Say your starting weight prior to commencing the diet was around 170 pounds. Soon after starting your diet you lose 5 pounds. Then you lose another 3 pounds. Suddenly your weight loss stops.. The course of action that seems reasonable to you is to again reduce your calories hoping that all the weight will stay off. Now since you have restricted your calories your body goes into its defensive mode. This is where evolution at its finest kicks in. Your body, because it is not receiving the nutrition it needs, begins slowing everything down and you feel tired and listless. You have the metabolism of a snail. You barely have enough energy to do simple chores so there isn't any way you will eb able to exercise.
Your body has taken over and is resisting your attempts to lose weight. You can’t work out to lose the pounds because you simply don’t have the energy and to make the situation worse you have an increased appetite.
Why is your body responding in this manner? Your body is stimulating your appetite so that you gain back all of the weight you have spent so much time and effort losing. So not only do you eat, but you eat lots. Your body’s thermostat, set point, makes sure that your weight goes back to your original 170 pounds. In fact it doesn’t just stop there. Your body, to protect itself, makes you add a few extra pounds on top of the 170 pounds to store away in case of an emergency.
So there you have it, you just hurt your chances of losing weight by provoking your body into a defensive mode which made your body require you to gain extra weight.
It’s well documented that this happens and this is how the phrase got to be coined as “Yo-Yo” dieting. Your weight goes down then it comes back up again and then some over and over and over again.
There is a way around this rollercoaster dieting and the key is to not push your body into its 'defensive mode' but rather working with your body in order to lose the weight and make sure the weight stays off.
Fad Diets
If any of the diets you have ever tried in the past fell into any of the categories listed below, there’s a good chance it was a fad diet.
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