The path to weight loss can feel confusing, especially when it seems like your body is working against you. Picture this: You’ve diligently tracked your food intake and watched your portions. You’ve even reduced some of your favorite foods to create a significant calorie deficit. Still, when you step on the scale, you’re stunned to see you’ve gained weight. You're not alone if you’ve ever found yourself in this situation. Many wonder, “Why am I Gaining Weight in a Calorie Deficit?” If that’s you, the insights in this article can help you get to the bottom of your weight gain so you can confidently adjust your approach and make consistent, healthy progress toward your weight loss goals.
Cal AI’s calorie tracker can help you reach your goals and understand why you’re gaining weight despite a calorie deficit. This easy-to-use tool simplifies tracking your food intake so you can pinpoint any issues and adjust your approach for healthier progress.
It can be infuriating to eat less while still gaining weight. You might think you’re doing everything right, but the scale won’t budge. First, it’s essential to realize that you’re not alone, a common experience for many people.
Just because you’re in a calorie deficit doesn’t guarantee that weight loss will occur. Many factors can inhibit weight loss, even when you’re doing everything right.
Hormones control many of the body’s processes, including metabolism. So if hormones are not in balance, metabolism might slow down. Key hormones to consider:
Cortisol is commonly known as the stress hormone because it controls your body’s stress response. It also regulates metabolism, inflammation, and immune function, including:
When cortisol is released, it raises blood pressure and blood sugar. Short bursts of cortisol are okay, but if this occurs frequently, it can negatively impact health. Cortisol triggers the body to release stored glucose into your bloodstream.
High cortisol levels can lead to elevated blood sugars (hyperglycemia). This process leads the body to release more insulin to regulate blood sugar, putting your body under inflammation.
If you think you have chronic stress, it’s essential to get your cortisol levels tested. Normal levels are 6 to 23 mcg/dl (micrograms per deciliter). Cortisol levels change throughout the day, so it is usually tested in the morning when levels are highest.
Insulin plays a huge role in metabolism, including:
Consistently elevated insulin levels in the bloodstream can lead to weight gain because the body stores the excess sugar it produces.
Leptin is the hormone released by adipose (fatty) tissue, which helps you maintain your normal body weight. This hormone also controls your appetite by signaling when you are full, which is key to maintaining a proper calorie balance.
Your leptin level is proportional to your body fat level. Your leptin level will also decrease when you lose weight, specifically fat mass. This process can make it more difficult to feel satisfied, leading to overeating.
Thyroid hormones directly control your metabolism. Triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4) are the two main hormones. These hormones affect how you burn energy. If they are not within normal ranges, this can impact weight loss.
Some signs of a hormone imbalance can include, but are not limited to:
If your hormones are out of balance, contact your primary care doctor and share your concerns. They will order labs to provide insight into any hormonal factors that hinder weight loss.
Your basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the rate at which your body uses energy while at rest to keep you alive (i.e., your basic functions such as breathing and digestion). A lower BMR means you aren’t burning as many calories while resting.
If your body isn’t burning as many calories while at rest, you could easily overestimate your caloric needs and not truly be in a caloric deficit. A few factors that can slow your metabolic rate include:
As explained earlier, the stress hormone cortisol directly affects metabolism. It can elevate blood pressure, slow digestion, cause muscle pain and tension, decrease sleep quality, and much more. Managing your stress is imperative. Helpful stress management methods include exercise, therapy, meditation, journaling, breath work, and supplementation.
Lack of sleep is another reason you may not lose weight in a calorie deficit. Sleep deprivation can disrupt hormones, especially those that regulate your appetite (namely ghrelin and leptin) and cortisol, the stress hormone that can slow your metabolism. Lack of sleep can also negatively affect your decision-making skills, making it challenging to keep track of calories and limiting your ability to make informed nutrition decisions.
When you begin a VERY restrictive diet, your body might be unable to meet its energy needs for basic functions, such as:
Your body is shortened even further when you consider all your other daily activities, from brushing your teeth to walking around. In response, your body can slow down, burning less energy to preserve functioning at all costs.
As explained earlier, proper hormone functioning matters! An imbalance of cortisol, insulin, leptin, and/or thyroid hormones can directly impact your basal metabolic rate and how much energy you burn regularly.
Ways you can increase your basal metabolic rate include:
Your body composition may be another reason you still gain weight while having a calorie deficit. If you have a higher body fat percentage and lower muscle mass, you probably burn fewer calories than if you had more muscle mass. Muscle mass increases metabolism since it takes more energy to build and maintain muscle than fat mass.
Your activity level, specifically overestimating the calories burned through exercise, may be another reason you are not meeting your weight loss goals. Overestimating the burned calories could easily put you in a calorie surplus without realizing it. Also, the type of exercise you’re doing may not increase muscle mass. Adding muscle mass helps improve metabolism and also helps the body burn calories more efficiently.
