Is Your Weight Gain the Result of These 5 Problems?

Why extra calories do count, they may not be the only reason for your weight gain.
While it’s no big surprise that a diet full of fried foods, over-size, up-size or king-size portions, along with those gorgeous, decadent desserts followed by free flowing wine and sweet, sugary drinks all can lead to weight gain even in the fittest of bodies. With this kind of diet looming in front of there is little room left to question why we are gaining weight. After all, if we consume more calories than we physically burn - we will always have that chance of weight gain. But, how can one explain why you are gaining weight if you do exercise; if you do eat right and take in the right amount of calories? After all, you are doing everything right - right? But what if you have done everything right and still the needle on those scales keep going up and up? Surely the scales are wrong - right? Then when you go to put on those pants that fit last week and they are much snugger this week - just maybe the scales are not wrong -huh? Where did you go wrong?

If you have been watching what you eat and have been exercising but are still gaining weight there could be some other culprits tugging on those scales! Most likely it’s not just one thing but a series of things that could be adding to your weight.

Below are five other monsters that will wreck your scales--

1.

Is Your Weight Gain the Result of Not Enough Sleep?

Your body functions at it’s best when well rested. We all know that before a big test or winning performance, we all need the proper amount of sleep. Science has investigated and proven through a series of tests, that when you do not get the proper amount of sleep, your body experiences a kind of physiological stress and starts storing fat more efficiently.

We all have been tired before - right? Remember back when you were tired. Did you handle stress as well tired as you did when you were rested? Probably not - not many people handle stress well when they are exhausted. Their nerves are on end, the body is pumping cortical and the first thing you reach for is probably food. Just a nibble because surely it will make you feel better - right? When you reach for food when you are tired, it becomes your coping mechanism.

And when are we the most tired? Usually we are tired when we approach the late afternoon or early evening. That is the typical slump time. We may reach for a bite or that glass of wine and bingo - here come the calories! And they don’t stop there - maybe a bite of cheese with the wine and then some………….. It is endless - and all those calories count!

We all know the symptoms of not getting enough rest - we have those slumps, those low levels of hungry but not really hungry, those times when we nod of for a brief moment while watching tv or heaven forbid- nodding off while we are listening to our better half - or how about the times you feel like everybody is against you or you are snapping someone’s head off for the slightest offense? Any of those symptoms sound personal?

It is true that some people need more sleep than others; but, basically most of us require at least eight hours of sleep. If you are wanting to find that perfect sleep number for yourself, start off by adding 15 minutes to your sleep time. If you regularly go to bed at 8, try going to bed at 7:45. If this does not help much, try adding another 15 minutes. By doing this, you will soon find your perfect sleep time.

Just make sure that your problem is not staying asleep once tyou drift off. If you are finding yourself waking up every so often during the night, you may need to see your family physician. Good rest requires a solid nights rest - not a night divided by multiple bathroom breaks.

After you start a regular sleep pattern and you are exercising on a regular basis, you will notice that you will sleep even better.

2. Did You Realize That Stress Causes Weight Gain?
Stress and weight gain go hand in hand. In today’s world we are striving to do more, be the best and survive on sheer will. There is no question that we live in a stressful world. Stress helps us cope with all we have to do, it moves us forward- but it sure can play havoc with our emotions as well as our weight.

In today‘s world we call this “thing” stress. In the centuries before us - we labeled it “fight or flight“ response- Whatever you want to call it - the juggling act, the elite manager or busy Mom - coping with all we have to cope with - our finances, our children‘s schedules, our busy family schedules with supper on the table and clean clothes in the drawers. This all will trigger the biochemical process that puts our bodies into the “survival mode or over-drive“.

When we are in survival mode- our bodies start to store fuel (fat) and our metabolism slows down. In addition to that our bodies dump cortical, leptin and other fat churning hormones which can cause fat to accumulate in the abdominal area.

So many of us reach for food to help us ease the stress. We munch- sometimes without consciously knowing we are stuffing our face, we continue to munch - and then- it is all gone! Although this may make us feel better in the moment, it does not help in the long. We just keep gaining that weight!

Try to exercise instead of eating. Even if you exercise for a couple of minutes - that alone will help the stress and keep those extra calories from turning into fat. Food is such a temporary fix - the fix of the moment.

