How to Not Gain Weight (Step-by-Step Guide)

No matter what your age, body type or even health condition is, you should maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Excess weight is one of the most commonly faced health issues by individuals, with over two-thirds of adults all over the world being overweight.

Being overweight and being obese is not quite the same.

When your body has stored too much fat, it leads to obesity, which can eventually cause a lot of damage to your body.

If you are overweight, it means that you have exceeded the ideal body weight on the basis of your age, height, and bone structure.

Your growing waistline can gradually decrease your lifespan and give rise to a host of health complications.

So, here is everything you need to do to stop gaining weight.

Major Causes of Weight Gain

If you are wondering why your jeans are getting tighter by the day, the reason could be more than just your diet.

It could be due to the genes passed down from your family or the food you eat or even the phase you are going through in life.

There are various reasons adults gradually gain weight.

They are:

• Genetics: This is one of the leading causes of obesity. It seems quite unfair, but sometimes, if obesity runs in your family, it could be the reason you are overweight. This is because your genes affect how much body fat you store. However, they do not always predict future health.

• Pregnancy: It is most likely that you will gain a couple of kilos during pregnancy due to hormonal changes. And a lot of women find it difficult to lose that excess weight later. But if you are overweight during pregnancy, it could cause complications during labor or childbirth. While changes in the body are inevitable during this period, you need to keep in mind that the mother’s pregnancy weight is linked to the child’s obesity.

• Junk and Fast Food: This may be one of the leading causes of rapid increase in weight and, in some extreme cases, even obesity. An unhealthy diet just adds pounds to your waistline and reduces your lifespan. Consuming high levels of fats and sugars and not burning them off will result in them being stored in the body as fat. A diet that is high in calories and lacking in nutrients is likely to cause obesity.

• Medical Causes: Another reason for rapid weight gain is a disease or condition like hyperthyroidism. Individuals who have health issues often get lesser exercise, which leads to weight gain. Some medications for illnesses, antidepressants, and steroids also lead to weight gain if you do not follow a proper diet or exercise.

• Lack of Activity: Inactivity means you don’t burn the calories you are consuming. A basic level of exercise is mandatory to maintain your figure and health. If you take in more calories than you burn, it results in an increase in body fat.

• Age: Another factor that affects your weight gain is age. You can gain weight at any age, whether you are young or old. But as you age, your hormone levels fluctuate, and your lifestyle includes lesser activity. Hence, you stand the risk of falling prey to obesity. Apart from that, you also notice a decrease in muscle mass as you age, which leads to a decrease in metabolism. If you don’t consciously make an effort to maintain it, you will gain weight.

• Lack of Proper Sleep: Being active is good, but sometimes, your body requires rest. If you are not sleeping, you are doing something and snacking while you are at it. Late night snacking is the worst thing you can do to your body. Lack of proper sleep adds to the pounds, thanks to the biochemical changes that happen in the body due to sleep deprivation.

How to Identify If You are Overweight

Putting on a few extra pounds on a slender figure might not seem like a big deal, but these few extra pounds gradually keep growing and add to your waistline.

Over time, if you start weighing over your ideal weight, you stand the risk of becoming obese.

You can start by keeping track of your numbers.

Your BMI is one way to tell whether your weight is normal or not.

The BMI for normal weight ranges between 18.5 to 24.5 and overweight ranges between 25 to 29.9.

And if you hit 30 or higher, it means you are obese. Another way is by keeping an eye on your waistline.

If you see the fat around your waist increasing, it is a cause for concern.

To maintain a healthy body, you can also look up the ideal numbers for cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood sugar – a few other factors that influence weight.

Tips to Stop Gaining Weight

It may be quite a challenge to drop those extra pounds you put on, and the process is often laborious and boring.

Losing weight needs a lot of commitment towards healthy eating, exercising, and cutting down on junk.

But there’s nothing to panic about.

You can overcome every challenge and get back to being your fitter self.

Here are a few tips to maintain your weight and stop gaining more:

• Don’t Skip Your Breakfast

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

If you think skipping your breakfast is going to help you lose those extra pounds, you will be surprised to learn that it has the opposite effect.

Every night, your metabolism plummets, and the best way to kick-start it is by having a filling breakfast the next morning.

A nutritious breakfast is like fuel for the body and plays a major role in maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

You could include fruits and vegetables and lean protein in your morning meal along with a glass of water.

• Sleep Early and Wake Up Early

Your sleep cycle says much about your weight.

If you have the habit of staying up late and sleeping through the morning, it’s the reason you are on the edge when you check your weight.

Sleeping in late makes you snack and waking up late means that you skip your breakfast and your metabolism is disturbed.

