5 Ways to Stop the Yo-Yo Effect

But this is the year things will be different. After all, there's no better time to decide to lose weight for keeps than at the beginning of a bright new year.

The Truth About Yo-Yoing
Weight Watchers chief scientist Karen Miller-Kovach defines this yo-yo effect (also known as weight cycling) as "the repeated loss and regain of weight." But she adds this good news: "While much has been made of ill health effects of the phenomena, there is little science to back it up."

Indeed, the National Task Force on the Prevention and Treatment of Obesity from the National Institutes of Health convened an expert panel on the topic—and concluded that there is no convincing evidence that weight cycling in humans has adverse effects on body composition, energy expenditure, risk factors for cardiovascular disease or the effectiveness of future efforts at weight loss.

Yo-Yo No More
The question is: How do you get a net weight loss? Check out these five great keys for making your dieting success stay:

Don't let the risk of weight cycling stop you from attempting to lose weight if you need to.


Plot progress charts and learn from your own feedback. See if you can see what you were doing differently in the weeks when you started adding pounds back on.


Make your timeline. Write down from memory what your weight was each year for the past 10 or more. Try to see why it varied. Was it stress, a new job, a new baby? Or did you work out more (or less)?


Get in fast with a solution. Weigh yourself regularly and take immediate action if and when the scale is five pounds above your weight goal.


Don't think "diet" — think "sensible eating plan." Make it a way of life, rather than stopping and starting (or changing) your way of eating every couple of weeks or months.