Diets full of fried foods, large proportions, salivating desserts, booze and soda will make you gain weight. When you consume more calories than you burn you will gain weight – that is just science. But gaining weight when you do exercise and when you do eat healthy? That is when you begin to lose it. More times than not there are other factors causing you to gain weight besides your eating habits.
In fact, there are five main reasons why you would gain weight even if you are eating healthy and exercising. They are as follows:
1. Lack of sleep. Your body is a machine. It only functions properly when correctly energized. Short night sleep, interrupted sleep and late nights partying can cause harm to your sleep patterns and you wind up storing more fat to compensate for the loss of energy. It also causes stress which you do not handle well when you are tired. If you are snacking late at night that will remain with you instead of being burned off. You may not know you are not sleeping well but there are some signs like fatigue, low energy, nodding off midday and being irritable. Eight hours of well-rested sleep is a good starting off point. Exercising can also help you sleep better.
2. Stress is the silent killer and can also be the cause of your weight gain. This society demands the very best of us and sometimes more than we can possibly give. This affects our mood, our emotions and our sleeping patterns. We comfort ourselves with food, drugs and alcohol. We wind up entering survival mode and begin storing all of these fats in our bodies. This will cause obesity. Food makes us feel good so we reach for it to get that sense of pleasure we are otherwise lacking and that is bad for us in the long run. We tend to reach for foods high in carbs because they trigger serotonin to be released which causes a lightened mood. Exercise and relaxation techniques like yoga can go a long way to allowing us feel better.
3. Certain medications help us gain weight. Chiefly drugs for depression, migraines, mood disorders, diabetes, blood pressure and seizures can all be a culprit. You gain a little weight or become obese. If you are on any medications that fall into this category (some steroids, oral contraceptives and even hormone replacement therapy can also be a cause) and you have gained five pounds or more without any change in your diet or exercise program then chances are your medications are to blame. Depression medications may not be a direct culprit, however. Feeling better mentally can trigger you to wanting to eat more. Some of these drugs can cause you to retain fluid as well but that is easily dealt with.
4. Keep in mind though that a few pounds of weight gain is not worth removing yourself from these medications. You would rather buy a size larger then feel miserable and depressed. It is your overall health that is most important. Regardless of the medications you are on you must still eat healthy and exercise. If you think your meds are to blame for your weight inflation then speak to your doctor. Never stop taking prescribed medication on your own.
5. This one is for the women only. If you are older – say mid 40’s – you may be gaining weight due to the “change of like” – menopause. You can reach this stage of life in your 40’s but it can also occur earlier or later. As you age your metabolism slows down. These changes in your hormones can make you feel hungry, depressed and give you poor rest.
As your body loses estrogen your body begins to change its shape. You tend to lose weight in the hip and thigh area but gain it around the middle. Estrogen likes the fat in the lower section of your body so when you lose the hormone the fat is more likely moved elsewhere. If you wish to avoid this new found belly fat then you have to keep up your lean body mass. This increases your metabolism. Weight lifting and strength training are very important in this process. Exercising will also offset any bone loss you may be suffering from due to ageing.
Just keep in mind that getting older is one thing none of us can avoid. It is all in how we deal with the ageing that affects us. We can either give up or continue on to make our lives the healthiest they can be.