Sleep deprivation affects most regular processes in the body, and studies have shown that lack of sleep can lead to increased levels of hunger hormones and decreased levels of satiety hormones.

That’s how your sleep pattern can manipulate your weight gain.

• Avoid Junk Food

No matter how disciplined our diet is, we go back to junk food.

It all boils down to curbing your cravings. If you find yourself reaching out to junk constantly, that’s a red flag.

It may be a quick fix when you are hungry, but it is very unhealthy and, as mentioned above, it just adds extra pounds to your weight.

Get rid of any junk food present in your house, and instead, opt for a salad or something more healthy, even if it takes time to prepare it.

• Exercise to Add Muscle Over Fat

One of the best ways to avoid gaining weight is to boost your metabolic rate and increase your muscle mass.

Regular exercise will ensure you don’t gain excess weight and help you stay fit by regulating all normal functions.

Weight gain or obesity causes muscle loss, which, in turn, makes you physically inactive.

The only way to avoid it is by incorporating activity into your routine.

By being active, you can burn more calories, and gaining weight will be out of the picture.

You can always design your fitness routine as per your comfort.

• Don’t Eat Heavily, Break it Down

Schedule your meals. Make it a habit of eating every 2 to 3 hours.

When you give your body food at regular intervals, you feel sated and don’t need to hoard it all in one go.

If you are not starving, you won’t binge.

Doing this will also boost your metabolism levels, which will keep weight in check.

• Surround Yourself with Health-Conscious People

The people you hang out with are most likely to influence you, and the more active and healthy they are, so will you be.

You end up eating more salads and healthy food and working out together.

When you surround yourself with health freaks, you are always motivated to work towards a fitter you as you tend to imbibe their healthy traits.

• Cut Yourself Some Slack

Following a healthy lifestyle is great, but it’s a gradual process and cannot happen overnight.

You can’t quit junk all at once – you can gradually cut down the portions and finally eliminate junk from your diet.

Allow yourself some cheat meals occasionally so that you don’t feel deprived.

You could be on a strict diet, but once in a while, if you are craving badly for it, you should go ahead and have some.

If you restrict yourself for long periods, when you get the opportunity to indulge, you will just pounce on the food and go wild.

• Cook Your Own Food and Regulate What Goes In

If you don’t know how to cook, you better learn because it can benefit you a great deal.

In order to maintain your weight, you need to alter a few of your lifestyle choices.

While eating out occasionally is not a bad idea, eating out every day is definitely bad for your health.

When you cook for yourself, you can control the ingredients you use, like use less sugar or other fatty ingredients.

When you cook healthy food at home, you can add natural flavoring with spices and make it taste delicious, just how you like it.

That way, you will never tire of eating healthy.

• Eliminate Mindless Eating

There are a few mindless eating habits you need to avoid if you want to have a fit body.

No more excuses! It’s about time you make a few smart decisions if you do not want to gain weight.

By eliminating habits like over-drinking and eating too much junk food and by controlling your cravings, you are doing your body a favor.

Mindless eating in front of the TV or while on the phone is not healthy for your body or the family.

While snacking, we unconsciously consume too many simple carbs and miss out on proper proteins.

• Always Stay Hydrated

You may be wondering what water could do to stop you from gaining weight.

Experts state that drinking water before meals will accelerate weight loss.

When we fill our stomach with water, there is little room for second servings.

Water not only energizes and refreshes you, but it also makes you feel fuller, and you avoid eating more than what your body needs.

Also, when you are dehydrated, the body tends to retain water, and it shows on the weighing scale.

• Follow a Proper Diet Routine

Your healthy plans can be kickstarted with a healthy diet created just for you, keeping in mind your body’s needs.

You can consult a dietitian to create the perfect plan for you.

A diet plan that encourages the consumption of superfoods, vegetables, fruits, and fiber-rich foods will benefit you in the long run.

Go for the classic diet plans as they have been drafted after years of research and can tell you the best way to lose weight without cutting down on your food too much.

Step-by-Step Plan to Start Healthy Routine

Don’t aim for a drastic weight loss program.

Start with a plan to stop gaining more weight, and gradually, you will get there.

Aim for a healthy and comfortable weight that does not pose a risk to your health.

First, check with a dietitian or a doctor to know what your ideal weight should be and then get to work towards it.

The goal is to stay fit and healthy but not to lose too much weight.

• Step 1

Start by managing your timetable, and everything else will get back on track.

As discussed before, a well-balanced sleep cycle and food schedule is the way to good health.

You can go ahead and plan the rest according to how your everyday timetable works.

