5 Pounds Up: Why This Isn’t a Setback (And How to Stop the Yo-Yo Cycle)

I stepped on the scales yesterday for the first time in about three weeks. Five pounds up. Eek.

Here’s what the old me would have done: panicked, told myself I was failing, either restricted hard to “fix it” or thought “sod it, Christmas is coming anyway, I’ll start fresh January 1st” and kept eating.

Both responses? They’re what kept me yo-yo dieting for years.

Here’s what I did instead: wrote down exactly where I’ve gone off track, acknowledged I’ve been feeling the “festive Kelly” energy (thinking I need to stuff my face to be jolly), noticed I’ve had some drinks (which I don’t normally do), and decided to knuckle down on whole foods until the Christmas run-up. Christmas Eve and Day? I’ll switch off and enjoy. Boxing Day? Back on track.

No drama. No “I’ve ruined everything.” No waiting for an arbitrary calendar date to give me permission to start again.

Because here’s what I learned the hard way: the weight gain isn’t the setback. Your response to it is.

Weight cycling (yo-yo dieting) is the repeated pattern of losing weight through restriction and then regaining it often with additional pounds. The psychological response to regain creates more harm than the weight fluctuation itself.

Why Do I Keep Yo-Yo Dieting? (The Mindset That Keeps You Stuck)

For years, I was trapped in this exhausting cycle:

Gain a few pounds → Tell myself I’ve failed → Either panic-restrict to “fix it fast” OR think “I’ve already ruined it, might as well keep going” → Gain more weight OR lose it only to regain it later → Repeat endlessly.

Sound familiar?

The problem wasn’t the weight fluctuation. Bodies fluctuate. Life happens. December happens.

The problem was treating every fluctuation like a moral failure that required either punishment (restriction) or rebellion (giving up). This is exactly why diets fail they’re built on all-or-nothing thinking rather than sustainable habits.

Restriction led to eventual binging. Giving up until New Year’s meant adding more pounds I’d have to lose later. Either way, I was trapped in a cycle that made weight management feel impossible.

Research on weight cycling shows that regaining weight after dieting leads people to feel shame and internalize stigma, leaving them feeling worse than before they started – exactly what I experienced for years. Studies found that with each cycle of weight loss and regain, participants engaged in increasingly extreme behaviors and disordered eating patterns.

What a Real Yo-Yo Dieting Setback Actually Looks Like

A real setback isn’t gaining 5 pounds over three weeks when you’ve been having drinks and thinking you need to overeat to be festive.

A real setback is:

• Telling yourself you’ve “ruined everything” and eating more because you’ve already “failed”
• Punishing yourself with extreme restriction that you can’t sustain
• Waiting until January 1st to course-correct because you need a “fresh start”
• Letting the scales dictate your worth and mood for the entire day
• Falling back into the all-or-nothing thinking that keeps you stuck

The weight gain is just data. Your response to that data determines whether you stay stuck or move forward.

“The weight gain isn’t the setback. Letting it trigger the old all-or-nothing cycle is the setback.”

How Do You Course-Correct Without Drama?

Here’s what actually works when the scales show a number you don’t love:

1. Observe without panic Look at the number. Acknowledge it. Don’t spiral into shame or catastrophizing. It’s information, not a character judgment.

2. Write down what actually happened Not vague “I’ve been bad” – specific facts. For me: more drinks than usual, “festive mindset” leading to overeating, less whole foods, life being lifey in December.

3. Adjust now, not January 1st You don’t need a Monday or a New Year to course-correct. You can start with your very next meal. More whole foods. Less mindless festive eating. Movement when it feels good – even if that’s just 10 minutes at home.

Pause and Reflect: What’s your usual response when the scales show a number you don’t like – panic and restrict, tell yourself you’ve failed, or wait for Monday to “start again”?

4. Plan your indulgences intentionally I’m not restricting through Christmas. I’m eating whole foods until Christmas, then enjoying Christmas Eve and Day fully, then getting back on track Boxing Day. Intentional enjoyment, not rebellious “screw it” eating.

5. Remember: this is maintenance, not perfection Maintaining a 4.5 stone weight loss means some weeks I’ll be up a few pounds. That’s normal. That’s life. As long as I respond calmly and course-correct without drama, the long-term trend stays stable.

Why Waiting for January Keeps You Stuck

Every time you tell yourself “I’ll start fresh Monday/New Year’s/next month,” you’re reinforcing the belief that you need a clean slate to make good choices but you don’t.

You can course correct right now, with your next meal, in the middle of December, on a random Wednesday, five minutes after eating something you wish you hadn’t.

The “fresh start” mentality is part of the all-or-nothing thinking that fuels yo-yo dieting. It keeps you in the cycle of perfection → failure → giving up → waiting for the next perfect moment.

Break the cycle by acting now. Not Monday. Not January. Now.

What’s the Difference Between Yo-Yo Dieting and Sustainable Change?

I’ve lost 4.5 stone and kept it off because I stopped treating every fluctuation like a crisis.

Some weeks I’m up. Some weeks I’m down. But I don’t panic and I don’t give up. I observe, adjust, and keep going.

That’s the difference between the yo-yo cycle and actual sustainable change. The yo-yo is dramatic – big restrictions, big binges, big weight swings, big emotions. Sustainable change is boring – small adjustments, calm responses, steady long-term progress.

This weight loss mindset shift from drama to data is what makes maintenance possible.

If you’re tired of yo-yo dieting, try boring. Try calm. Try “I’m up 5 pounds, here’s why, here’s what I’m adjusting, moving on.”

Journaling Prompts:

What whole foods did I genuinely enjoy this week?

How has my body felt when I’ve moved this week?

When did I practice self-compassion instead of self-criticism this week?

The scales are just information. Your response to that information is everything.

Im telling you all this but I havent put this into practice yet , so I will keep you updated ! Writing this post though has definately helped me see that this is the way and not old Kelly speaking so Im very confident I will be back on track in a few weeks.

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Kel

Kel is the writer behind Everyday Mastery, where she shares the real, messy, and meaningful process of building habits, resilience, and self-belief from the ground up. Her writing blends ancient philosophy with modern science, always focused on small, practical steps that lead to lasting