Many people gain weight when they start a new diet. If you're creating your own diet, it could be that you're eating more than you should. It's easy to underestimate calories unless you keep a food diary to keep track of your food intake.
Reduced Physical Activity
Many diets restrict your calorie or your carb intake severely. This affects your energy level. Low-carb diets can cause dizziness, fatigue and weakness. Others cause you to have less energy overall. In any case, you're less likely to exercise regularly if you're tired or weak. If you do exercise, you might do so with less intensity or for a shorter period. Less exercise means fewer calories burned, so you might gain weight.
Water Retention
Some diets can cause you to retain water. If you're not drinking enough or eating too little, your body holds on to every drop you do drink, so you end up bloated. When you retain water, you see the numbers on the scale go up. However, this is likely to be temporary and should go away in a few days or as you make adjustments to your calorie intake.
Stress
Stress can cause you to gain weight. When you go on a strict diet, your mind and body are under stress. Your body is under stress because of the reduced calorie intake, which tricks your body into believing you're at risk of starving. This sends danger signals, causing your body to hold on to the calories you consume in an effort to keep you alive. Emotional stress can also lead to weight gain. According to personal trainer Dalton Wong, stress increases the production of cortisol, which causes your body to accumulate fat in the abdominal area.
Overcompensating
If you're following a very strict diet, you might be more tempted to cheat to compensate for the lack of food. For example, you might eat few calories during the day, which causes you to feel like you're starving by the time dinner arrives. If you give in to the temptation, you're likely to go for comfort foods such as fatty or sugary snacks. These provide a quick burst of sugar or energy, making you feel better. While you might think a treat is OK because you didn't eat much during the day, the truth is that you can end up eating too many calories, affecting your weight-loss efforts.
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