Never has health been half as important and focused on as in modern times. Every side you turn, there are advertisements for weight loss techniques and medicines. You're advised to eat healthy regularly. Things in the health department have become so serious that even office have started having gyms! And amidst all this craze, if you're even slightly on the upper side of the weighing scale, it's a nightmare! You resolve to diet and exercise and try every possible trick in the book to get back in shape but it just isn't happening. Frustrated, you consult experts but still no avail. Wondering why is it that despite all your efforts at the end of the month when you get on that scale, the pointers hasn't budged a bit? Read on to find out!
1. Lack of sleep.
Lack of sleep is still an unknown contributor to weight gain as not many are aware that the body cannot function normally without enough rest. When you do not get enough sleep, your body automatically reaches out for caffeine and other comfort foods to help it stay awake. Lack of sleep also wrecks havoc with your metabolism meaning the food you eat is not getting digested at its normal pace, leading to further addition to the fat content in the body.
2. Stress levels.
Stress is a major contributing factor to weight gain as stress plays havoc with the hormones. Once stress levels rise, the body begins to treat it as an attack and chemicals are released to counter the stress. While adrenaline tends to reduce hunger, soon after it follows cortisol that increases the hunger pangs and there is constant feeling of emptiness. Also, increased stress levels often lead to fatigue which adversely affect exercise routines.
3. Physical illness.
There are many physical conditions like thyroid, PCOD, cushing syndrome, diabetes, etc that are silent contributors to weight gain. Your inability to lose weight might just be the tip of the iceberg with the real problem reaching deep down. Sometimes, psychological illnesses like depression also lead to weight gain. While in physical conditions it is the body's metabolism rate that is directly affected, in psychological conditions, the weight gain is often attributed to a mental inability to cope with the situation.
4. Wrong diet.
Going on crash diets and suddenly losing weight is never a good idea as once the diet ends and you're back to your routine, the weight gain will be at double the speed. A diet needs to be well-planned out and inclusive of each and every nutrient. It is best to consult a nutritionist as each and every human's eating habits and diet needs are different.
5. It might be muscle build-up, not fat.
Sometimes, in the bid to lose weight, we get so carried away in exercising and eating healthy that our muscles rapidly expand. While it is easy to understand the difference, sometimes for a layman, it is just the loss of inches that signifies weight-loss and muscle building is the unintentional negative to the process. Go easy on those protein shakes for a bit and get yourself a fitness trainer.
6. You're doing the wrong kind of exercise.
Wrong kind of exercises often do your body more harm good than.
Also, your diet and exercise need to be balanced out. Sometimes, you might not be exercising enough according to your diet and not enough calories get burned. Also, many times, your exercise makes you so hungry that you tend to lose track of the diet and instead indulge yourself.
7. Your medication might be to blame.
Pop a pill for every sneeze and headache? Your pills might be to blame for the weight gain. Often steroids and medicines tend to increase the fat content in the body. Some medicines make you feel more hungry while others retain fluids in the body making you look and feel fat. Sometimes, medicines also decrease the metabolism rate leading to further deposition of fat.