Wednesday 23 April 2014

REASONS BEHIND WEIGHT GAIN



Do you find yourself wondering why do you gain weight? Besides overeating or unhealthy food choices and lack of exercise, there are other reasons too that can contribute to weight gain. 


Stress
Different people react differently to stress. Some can stress without letting it disrupt their lives. For others adversities, past baggages, demanding jobs, and frustrations of daily life can build up causing a huge amount of stress that interferes with their ability to cope. When that happens, our bodies secrete cortisol, which is a stress hormone. And to make things worse, it increases one's appetite. It's no surprise that people under stress are tempted to indulge in high calorie foods for comfort. And this causes weight gain. And the weight gain takes it toll on the body, slowing us down and even making us unhappy. No person on the already heavy side is happy to gain weight. It's a vicious cycle. Stress-cortisol-high calorie food-weight gain-stress. There are so many ways you can beat stress. One thing I would suggest is to pay attention to your attitude and how you react in difficult or challenging situations.  A small effort in changing our attitude helps  us to cope and accept  things we cannot change or which is beyond our control. Stressful mindset attracts more chaos and more misery. When you keep good faith, you are bound to attract more good.   Stress cannot resolve problems in life.  Share your concerns with a trusted friend or family member.  If you feel you are unable to cope and it's interfering with your life, don't hesitate in seeking help, counsel or advise of an expert. 

Hypothyroidism
Have you been gaining weight, feeling tired, weak, cold? Then it's about time you visited your doctor and got a thyroid test done to ensure you are not having hypothyroidism. If your body does not make enough thyroid hormone, your metabolism slows down which can lead to weight gain. Your doctor would prescribe medication to correct your thyroid functioning. 

Ageing 
As we age, our metabolism slows down, and we burn less calories, which makes us gain weight easily. Refrain from high calorie foods. It's important to ensure that you exercise to help burn calories and maintain a balanced weight.

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