Do you strive to maintain a consistent, healthy weight? Or are you on a near-constant cycle of losing weight, only to gain it back, and then dieting to lose it again?

If you're a yo-yo dieter, you might want to pay particular attention to nutrition when you're pregnant. According to a study in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, yo-yo dieters tend to put on more weight during pregnancy.

Obviously, a trend is not a foregone conclusion. So, if you're expecting a little one and you've been a frequent dieter in the past -- don't worry. Just ask your OB/GYN for diet advice and consider consulting a nutritionist. For tips on a healthy pregnancy, check out AOL Health.

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It's hard to lose weight ... darn hard. Yet even though the results are so rewarding, people often slip back into their bad habits and put the weight back on.

The world's most famous yo-yo dieter, Queen Oprah, is dealing with that weight gain right now. I've been in her shoes -- not the shoes I'd like to be in, the designer shoes that likely cost more than my monthly mortgage payment -- but the ones where she's looking down at the scale, shaking her head in dismay. Oh yeah, I've been there.

But here's the thing: According to Bob Greene, Oprah's trainer, try, try again may be exactly what dieters need to lose weight. Just like smokers often have to try to quit several times before they succeed, researchers suggest that some people may need to take more than one stab at dieting before they lose the weight for good.

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With the current state of things, I'm guessing most of us are looking for ways to save a few dollars. Here's one way: Lose weight and keep it off. I'm serious. It was recently estimated that there's nearly four billion dollars worth of unused clothes hanging in our closets, and yo-yo dieting is to blame. Our habit of constantly losing and gaining weight means we have all sizes in our wardrobes, and we have a tendency to hang onto them for years, just in case we lose or gain a few (and we often do).

Here's the thing: Yo-yo dieting is bad for your health and your wallet. It's time you adopted healthy habits, and stick with them for the long run. If you need extra motivation, consider giving your fat clothes to charity -- if you don't have your trusty old buffet pants to fall back on, maybe, just maybe, you'll be motivated to stay in good enough shape to stick to the skinny jeans?

Here's another way of looking at it: If you can stick to your gun and take off those pounds in the next little while (Give America Takes It Off a try), think of all the 'thin' clothes in your closet you can wear again -- all without spending a dime on new outfits.

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Here at That's Fit, we're constantly telling you what we think about things, but sometimes it's nice to know what you think. So from time to time, we'll ask you a question. Don't be afraid to speak up -- we love feedback.

By far, the hottest news item this week is Oprah's revelation that her years of yo-yo dieting have lead her back up to the top of the string -- she now weighs about 200 pounds, has a BMI over 30 and is utterly ashamed of herself. It's nothing new for the queen of daytime -- she's been here before and has managed to shed the weight through healthy eating and exercise. But, after years of educating the masses about the pillars of healthy living, it seemed she had a handle on her weight. What do you think?

Yo-yo dieting -- losing weight only to quickly gain it back -- has been linked to many health problems, including high blood pressure. Average Joes and Janes aren't the only ones who fall into this dieting pitfall; Martha recently told us about some celebs who have famously yo-yo dieted.

Some experts dispute the claims that weight cycling can lead to cardiovascular and metabolic disorders. While losing excess weight and keeping it off is undeniably the best way to go, anyone who has pounds to lose shouldn't let the fear of yo-yo dieting keep them from trying to shed their excess pounds.

The key to keeping weight off is maintaining good habits -- exercise and healthful eating don't go away once you hit your goal weight. It's also a good idea to step on the scale from time to time to make sure you're sticking to your goal weight. Diet Blog has some more weight maintenance tips to share.

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You know that we love to gawk at fit celebs -- but we also love to gawk at the non-fit ones. You know, the ones who stumble from scary skinny to curvaceous and all the way back again. Our friends over at AOL Health recently compiled a list of celebs who are guilty of riding the yo-yo rollercoaster of weight loss. Here are some of the top offenders:

• Nicole Ritchie. In The Simple Life, she was sweet. Prior to daughter Harlow's birth, she was skeletal. Now she's somewhere in between -- let's hope she stays that way.
  
• Matthew Perry. Yes, it was all down to drugs, but that didn't stop Perry's alarming weight loss to raise a few eyebrows.
  
