Weight gain despite dieting can bring you close to madness. You try everything, stick to the rules and still you suddenly weigh more? Why? We'll find out together today!
Diets are pretty mean in themselves. You're hungry, you're not allowed to eat what you feel like, and your thoughts are constantly revolving around food. If you then notice an increase in weight despite the diet, it pulls the rug out from under your feet.
You've got to be kidding me!
Yes, unfortunately it can. And that doesn't happen all that rarely.
Basically, the question is: Did you notice the weight gain despite dieting during or after?
In other words, do you weigh more while sticking to the new eating habit or do you have more kilos on the scale after the diet?
Let's take a look at this in detail. And find a solution to your problem!
Table of contents
Why weight gain despite dieting is not uncommon
First of all, you can take a deep breath. You are not alone with this phenomenon. Although this changes little about your situation and that you are terribly annoyed about it, it also means that not everyone is like this.
If you want to know exactly: Our weight changes every day. It can be hundreds of grams a day that you suddenly have more or less.
You must know this scene:
You start with a diet. The first days and even weeks you lose weight. And then something very strange happens: you suddenly weigh more. The numbers on the scale are now higher than before you started.
The great guesswork begins.
- How can that possibly be?
- Where does the weight gain come from despite dieting?
- Why do I weigh more now?
- Why did I gain body fat and where does it come from?
With age, we automatically gain weight. Even when we eat less. Our body simply needs less energy when we are fully grown. Metabolism slows down and muscle mass decreases. In return, the body fat percentage increases. This phenomenon begins at the age of only 30 years!
But you don't have to just accept that. You can do something about it. But first you have to find the cause of the weight gain.
And that's exactly what we're going to take a close look at now. You'll be surprised to find out that it's not as bad as you think.
Do diet plans really help you lose weight?
What you should know in advance
So as I said before, our weight changes almost every day.
You are over-motivated and weigh yourself every day or every second? How often you weigh yourself plays a very big role.
Losing weight is a process that takes time. If your weight gain happened within two days, then you can safely ignore it.
So ups and downs like on a roller coaster are normal. But if the long-term trend is downward, then you're on the right track.
As a basic rule of thumb, weigh yourself 1x per week.
This is very much related to that, when you weigh yourself.
If you get on the scale before breakfast on the first day and after lunch in three days, it is quite logical that these numbers are not comparable.
Also with which you weigh yourself has an influence on the result.
A normal scale is only of limited use. You are much better off with a body fat scale. Why? Well, body fat is lighter than muscle mass. If you train and build muscle during the diet, your normal scale will show more kilograms.
And that even though you've lost body fat. With a body fat scale you can keep an eye on your fat percentage.
How much body fat is optimal for a woman?
What are the most common reasons for weight gain despite diet
There are countless reasons why your scale now shows more than before. I have listed the most common ones here.
#1 Drinking and eating
Everything we drink or eat first ends up in the stomach. From there, it continues into the intestine. And you know the rest :). Even a glass of water before weighing can lead to the fact that you bring more on the scale.
You could now say: Well, then I get on the scale in the morning after the first pee. But even that doesn't give you a 100%ig accurate picture. The reason: your bowels are still full.
Sometimes there is more in the intestine, sometimes less.
#2 You love salt
Note: If you notice weight gain now during and after the diet and reach for salt more often, there may be a connection.
If you have eaten a lot of salty food on the days before weighing, this will be visible on the scale. The reason: salty food causes the body to retain fluid. You also feel more thirsty and drink more.
It is therefore not a real weight gain despite diet, but rather more any amount of water in the body. The good thing is that as soon as you eat normal salty food again, you eliminate the water and thus the excess grams.
Your weight is stagnating? This is the reason!
#3 Your hormones are playing tricks on you
That is exactly why we should weigh ourselves only about 1x per week, dear ladies. Because weight gain despite dieting can take on our menstrual cycle.
