Skip to main content
0
Blog

YO-YO DIETING AND ITS EFFECT ON ABDOMINAL FAT

By April 28, 2016December 2nd, 2023No Comments

Most people approaching a weight loss program fit the general description of a “yo-yo dieter.” They come off of their diets and return to them frequently, and will more often than not gain back any of the weight they initially lost at the start of their effort. The effort gets increasingly harder, in addition – each time they try to lose weight again, it takes more effort, and prolonged time to lose the same amount of weight as the last time.

Yo-yo dieting stores fat in the abdominal area. Abdominal fat seems to mimic the amount of fat you find around the heart. Therefore, an increase in the amount of abdominal fat coincides with an increase in the risk for coronary artery disease. Increases in abdominal fat also influence blood cholesterol increases, and thus raise the risk of artery disease, high blood pressure, and insulin resistance.

Why exactly do yo-yo dieters have more difficulty losing weight?

Yo-yo diets have been shown to trigger an increase in a specific enzyme, Lipoprotein lipase (LPL), which clears fat out of the blood stream. Fats removed from the blood by LPL are then delivered to the body’s fat cells. LPL seems to be particularly active in the abdominal area. The increase in LPL production that accompanies yo-yo diets thus influences the gain in abdominal fat over the course of such a diet. In addition, LPL levels are reluctant to drop back down once they’ve been aggravated. The individual will continue to exhibit a tendency to store fat in the abdomen, and will find future weight loss difficult.

LPL levels can be decreased, however, with regular exercise (defined as three 45-minute workouts over the course of a week). Exercise influences the increase of Hormone sensitive lipase (HSL), which functions to clear fat out of the fat cells and transport the fat to muscles for use as energy. It may take as long as six months of consistent exercise to remedy the exaggerated levels of LPL as results from a yo-yo diet. Yo-yo diets generally enforce severe calorie restriction, which forces the body to respond as if it were starving. It conserves energy by lowering the metabolic rate almost 20%. This facilitates weight gain from less food ingested. Most weight lost is a mix of protein (Amino acids) water, and some fat. However the regained weight is, for the most part all fat. This is where the term “skinny fat” comes from… yes on the scale you lose weight, but your body is softer than it was prior to the diet. Most dieters will plateau two or three weeks into their diet. The body has, by this point, readjusted its metabolism to need less food. A return to normal eating habits results in excess potential energy in the form of digested foodstuffs, and this surplus is stored as fat for future use. I recommend to stop this roller coaster ride, and get on the ‘fat loss, muscle building metabolic fixmyfitnessclub train! How? Well generally speaking a diet should be an eating pattern you can follow indefinitely. It addresses the underlying concerns of goal oriented people. A diet is an eating pattern that fits into your daily routine. A diet is like holding your breath…you can only do it so long. Need additional information please write … I will find the answer!

Dave Parise CPT FPTA MES #FitnessFixer #DaveParise