Have you been slacking off your nutrition and exercise plans and fearing to step on the scales? Or perhaps you’ve been following a regular diet and training plan to lose weight fast but still, wonder why you’re gaining a few pounds? When it comes to managing your weight, there are just too many factors to think about so that you can achieve your ideal body. Your frustration may be running high, but we’ve got the top 6 causes for weight gain and how you can better manage it!
In a Nutshell:
- Stress can contribute to weight gain by increasing the hormone responsible for making you crave for fatty and sugary food.
- Lack of sleep disrupts your hormone levels and metabolism.
- Taking in too many calories by eating “poorly”.
- For people taking medications, weight gain can be a side effect.
- Other underlying health conditions.
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Obesity and The Factors of Weight Gain
Weight gain results from the imbalance of energy in your body. That means taking in too many calories and only expending so few. This can be influenced by a myriad of factors including your diet, physical activity, genes, and age. In addition, your environment and lifestyle also play an important influence on how much you weigh. When you allow yourself to pack on the pounds, this can result in being overweight and obese.
Obesity is a complicated disorder involving excessive amounts of fat in the body. Being fat isn’t just an issue with your physical appearance. You may put yourself at greater risk to several chronic illnesses, which includes:
- High blood pressure
- Heart attack and stroke
- Type II diabetes
- Cancer
- Liver disease
What Causes Weight Gain
1. Stress
Struggling with so much work and responsibilities? Being stressed manifests in your body greatly through your weight. This happens because your body activates the “fight-or-flight” response whenever you are stressed. In this survival mode, you try to cope up by demanding more energy and nutrients to be taken in. That’s why you’re most likely to overeat.
The levels of cortisol, also known as the stress hormone, increases around this time as well. A high amount of cortisol in the body may result in increased insulin levels and a drop in blood glucose. This makes you crave for fatty and sugary foods!
Here’s A Tip:
Stress is hard to avoid at times, but with the right time and stress management, you can improve your weight as well. Make sure you are eating a well-balanced diet full of fiber-rich carbohydrates, lean meats, and lots of vegetables and fruits. This will help you sustain your energy levels throughout the day. Moringa Oleifera, a popular herbal supplement, is also known to help improve metabolism, mood, and energy levels. Together with a good diet, this may help in relieving and managing your daily stresses better.
2. Not Getting Enough Sleep
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over one-third of Americans don’t get the right amount of sleep in a night. Sleep deprivation is also linked to a variety of health problems including obesity.
There are many factors as to why being a night owl and lacking sleep can be the culprit to your weight gain. Firstly, many late night sleepers tend to skip meals and do midnight snacking. It might be unnoticeable and you might think you’re saving yourself from the calories by not having breakfast or lunch. Think again, snacking late at night results to higher calorie intake, and thus weight gain!
Moreover, studies have shown that being sleep deprived actually changes your metabolic functions in the body. This includes altering your hormones levels and heightening your hunger and appetite. So naturally, people who lack sleep feel hungrier and favor gaining weight more.
Here’s A Tip:
It’s still recommended that you get around 8 hours of sleep every night. Although, if at times you need to pull that all-nighter, you should be mindful of what you are eating. Snacking is fine as long as you’re eating healthier alternatives. Switch your potato chips with baked sweet potatoes or chocolates with fresh fruits. If you need the extra boost in energy while minimizing your cravings, you might want to try pure green coffee bean extract as a supplement. It helps as an appetite suppressant so you’re able to stop overeating and reduce the amount of food you eat, especially late at night!
3. Having Poor Eating Habits
Each one of us differs in preference and habits when it comes to eating. However, with the busy and fast-paced lifestyle nowadays, many of our eating practices can easily be overlooked. Ignoring these unhealthy eating habits may eventually lead to your weight gain. Are you guilty of any of these poor eating habits?
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Using large bowls and plates
Did you know that the size of plates and bowls you eat from can have a serious impact on your waistline? A study analysis was done on the effect of plate sizes in relation to weight. It was concluded that people have higher caloric intakes when eating from larger plates and bowls.
This happens because your brain is tricked into thinking that you are eating smaller portions when using a larger plate. In reality, however, you may be eating more than the recommended serving size. More calories will then lead to a bump in your waistline.
