antioxidant that triggers the release of fat from fat cells and helps to speed up the liver’s ability to convert fat into energy, which will help speed up metabolism. And if you’re looking for more, see how you can harness the power of tea to lose weight.