Maintaining a healthy weight is essential to staying fit; however, there are other benefits. While true confidence is found within, gaining weight without realising it can hinder this discovery.
Everyone should be aware of how eating a balanced diet and exercising regularly prevents unnecessary weight gain, but there are other factors to consider. That is why this article will explore some additional behaviours that can contribute to weight gain so that you can better understand your body.
Lack Of Sleep
Sleep is the best way to recharge your batteries. A good night’s sleep is necessary for recovering the energy levels that you have lost throughout the day, energy that is provided by the food that you eat. Therefore, a poor night’s sleep will cause you to have a larger appetite the next day as your body will try and receive the energy it has not regained from sleep.
What’s more, sleep is important for regulating the hormone levels in your body. Cortisol is the hormone used to regulate your appetite. If you do not have enough sleep, your body is less likely to produce this hormone and your appetite will be larger, causing you to consume more calories than necessary. Try to maintain a healthy sleep pattern and your body should stop gaining excess weight.
Gut Health
Gut health can play an enormous role in your overall health. It helps your body to digest food, take in the nutrients it needs, and contributes to how your body is fuelled and how it maintains some of its most important functions. If your gut is not as healthy as it could be, it can affect things like your hormones and your immune system and leave you feeling a little unbalanced and finding it a little more difficult to stay in your best health.
However, there are ways that you can manage your gut health. Making sure to eat lots of gut-friendly foods such as almonds, certain fruits and vegetables, and natural yogurts, which are packed with probiotics, can greatly improve many conditions by strengthening your immune system. You could also try supplements like Gundry MD Total Restore to help create a strong, healthy gut lining.
Missing Breakfast
It is natural to believe that eating less food will prevent weight gain. You will receive fewer calories, after all. While this is true most of the time, skipping breakfast can cause you to gain weight.
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day as it is required to start your metabolism, the bodily process that converts food into energy. Therefore, anyone worried about weight gain should switch to a healthier breakfast option instead of skipping it altogether. A company like Shake That Weight can provide you with meal replacement shakes that feature all the nutrients you need to get going in the morning. These shakes can provide your metabolism with the kick it needs, while also being a suitable source of energy.
Unbalanced Portions
Of course, it makes sense that you will gain more weight if you eat more food. However, portion control isn’t always about reducing the amount of food you eat. Your body needs larger amounts of certain nutrients than others, and so reducing all your food portions is going to have a negative effect on your body. In some cases, you may even begin to gain weight because of this.
Instead, try and research what your body requires and what foods you should eat in proportion. Remember, portion control isn’t about eating less food but balance.
Eating Too Quickly
Sometimes, your weight is not affected by what you eat, but rather by how you choose to eat. For example, eating too quickly can have a negative outcome on your body.
Your stomach requires time to process the nutrients in the food that you consume. Only once it has fully digested its contents will it send a message to your brain, informing you that you are full. However, if you eat too quickly, you can ingest more calories than necessary before your body has acknowledged that it is full. Therefore, you are likely to eat more than you need, and still be hungry if you do not slow down and let your stomach process your food.
Stress
When you are stressed, your body engages in its fight or flight response by releasing the cortisol hormone that was mentioned earlier. This process fills your body with a wave of energy that prepares you to deal with your current situation; however, you now know that it can also increase your appetite.
Furthermore, once your body has reverted to its natural state, you will feel a need to replace the energy levels that you have lost during this heightened state of awareness. This means that you are more likely to crave fat-filled or sweet foods, rather than something healthy. Try to become more attune to your stress levels to recognise when you are in this state so that you do not confuse it with real hunger.
Lack Of Fibre
Fibre is the nutrient that encourages the passing of food waste in your body. Therefore, a lack of fibre will cause a build-up of waste in your gut over time, something that can influence weight gain.
However, fibre is also essential for reducing inflammation in your intestines while also increasing your overall gut health. This means that your body needs fibre to function properly, and this improved functionality will assist in the breakdown of food to make it more effective in your system.
Conclusion
Your body is a complex system of processes, so it should come as no surprise that these small behaviours can increase weight gain. As always, staying healthy is all about leading a balanced life, but don’t worry too much about the little things. Continue to eat right and exercise and these small factors should not affect you.