For those of us born in the last millennium, YOLO stands for “You Only Live Once”. Think “Carpe Diem”, but you know… for the new generation. Now YOLO takes on a slightly different definition in the fitness world: it stands for “You are Only Lean Once”, also known as the crash dieter. Why?
Anyone who decides to go on the “INSERT HERE (Cabbage soup, grapefruit, HCG or juice cleanse) DIET” may see some results, but will inevitably gain the weight back (and then some). Not only that, they will also have a very hard time reaching that level of leanness again.
The logic behind this is simple. When one goes on a crash diet, a great amount of muscle mass is destroyed, which in turn sets the BMR (Basic Metabolic Rate) very low. In addition to the low BMR, your hormones also take a serious hit: Insulin efficiency decreases and cortisol level increases from all of the stress your body just went through and in turn, your testosterone/estrogen levels become VERY low.
It takes a lot of patience and time to overcome these damages done to your body. Of course if it were up to me, I would suggest that you plan your diet correctly from the start: get help setting it up the proper way so that you can stay on the diet for a long period of time without becoming a public menace. You have to look at it as a lifestyle choice, and not a diet. Diets are time restricted, depriving, and outright horrible.
A proper meal plan is something that you can do for the rest of your life. It allows you to be social while looking great!
Until next time,
Maik Wiedenbach