Why you may gain weight despite eating healthy

Eating nutritious food does not always guarantee weight loss. Even people who regularly eat home-cooked meals, fruits, and vegetables while avoiding fast food may gain weight because of portion sizes, frequent snacking, reduced physical activity, inadequate sleep, stress, hormonal conditions, or certain medications.

First, healthy foods such as nuts, seeds, avocado, whole grains and cooking oils can still be high in calories when consumed excessively. Frequent snacking on foods such as granola, smoothies, dried fruit and yoghurt can also increase total calorie intake. Moreover, spending more time sitting, sleeping poorly or experiencing prolonged stress may affect appetite, activity levels and weight.

Read More: How to reduce body odour at the office

Medical conditions and medications can also contribute to weight gain. An underactive thyroid and PCOS, for example, may make weight management more difficult, while some antidepressants, steroids and diabetes medications can affect body weight. Meanwhile, water retention, hormonal fluctuations, constipation and increased muscle mass can temporarily raise the number on the scale. Persistent or unexplained weight gain, particularly when accompanied by other symptoms, should be discussed with a doctor.