I'm gaining weight every day...help !

I honestly had this happen to me, I gained 3 stone in 3 months without changing any of my exercise or eating habits. I had blood tests that showed absolutely nothing. I'm down to eating 1000 calories a day and am barely losing weight that way. I've read that unless you ask specifically for a full thyroid screening, they use outdated tests that don't really show anything, so if your symptoms fit, really push for it! A lot of doctors will just assume you're overeating, too, so keep a food diary (or use a calorie counting app) that you can show them on your next appointment.

Hi, this has happened to me. I know how frustrating it is. You'll have your diet and exercise nitpicked to death by everyone around you (sometimes including doctors) and drive yourself batty with fine-tuning it, measuring, weighing, charting, calculating, etc to no avail. You'll be told its just "age" when you know full well that something is not right. Standard tests might turn up nothing and doctors might keep saying you're perfectly healthy. You may be referred to a psychiatrist and recommended anti-depressants.

Here are some of the physiological barriers to getting results from diet and exercise which can cause unexplained weight gain:

1) Insulin / blood sugar issues

2) Cortisol / adrenal issues (note: "stress" is not just emotional; anything causing chronic inflammation is a physiological stressor)

3) Gut health issues

4) Hormone issues (eg, low testosterone, high estrogen, etc)

5) Toxicity / liver issues

6) Immune system issues

7) Cellular issues (eg, anemia)

8) Neurotransmitter issues

9) Thyroid issues

Thyroid has been mentioned. Nar38496 is correct that standard thyroid tests only check TSH which is insufficient by itself. Hypothyroidism is not the only disrupted thyroid pattern which can cause unexplained weight gain. You also need to push for free T4 and *definitely* free T3 to be tested. Check for thyroid antibodies (eg, Hashimotos). If possible, get reverse T3 tested. Research *optimal* levels and ratios to each other; don't just accept "normal" lab ranges. That goes for any and all tests (not just thyroid).

If your physiology is less than optimal, results from diet and exercise will be less than optimal. Simple as that. To understand the above list, try googling Dr. Bryan Walsh. Look for his "Missing Fat Loss Manual" pdf and "Fat Loss Resistance Assessment Guide". You can also find lots of his interviews, podcasts, and articles online. Don't pay for anything, that's not necessary.

In my own 5 year long journey, my thyroid was fine but I found a cortisol issue that had trickled down to a low testosterone issue, and several significant micronutrient deficiencies including vitamin D, B12 and iron (preanemic).

Don't underestimate the impact of micronutrient deficiencies. For example, your body needs iron to regulate metabolsm and to perform athletically; B vitamins are responsible for properly metabolizing carbs, protein.and fat; vitamin D impacts digestive health.

My deficiencies didn't make sense to my diet and lifestyle so I started investigating possible malabsorption (gut health) issues. I wanted to be sure to locate the first domino, not just treat symptoms indefinitely. In addressing these issues, my body finally slowly started to respond again to diet and exercise like it used to. I'm still not fully recovered but am finally making progress for the first time in 5 years.

I only got this far through my own research, being proactive with doctors, continuously asking why to every problem that was found, taking matters into my own hands with high quality supplements and regular testing. Why do I have low testosterone? Why do I have micronutrient deficiencies? Etc. Otheriwse, I'd still be watching doctors shrug like nothing is wrong as I gained more and more weight (among many other symptoms), being treated like I'm lazy and told to eat better and exercise more, or told to just accept it as normal aging.