8 Surprising Reasons You Are Gaining Weight
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What’s up with the weight gain?
You’re working out, watching what you’ve been eating but you just can’t seem to see any changes on the scale. You’re frustrated and ready to throw in the towel, again.
It might be time to dive a little deeper into what else might be going on.
8 Surprising Reasons You are Gaining Weight
STRESS!!
Oh, we all have it. Some more than others and some are able to cope with it better than the next person. I’m here to tell you that CHRONIC STRESS causes an increase in cortisol, which turns on fat storage within the body.
Sometimes life’s demands can get a little crazy. This causes our bodies to go into survival mode and cortisol, the “stress hormone,” is secreted, which causes an increase in appetite. And of course, we may reach for high-calorie comfort foods in times of stress as well. This combination is a perfect breeding ground for weight gain.
FOOD ALLERGIES
Yep, you heard me right. Food allergies can cause inflammation in the body. Gluten, dairy, and soy can trigger excess inflammation within the body, making it almost impossible to burn fat and to achieve real body transformation. Some experts believe that wheat products are some of the biggest contributors to weight gain, fatigue, and blood sugar imbalances.
MEDICATIONS
Several prescription drugs are linked to weight gain. The list includes antipsychotic drugs (used to treat disorders like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder), steroids, along with medications to treat migraines, seizures, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Work with your doctor to find a medication that treats your symptoms and lessens side effects.
IMBALANCED GUT BACTERIA
You all know how I am about the importance of gut health. 90% of all disease can be traced back to the health of your gut? So, it’s no surprise that one way to turn on your body’s fat-burning switch is by balancing your microbiome.
Your body has a symbiotic relationship with these microbes, but when you eat unhealthy food and are exposed to excessive stress, unhealthy microbes being to thrive and disrupt the balance of order. Unhealthy microbes feed off of stress hormones, sugar, and starches. The resulting spike in sugar cravings negatively affects your body’s gene expression, prompting fat-burning pathways to be turned “off.”
Certain bacteria are also called “fat-promoting bacteria,” as they influence your body to gain weight and store fat. When your gut bacteria is out of whack, it’s called dysbiosis. Having more fat-promoting bacteria (unhealthy bacteria) than “skinny-gut bacteria” (healthy bacteria) isn’t just linked to obesity and weight gain, but many other systemic conditions as well.
HORMONAL IMBALANCES
When your hormones are out of balance, we can say they are confused and they’re not quite sure what to do and how to function. This leaves fat storage, digestion, and many other functions in the dark and can tend to cause excess weight gain.
Hormonal imbalances could be due to many different things. Medications, thyroid issues, Adrenal issues, cortisol, estrogen imbalances, PCOS and more. Even when we think we’re being healthy, hormonal triggers to unwanted weight gain are too often neglected or overlooked.
TOXINS
You’ll find these everywhere from the air we breathe to the products we use on a daily basis. Toxins are now being shown to cause hormone dysregulation and promote weight gain within the body. Can toxins actually make you fat? The answer is an emphatic “yes!”
Toxins can be broken down into two categories:
1) Environmental toxins (non-living)
Environmental toxins bio-accumulate within our bodies when we are exposed to heavy metals, plastics, paints, new carpets, household cleaning supplies, cosmetics and more.
2) Biotoxins (living)
Biotoxins come in the forms of viruses, unhealthy bacteria and yeasts, parasites and mold exposure
SUGAR OVERLOAD
Sugar is easily converted into stored fat, with its over-consumption leading to a phenomenon called insulin resistance. When you eat a high-sugar or starch-containing meal or treat, your body doesn’t receive the proper signals to feel full and, before you know it, you overeat. Furthermore, a high-sugar diet causes leptin resistance, which is directly connected to increased cravings and weight gain.
GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOODS
Let’s face it, most GMO foods are pretty much junk food. Clearly, that has been shown to promote weight gain. These types of food are really not REAL food. Our bodies do NOT recognize them and it puts up its defenses. Fake food confuses our body.
Confused body, confused systems, inflammation starts, hormonal imbalance start and we see weight gain. Our body is trying to protect itself from these unrecognizable, foreign “foods”.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
The point of me putting this all out there is to open people’s minds to just a few of the reasons you may be seeing unexplained weight gain. It’s possible that by addressing these issues, you may not need to go on another DIET!!
At the end of the day, you have the ability to work on any one of these areas above. Imagine what a few small changes can do to you. You are in control and YOU can do it!! You’ve got this.
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