30 sneaky things making you gain weight

Everyone knows that if you’re a drive-through regular and routinely polish off litres of ice cream you’re going to gain weight, but that’s not you. In fact, you rarely eat fried foods, and when you do eat dessert you limit yourself to a sensible portion. So why are your pants suddenly getting tighter?

The reasons why the kilos are piling on aren’t always quite as obvious as you might expect them to be. Here are some sneaky things you might not have considered that could be making you gain weight.

Sure, they’re healthy – especially compared to refined grains. But you can have way too much of a good thing, explains registered dietitian and nutritionist Toby Amidor, author of The Easy 5-Ingredient Healthy Cookbook. Two cups of cooked whole-wheat pasta, for instance, adds up to 1670kJ. Try to limit yourself to a 1-cup serving (same goes for brown rice, quinoa, farro and barley) and round out your meal with plenty of veggies and some lean protein.

By the way, here’s how to get rid of your love handles without a lick of exercise.

Again, it’s about the quantity, and it’s easy to overdo it. “Avocados contain a healthy dose of nutrients and heart-healthy unsaturated fat, but eating an entire avocado or using half an avocado daily for your avo toast can rack up hundreds of kilojoules rather quickly,” says Amidor. “An entire avocado contains 1347kJ and close to 30 grams of fat – that’s 45 per cent of the daily recommended amount of total fat!” About a fifth of an avocado is the right amount for a healthy snack.

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Wouldn’t it be nice if those cookie crumbs at the bottom of the bag and the fries you swiped from a friend’s plate didn’t contribute to your kilojoule count for the day? Sadly, those nibbles add up. “It’s easy to get 400 kilojoules – or more! – from little bites each day, which could cause you to gain roughly half a kilogram a month without realising where the extra kilojoues are coming from,” says registered dietitian and nutritionist Tammy Lakatos Shames, co-founder of NutritionTwins.com. Try keeping a food diary for a few days and write down everything you put in your mouth; the tally might surprise you.

You take just one small handful of chips… and then another, and maybe another. How much are you really eating in total? “It’s easy to go back for more and assume you just had a serving,” especially when eating out of a “family size” bag, says Lakatos Shames. (The bigger the bag, the more people tend to eat.) Next time, take a minute to grab a small bowl and measure out a reasonable portion first.

“Juice-based drinks and smoothies often contribute a lot of kilojoules,” says registered dietitian and nutritionist Ginger Hultin. “They can spike blood sugar quickly, which causes it to drop back down and makes you ‘crash’ once insulin responds. Once blood sugar is down again, the body starts craving more sugar – and that’s what fruit juice and fruit smoothies are, really.”

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You probably know that margaritas, daiquiris and other kilojoule-laden mixed drinks can make you gain weight, “but even having low-kilojoule beer and wine can add up quickly and cause weight gain,” says Hultin. “Some people have a hard time with weight loss if they’re drinking much at all.”

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Nuts have a healthy reputation, which is mostly deserved. “They’re packed with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, fibre, protein and healthy fats,” says Hultin. The catch is that the serving size is probably much smaller than you realise. “For example, 14 shelled walnut halves and 24 shelled almonds equal one serving,” she notes. Be sure to count them out instead of eating by the handful.

It’s 6pm. You’re hungry. What’s in your fridge? If the answer is nothing but ketchup packets and expired yogurt, it’s only a matter of minutes before you call for takeout. “It’s important to create an environment for success,” says registered dietitian Marisa Moore. “Stock the fridge and pantry with the foods you like that are healthy and keep you feeling full and satisfied.”

“Not sleeping enough can certainly contribute to weight gain, because it can make you crave high carbohydrate/high fat comfort-type foods,” says Elisa Zied, CDN, author of Younger Next Week. While research has shown that sleep deprivation can mess with your hunger hormones throughout the day, you may be especially vulnerable late at night when you’re less active and trying to de-stress and unwind, she adds.

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Sautéing your own fish and veggies? Great! Pouring carelessly from a big bottle of oil? Not so much. “We use way more oil when cooking than we think, and every tablespoon adds 500 kilojoules,” says registered dietitian and nutritionist Joy Bauer. “Instead of pouring freehand from the bottle when sauteing, roasting or grilling, try an oil spray – you’ll use far less. Store-bought spray canisters are super convenient, but you can also make your own more Earth-friendly version by purchasing a bottle spray at a home-goods store and refilling it with a heart-healthy oil like olive or canola.”

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Nothing’s really for free, is it? Fat-free treats are usually packed with extra sugar, which can make the kilojoule count soar (and you gain weight), says registered dietitian and nutritionist Sonya Angelone. You might be better off with a small portion of the real stuff.

“These are considered seconds!” says Angelone. Or, if you have a full house, thirds, fourths, and so on. Those kilojoules still count – pack the food away for leftovers or toss it.

If it’s all (or mostly) veggies, then you’re probably fine. But many “green” juices actually have apple juice as a first ingredient, says Angelone. “This is really a drink full of sugar kilojoules.”

