The Frustration of Gaining Weight

Gaining weight is extremely frustating, especially if you're trying to lose weight and, seemingly, you've been 'good', staying away from junk food and exercising regularly. If you gain weight when you're actually trying to lose it, the temptation can be to reach for a big bar of chocolate or tub of ice cream, since you end up wondering why you're even bothering. Of course, if you're gaining weight and have not exactly been making a conscious effort to watch your calorie intake, although you may be frustrated, you know that you only have yourself to blame. If you don't track your weight by standing on the scales now and again, though, it can come as quite a surprise to learn just how much weight you've put on.

You can usually tell you're gaining weight by how your clothes fit. Clearly, if you can no longer button up your shirt or zip up your trousers, the chances are you've been piling on the pounds. It takes time to reach this stage, though, and so it's easy to remain in denial, especially if you tend to purchase elasticated clothes, which expand with your waist. You cannot ignore the changes that happen to your body when you gain weight, though. You only have to look in the mirror or at photographs to see how different you look physically, and this can have a negative impact on your self-esteem when you compare yourself to how you used to look or to other, slimmer individuals.

Depending on how much weight you gain, you may also find that it becomes more difficult to do things that you used to do with ease. It may be the case that it's harder to walk around and you may not be able to ride on rollercoasters, for instance, purely because of your size. Obviously, the more weight you gain, the more frustrating it becomes, as the more it affects your everyday life. Thus, it is preferable to avoid letting the situation spiral out of control in such a way, although that is easier said than done, which is why so many people are finding themselves in the obese and morbidly obese weight catergories. The trouble is it can be a challenge to change the way you think about food.

If you do decide to do something about your weight, you then have to stay motivated for long enough to succeed. You can't expect to reach your weight-loss goal overnight and sometimes it takes time to find a diet plan that works for you. It may be that you're not sure what portion sizes you need or what kind of foods you should be eating and if you don't cut enough calories out of your diet, you may not lose any weight, which can be rather disheartening. You may go the other way and consume too few calories, which can also hamper your weight-loss progress as your body holds on to the calories you consume.

Thus, there may be weeks when you don't lose any weight. You may even gain weight on occasion. This may be the result of inadvertently consuming more calories than you realised or excessive weight training or water retention if it is your time of the month or because you're taking medication that has weight gain has a side effect. This is bound to be frustrating, but if you keep making the right food choices and exercising regularly, it will pay off in the end.