You Are Stressed- So Know What
The first thing you need to do if you are stressed is to address the stress. First you must fix why you are stressed - address the real problem, then you can address the your weight issue.

At the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition, they have discovered that stress eaters tend to prefer high-carbohydrate foods. This is because high carbohydrate foods trigger an increase in the brain chemical serotonin. This causes a calming effect to take place. This acts like a tranquilizer - So many people reach for a starchy food when they are stresses because they get that calming feeling. Think back- have you ever reached for the potato chips during that manic moment?

Try instead some relaxation techniques or yoga as well as a few exercises. Both of these techniques will prevent you from consuming those empty calories and both will help you burn some calories and well as provide an avenue for stress release.

3. Are Your Medications Causing Weight Gain?
Some prescription drugs used to treat depression, mood disorders, seizures, migraines, blood pressure and diabetes can cause weight gain. Some of these drugs only promote a few pounds while others may make you gain as much as 10 pounds a month. Some other drugs like steroids, hormone replacement therapy and even oral contraceptives may make you notice the needle on the bathroom scale slowly creeping upward. If you have gained five pounds or more in one month and have not changed anything in your eating or exercising habits this could be your problem

\"Every drug works a little differently and they have many ways in which they cause your body to start putting on weight. Some may cause your appetite to increase while others may alter the way your body stores fat. Some drugs also change your insulin levels and that too will make you gain weight. Even though your neighbor might have gained weight with steroids, doesn’t mean that the same will happen to you. Not all drugs have the same side effects on all individuals. Each body responds differently to drugs - your body may respond differently than your neighbors.

Take anti-depressants - sometimes when a person starts to feel better - they eat more! Also some drugs can cause your body to retain fluids which will inch those scales higher and higher. But, rest easy here, this weight is not fat - it is water; w3hich will come off rather easy!

Some of the most common medications that may cause weight gain are:
Steroids
Antidepressants
Anti-psychotics
Anti-seizure medications
Diabetes medications
High blood pressure medications
Heartburn medications

Although these medications may make you gain a few pounds, you must also weight the results these medications have promoted. If you are feeling better or your health condition is being managed well with these medications, the weight gain may be worth the “cure”. You are the one who will have to decide this. Sometimes a few pounds mean nothing if you are feeling better physically. But, if these medications are making you gain weight, you may have to be more mindful of your diet by eating only healthy food and yo may want to exercise a bit more.

You may be able to change medications, but ask your doctor first if an alternate medication will promote the same problems (weight gain) as the last medication. Never take yourself off of a medication without first consulting your doctor.

4. Could you be gaining weight because of a medical condition or problem?

Hypothyroidism is a deficiency of thyroid hormone. This condition commonly make one gain weight. This hormone is responsible for decreasing your metabolism , causing appetite loss and weight gain

The symptoms of hypothyroidism are fatigue, lethargy, swelling, horse voice, intolerance to cold, over-sleeping or wanting to sleep too much or headaches. IF you think you are having these symptoms, go see your family doctor. There are tests that he/ she can run to see if you have this problem

Although it is a rare condition, Cushing’s Syndrome can cause weight gain too. This disease makes the body produce an excess of cortical which can result in weight gain also.

5. Menopause Weight Gain

Menopause happens at a variety of ages, but most of the time it strikes around midlife when we are not as active as we once When we age our metabolism naturally slows down a bit. At this very time in your lives, those hormonal changes caused by menopause can trigger a multitude of problems. Some of those problems are depression, increase in appetite and poor sleep.

When women go through menopause, they lose estrogen. This lose of estrogen may cause your body to change shapes - much like play-dough, you feel like someone has squeezed you into another shape. Women who are entering menopause often start gaining weight in their tummies and lose weight in their hips and thighs. Suddenly with this hormone loss, we women tend to get those not so appealing“beer bellies” like the men have.

If you are trying to keep this mid-section slim and trim, then you must increase the lean muscle tissue. The increase in lean muscle will help to increase your metabolism which in turn burns more calories. To do this you might consider weight lifting and strength training like Pilates. Any exercise form that targets the core muscles will help with menopause weight gain.

Also, during menopause, women often start to lose bone mass. A healthy combination of weight bearing exercise, weight lifting or strength training along with a healthy diet rich in calcium and Vitamin D will help you with your menopausal weight gain.