Eat Less, Exercise More and Gain Weight?! Metabolic Derangement from Overtraining and Undereating

It may seem counterintuitive and frustrating, but when you are overtraining and undereating, your body may actually gain weight!

I have seen it over and over. A client is so ready to lose weight and get in shape, so she dedicates herself to eating less and exercising more. She hits the gym for several hours a day, ups her training plan or runs miles and miles without fail each day. If that isn’t working, she cuts back on her calorie intake more and more to try to make the scale budge.

Surely, cutting calories and burning off more equals definitive weight loss, right?

Shouldn’t calories in and calories out determine how our body holds onto or loses weight?

The answer is an emphatic NO! Our bodies are intelligent and complex. There is more to the human body than basic thermodynamics. My coaching clients see amazing results when they learn to honor their hunger of all types, eat more intuitively and balance their metabolisms to have more vibrant energy 

Metabolic hormones play a significant role in body weight, metabolism, hunger and energy. If you are overtraining and undereating, pushing your body with an intense training routine in an effort to lose weight, your body may react with unintended consequences.  

When the body doesn’t receive adequate nutrition, it often triggers a metabolic and hormonal response that lead it to hold onto weight and even store extra body fat as preservation. Of course, each of us is unique with varying needs, so this is not medical advice or treatment and you need  to consider this in conjunction with a qualified health professional. 

Metabolic Hormones, Overtraining and Undereating

Ghrelin

When you engage in intense cardiovascular total-body exercise such as running long distances or long sessions of boot camp frequently, your body produces ghrelin. This is the body’s way of seeking out energy to fuel the activity as this hormone makes us feel hungry. Until you nourish your body and eat adequate fuel, ghrelin causes the metabolism to slow down to preserve energy. 

Leptin

At the same time, leptin drops. This satiety hormone tells the brain that you have sufficient energy and are adequately fueled. When leptin drops, the body receives the signal that more fuel is needed and that it must gain weight. Therefore, low leptin causes your metabolism to slow down as the body tries to hold onto fat. 

Cortisol

Clearly, overtraining is a stress on the body. Intense cardio exercise elevates cortisol levels which impairs insulin sensitivity and contributes to fat accumulation as the body goes into a heightened stress mode. If the body is in a constant calorie deficit because your exercise level is too high and your food intake too low, the body gets the message that it must slow down all functioning to conserve energy. 

Sex Hormones: Estrogen & Testosterone

Other hormones also get dysregulated with overtraining and undereating. For example sex hormones, like estrogen and testosterone, can become suppressed with intense exercise, causing issues such as a lack of periods and impaired fertility.

Thyroid Hormones

Studies also show that overtraining and undereating can result in self-inflicted hypothyroidism in as few as four days. When the thyroid does not function properly, our cells become ineffective at many metabolic processes.

Not only does this metabolic stress of under-fueling and overtraining make it more likely that you will hold onto or even gain weight, but unbalanced metabolic hormones from overtraining and undereating can also weaken the bones, harm fertility, increase the risk of injury, slow down metabolism, harm the adrenal glands and imbalance mood. 

Balance Your Metabolic Hormones

To balance your metabolic hormones it is necessary to provide the body with the nutrition it needs to thrive with your current activity level and needs. Metabolic hormonal dysregulation occurs when athletes don’t take in enough food to support their activity levels so proper nourishment is the key to regaining balance.

For example, an endurance athlete can mitigate the rise in ghrelin with intense training by eating adequate and balanced food before, during and after exercise. It may also be important to consider how much physical exertion is too much and what forms of exercise may work best for you. 

It is also important to consider your overall lifestyle and approach to exercise. Creating a balanced lifestyle that involves enjoyable activity, adequate rest, satisfying relationships and meaningful stress management is key to balancing your metabolic hormones and maintaining a healthy weight. This is what The Simple Pure Whole Solution is all about!

Rejuvenating and rebalancing the body takes time, patience and a mindset shift. To find lasting health, we need to build new lifestyle habits that respect the importance of rest and real food nourishment.

To fuel your body for optimal health and athletic performance, there are several strategies. Intuitive eating and getting in touch with your body can help you achieve a nourishing diet without strict mathematical calculations or obsessive rules. Simplifying what to eat to fuel your body’s needs and listening to the intelligence within allows you to heal your relationship with food and balance your hormones and metabolism.

It is important to remain mindful of the body’s increased needs with endurance training. Intense exercise can suppress the appetite and make it more difficult to accurately assess how much fuel you need. Ensuring sufficient calorie intake while emphasizing diet quality and balance is key. For those who are engaged in particularly intense activity or training it may be helpful to seek professional guidance to ensure your body remains healthy and balanced, mentally and physically. 

Balance distance with strength, work with play, activity with sleep and energy expenditure with food!

I am trainng to support women with breast cancer via Jill’s Wish through If Girls Ran the World, and will be sharing my balanced training plan to avoid metabolic derangement while staying active later this month on the blog! Please stay tuned and help me help them if you can!

Have you struggled with the frustration of gaining weight with increased training?

Do you think undereating is a concern for endurance athletes or dedicated exercisers?

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