These 5 Habits Are Secretly Making You Gain Weight, Doctors Warn

Poor Sleep Causes Weight Gain

If you routinely go to sleep later than you should and get fewer than seven hours of sleep a night, you may find yourself quietly packing on the pounds. Not only that, but the weight gain is more likely to accumulate around the abdomen. “Our findings show that shortened sleep, even in young, healthy and relatively lean subjects, is associated with an increase in calorie intake, a very small increase in weight, and a significant increase in fat accumulation inside the belly,” says Virend Somers, MD, PhD. “Normally, fat is preferentially deposited subcutaneously or under the skin. However, the inadequate sleep appears to redirect fat to the more dangerous visceral compartment. Importantly, although during recovery sleep there was a decrease in calorie intake and weight, visceral fat continued to increase.”

Are You Eating More Than You Think?

If you’re not aware of the calories you’re taking in, you may be eating more than you think.“Calorie deficit is the driver of weight loss, and it still matters what you eat,” Dr. Nisha Patel, medical director of the Obesity Medicine and Metabolic Health Program within the transplant department at California Pacific Medical Center, tells Fortune. “If you’re eating foods that are higher in fiber, higher in lean protein, they’re going to be more satiating. They’re also in line with health-promoting dietary guidelines, and it’s going to be easier to create a calorie deficit with those types of foods versus [ultra-processed foods].”

Fasting Is Not a Free-For-All

If you skip breakfast and eat more at lunch and dinner as a result, you aren’t getting the full benefits of fasting. Intermittent fasting has many health benefits, but what you consume in your eating window still counts. “Fasting can be a tool to help individuals reduce their calorie intake because, at the end of the day, it is reducing calorie intake that actually drives weight loss,” Dr. Patel says. “What we eat during that eight-hour eating window does matter. It’s not just a free-for-all; you can still eat more calories than you intend to in a span of eight hours, so they still need to focus on their diet quality.”

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No Strength Training

Aerobic exercise is important, of course—but maintaining muscle is crucial for health and long-term fat-burning. “If you’re building muscle, you’ll be burning fat, even though your weight is the same or even if it goes up a bit,” endocrinologist and obesity specialist Marcio Griebeler, MD, tells the Cleveland Clinic. “If you have more muscle, I can guarantee you your metabolic rate is up, and you’re burning fat. And you’ll be overall healthier, regardless of whether you’ve hit that weight number that you’re looking for.”

Chronic Stress

If you allow stress to continue unchecked, it can significantly impact weight loss efforts. “The link between stress and weight gain is real,” says the Cleveland Clinic. “Those elevated cortisol levels circulating in your body lower your metabolism and encourage cravings for fat and sugars.”