Are you doing everything after the book, but can’t seem to lose weight? There might be a reasonable explanation of that – and an easy way to fix it.
If you’re gaining weight while eating less calories it may be due to chronic stress and starvation mode, slow metabolism, hormonal imbalance, inflammation, inadequate sleep or insulin resistance. Your body needs enough energy, but a low-calorie diet over time may lead to starvation mode and chronic stress, where your body holds onto the fatty tissue, to save the energy for the ‘bad times’. To lose weight, I’ll recommend eating an anti-inflammatory diet, eating every 3-4 hours to stabilize blood sugar, reducing stress and incorporating strength training.
In order to address why you’re gaining weight while eating less, we’ll talk about the causes of weight gain and how to speed up your metabolism to lose weight.
Is It Normal To Gain Weight While Dieting?
If you’re gaining weight despite following a strict diet, research shows that it may be due to too low-calorie intake which can slow down your metabolism. Too low-calorie intake over a period of time can lead to starvation mode.
Undereating or an inadequate diet can lead to slow metabolism and decrease the breakdown of fats to conserve energy.
Another reason for weight gain while dieting could be chronic stress. Your body releases a hormone called cortisol when under constant stress.
An increase in levels of cortisol can lead to a rapid increase in fat storage, making it much more difficult to lose weight.
Unfortunately, starvation mode and chronic stress have tremendous effects on your thyroid glands, which play a huge part in regulating your metabolism.
Studies show that when you decrease the intake of calories, it automatically decreases the level of thyroid hormone, resulting in a significant decrease in metabolic rate. If you aim to lose weight by reducing your intake of calories, this becomes quite counterintuitive.
Some fitness trainers recommend tracking the number of calories you consume as well as the amount you burn daily.
Generally, this is done to ensure that your body is getting enough calories and is not going over the required quantity to prevent excess storage of fat and weight gain.
As a holistic health coach, I don’t recommend counting calories. Instead, I recommend maintaining a balanced lifestyle, which includes exercising and eating healthy balanced meals that suits your specific hormone type.
Don’t know what your hormone type is? You can check out my FREE Hormone Type Quiz to learn more about your hormone type and how to eat in order to balance hormones and lose weight.
Nutrient requirements vary from individual to individual depending on your general weight/height, activity level and specific goal.
Keeping track of calories and limiting your intake may impact you psychologically and physiologically in the long run.
So if you’re gaining weight while eating less than usual – there might be a reasonable explanation for that.
Why Am I Gaining Weight While Eating 1200 Calories A Day?
Some weight loss coaches might recommend taking a daily intake of 1200 calories to lose weight fast. However, you may find yourself still gaining weight as 1200 calories are far too low for the average adult.
It is important to remember, we all have different measurements and activity levels – if you’re a petite person you may not require as many calories as the bodybuilder in the gym.
Let’s take a look at four factors that can trigger an increase in weight:
1. Too Low Amount Of Calories
One of the biggest misconceptions is that if you want to lose weight, you need to drastically reduce the number of calories. However, even though you might see some results in the beginning, this can have an adverse effect on your body.
When your body does not get a proper nutrient diet – or enough food, it may slow down the metabolism which can lead to symptoms like dizziness, headaches nausea and fatigue.
Moreover, having a low-calorie diet is counterproductive, as research shows that such diets are not effective for reducing weight in the longer run.
2. Wrong Kind Of Exercise
If you feel like you’re doing everything right but still are unable to lose even a single pound, chances are that you may be doing the “wrong” kind of exercise.
Even though I don’t believe there is such a thing as the wrong kind of exercise – exercise like strength training may be more effective in toning your body, compared to cardio. This is due to strength training which may increase the metabolic rate.
Research shows they help in boosting your metabolism which can lead to more sustained weight loss.
Also, high-intensity workouts increase cortisol, which increases stress and may make our body hold onto more fat. When we’re stressed, our body will hold onto more fat to save energy for ‘the bad times’.
I personally recommend more low and restorative exercises combined with strength training.
3. Starvation Mode
As mentioned earlier, cutting down on your food intake and eating a low-calorie diet may lead your body into starvation mode. It’s a natural mechanism that slows down metabolism and prevents the breakdown of fats to restore energy balance.
This is when you might start feeling lazier and hungrier than you do normally. Since your body increases the storage of fat, it makes it quite difficult to lose weight.
4. Hormonal Imbalance
Hormonal imbalance can lead to weight gain. An increase in estrogen levels, which is referred to as estrogen dominance, may lead to an increase in weight.
Estrogen is a hormone produced within the ovaries that is not only essential for reproductive health – but research shows that it plays a crucial role in regulating metabolism and weight.
Estrogen dominance, which can be caused by an imbalance of estrogen and progesterone ratio or excess production of estrogen, can impact your metabolism rate, making it harder to lose weight.