Being in an actual caloric deficit can be hard to accomplish, and often, calories are not tracked precisely. Meanwhile, precision is key to proper calorie tracking! You shouldn’t just track what you eat but also be aware of the appropriate portion size.
Learn to read labels, measure, and weigh foods to get a clear picture of your caloric intake. This takes time, knowledge, discipline, and consistency and can be pretty challenging. That’s why underestimating caloric intake is often a primary factor in people's struggles to lose weight.
Your age needs to be considered as well. As you get older, your muscle mass decreases, slowing your metabolism. You might also experience a decrease in appetite, which can cause you to eat too few calories and lead to a slower metabolism.
Lastly, your mobility may be limited, which can cause too little energy expenditure. So if you are aging (which we all are), you must pay closer attention to these factors.
Alcohol is a macronutrient that some of us forget to include when evaluating our diet. It contains seven calories per gram. It provides energy but can also cause:
The impulse to reach for foods generally increases upon impairment from alcohol. To compound this, having low blood sugar can also lead you to consume carbs or other fast foods to regulate your blood sugar levels.
This addition of extra calories from food and alcohol can easily put you over your limit. Additionally, low testosterone caused by alcohol consumption can lead to decreased muscle mass, which, as we mentioned above, will reduce your BMR.
Has your weight loss stalled? Don't worry, this happens to everyone. But what causes this weight loss plateau? This occurs when the calories you burn equal the number you eat. Losing fat also means muscle loss, which can reduce your BMR, meaning as you lose weight, your metabolism slows and you burn fewer calories.
Even if your diet and exercise stay the same, your weight loss progress will stall, and you’ll need to increase physical activity or consume fewer calories. If you’re already eating fewer calories, you can try increasing the intensity of your workouts to help you break through the plateau.
Water retention can also result in a weight loss plateau. There are temporary causes for water retention that can occur while trying to lose weight, including:
Thankfully, these causes are temporary, but if it is a persistent issue, it’s a good idea to see your GP to check for chronic causes of water retention, as well as certain medications like:
Alongside a visit to your doctor, you can also try jumping into the sauna or working up a sweat with some HIIT exercises, which can prove helpful. But remember to stay hydrated, as this has also been shown to help overall fat loss.
While age and genetics play a part in one's ability to maintain weight, the hormone-metabolism connection also plays a part. Weight fluctuations are normal throughout menstrual cycles.
As we enter menopause, our metabolism slows, making it harder to keep the kilos off. Think menopause might be the culprit? The average weight gain during menopause can reach 5 kilos, but this isn’t necessarily a symptom.
Hot flushes, poor sleep, and low mood are associated menopause symptoms that might make eating well and staying active difficult. Specific exercises, like lifting weights, can help restore muscle mass and bone density and improve metabolic rates.
Have you increased your workouts but still have trouble losing weight? It might be down to the type of exercise you're doing, specifically cardio-based exercise, and how much of it.
Muscle loss is inevitable in all calorie-deficient circumstances (dietary or cardio-driven), and it usually happens in muscle groups that are not being trained, such as the upper body in runners.
Engaging in weight lifting while maintaining sufficient protein is important to help counter this and continue with your weight loss journey. That's not to say you should cut cardio out completely, but striking the right balance is essential here.
Your weight loss journey should be about sustainable weight loss and improved mental health. It is important to give yourself time for some R&R and to practice slower movements like yoga and Pilates.
It can be disheartening to see the scales change daily, but it's normal for body weight to fluctuate throughout the day, and the culprit is usually food or water.
If you aren't consistently weighing yourself simultaneously, expect to see a different number on the scale. Consuming any food or beverage, even the healthiest options, adds weight. But foods high in sodium and carbohydrates, especially, cause weight spikes.
There's no point in considering the amount of calories you're consuming if you don't also consider their quality.
For example, you may eat within your calorie budget but rely heavily on processed foods and sugary carbs. This will not be good for your health and can impact how your body stores fat.
Foods like these are also less likely to give you the energy to stay on track with your fitness routine and get your daily steps in, two crucial components of the weight loss equation.
Instead, reach for whole foods rich in vitamins, minerals, protein, and fiber. These will make you feel good and can be just as delicious as the processed alternatives, if you know how to prepare them right.
One common mistake when entering a calorie deficit is consuming the calories they burn through exercise. This might happen for several reasons.
For example, you may track your workouts through an app to see how many calories you burn in each session. The problem is that some fitness trackers overestimate energy expenditure, telling you that you have burned X calories, when the number is lower.
Another possibility is that your daily calorie allotment already accounts for exercise calories. If I eat them back, I've eaten them twice, which might put you in a calorie surplus (where you eat over your maintenance).
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