7 surprising reasons weight creeps on

You’re eating well, exercising, doing all the right things, so why won’t your pants button up? As maddening as these stubborn extra kilos can be, identifying your issue will help you lose them again in no time.

Where are those stubborn extra kilos coming from, you say? We unmask the villains.

It’s understandable when you gain a few kilos after a holiday or if you broke your ankle and spent six weeks propped on the couch bingeing on TV (and Tim Tams). But when there doesn’t seem to be a reason, it can feel as if some dark magic is at play. You may find yourself standing on the scales screaming into the void, “Why am I gaining weight?!”

Deep breath. You’ve got this. Most likely there’s something in your life that’s shifted just enough to make a difference, but not so much that you’d notice, says Dr Alexandra Sowa, who specialises in preventative health, nutrition and obesity medicine. “I see this all the time,” she explains. “You may not step on the scales for a while, and you feel like you haven’t changed anything, and then you go to the doctor’s office and suddenly notice you’ve gained five kilos.”

But that doesn’t mean it’s your destiny to go up another size every year. Here are some of the most likely reasons for your unexplained weight gain and how you can reverse the cycle.

1 YOUR INSULIN LEVELS MAY BE OUT OF WHACK

If you’ve been battling weight issues for a while and none of your efforts are moving the needle, make an appointment with your GP, who can assess you for insulin resistance or prediabetes. (They can also test for hypothyroidism, in which your thyroid gland doesn’t produce enough hormone, slowing down your metabolism and potentially leading to weight gain.) “Insulin is the hormone that signals the body to pull glucose from the bloodstream and store it in the muscles, liver and fat,” explains obesity medicine specialist Dr Tirissa Reid. “But when you’re overweight, cells may not respond to the insulin as well – they’re resistant, so the pancreas has to pump out more insulin to maintain a normal blood sugar.” This is also common in women who have polycystic ovary syndrome. High insulin levels keep the body in storage mode and make weight loss harder, she says.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: The most effective way to reverse this trend is to eat a diet low in refined carbs and added sugars and to become more physically active, since muscles respond better to insulin after exercise, says Dr Reid. She recommends using a fitness tracker or an app if you don’t have time for long workouts. “If you’re at 2000 steps per day, try to go up to 2500 per day next week and continue to increase,” she says. Switching to foods with a lower glycaemic index (GI), which means they’re digested more slowly, keeping blood sugar steady, is also important for controlling your insulin levels. Dietitian Brooke Delfino, from Australian Healthy Food Guide, suggests these food switches: “Swap white bread for high-fibre wholegrain varieties, choose rolled oats or untoasted muesli instead of sugary breakfast cereals and snack on fruit and nuts in place of sweet biscuits. Keep an eye out for low-GI versions of rice, pasta and potatoes, too.”

2 STRESS AND EXHAUSTION ARE SLOWING DOWN YOUR METABOLISM

If you’re up at night worrying about your ageing parents or hormonal teens and the general state of the world, know this: “Stress and lack of sleep can cause a cascade of hormonal changes that alter your metabolism and affect your sense of hunger and fullness,” Dr Sowa explains. Anxiety pumps up the hormones ghrelin and cortisol, which increase your appetite and can make you crave carbs, and also affects levels of the hormone leptin, which helps you feel full. Not surprisingly, a recent Swedish study of 3872 women over 20 years found that the more stressed they were by work, the more likely they were to gain weight. Stress also hinders sleep, which further throws off metabolism rates and hunger cues.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: It’s easy – just fix the world and make everyone around you kinder and more sane. Hmmm, maybe not. But you can manage your stress with mindfulness meditation (for the time poor, the free app Headspace offers meditation sessions starting from just one minute). Discovering a few minutes of calm can help you work toward anxiety-reducing goals such as thinking positively. To sleep more soundly, you know you should put down your devices at least an hour before bedtime, but you may not realise this: A US study found that after subjects spent just one night sleeping in a room with dim light, their insulin levels the next morning were significantly higher than those of people who slept in complete darkness, potentially affecting their metabolism rates. A quick solution? Buy blackout curtains.

