Q. I keep experiencing the yo-yo effect every time I succeed in dieting. How can I prevent it this time?
Instead of simply eating less, you must restore your metabolic capacity. It is essential to improve your body's energy efficiency to lower your baseline set-point weight.
📝 Detailed Answer
Maintaining weight loss is often more challenging than the initial success. When you starve yourself, your body perceives it as an 'emergency state,' which actually causes it to cling to fat more aggressively.
In Traditional Korean Medicine (TKM), this condition is often viewed as Spleen Deficiency (脾虛). When the function of the Spleen is weakened, energy metabolism becomes inefficient, creating a constitution that gains weight easily even with small amounts of food. When this is combined with Phlegm Accumulation (痰積)—the buildup of metabolic waste that blocks the pathways of circulation—the yo-yo effect occurs more readily.
💡 Treatment Goals
The goal is not to force starvation, but to restore the collapsed metabolic balance and create a body state that is less prone to gaining weight.
- Restoring Basal Metabolic Rate: Improving the state of Spleen Deficiency to increase energy expenditure efficiency.
- Removing Metabolic Waste: Resolving Blood Stasis (瘀血) and Phlegm Accumulation to promote blood and lymph circulation.
- Appetite Regulation: Correcting hormonal imbalances to eliminate 'false hunger' and satisfy psychological cravings.
Ultimately, the key is to lower your body's 'set-point'—the baseline weight your body strives to maintain. This allows for long-term maintenance without the need for extreme caloric restriction.
Expert Verified
Dr. Yeonseung Choe
Chief Director