If you have clicked on this article, you probably recognize the following problem: you have decided to go for it, you have started eating healthier, running and exercising more and hoping to lose a few pounds. But then the exact opposite happens. You gain weight instead of losing weight. How can you gain weight if you do your best to lose weight?

Before ritually burning the scale, we want to let you know that this is very common. There are a number of possible causes, not all of which say that you are on the wrong path. Here are seven reasons why you are gaining weight if you want to lose weight and what you can do about it.

1. Burn few calories by eating too much after training

This happens quite quickly: you have gone for a run and then think a little too casually that you can eat anything you want. After all, you burned a ton of calories, right? The result: you eat more of it than you burned. You really don't have to count all the calories, but it is good to keep an eye on if you are not losing weight or if you have not accidentally started eating more. If you keep track of what you eat extra and what you have burned extra, in addition to what you normally eat, you will get a good idea whether you are doing the right thing or if you can skip that extra energy bar of 350 kcal.

2. Do not lose weight by retaining moisture

Exercising also means the risk of small muscle tears. These small damages in the muscle tissue are necessary to become stronger, but can ensure that your muscles will retain extra moisture. Consequence? You swell up a bit and gain weight. Fortunately, this is not for a long time, but it does take some time to get your body used to the new efforts. Make sure you take your rest days seriously , so that you can come back stronger.

3. That is how long it takes for you to lose weight

It's common for runners to gain weight as soon as they start training intensively, such as for a marathon. Your muscles respond to the increased efforts by storing more glycogen, and glycogen binds to water again, so that the scale will tap a higher number. As soon as you get fitter, this reaction of the muscles will decrease and you will retain less glycogen. Easier said than done, but the answer here is to really be patient. Rather look at what the scale is doing over a longer period of time, instead of focusing on the number it only points to today.

4. You have gained muscle that prevents you from losing weight

Muscles are denser than fat. Your body may look slimmer with more muscle and less fat than it may be, but it may well be that it looks like you haven't lost weight on the scale. However, because you have been exercising more, you have become healthier and you look tighter, which is enough reason to be satisfied with the result.

5. You don't lose weight with too many HIIT workouts

Although high-intensity interval training can be very effective if you want to improve your fitness or lose some weight, remember that exercise also triggers a stress response in your body. In general, the stress released during intensive exercise is a positive form of stress, but if you exercise too much, your body can trigger a stress response and increase cortisol production. Too high a level of cortisol in the blood can lead to some form of insulin resistance, lower levels of thyroid-stimulating hormones and suppression of testosterone production in men or progesterone production in women. If you don't realize this, it can be difficult to lose weight without knowing why. Do you want to prevent cortisol from becoming the culprit when you want to lose weight? Then make sure that no more than 20% of your total number of workouts consists of HIIT workouts. Example: if you train 5 times a week, do a maximum of 1 HIIT workout.

6. Recovery is important for weight loss

Rest days are necessary to allow your body to recover from the days on which you train intensively . However, many runners tend to train hard but not recover enough. However, the consequences of this are not attractive, for example, you have a greater risk of chronic inflammation and a hormonal imbalance and both can have an effect on your weight. There are sports watches that indicate when you have recovered sufficiently. But you can also invest in a special HRV heart rate belt or smartwatch and keep track of your heart rate variability.

7. You eat too little, so you don't lose weight

It makes sense, of course: eat less to lose weight. But it is sometimes not that simple. You can run more and eat more, or run less and eat less, but running more and eating less doesn't always work. It is important that you continue to feed yourself with healthy foods that also help you recover after a workout. By doing that you will keep it up and you will eventually lose weight more easily. If you short on fuel, not only will you not recover enough, your body will also adapt by lowering the metabolism so that you can train less hard. Make sure you eat enough and are not hungry by eating a healthy diet consisting of whole grains, complex carbohydrates, healthy fats and plenty of fruits and vegetables.

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