When setting goals for the year, “diet” is always included. However, strategies to lose weight too harshly don’t last long. You can consider a diet successful only when you maintain weight for more than six months after losing weight. It’s a waste if you lose weight diligently but then experience a yo-yo effect. So, what easy and sustainable diet methods can be incorporated into daily life?
What causes the yo-yo effect?
Extreme diet leads to a decrease in muscle mass, leading to a reduction in basal metabolic rate. At this point, the body accumulates fat to compensate for the lost muscle. As the body accumulates fat after a short-term diet, it leads to the yo-yo effect, where you gain more weight than before you started the diet.
Changing the way you cook
If there are high-calorie foods that you eat often, it helps to reduce the frequency or change the way you prepare them. For example, limit snacking to 2-3 times a week and reduce the intake of flour-based foods like ramen to once every 4-5 days. Also, try eating unseasoned meat instead of seasoned beef and use cooking methods that allow oil to drain well, like using an air fryer instead of a frying pan.
Change the order of eating
If you’ve been eating without giving it much thought, try eating vegetables and fruits first, which are rich in dietary fiber, followed by protein foods and then carbohydrates. Starting with dietary fiber, which takes longer to digest, allows proteins and carbohydrates to be absorbed slowly, preventing a significant increase in blood sugar. If there is too much sugar in the blood, not used blood sugar gets converted into fat, not energy.
Ensure protein intake, choose nuts for snacks
Protein provides longer-lasting satiety than carbohydrates and is an essential component of muscles, making it a necessary nutrient for weight loss or maintenance. A lack of adequate protein can ruin your diet even if you reduce your food intake to lose weight. Also, when you feel hungry before and after meals, opt for nuts like pistachios, walnuts, and fruits, and avoid dried fruits as they are high in sugar and provide high satiety.
Eat breakfast every day
Breakfast is the most crucial meal for maintaining a healthy weight and gaining energy. It is good to get into the habit of making and eating a filling breakfast rather than sticking to the bad habit of just drinking a cup of coffee or tea. If it’s too much hassle to prepare, you can consume unprocessed foods like eggs, fruits, and vegetables instead of processed foods.
Avoid late-night snacks and sweets
Eating food after dinner, especially within three hours of going to bed, is a no-no. Eating food after dinner can lead to significant weight gain because the insulin hormone, which breaks down sugar, is actively secreted in the morning but less so at night. Also, if you eat late-night snacks, insulin can’t break down glucose quickly, and the excess glucose accumulates as fat.
Avoid extreme diets
Avoid extreme dietary methods like the “one food diet” that only allows you to eat a certain food or not eat at all. It’s also not good to eat only chicken breast for every meal. These methods are hard to maintain in the long term and can also prevent the intake of nutrients necessary for the body. If you can’t eat the food you want, it can lead to stress and even weight gain. When you’re stressed, the cortisol hormone is secreted, hindering weight loss and eventually accumulating visceral fat.
Stick to the “basics” of diet
If you look at people who have successfully lost weight, you’ll find they’ve stuck to the basics. Even models who diet daily stick to the basics of “low carb, high fat,” replacing rice with brown rice, supplementing protein regularly, and drinking plenty of water. Restricting your diet can decrease your endurance and cause you to give up on your diet, so for sustainable dieting, it’s good to find alternative ingredients and create your recipes.
Don’t overdo exercise
Exercise becomes necessary 2-3 months after starting a diet when about 5% of body weight has been lost because this is when the weight plateau begins. You need to increase your activity level through exercise to burn off the excess calories. However, most people tend to increase their exercise when they start a diet drastically but neglect it when the period that needs exercise comes. If you don’t think you can exercise consistently, it might be an excellent strategy to lose weight by controlling your diet for the first 1-2 months of the diet and then start exercising in earnest when the plateau begins in the 3-4 month period.
Weigh yourself once a week
Even after the diet is over, monitoring and being aware of your weight frequently is important. It’s good to check it by looking at your reflection in the mirror, and it’s also beneficial to keep a scale close by and manage your weight. You don’t need to measure too often, but at least once a week, check your weight and see if your body and body fat are being maintained well.
By. Shin Young Jeon
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