When we ovulate and the hormone progesterone is produced, our body stores water. This can mean up to 2 kg more body weight for women who are prone to deposits. No matter how healthy you eat. It's worst just before your period.
At the latest when your bleeding starts, the water retention will also disappear into thin air. Unfortunately, you have very little influence on this. But just keep in mind that this is not body fat.
#4 You have stress
You try everything. From drinking lots of liquids, eating a lot of vegetables to sugar deprivation. But it just won't work? Hormones can be to blame here, too. More precisely, the stress hormone cortisol.
Not only does it make us crave chocolate, chips and the like, but it also makes us prone to water retention.
If you have increased stress during the period of dieting, then this can be the reason for more weight despite dieting.
By the way: Too high cortisol levels are very unhealthy for the cardiovascular system and can have lasting harmful effects.
Reduce stress hormones easily today!
#5 You weigh more because you have more muscles
This phenomenon is much more pronounced in men than in women, but we too can gain a lot of muscle if we exercise a lot.
If you start weight training shortly before, during or after dieting, it is quite normal that the scale suddenly shows more than before. The reason is your muscles. Muscle mass is much heavier than body fat.
If this is the case, then you can safely ignore the weight gain despite diet. Because your body becomes heavier by building muscles, but at the same time more defined and tighter.
This also means that the circumference of your thighs and belly will decrease. You should not be confused by a normal scale now.
So the question you need to ask yourself now is: What did I gain? Body fat or muscle?
If it is the muscles, then you can rejoice, because your body fat percentage will be reduced.
Change your diet? Here's how to do it today!
#6 How you weigh yourself
We had already touched on that briefly before. But I would like to say something more about it now. It's often the little things that we don't think about.
Hence my questions to you:
- Do you always weigh yourself in the same clothes?
- Do you always have your phone plugged in or not? That can make up a few grams!
- Do you always wear the same shoes?
If you think about it, you'll realize that a t-shirt naturally weighs a lot less than an extra thick fluffy wool sweater in the winter.
Losing weight through strength training is better than any diet!
#7 You love Carbs
And I understand you only too well. Pasta and potatoes are just mega delicious. But let me quickly clarify something: Carbohydrates do not make you fat across the board.
But, of course, they can affect your body weight.
Our muscles and liver have carbohydrate storage. These carbs are stored as glycogen. If we were super athletic right now and a 50 km run was just around the corner, this storage would be wonderful. Because then our body could fall back on it.
However, if we are not mega athletes, the glycogens bind water to themselves. This leads to a short-term weight gain.
The memories vary in size - up to 1000 grams of depots are possible.
That's why you lose so much weight during a low carb or ketogenic diet at the beginning. However, especially at the beginning of the dietary change, it is not body fat, but only water that has held on to the stored carbohydrates.
So if you're worried about quickly putting more on the scale after the low carb diet, it may be pure water.
Do carbohydrates in the evening really make you fat?
#8 Your scale
Your scale can also be responsible for weight gain despite dieting. Each scale has a tolerance range for the measurement result. Depending on the model and brand, this can be between 100 and 300 grams.
So look at what tolerance your scale has. If you can't find out, you can do this test:
- Get on the scale. Note the exact number of kilos and grams
- Take one kg of flour and step on the scale again. How much more does the scale show now? Is it exactly 1 kg or are the values further apart?
- You can do the test one more time with 100 grams of flour or an object that weighs exactly 100 grams.
If your scale is inaccurate, get a body fat scale. It's much more accurate anyway and helps you keep track of your body fat percentage.
#9 You take medication
First and foremost, medications are supposed to help us with certain ailments. However, many also have a side effect - and that is: Weight gain.
This can happen in two ways:
- Your body stores water
- You have more appetite and eat more
Have you been prescribed any new medications lately? Has the dose been adjusted? Very classic medications that make you gain weight are:
- Insulin preparations for diabetes
- Beta blocker against high blood pressure
- the pill
- Migraine medications such as pizotifen, flunarizine and the like.
