Weight gain and fluctuations in weight can happen for a variety of reasons. Many people progressively gain weight as they age or make changes to their lifestyle. However, fast weight gain can be a sign of an underlying health condition, such as a problem with the thyroid, kidneys, or heart.
Sudden weight gain -- 2-3 pounds in a day or more than 5 pounds a week -- could mean it's getting worse. You also might have swollen feet and ankles, a faster pulse, heavy breathing, high blood pressure, memory loss, and confusion. You might want to track these symptoms so you can tell your doctor about abrupt changes.
While diet plays a huge role in weight loss, inactivity is another key factor. Maybe you've cut back your energy intake, but if you're not moving enough, you can still gain weight. Research shows that a lack of exercise is one of the main drivers of being overweight or obese [8][9].
Hormonal weight gain affects different areas in men and women. Men tend to gain excess weight in the abdominal area. However, premenopausal women add pounds around the hips and thighs. After menopause, women usually gain weight in the abdomen and develop a "menopausal belly."
Sometimes, excess fat around the belly is due to hormones. Hormones help regulate many bodily functions, including metabolism, stress, hunger, and sex drive. If a person has a deficiency in certain hormones, it may result in weight gain around the abdomen, which is known as a hormonal belly.
Your body may not be used to the extra calorie expenditure, as well as sweating more often, and it may retain fluids for a temporary period of time until it adjusts to your new regimen. It's important to ease your way into a fitness routine, so your body can gradually adjust to all the changes going on.
Bloating, or swelling due to a buildup of fluid in the tissues can cause weight gain. This may be due to menstruation, heart or kidney failure, preeclampsia, or medicines you take. A rapid weight gain may be a sign of dangerous fluid retention. If you quit smoking, you might gain weight.
The body responds to what you give it, and by giving it very little your metabolism has crashed, it's damaged and you've fallen into starvation mode. So your body is holding onto every last calorie and dropped your metabolic rate, so now you're not losing weight anymore.
Factors like age, decreased activity levels, loss of muscle mass, a slower metabolism, and even your menstrual cycle can all cause you to gain a few extra pounds. So unexplained weight gain isn't always something to worry about, especially if you can pinpoint the reason after thinking about it for a few minutes.
I'd say that breast cancer patients are the majority of patients who come to us for help with weight gain. Weight gain is also extremely common among patients with prostate cancer, as well as lymphoma, multiple myeloma and chronic leukemia.
Water retention, also known as edema, can show up as bloating, puffiness, swelling or unexplained weight gain over a short period of time. Edema is classified as pitting edema and non-pitting edema. In pitting edema, the swollen areas on your body respond to pressure from your hand or finger.
Although the prevalence of obesity increases with age, weight gain is actually greatest across the younger years of adult life — late twenties and thirties — and diminishes gradually over time as adults get older, says Tucker.
Changes to the Buttocks, Hips, and Thighs
This tends to be more pronounced in women than in men given the gendered differences in fat accumulation and distribution. Widening of the hips and buttocks can lead to a distinct pear shape. Fat can also accumulate along the thighs and upper portions of the legs.
You will not gain weight from eating too few calories.
There are many reasons why it can seem like under-eating can lead to weight gain. But, science has shown over and over again that this isn't physiologically possible.
It kicks in to preserve and store fat for future energy. Research shows that this happens because the human body has evolved to value storing fat and energy and to interpret a shortage of calories as sign of distress.
When you exercise regularly, your body stores more glycogen to fuel that exercise. Stored in water, glycogen has to bind with water as part of the process to fuel the muscle. That water adds a small amount of weight, too.
Eating a healthy diet rich in complex carbohydrates, healthy fats, and whole grains, exercising regularly, and managing stress levels are essential for reducing hormonal belly fat.
Start with a mix of moderate and vigorous exercise to burn off menopausal weight gain. Your routine should include aerobic exercises like swimming, walking, bicycling, and running, as well as resistance or strength training. “What you want to employ now is high-intensity interval training (HIIT),” Dr. Peeke says.
More often than not, belly fat can be traced to your diet. But if your tummy's popping despite a steady diet and lifestyle, your weight gain could be hormonal. Hormone levels can change for a variety of reasons outside your control, including: aging (think menopause and andropause!)
They are one factor in causing obesity. The hormones leptin and insulin, sex hormones and growth hormone influence our appetite, metabolism (the rate at which our body burns kilojoules for energy), and body fat distribution.
Aside from hormonal imbalances caused by changes in estrogen levels, another hormone that can influence weight gain in both men and women is cortisol. Cortisol, also known as your “fight or flight“ signal is released in the face of a perceived threat.
One easy way to tell the difference between bloat and belly fat is to note belly fat does not cause your stomach to expand wildly throughout the course of a day; bloat does. One other way to tell the difference between bloat and belly fat is you can physically grasp belly fat with your hand, you cannot with bloat.