Weight Gain Factors That Go Beyond Poor Diet and Lack of Exercise

Some people complain that no amount of exercising or dieting can help them lose their weight. It seems that even if they reduce the amount of calories they take in daily or increase their exercise regimen, the drop in their weight stays marginal at best. There are also a number of individuals who shed a few pounds in the first few weeks of their diet program and encounter a weight loss plateau after a month or two.

If you are one of the individuals who feel so frustrated with losing weight naturally, then you need to realize that eating a lot of food and/or too little exercise are not the only reasons why you gain weight. In fact, there are a number of conditions or situations that make it harder for a person to lose weight the natural way. Here are some of them:

Medications

The drugs that you take may actually be the hidden cause of your widening waist. Weight gain is actually a common side effect in some drugs. The only way to minimize weight gain induced by medication is actually minimizing your dependency on these pills or simply increasing your weight-loss efforts by three fold.

Steroids are some of the drugs that almost always make a person double his or her size. Studies have shown that the use of this drug for an extended period of time can boost your appetite and cause a weight gain of 20 pounds or even more. However, since steroids are often prescribed to individuals with severe illnesses, you can't simply stop taking your medications just because you are packing on pounds. If this is the case, then you better be disciplined with your choice of foods.

Other medications that can wreak havoc to your waistline include anti-depressants, oral contraceptives, and even anti-diabetes tablets.

Sluggish Thyroid

The one condition that almost every celebrity is citing to justify his or her weight gain is hypothyroidism or a sluggish thyroid gland. Many people think that once this condition is treated, the 30 pounds that they have gained can magically disappear. However, some experts believe that hypothyroidism, which may cause weight gain of a few pounds due to the decline in a person's metabolism, is not the sole reason why you have gained twice your body mass in three years or so. Eating habits and lifestyle can still dramatically affect whether a person with sluggish thyroid would put on a lot of pounds or not.

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

A lot of women who have PCOS, short for Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, do not realize that they have a hormonal problem till they have gained a lot of weight, lost some hair or grown facial hairs. Women who have PCOS usually have an increased production of male sex hormones. However, experts believe that the rise in testosterone levels in women is not the cause of weight gain. Actually, up to now, scientists cannot explain why women with PCOS gain a lot of weight.

So what do you have to do if you have PCOS? You have to take medications and work doubly hard in shedding your weight. An increase in physical activities, strength training and a controlled diet program can help anyone with PCOS to lose even more than 10% of their body weight.

Water Retention

Another problem that is more common in women than in men is swelling and bloating due to fluid retention. Women who are experiencing premenstrual syndrome or those who are into perimenopause or menopause are more susceptible to weight gain due to water retention.

If you think you are suffering from water retention due to hormonal imbalance, then you can start losing excess water by eating less salt and drinking plenty of water. You can also try supplements, such as Expelis, that not only targets bloating, but the underlying hormonal problem as well. For more information about Expelis, go to http://www.expelis.com/.