It can happen to the best of us: You decide you want to lose weight and you successfully drop some pounds. But you go back to your old eating habits or gorge on the foods that youve been craving for whatever reason, and suddenly the scales telling you youve gained everything back, maybe even more. Eventually, you start trying to lose the weight again
Yo-yo dieting is the everyday term for when people lose weight and gain it back, sometimes again and again over many years.
Its a very common pattern, said Christine Tenekjian, a registered dietitian at the Duke Diet and Fitness Center in Durham. Sometimes its just 20 pounds at a time and they might regain 25, but sometimes its 50 or 100 pounds, then regaining more than that.
Nationally, research has shown many people who lose weight manage to keep it off initially. But findings show that over several years, they often gain weight back.
Susan Pflug, 65, of Charlotte, has been trying to lose weight and then keep the pounds off for more than 20 years.
Part of it had to do with appearance, but mostly she wants to maintain her health. Around the time her father died, her outlook shifted. She says she became more aware of mortality and time passing.
Pflug, a retired librarian, has had no weight-related health issues so far, but she knows theres no guarantee her health will last forever.
She also wants to dance with her husband without her feet hurting, and to have more energy to keep up with her grandchildren.
I am absolutely worn out at the end of visits, she said, laughing. I would like that to change.
Over the years, Pflug has tried Weight Watchers, the Atkins Diet and giving up fat, among other things. She says some diets work well for losing weight, if you can stick to them.