• Step 2

Maintain a food diary and note down everything you need to know about your food cravings, the foods you need to cut down on, and the foods you need to eat more.

That way, you get a proper understanding of what your current routine is like.

• Step 3

Once you figure out what changes you need to make to your routine in terms of the amount and type of food you eat and your overall eating habits, it’s time to follow a new routine.

• Step 4

Prepare a new routine, and take reference from principals of a healthy diet.

You can also take help from a dietitian to prepare your food plan.

Keep it simple and keep making changes gradually to suit your lifestyle.

• Step 5

Sign up for a gym or a fitness class, or just do it by yourself.

Make it a point to incorporate at least a minimum amount of exercise into your routine.

Exercise accelerates your metabolism, and if it is coupled with a healthy diet, you will be unstoppable.

• Step 6

Try to stick to your new healthy schedule. Don’t make too many changes in one go.

If you do so, you won’t stick to it for a long time and will end up regretting it.

Drastic weight loss plans often don’t last long.

So, when you start on a weight loss plan, keep it slow, and the results will be more significant.

Impact of Being Overweight on Your Health

Based on studies being overweight is a reason that causes several deadly diseases in both men and women, that result in a reduced lifespan.

When you are overweight or even on the border of obesity, you are at a risk of suffering from many health conditions if immediate action is not taken.

Overweight or Obesity can increase the risk of many health problems, including diabetes, certain cancers, and heart disease.

During pregnancy, excess weight may even lead to short and long-term health problems for you and even your child.

One of the main impacts of being overweight is it causes depression in you, and can even have a negative impact on your overall mood and affects your life.

Here are some health risks that are caused by an increase in weight.

• High Blood Pressure

Being overweight or obese increases your risk of heart failure.

Extra weight makes you more vulnerable to high blood pressure and even high cholesterol.

The combination of these two enhances your risk of heart disease or stroke.

It is highly recommended to lose weight immediately to reduce the chances of developing heart-related complications and lower the chances of heart disease.

• Type 2 Diabetes

Most major cases of Type 2 diabetes are people who are either overweight or obese.

Highly elevated body sugar levels double the risk of a short lifespan.

It can also lead to other complications like amputation, high blood pressure, circulatory dysfunctions, stroke, etc.

These issues can be prevented by having a balanced diet, getting an adequate amount of sleep, and exercising more often.

The more you get physically active, the less is your need for medications.

Losing weight can control blood sugar levels and even delay the onset of diabetes.

• Respiratory Issues

Being overweight can reduce your lung capacity, which means you are at a higher risk of contracting respiratory infections.

Obese people are more likely to suffer from asthma or other respiratory disorders.

The reason being, the excess fat in the neck, throat, and tongue blocks the air passages during sleep.

The blockage in the air passage can also lead to fatigue and lack of stamina.

This may not be a big issue in the beginning, but it can lead to life-threatening complications if not treated in time.

• Cancer

While cancer can affect anyone, being overweight drastically increases the chances.

Cancers of the colon, breast, gallbladder, ovaries, and endometrium are linked to obesity.

As your body mass index or BMI increases so does your risk of spread of cancerous cells in the body.

For those who suffer from severe obesity with a very high BMI, the risk of death through cancer also increases.

• Bone and Joint Issues

Being overweight or bordering on obesity can damage your joints and there is a higher risk of accidents or personal injuries.

It can lead to osteoarthritis, a common joint condition that affects the knees, hips, and back.

Those extra pounds create pressure on these joints, which wears away the cartilage protecting them.

Weight loss can ease the stress on the bones.

These are a few conditions that are mostly caused by being overweight or obesity, but there are much more like Alzheimer’s, kidney dysfunction, septicemia, liver disease, and sleep apnea.

Even mothers who are overweight stand the risk of losing their unborn child in the womb or the child is more prone to obesity and defects in the brain and spinal cord.

Even if you are in the early stages of these conditions, weight loss can help significantly in keeping your health in check.

Conclusion

Being overweight or obese can have a huge impact on not only your body but also your overall health.

Reports show that adults ranging between the ages of 18-85 showed increased death rate due to obesity.

Don’t ignore those increasing pounds and take action immediately.

The complications that arise due to excess weight can be detrimental to your mental as well as physical health.

Many of them can be avoided just by following a proper diet and exercising regularly.

Weight loss can improve bodily functions, lower the blood pressure and cholesterol levels, and enhance your overall health.

While it can be very difficult to overcome these health issues, it is not impossible.

By maintaining a healthy and normal weight, you can have a peaceful life and stay healthy as you grow older.

Even lifting a few pounds or jogging or even raising from a bench, is a start to a healthier lifestyle.

So, make a change today and start living a healthier life.