JoJo Effect – The 4 most common traps when losing weight (and how you avoid them)
How can you avoid the JoJo effect?
Losing weight is simple. At least relatively speaking.
If you exercise hungry and fall over, you will also break down fat. Clear.
Sustainable is something else.
How do you want to keep the weight? Without hating your life? Without risking your health?
The combo “Hunger plus brutal training workload” is pretty much as pleasant as it sounds.
It is not surprising that 7 of 10 people who have successfully dieted to finish, the kilos on their hips again a year later often have even more –
moin moin, Jojo effect.
What is the JoJo effect?
Wikipedia provides the following definition:
“The JoJo – the effect is an undesirable and rapid weight gain after a reduction diet. With repeated diets, body weight can move up and down like a JoJo, with the new final weight often higher than the initial weight.”
The causes are varied.
If you choose the wrong way on diet, you not only lose body fat but mainly also precious muscles.
If the energy deficit is too high, switch your body to an ancient emergency program: the hormonal situation of your body changes radically:
- Body temperature and Drive pleasure sink,
- You consume less energy (this also reduces your calorie requirement).
- The mood goes to the basement – to depression.
- Certain Metabolism processes are exposed, e.g., women and men can become sterile.
- Etc.
The 30% who successfully change their diet stay tuned for a lifetime and can look good naked for a lifetime.
You have learned to bypass the four most common decreases.
Most people are approaching losing on the wrong side.
There is one healthy and one unhealthy way to break down fat.
Even experts who should know better often set the wrong focus.
Let’s take that Body Mass Index (BMI). The BMI is one of the most common key figures for being overweight, not only in practice but also in research.
But the thing has a serious catch because the value ONLY takes into account body weight and size:
If you maintain an active lifestyle, you quickly fly out of the curve with your BMI.
A DEXA – scan is the most accurate way, to measure your body fat percentage.
You get a fairly detailed evaluation of your physique, and the body fat percentage BMI calculated will.
The BMI is not just mischief in my case. The same also applies to body weight as the sole measure.
So you can avoid a lot of unnecessary frustration if you adopt the following way of thinking:
You can safely forget BMI and weight. Instead, I miss your physique!
What is the difference between body weight and body structure?
How to benefit from measuring your body size, you can read here.
It’s not just the metric it suffers from. If you go to the glue of marketing promises á la” record time for the beach figure, you hide the truth.
A truth that many do not want to accept and that is, therefore, less difficult to market:
Radical fat loss – Measures rarely lead to long-term success.
Most diets have a start – and an end date. They are doomed to fail. Most diet concepts leave you alone with the question of how to proceed afterward.
Many are aware of this, but they are suppressing the problem: “I’ll worry about that when the time comes!”
Having no plan is like turning the nail into the coffin of your dream body yourself.
So let’s face reality. Now.
4 frequent weight-loss – traps and how you can avoid the Jojo effect
If you know the following four psychological decreases – traps and know how to avoid them- you dramatically increase your chances of success.
JoJo effect psychological trap # 1: The harder it feels, the more effective
You wake up one day and decide: “Now that’s enough! The vampire is coming away.”
What would you do?
Some ban everything they like to eat from the kitchen — turkey breast instead of pizza, eggs instead of ice cream, asparagus instead of sweets. Oh, you hate asparagus?
No matter. If so, because – right?
You are highly motivated for the first few days. You feel strong. You feel invincible.
At some point, hunger comes. Then the cravings. And then the feeling of getting under the wheels of a 16 – toner.
Some would then sit there and smile inside because they thought they knew that this feeling could only mean one thing: it is the fat that melts.
If you want to be slim, you have to suffer, right?
No.
Solution # 1: The more relaxed the success!
Many believe that fat loss is a stressful must. If it felt good, it would sign that something was not working. It is a treacherous invisible script: If you want to be slim, you must suffer.
The opposite is the case.
The idea is that you break fat in a way that suits easy falls. That means:
- Eat as much as possible without the fat loss stopping.
- Training: You train as little as necessary to support fat loss.
- 90/10 approach: You don’t see any prohibitions. If you eat properly 90% of the time, you can leave five in 10% of the cases.
- No FDH: You resist the “tear half “- attempt because you know that at some point, you will inevitably reach a plateau (and then have no scope for further adjustments).
I know that may not sound convincing. Maybe it contradicts everything you have believed so far.
We are focused on seeing the world in black and white. Either rock-hard training or not at all. Either the perfect diet or “sh** on it.”
With this view, we simplify thinking. Tempting, I know. But it is also the safe way to the self-made hamster wheel.
We fully step through the accelerator pedal and, simultaneously, forget to release the handbrake.
I like the thought that you think in shades of gray. The 90/10 – approach is a good idea.
JoJo effect psychological trap # 2: The faster the weight drops, the better
This point hits the same notch. We want results right away.
And we live in a world that can even serve this need in many cases:
- If we are looking for information, the solution is often just a fingertip away (Ahoy, Google!).
- If we want things, we order them online. Deliveries will be made tomorrow (Ahoy, Amazon Prime!)
We are used to our needs quickly being satisfied. We also expect lightning-like progress when we lose weight:
“What, just a kilo less in a week? Something doesn’t seem to work!”
Two kilos? Better, but it should be a little faster. Four? Not bad, but why not equal to five?
Solution # 2: If you are in a hurry, go slowly!
Most people start the race – fueled by media formats such as “The Biggest Loser” or brazen advertising – with excessive expectations.
If you are healthy, you can use this rule of thumb to orient yourself:
With a good nutritional program (that you also implement), you can change your body fat percentage per week by about half a percent lower.
If it works perfectly, maybe even 0.75 percent.