If you’ve found yourself unable to lose weight even though you’re eating less, we have now established it may be due to a low-calorie diet, slow metabolism, hormonal imbalances or even chronic stress. So you may wonder, what can I do to speed up my metabolism and lose weight?
How To Speed Up Your Metabolism
If you’re gaining weight while eating less calories, your metabolism may have slowed down. Increasing your metabolism can help you lose weight.
There are numerous healthy ways through which you can speed up your metabolism that may help you sustain a healthy weight.
This includes:
- Reduce Chronic Stress And Starvation Mode
- Stabilize Blood Sugar
- Anti-Inflammatory Diet
- Thyroid Support
- Take Supplements
- Get 8 Hours Of Quality Sleep
- Get Your Vitamins, Minerals And Hormones Checked
Let’s dive into how you can speed up your metabolism and lose weight in a healthy and sustainable way.
Reduce Chronic Stress And Starvation Mode
As mentioned, chronic stress and your body in starvation mode are some of the biggest culprits behind sluggish metabolism.
In order to reduce chronic stress and your body in starvation mode, you must practice stress management with stress-relieving activities such as meditation.
Also, it is crucial to have a well-balanced diet to prevent your body from going into survival mode. Hence, incorporate food into your meal plans that boost metabolism, such as lean beef, eggs and fish and fats like coconut oil, flaxseed and avocado.
Stabilize Blood Sugar
Blood sugar levels play an important role in metabolism as they trigger the release of insulin, which is needed for the metabolism of fat, protein and carbohydrate.
Thus, fluctuation in blood sugar levels can result in insulin resistance, which causes the metabolism to slow down. Hence, stabilizing blood sugar is vital to prevent this from happening.
You can stabilize your levels by avoiding food that leads to a spike in your blood sugar level or by incorporating food such as fiber, lean meat and healthy fats in your meal. Also, eating every 3-4 hours will help you stabilize your blood sugar levels.
Anti-Inflammatory Diet
Even though inflammation is your body’s natural way to protect itself from injury, research shows that chronic inflammation can be harmful and result in a lower rate of metabolism.
Therefore, you may need to introduce an anti-inflammatory diet into your life that is suitable for your hormone type.
For instance, eating meals that are high in protein, healthy fats and complex carbohydrates, but also include anti-inflammatory foods like berries, oranges, leafy greens and nuts.
Additionally, it’s best to avoid food that can increase inflammation such as sugar, alcohol and processed food.
If you’re looking for a detailed and easy guide on how to regulate hormone balance, I suggest checking out my eBook, Kickstart To Hormonal Balance.
Thyroid Support
Your thyroid glands play a vital role in regulating metabolism. To support thyroid functions, you can increase your iodine intake and take supplements such as zinc and selenium as they boost thyroid functions.
Disclaimer; If you’re unsure whether something is off with your thyroid hormones, I’ll recommend you to consult with your doctor or get a lab test through me.
Take Supplements
If you’re having any nutritional deficiencies, it might be helpful to support your body with supplements. This includes vitamins, minerals, herbs and homeopathy.
Supplements may increase antioxidants that fight inflammation, it can help you balance your nervous system and reduce stress and furthermore, it may help you balance your hormones.
However, be sure to consult your doctor, or a registered nutritionist before you start taking any supplements on your own.
Moderate Strength Training
Building muscle can help in speeding up your metabolism which may result in a faster and more sustainable weight loss. This is due to muscles being metabolically more active as compared to fat.
I’ll personally recommend doing strength training a few times a week combined with moderate cardio like a fast-paced walk or a sport you enjoy doing like tennis, dancing or yoga.
Get 8 Hours Of Quality Sleep
Sleep deprivation may negatively affect your metabolism as it leads to a rise in blood sugar levels which may cause insulin resistance.
Additionally, research has shown that lack of sleep can increase the levels of ghrelin, a hunger hormone, making it harder to lose weight.
Therefore, to boost your metabolism, getting 8 hours of uninterrupted, high-quality sleep may help you lose weight.
Get Your Vitamins, Minerals And Hormones Checked
Vitamin and mineral deficiencies along with hormone imbalance may impact your metabolism.
Through a blood test, you can check your vitamin- and mineral status – either at the doctor’s office or I can order a test for you in the lab.
If you have a hormonal imbalance, you can check your hormones through a DUTCH test through me. The DUTCH test is one of the most precise hormone tests on the market, measuring up to 35 different hormones.
The DUTCH test can reveal if there’s an imbalance in estrogen-progesterone, cortisol, melatonin and other hormones affecting your weight.
Final Thoughts
If you’re struggling to lose weight, I’ll recommend you to read my eBook about hormonal imbalances, hormone types and take my test to find the hormone type and diet plan that suits you.