3 YOUR ALLERGY PILLS MAY BE MAKING YOU FAT

“It’s believed histamines, chemicals produced by your immune system to fight allergens, have a role in appetite control,” says Dr Reid. That means “antihistamines may cause you to eat more,” she says. A large study from Yale University confirmed a correlation between regular prescription-antihistamine use and obesity. Dr Reid points out that some antihistamines may also cause drowsiness, which could make you less likely to exercise.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Talk to your doctor about alternatives, such as nasal steroid sprays, nasal antihistamines (which have less effect on hunger), leukotriene inhibitors and allergy shots, suggests immunologist Dr Jeffrey Demain. He also says that using a HEPA filter, washing sheets frequently in hot water and keeping pets out of the bedroom can help reduce the need for allergy drugs. While you’re at it, ask your GP if any of your other meds are known to cause weight gain (certain antidepressants, beta-blockers and corticosteroids are), and see if there are equally effective alternatives that don’t affect weight.

4 YOUR PORTION SIZES HAVE CREPT UP

Portion sizes when you eat out or order in are generally far bigger than you need and can warp your sense of what a ‘normal’ serving size is. Research from the UK found that people who were served large meals tended to choose bigger portions later on, says Dr Lisa R. Young, nutritionist, portion size expert and author of Finally Full, Finally Slim. Even if your home-cooked meals have crept up only five per cent over the past few years, that can be an extra 400 kilojoules a day, which adds up to about five kilos a year, says nutrition and food researcher Dr Lawrence Cheskin.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: First, Dr Young suggests that you spend a few days getting a reality check on how much food you’re actually eating. Instead of pouring breakfast cereal straight into the bowl, try using a measuring cup to serve up the correct size portion (see below). “What you thought was one cup might actually be three cups,” she says. Then practise tuning in to your body. “When you’re finished eating, wait 20 minutes.” It takes that long for the hormones in your belly to reach your brain and tell it you’re full. If you get to 20 minutes and your stomach is grumbling, then have a little more.

5 YOU’RE EATING THE RIGHT THING AT THE WRONG TIME

Let’s say you switched jobs and your healthy dinner is now at 9pm instead of 6.30pm. Or streaming Netflix until the wee hours involves snacking well past midnight, though not excessively. Even if you’re not eating more kilojoules per se, a time shift might account for extra kilos. Why? There’s a connection between your circadian rhythm (the way your body responds to the cues of daylight and darkness) and body fat. A 2017 study found that when uni students ate closer to when their sleep-inducing hormone melatonin was released (often near bedtime), they had a higher percentage of body fat and a higher body mass index.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Try to eat dinner at least two hours before bedtime and avoid snacking between then and sleep, recommends Dr Sowa.

6 YOUR ‘HEALTHY’ FOOD IS PACKED WITH KILOJOULES

You could be eating the best organic, dietitian-approved, plant-based or ethically farmed food, but that doesn’t mean the kilojoules transform into pixie dust. In fact, research has shown that when you’re eating something healthy, part of your attention to fullness tends to turn off, says nutrition scientist Dr Véronique Provencher. “In several studies, we found that when we perceive a food as healthy, it creates a bias in our judgement, and we may think (consciously or not) we can eat more of it, no problem,” she says.

“For instance, we see a salad as healthy, so we feel we can eat as much as we like with as many dressings or toppings as we want.”

WHAT YOU CAN DO: First of all, turn off your phone, computer and TV screen during meals so you’ll stay connected to your satiety cues, says Dr Provencher. Something else that may help, other experts say, is to become more aware of portion sizes and what’s in your food.

7 TIME IS PASSING, DAMN IT!

Each birthday you celebrate brings on one undeniable change: Your basal resting metabolism (the rate at which your body at rest burns energy) slows down. “It’s not a dramatic drop,” says Dr Cheskin. “But, as you age, you’re probably also getting less active and more tired, and your body tends to lose muscle mass, which burns kilojoules more efficiently than fat.” So even if you’re eating the same amount, your body is not burning it off as effectively as it did

during your 20s.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Make your body burn more kilojoules every day. Rev up your metabolism with our walking guide on page 68, and then build up your kJburning muscle (right) with these moves from sports scientist Dr Michele Olson.