This is ideally between 250 and 750 grams per week for most people.
A little more with a very high proportion of body fat, a little less with a very low proportion of body fat.
If the pointer on the scale should now move faster, you will probably lose not only fat but also precious muscle mass.
Then at the latest, you should measure body fat percentage and make sure that you don’t break down muscles.
JoJo effect psychological trap # 3: You believe in miracle cures
Did you also hear about this brand-new “Superfood? People buy it like stupid, and it seems to work miracles. Everyone is talking about it.
No matter how you eat, you break down fat. You just have to buy it, and if you wake up soon, you will have your dream body.
Incredibly, you don’t need to change your lifestyle. All you have to do is stir in your coffee in the morning – that’s it! It’s super simple.
The truth is.
Solution # 3: It. There. No. Wonder medication.
Again: it. There. No. Wonder medication.
If it were, we would all have to walk around “ripped “like the next Men’s Health Six-pack model (or. Women’s Health, the women), right?
Also, at the risk that I will make myself unpopular, there is only one way that works: new WELLNESS.
You can replace old, counterproductive habits with new, helpful habits.
This includes:
- A lot of protein. I recommend optimal fat loss of at least 2.5 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight.
- Unprocessed food. Simple test: does it have an ingredient – label?
- Food with one high nutrient – and a low energy density. A lot of Vegetables, fruit, lean meat, fish, eggs, Dairy products, etc. are good examples.
- No liquid calories. Water is real slender.
- Wear your diet. A Nutrition diary is one of the simplest ways to discover the foods you love, which helps you.
- Dietary supplements like protein powder or micronutrients can make things easier, but real foods should always be the foundation.
Do you have to change everything at once now?
Absolutely not!
The easiest way is if you choose the many options deep hanging fruits identified and then harvest one after the other.
Successful trainers are currently changing a habit.
Fat loss is really simple once you get the hang of it if you are willing to leave old habits and thought patterns behind and instead test new behaviors.
You do not need fat burners and other “miracle cures.”
JoJo effect psychological trap # 4: Everything you do is only temporary
Okay, maybe you’ve been going through this new diet for almost three months and have visibly decreased.
Perhaps you have wholly re-equipped your wardrobe with clothes for your new, slimmer “I” and feel like the world is at your feet.
You changed quite a bit in your life in record time. Maybe you cook yourself and don’t eat out as before.
Eat twice as much protein as before and do not use sugar. You have found the perfect gym and are a regular guest there.
Two whole bodies – workouts per week have become a 6 – Days – Split program – next to 6 cardio – units per week.
Frappuccino? No thanks. Instead, you have your protein shake at the start.
What you see in the mirror exceeds your ideas. You don’t remember having so little body fat and being so fit.
Finally, the time has come to tackle the matter more loosely.
You put your feet up, kick the protein powder in the bin, cancel membership in the gym and book a vacation trip on Aida – because you do it earned have.
Now that you look good naked, you can FINALLY live as before?
Stop.
Solution # 4: You know that looking good is a lifestyle
If you want to keep your dream body, you can say goodbye to your old lifestyle.
If you fall back on old habits that prevented you from looking good on your naked at the time, it means: “Back on the go! “
The reality you can accept is as follows:
Whatever you change about your lifestyle, you may be ready to do it forever.
This does not mean that these new habits must be brutal, hard, or unbearable.
That would not be the right way.
The right way consists of steps you can walk as long as you want to get your dream body and keep it.
That is why it is so critical that you are currently changing only one small thing.
Finally, you want to develop a new habit that you can stay tuned to as long as you want. Therefore, she can feel good.
Three hours of sport a day is illusory and a great way to burn out internally.
Banning your favorite – food forever is not a good idea either.
With every step you take, you can ask yourself:
Can you imagine doing the same thing in a year today? If the answer is “yes, “you are on the right track.
If the answer is “no, “everything is fine. This means that you can find an alternative.
Those who have lost fat for longer and lived in a calorie deficit often feel helpless and burned out at one point.
One reason is that the metabolism at this point runs on the back burner in many people.
“What is the best way to continue now?”
You may be wondering when you have reached the desired body fat percentage.
Maybe you want to build muscles or just keep your shape.
If you now go too drastically or even fall back into old nutritional patterns, you will overtake your metabolism on the right track.
That would be a suitable way to put fat in record time – like Joschka Fischer and Oprah Winfrey.
Or some candidates from “The Biggest Loser” after leaving the stage.
Similar to fat loss is one good strategic idea when increasing the energy supply.
If the adjustments are careful, you give your metabolism enough time to adjust, feel better and avoid unnecessary fat.
JoJo effect – Conclusion
There are healthy and unhealthy ways to break down fat.
You now know four unhealthy paths, all of which lead to the cul-de-sac.
The healthy path is based on:
- the correct metric: You can save yourself a lot of frustration if you leave key figures such as the BMI on the left and instead measure the physique.
- careful, gradual adjustments instead of radical measures.
- knowing that losing weight does not have to be “hard” but rather feel good.
(Solution # 1: The harder, the better. The more relaxed the success!)
- realistic ideas instead of excessive expectations.
(Solution # 2: The faster, the better. If you’re in a hurry, go slowly.)
- natural foods and new habits instead of fat burners and other “miracle drugs.”
(Solution # 3: You believe in miracle cures. It. There. No. Wonder medication.)
- one lifestyle that you tailor to your living conditions. So that you can stay tuned as long as you want
(Solution # 4: What you do is only temporary. To look good is a lifestyle.)
- one strategic plan, which not only goes to the six-pack but also beyond.
If you have the twist out for you, losing weight will not only be simple, but it can also feel easy.
Because you can experience that, the process feels good and can be fun.