Q. Why is it after I have done well with my diet and I fall off the wagon it is so hard to get back to a healthy diet?

A. Welcome to the world of the "yo-yo" diet. I am not a licensed nutritionist or dietitian but I can give you some common-sense answers about this subject.

"Yo-yo" diet does not always have to refer to your weight. "Yo-yo" weight would be losing weight and gaining it back. Losing it again and gaining it back again. With a yo-yo diet, you'll often well-balanced eating habit, followed by an unhealthy eating habit.

You don't have to be a nutritionist to know that if you had a sausage, egg and cheese biscuit for breakfast, a cheeseburger and fries for lunch, and a pizza for dinner ... your day was not so healthy!

Robin Fisher and Liz Friedrich who are both licensed dietitians and nutritionists, have given their time to help our members with programs like 10 Weeks of Fitness (which is coming to an end), and I loved one of their statements:

There are so many diets out there because they don't work!

Both of them refer to the food pyramid as a solid form of nutritional information. As I have mentioned before, mypyramid.gov is an excellent site to get all the sound information you need to have a well balanced food plan.

When you get to the site and click on "my plan," it gives you exactly how many servings of each food group you need to have for your age, your weight and your activity level.

The key is to change your lifestyle from an unhealthy (yo-yo) one to a healthier one.

You can't do it in one day, one week, one month. It's gradual. Remember how long it took you, or how long you were on an unhealthy plan.

You said that you do well and fall off the wagon — well, climb back on! Don't let yourself get so down and continue to beat yourself up for falling off.

Hold yourself accountable by writing down what you eat. By weighing yourself once a week, by starting/re-starting/continuing a workout plan.

Don't mope around feeling sorry for yourself because you fell off, again. Climb back on! Fall off — get back on!

Eventually, the time you are "on the wagon" is going to be longer than the time you are off.

Eventually, your brain becomes a master in portion control, willingness to exercise, and just plain feeling good.

Just don't give up.

I hope you had a great Easter weekend. Besides having to work off the extra chocolate eggs we overindulged ourselves in , get back on the wagon!

The Y is open! See you there!

nnn

Ester Hoeben is associate executive director of the J.F. Hurley Family YMCA. Contact her with health and fitness questions at 704-636-0111 or ehoeben@rowan ymca.com.

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