Are you suffering from Yo-Yo dieting? Does it feel like a never-ending journey?

When it comes to predictors of weight gain, genetics and the environment are the ‘big two’ obesogenic factors. Other non-traditional non-caloric contributors include short-term sleep, low dietary intake of calcium, the composition of our gut microbiota, epigenetics (how our behaviour and environment affect the way our body reads the DNA sequence to help us adapt to the surrounding environment), and endocrine disruptors and pollutants found in food additives, pesticides, plastic bottles, detergents, cosmetics, etc Recent research shows an effect relationship between dieting and future weight gain in healthy people within the normal range of body weight more so than within overweight or obese individuals. This is mainly due to an autoregulatory system within our bodies that is affected by baseline body composition. In other words, the percentage of fat mass relative to that of fat free mass, included in bones, cells, muscles, and water content in our bodies is what influences our appetite / hunger levels, and metabolic efficiency in post dieting periods thereby affecting the level of weight regain Some of us are more prone to weight gain due to genetics and environmental influences and unfortunately are also more likely to regain the weight lost on a diet. The association of frequent dieting with increased BMI, dieting behaviour and episodes of weight cycling explains why for some it just feels like we’re always on a diet… So how does that autoregulatory mechanism work? Simply put, our bodies maintain what is referred to as the ‘fat-stores memory’. When we diet, and depending on the degree of depletion of the body’s fat mass relative to that of fat free mass, the body goes into a state of enhanced metabolic efficiency whereby it becomes more efficient at using the available energy from food to maintain basic bodily functions. This initiates a state of hyperphagia or a continuous hunger-appetite drive which translates into an unsatisfied drive to eat! To add to the lot, the minute we stop that restrictive eating or dieting per se, that autoregulatory mechanism favours the recovery of the lost fat mass to baseline levels but then that state of hyperphagia persists until full recovery of the baseline fat free mass as well, which is unfortunately accompanied by further increases in the body’s fat mass. This basically explains why frequent dieting leads to weight regain plus additional few kilograms here and there, so not just back to square one but rather back to square minus one, accompanied by a very daunting and disappointing feeling of despair If this post resonates with you and you’d like to find a way out of this vicious dieting and weight cycling, feel free to book a nutrition consultation and let’s work together through a personalised plan to support a healthy and stable body composition