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Netflix and Binge
The usual activity coupled with watching your favorite TV show is snacking. Many of us even have the TV right in the dining area so we can just easily turn on some Netflix and eat at the same time. However, this practice of distracted eating has been found to increase your caloric consumption.
Distracted eating can lower your awareness of satiety. This means you’re not paying as much attention to how full you really are. Before you know it, you’re grabbing a second portion and already eating much more than you really should.
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Sipping on the Calories
Are you aware of how much sugar and calories there are on your favorite juice, energy drink, or beer? Usually, sugar-sweetened and alcoholic beverages can range from 200 to 300 calories per serving!
Interestingly, caloric beverages metabolize differently than regular foods. This is why you never really feel any fullness from drinking in the calories. If you’re not paying much attention to how much you are drinking, gaining weight will be inevitable.
Here Are Some Tips:
- Switch up your plate sizes for smaller ones! You will automatically see a difference in how much you eat. This practice helps in improving your mindful eating habits and increase your appetite awareness.
- Avoid snacking while watching TV! Dine in a good environment where you are able to concentrate on your eating. If you really can’t help it, opt for healthier options like veggie sticks, dried fruit pieces, or maybe some yogurt!
- Hydrate yourself with some good old water! It’s the best type of beverage to drink as it contains ZERO calories. Drinking water frequently also helps with improving your metabolism and controlling your appetite.
4. Check Your Prescriptions
One of the notable side effects of some prescriptions is weight gain. This is common in medications like antidepressants, blood sugar maintenance drugs, and steroids. These drugs can affect your metabolism, change your hormone levels, or promote fluid retention.
Here’s a tip:
It is best to talk to your physician so you know your options when it comes to taking in these medications. A consultation with a dietitian will also help so you can take in these prescriptions without having to gain much weight.
5. Having Underlying Health Conditions
Health conditions that highly influence your hormonal levels in the body have the greatest effect on your weight. People with hypothyroidism, a condition where you have an underactive thyroid gland, are known to gain weight easily. This happens because their thyroid glands are producing too little hormones which can cause their metabolism to slow down.
Another known condition which affects 5 million women in the US is called Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). It causes problems in the hormones due to the small cysts growing in the ovaries. The hormonal imbalances affect the menstrual cycle of a woman. It also causes insulin resistance which results in uncontrolled blood sugar levels. Thus, being overweight and obese becomes a common manifestation in women with PCOS.
Cushing’s diseases, a condition wherein you have too much cortisol levels in the body, can also show its symptom through your weight. It’s especially typical for people taking in steroids to manage lupus, arthritis, or asthma. The fat deposits usually show around the face, neck, waist, and upper back.
Here’s A Tip:
Don’t let these health conditions be an excuse for you to be overweight! Good nutrition and exercising regularly is still the key to keeping your weight in check. Consult with your doctor and get the help of a registered dietitian to help you through your weight loss and maintenance plans.
6. Being A Couch Potato
Too busy to exercise? Not moving around too much? No wonder you are gaining weight. Physical activity is a key contributor to how much you weigh. As mentioned earlier, maintaining your weight equates to how much calories you take in and how much you exhaust in a day.
Calorie expenditure relies mostly on your exercise and activity levels. The World Health Organization even recommends around 30 minutes of exercise daily. If you are unable to work out regularly, it’s likely for you to gain weight.
Here’s A Tip:
Get up and get moving! Nothing beats a regular workout routine to help you lose weight fast. Increasing your physical activity does not require you to allot hours and hours in the gym. Take small steps by doing a brisk 10-minute walk in between work. You can also aim for the stairs instead of the elevators. The important thing is to really plan your workouts so that you’re able to make exercising part of your daily routine.
The Final Lowdown
Whether you’re putting in your full effort or not really at all, some people can’t avoid putting on weight. Ultimately, it’s hard to manage as there are several factors that come into play when trying to maintain the scales. Your diet, physical activity, genes, and age play the biggest influence. However, there are also environmental and lifestyle factors that attribute to one’s weight gain. This includes stress, sleep deprivation, poor eating habits, side effects of prescriptions, underlying health conditions, and lack of physical activity.
A well-balanced diet and regular exercise routine are superior strategies in order to avoid gaining weight. You may also use all natural herbal supplements, such as moringa oleifera or pure coffee bean extract, to aid your weight maintenance. It’s also best to consult your doctor when it comes to managing your health conditions in order to avoid weight gain.