About one in five women have polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), but unless you’ve been struggling to get pregnant you might not even know that you’re one of them. This hormonal disorder often goes hand-in-hand with infertility as well as obesity, acne and excess body hair. If you have any of these symptoms and your periods are irregular (and you’re not approaching menopause), talk to your gynaecologist about getting screened.

Exercising – whether you’re trying to lose weight or not – is a great move. But rewarding the effort with food is a different story, says registered dietitian and nutritionist Karen Collins. A muffin, for instance, can have around 1670 kilojoules! “It’s very easy for a reward to contain more kilojoules than you used up during the added activity. Over time, this will lead to weight gain,” she says. “The answer is not to forego the exercise; the answer is to retrain yourself to see the walk/activity as the reward.” If that’s too difficult at first, at least opt for non-food rewards (like a pedicure or new book download).

Who doesn’t want a quick fix? The problem is that a short-term solution – think a lemonade/cayenne cleanse or grapefruit diet – is unlikely to yield lasting results. “You may lose 5 to 10 per cent of your body weight, but once you go off your diet you’ll gain the weight back plus more,” says registered dietitian and nutritionist Toby Smithson.

Carb cutting may be trendy, and it works – to a certain extent. “If you aren’t eating carbs or are eating a diet very low in carbs, most likely you will be filling your plate with protein and fats. But the kilojoules from too much protein or fat can also lead to weight gain,” says Smithson.

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Unless you’re using these to replace a meal, watch out. “Most contain 830-1050 kilojoules, which is way more than is needed as a snack,” says registered dietitian and nutritionist Rachele Dependahl.

Psst – these are the nine foods you should never, ever eat before bed!

If you’ve suddenly added an extra 2.5-5kg and you also have symptoms such as fatigue, dry skin and constipation, the butterfly-shaped gland in your neck could be to blame. See your GP an endocrinologist to get your thyroid hormone levels checked.

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Think eating mini-meals will help you slim down? Not so, says Ansel. “When we’re always eating it’s really easy to put more kilojoules in our mouths than we realise. Plus nibbling your way through the day never gives you that feeling of fullness you’d get from a real meal, so you always feel a little hungry.” Her advice: Shoot for three real meals and one small snack per day.

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Just because your cereal bowl fits 450g doesn’t mean that’s what a single serving looks like. Oversized plates and wine glasses can cause similar confusion. “While there are lots of factors that help with weight loss, eating less overall is definitely a biggie,” says Ansel. “Think of it as simple math. If you were to shrink your portions by 10 per cent by leaving over a few bites at every meal, you’d eat 10 per cent fewer kilojoules, which can add up to significant savings.”

One tiny box of raisins has about 540 kilojoules, which isn’t bad – but you could eat an entire cup of grapes for even less than that. “To feel comfortably full on fewer kilojoules, you need to choose foods that are high in water and fibre,” says Dr Rifai. Add some foods that have a lot of water and protein (like low-fat yoghurt and egg whites) to your mix and you’ll be able to eat less without your tummy rumbling.

“Many people believe it’s a good idea to ‘eat lightly’ – basically semi-starve themselves – throughout the day, but that inevitably drives them to overeat in the evening,” says Dr Rifai. Instead, he suggests a “don’t stuff, don’t starve” approach: Eat at the earliest signs of hunger and stop when you’re just slightly full.

Aerobic exercise is key for torching kilojoules, but if you want to keep your metabolism up even while you’re at rest you absolutely have to add in some strength-training. Research has shown that people who do a combo are most likely to lose weight.

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Antidepressants are well-known for causing weight gain, but it’s not unusual to put on a few kilos while taking a beta blocker like metoprolol to control your blood pressure, either. Whatever you’re on, talk to your doctor if you think it’s making you fatter; switching to a different drug might help.

Learn 18 ways to keep blood pressure in check.

If you want to steer clear of pesticides and support organic farming practices, that’s great. But research has shown that the word “organic” confers a health halo, even when it’s not deserved. So while you might shun regular Oreos, you have no qualms about putting those chocolate cream-filled organic cookies into your cart (and your mouth), even if the calorie content is exactly the same.

Turning to comfort foods is only part of the problem. Chronic stress also taxes your body and contributes to elevated levels of hormones that cause inflammation as well as lead to packing on the kilograms. Unless you’re dead, some stress is a given, but finding ways to chill out can make all the difference.

Discover 8 weird symptoms you didn’t know were linked to stress.

You may have heard that exposure to artificial light late at night messes with your sleep, but it turns out it also messes with your metabolism, according to research from Northwestern University. The good news: Installing some dimmer switches can help mitigate this problem.

You managed to shed a few kilos, but they’re creeping back fast because you’re hungrier than ever. What gives? Unfortunately, it’s your body’s way of trying to maintain your fat reserves for a famine that’s most likely never coming. Research shows your appetite really does surge following a loss of body weight, which means it’s all too easy for the weight to return. Try drinking extra water and eating plenty of water-rich, low-kJ foods until you no longer feel ravenous all the time.

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Source: RD.com