Weight gain after the New Year! How to avoid the yo-yo effect? Nutritionist Jian Yuhua: Balance negative energy to lose weight easily, beware of 4 landmines

According to traditional concepts, the Lunar New Year is always considered to end after the Lantern Festival. During this period, people indulge in eating, from New Year's Eve meals, holiday snacks, and Lantern Festival dumplings. As a result, they not only gain several kilograms after the New Year, but some people even go back for blood tests and the blood pressure soars. Nutritionist Jian Yuhua from the Cancer Care Foundation said that if you often encounter such situations and start to want to "pay off your debts", there are actually some techniques you can follow.

Why can’t we just leave our weight alone?

Most people think that weight is just a number and does not represent body fat or bone weight. This concept is indeed correct, and it needs to be further developed with machines like the inbody machine to analyze body composition. However, most people do not perform special muscle training like athletes and bodybuilders. Therefore, most of those who are considered obese or overweight based on their weight and height may have excessive body fat or visceral fat.

Nutritionist Jian Yuhua said that if you continue to allow your weight to soar, the risk of chronic diseases will increase greatly. According to the World Health Organization, "obesity is a chronic disease." Compared with people with a healthy weight, obese people have more than three times the risk of developing diabetes, metabolic syndrome and dyslipidemia; they also have twice the risk of developing hypertension, cardiovascular disease, knee arthritis and gout.

Does weight loss start with fasting?

Therefore, those who gain weight during the New Year holidays must start implementing a change plan. But if you think of using "fasting" or "low-calorie diet", it may lead to incorrect weight control.

The main reason is that strict dietary control will cause a vicious cycle of "yo-yo effect", resulting in high and low weight. Studies have found that if you gain or lose weight repeatedly, your fat tissue will become more enlarged, and it may even be more difficult to lose weight next time.

Yo-Yo Effect (Photo courtesy of nutritionist Jian Yuhua)

The "negative energy balance" method to prevent weight gain

It is particularly important to have a weight loss goal that is sustainable, well-founded and does not affect your health! According to the evidence-based guidelines for the prevention and treatment of obesity in adults, a "negative energy balance" approach can be used. The so-called negative energy balance means that consumption is greater than intake, and this gap can be corrected by increasing exercise or gradually reducing the calorie intake by 300 to 500 calories per day.

"Negative Energy Balance" diet to lose weight, beware of 4 major landmines

It is generally recommended to maintain a calorie deficit of 300 to 500 calories by staying away from high-calorie, high-fat, high-sugar, and highly processed foods. The rate of weight loss will also be within a reasonable range, with a weight loss of approximately 0.5 kg per week.

Stay away from landmines when eating out, here are some weight loss recipes for you. (Photo provided by nutritionist Jian Yuhua)

Avoid eating out, here are some weight loss recipes for you

Nutritionist Jian Yuhua said, don’t think that reducing 300 to 500 calories is difficult! The picture below is a suggested way of eating out. You can follow this conceptual template and apply it to every meal. Why not start giving it a try now?