• Christian Bale. Already-slim Bale reportedly lost 63 pounds to play a heroin addict. Yikes - that cannot be healthy.
  
• Beyonce Knowles. The bootylicious star resorted to drastic measures -- the lemonade diet -- to slim down for a role.
  
  

Check out AOL Health for more scary slimdowns.

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I've often wondered how stars of cooking shows stay slim. Well, how many of them stay slim, anyway -- Emeril not included. Most don't exactly cook the most low-cal meals, and I can't imaging that, after doing all the cooking, they don't indulge. But, if I indulged in those dishes every day, well ... let's just say I probably wouldn't be too qualified to write for this site!

As the host for Top Chef, Padma Lakshmi does just what I think most of us would do -- she puts on a few pounds. "I shoot for six weeks and gain 10 to 15 pounds. I spend the next month trying to get my health back."

Lakshmi knows just what to do to make that happen -- she lifts weights, walks a steep incline, takes spin classes and boxes three times a week. Still, this yo-yo dieting can't be good for her health, and I can't imagine the cycle is all that great on her emotional state, either. Who wants to have to drop 10 pounds or more every two or three months?

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Losing weight, then gaining it back, losing it again, and gaining it back ... it's a vicious cycle that can really do a number on your body. Yo-yo dieting isn't good for your physical health -- or your emotional health. You can put a stop to the yo-yo madness once and for all. The key is understanding why it happens in the first place. Here are just a few of the ideas from AOL Body:

• You underestimate the power of sugar. High-sugar foods like refined carbs make your blood sugar spike and trigger a release of hormones that can make you feel more hungry and crave certain foods.
• You lie to yourself. You tell yourself that one indulgence won't hurt. And it won't! The problem starts when one indulgence turns into two, three, four, five, or more.
  
• You think in days. If you slip and allow yourself a treat or miss your exercise session you think "well, today's a bust ... I'll start again tomorrow." Don't let one slip mess up an entire day.

Be sure to check out the AOL Body slideshow to learn more about yo-yo dieting.

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Renee Zellweger is most recognizable for her roles in the smash hits Bridget Jones' Diary and its sequel, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason. But if given the chance, would she reprise the role for a third time to play the portly single girl in a third installment of the movie? The answer is a definite maybe.

Why just maybe? Zellweger is concerned about her yo-yoing weight, after she famously piled on pounds to play Bridget before. According to The Daily Mail, she says, "Can I just tell yu my body is whacked by the time we finish one of those. Did you see that movie about fast food, Supersize Me? "I had a panic attack with all the specialists talking about how bad this is for you, long term, putting on that much weight in short periods of time and they're all saying, 'You must stop this now or you're going to die'."

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One of the worst things for a dieter is having that wonderful moment of success at reaching a goal, only to have it immediately followed by the slow torture of watching the pounds slowly creep back on -- one by one, until all your hard work has disappeared.

Don't let it happen to you! Try these ideas, which include weighing in daily (I've heard arguments both ways on that), having a meal plan, and redefining what you define as "normal" (i.e. going off your diet).

A little bit of give and take on your way down to thinner-ness is normal (heck, we can't be perfect), but true yo-yo dieting is neither fun nor healthy, so fight the urge to give up when if it happens to you.

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In a new study published by the University of Kentucky in Lexington, men who "yo-yo diet," or have a pattern of losing weight and then gaining it back again, are at higher risk of developing gallstones. A gallstone is a solid mass of cholesterol, bile, and calcium salts that forms in the gallbladder. Apparently, it doesn't take much weight fluctuation -- as men who lost as little as 5 to 9 pounds (and then regained it) increased their risk for getting gallstones by 21 percent. And the risk increases as the weight fluctuation increases, with losses/gains upwards of 20 pounds causing a 76% increase in gallstone development. The number of "yo-yo's" a person experiences also increases the risk.

The exact reasons behind these results are not entirely clear, but obesity and the act of gaining weight both seem to create conditions favorable for gallstones.

I don't think anybody "yo yo's" on purpose, but if you need a little extra encouragement to keep the weight off then this could be it. Although only 20% of gallstones cause any noticeable problems, the pain is said to be excruciating when one of them gets caught in the duct leading from the gallbladder. I personally hope never to experience it!

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