3 Hidden Reasons You Gain Weight

Are you having problems releasing weight? One important principle I encourage in the Take Back Your Temple program is to pay attention to how certain foods make you feel. This gives you valuable feedback into how your body is responding to the foods you eat.

We are all different in that we each tolerate certain foods better than others.

A food journal empowers you to become a detective, discovering which foods make you feel and function best—and which don’t.

This can make all the difference in whether you will have the energy and focus needed to fulfill your God-given purpose and live an abundant life.

It puts the power of choice in your hands because it gives you answers to these questions:

• Do certain foods make you bloat, clog up your sinuses and drain your energy? Make a note of them and replace them with a better alternative that doesn’t cause problems.
• Do certain foods make you feel energetic and strong? Pay attention! You want to emphasize those. Including those in your regular diet has a direct impact on the quality of your life because you’ll feel healthier and stronger more often.

In keeping a food journal, I have discovered 3 food types that make me bloat, drain my energy and cause me to gain weight.

My body is very sensitive; it has a hair-trigger alert system so when I eat the wrong types of foods, it is quick to respond negatively.

My sinuses are like the “canary in the coal mine” for me. It is my first alert that something has triggered my body’s warning system via a food sensitivity or allergy.

When my sinuses clog up, that means my body is retaining water to protect itself from an irritant:

• Retaining water means gaining weight
• Gaining weight means an increase in blood volume
• Increased blood volume means an increase in my blood pressure

Not only that, but eating these foods cause me to have food cravings. Not good!

Here are my 3 trouble foods:

• Sugar
• Salt
• Wheat-based products

1. Sugar. Most processed foods are loaded with sugar and salt for flavoring and to keep them on the shelves longer. Great for the manufacturer’s profits; bad for your health!

If you are having difficulty releasing weight, you may want to check your refrigerator, cabinets, and freezer for processed foods. You probably are eating more than your body can handle.

If you are saying, “I’m eating healthy but I’m not losing weight,” then I recommend you start with a sugar audit to get more insight. Some foods you are eating may not be as “healthy” as you think!

Sugar Audit

Get a pen and paper. Read the labels on the foods in your refrigerator, freezer, cabinets, and pantry. Write down any food that has more than 10 grams of sugar per serving. Your goal is to make the majority of your food intake less than 10 grams per serving.

I’ve discovered I have a very small sugar tank. I can’t eat much at all before my body’s alarm system goes off in the form of sinus problems and weight gain. So I rarely mess with sugar. 

2. Salt. A mistake I made in the last few months is allowing salt back into my diet. This happened in small, subtle increments—so small that I didn’t even notice. Unfortunately, this was a serious mistake because it also causes water retention, weight gain, and high blood pressure in me.

So this week, I did a “salt audit” to catch any salt thieves that sneaked into my life unawares. Here are the thieves I found:

• Salad dressings (yes, they were healthy in other ways, but loaded with sodium)
• Barbecue sauce
• Chicken bouillon
• Onion soup mix
• Corn meal mix
• Chili seasoning mix

I threw these out and will need to find lower sodium alternatives when I go to the grocery store next time. I must start paying better attention to this category.

If you are having difficulty losing weight, then I recommend you also do a salt audit of the foods you are eating.

Salt Audit

Check all food labels in your home. Write down any food that you find in the High sodium category.

• Low-sodium food: less than 140 milligrams per serving
• Moderate-sodium food: less than 400 milligrams per serving
• High-sodium food: more than 400 milligrams per serving

Your goal is to only have low to medium sodium foods in your home, preferably low sodium. Have fun experimenting with spice combinations in your cooking to add flavor to your meals.

3. Wheat-based products

You may not have issues with wheat-based products, but I have a sensitivity to foods made with flour—whether wheat or white flour.

My body views them as an irritant and reacts with the same “sinus-clogging – > water retention – > weight gain – > high blood pressure” alarm system as it does with too much sugar and salt in my diet.

So I focus on brown rice, corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and non-gluten grains for carbohydrates rather than flour-based products, like breads and pastas.

Once again, pay attention to how food makes you feel. If a certain food makes you bloat, feel sleepy, or makes your skin itch or break out, then you likely have a sensitivity or allergy to it.

Try eliminating it from your diet for 21 days and see if your symptoms improve. If they do, then you can make an informed choice about replacing it with a better alternative that “plays well” with your unique body chemistry.

I hope these tips have given you new insight into what may be causing your body to hold on to weight. The smartest thing you can do is to make the majority of your diet foods that God made versus foods that man has processed.

After all, who knows better what works for your body than the Creator?

If you do the salt or sugar audit I recommend, I would love to hear what you discovered! Please note your findings in the comments section. {eoa}

Once 240 pounds and a size 22, Kimberly Taylor can testify of God’s healing power to end binge eating. She is an author and the creator of the Christian weight loss website takebackyourtemple.com. Visit today for inspirational health and weight-loss tips.

For the original article, visit takebackyourtemple.com.