Why exercising may cause your weight to increase

You are doing strenuous work out at the gym and following a nutritious diet. After breaking sweat the gym every day and finally stand on that weighing scale, you realise that you have not lost any weight, but gained some in contrary.

If you think this is odd, it isn’t- it’s more common than you think. There are lot of factors that come into play when it comes to losing weight. Your lifestyle habits are an important factor and they could be causing you to lose, or gain work.

Here are some reasons most people don’t lose weight from exercising, listed by Prevention:

Paying too much attention to the numbers

There are several reasons why you shouldn’t give the weighing scale much weightage. Various factors like your daily water consumption, amount of sleep you get, stress levels can cause the numbers on the scales to teeter.

Rather than seeing the weight you lost, see the benefits you have gained from your new found hobby. Do you feel more fresh and energetic? Do your clothes fit you better than before? Are you feeling happier and less stressed? "It’s ultimately about how you’re feeling," said Jason Machowsky, RD, CSCS, clinical supervisor.

You consume more calories than you burn

When you turn your fitness up full blast, it is common for your appetite to greatly increase as well. In fact, for some people tend to gain more weight due to increased appetite. “When you start working out, your body starts burning more calories,” Armul explained. “And when you burn more calories, your body naturally wants to compensate by eating more calories to make up for what you’re burning.”

This happens because people overestimate the amount of calories they burin in the gym. "Make the goal getting healthy or fit or increasing athletic ability—not doing it just so you can eat more," she said.

You might have a health issue

Exercising, eating right and maintaining a good lifestyle isn’t enough if you have an ongoing health issue. Thyroid problems and certain medications can cause you to gain weight no matter how much you sweat it out at the gym.

Get to the root of these problems so you can make optimum use of your newfound healthy lifestyle. Consult a doctor as well, to rule out any serious health problems.

 You don’t drink enough water

“I think people forget how much more fluid they need for exercising—you need to make sure you’re keeping up with your liquid needs,” Armul said. After work out, we often mistake thirst for hunger and thus end up eating food rather than hydrating our body.

You are not lifting weights

Cardio exercise spikes metabolism and hunger levels and by doing weight training can counter it. “Plus, when you gain muscle from lifting, you actually burn more calories at rest,” she said. “Lifting weights tends to not boost appetite as much as cardio, and it increases resting metabolic rate by accumulating lean muscle mass.”