- Anti-inflammatory painkillers such as ibuprofen
Also, check if everything is okay with your thyroid gland. If it is out of balance, then you suddenly gain a lot of weight for no reason.
#10 More weight because of more body fat
There's nothing to embellish. Sometimes you've noticed weight gain despite dieting because you actually put more body fat on the scale.
It helps to take a deep breath and relax. Because that doesn't mean the end. You've identified the problem, you know your enemy, and now it's a matter of finding out how this could have happened.
Have your eating habits changed dramatically? Are you now perhaps eating more calories than before and moving less?
Losing weight is only possible if you consume more calories than you eat. Therefore, type your data into our We Go Wild Calorie Calculator and first calculate how much you really need. Only when you know the starting position, you can lose weight.
What you should do if you gain weight even though you are on a diet
Okay, we now know what the reason could be. Maybe more than one reason applies - in fact, that's usually the case.
It really is anything but simple. If you eat too little, the body shuts down the metabolism completely. It starts to store fat and creates a fat reserve from everything you know. Therefore, you need to eat regularly, well-balanced and healthy.
But now it's about not letting this phenomenon occur in the future. It helps if you understand and can classify your weight fluctuations.
Tip 1: Keep a food diary
Yes, mega elaborate - I know. But as grandma said so appropriately: "Who wants to be beautiful, must suffer." :) Of course, this is not so crass with a food diary. But it takes a little time in any case.
If you actually notice weight gain despite dieting, it could be that you are unconsciously taking in many more calories than you realize.
This can be in the form of sodas, but also small snacks next to work drive the calorie balance up. There are many free nutrition diaries available as an app. You don't even have to do the math yourself.
The first time you will not get along without the app, but then you will gradually develop a sense of how many calories are in individual portions and foods.
Tip 2: Calculate your actual calorie consumption
If you haven't done it yet, it's time to do it now. Because the best plan, the most sophisticated plan and the greatest motivation won't help if you simply consume too many calories.
Every body ticks a little differently.
In our free We Go Wild calorie calculator you can easily calculate how many calories you really need per day.
To lose weight is a Calorie deficit from 500 to 700 calories per day is ideal, reveals nutritionist Werner, with whom I train 1x per week.
Tip 3: Create a nutrition plan that you stick to
You now know how many calories you should eat every day, which hasn't worked so far, want to keep a food diary - there's only one thing missing: a sophisticated nutrition plan that really suits you.
It doesn't help much if you download a free diet plan from the Internet. Because it is simply not made for you. It doesn't take into account physical fitness, your maximum calorie intake, and certainly not your favorite foods.
But you can do all that at our We Go Fit Nutrition Plan have. You enter your data and we create a plan for you that adapts to you.
You'll get a wide selection of recipes that are based on your calorie consumption. In addition, shopping lists and many helpful tips with which you can make it!
Tip 4: Check and document your progress
From now on, we will document as much as we can :). Often, weight gain despite diet is accompanied by inaccurate documentation. Even if it is annoying, what must be, must be.
At the very least, there are now plenty of apps that do some of the work for you and create graphs for you that can be very motivating.
The first thing you should do is get yourself a body fat scale and a tape measure. Because progress can often be seen with a very simple method: Measuring.
And do it weekly. Thighs and abdomen are the classic places where body fat accumulates particularly stubbornly for us women.
If you want, you can also take before and after pictures. But don't let yourself get carried away. Make sure that the background always stays the same, you always wear the same thing and the light has the same intensity.
Taking the pictures at intervals of 2 to 4 weeks is optimal.
Our conclusion
If you are gaining weight despite dieting, you need to find out what the problem is. Maybe you are lucky and it is only water, because you eat too much salt, your hormones are to blame or you have weighed yourself wrong.
But maybe you've actually gained body fat. If so, it's time to make sure you have a customized nutrition plan. All the best for you!
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