Finding the Underlying Root Cause Behind Your Unexpected Weight Gain
Have your jeans been feeling a little tighter than usual recently?
Small fluctuations in your weight are normal, especially for women throughout their cycle. But if the pounds start adding up and you haven’t changed your diet or lifestyle, there might be more to the story.
Sudden unexpected weight gain can take us by surprise because it’s…well, unexpected.
But while changes in diet and lifestyle are sometimes the cause, weight gain can also be the result of a more serious underlying health condition. It’s worth investigating, as the root cause could also be impacting your health in other ways. Especially if you’re experiencing additional symptoms including a lack of energy, fatigue or trouble sleeping at night.
Want to understand the other reasons for unexpected weight gain?
We’ll go through what causes unexpected weight gain and what you can do to minimize the impact:
- Underlying health conditions behind unexpected weight gain
Stress, hormones and gut health - Unhealthy everyday habits
Healthy sounding foods, poor sleep and over exercising - Hidden environmental triggers
Toxins, endocrine disruptors and emotional weight
You’ll come away with a solid understanding of the root causes triggering your unexpected weight gain and how to reverse them.
Silent Culprits Behind Unexpected Weight Gain
Stress
Have you been dealing with a lot of stress in your life lately? It could be one of the causes of unexpected weight gain.
A small amount of stress can be helpful – it can push you to work harder, reduce procrastination and keep you focused. But too much stress results in our adrenal glands constantly releasing cortisol, which isn’t healthy.
Chronic stress changes the way our metabolism works, slowing it down and making it easy for unexpected weight gain to occur.
Hormones
Have you been experiencing fatigue, irregular cycles or skin breakouts? These symptoms may indicate that your hormones are out of balance.
What’s another symptom that hormonal conditions and menopause all have in common? You guessed it – unexpected weight gain!
If you’re experiencing multiple symptoms, Synergy Integrative Health and Wellness’ comprehensive testing can help to identify and reverse hormonal conditions such as:
- Thyroid hormone deficiency
- Estrogen dominance
- Metabolic syndrome
- PCOS
- Insulin resistance
Gut Health
If your hormones are in balance and the stress in your life isn’t excessive, your unexpected weight gain may be due to your gut health.
Studies have shown that microbiome plays a role in weight gain and obesity. Additionally, people with a diverse microbiome have a healthier metabolism, produce more immune cells and report feeling happier when it comes to mental health.
A gut health test is a helpful first step in uncovering underlying health conditions that may be contributing to unexpected weight gain. Read more about the benefits of Synergy’s gut health testing here!
Unhealthy Everyday Habits
“Healthy” Foods
Quick question – what are some healthy snack foods that come to mind? Do protein bars, yogurt or smoothies make it onto the list?
Unfortunately, a lot of foods that are marketed as healthy have no place in the health food aisle at your grocery store and may be contributing to your unexpected weight gain.
Most protein or granola bars are packed full of sugar and while some of the ingredients may be nutritious, sweetening and filler ingredients aren’t.
Yogurt and smoothies fall into a similar category. A lot of yogurts and premade smoothies are packed with sugar and artificial sweeteners and could be the culprit of your unexpected weight gain.
Checking the ingredients list, making your own granola and choosing plain natural yogurt with fresh fruit are some great ways to avoid unexpected weight gain.
Poor Sleep
Is a lack of sleep the reason behind your unexpected weight gain? Multiple studies have shown that adequate sleep can result in healthier metabolic function and a reduction in cortisol levels.
Not to mention that better sleep means having more energy and the ability to partake in physical activity which is crucial for maintaining a healthy weight and metabolism.
Want to avoid unexpected weight gain and reduce stress? Try getting at least 8 hours of sleep per night!
Over Exercising
This might seem counterintuitive when it comes to weight loss. But if you’re doing high intensity exercises every day, this could be contributing to your unexpected weight gain.
While exercise is healthy, high intensity exercises may cause your body to feel stressed and overworked. Intense exercise can raise cortisol levels and your body may perceive that you are under ‘threat’.
While this is a survival mechanism that has helped us historically, it can lead to the preservation of fat rather than burning it and unexpected weight gain.
Hidden Environmental Triggers
Toxins and Endocrine Disruptors
Our endocrine system is a network of glands and organs in our bodies that uses hormones to regulate bodily functions including our:
- Metabolism
- Sexual function
- Heart rate and blood pressure
- Appetite
- Sleep cycles
- Body temperature
Unfortunately, endocrine disruptors can be found in many everyday home appliances and products which can impair our endocrine system and cause unexpected weight gain.
Common endocrine disruptors include:
- BPAs (bisphenol-A): Can be found in plastics, epoxy resins and in the lining of food and beverage cans
- Phthalates: Found in toys, packaging, shampoos, nail polishes, lotions and perfumes
- Atrazine: Widely used herbicide used in the US
- PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid): Found in non-stick cookware, waterproof clothing and microwavable food items
- Organotins: An ingredient in antifungal paint used on boats and then released into lakes and bodies of water
Switching to stainless steel cookware and checking the labels of products you buy can reduce your exposure to toxins in your household.
Emotional Weight and Unexpected Weight Gain
While it’s important to enjoy meals, unexpected weight gain may occur if food becomes a source of comfort and turns into emotional eating.
Emotional eating may mean that you are using food as a way to deal with stress, trauma and even boredom and often include processed, sugary and high fat foods.
Journaling, meditation or even trying out a new hobby can become helpful outlets to reduce stress and unexpected weight gain and build joy in more areas of your life.
Find the Root Cause at Synergy Integrative Health and Wellness’ Oak Park Clinic
Unexpected weight gain is often caused by an underlying health condition that you may not be aware of. Finding the root cause and getting to the bottom of your health issues can help you lose weight faster and easier.
That’s why we focus on reversing deeper health issues in our medical weight loss program. In addition to one-on-one consultations, nutritional counseling and health coaching, Synergy Integrative Health and Wellness also offers hormone and gut testing.
Comprehensive testing helps to highlight the reasons behind your unexpected weight gain so we can optimize your weight loss journey! Say ‘yes’ to a complete health transformation and book in a consultation with our medical weight loss expert today!