Why am I gaining weight while working out? Follow @CoachFabs

Nothing taps your panic button quite like gaining weight, especially when you're on a weight loss program. Unfortunately, it's an inevitable fact of life. Luckily, you've got me here to tell you that, as long as you're following a solid program, results will come. It's a physiological certainty (unless you have an underlying issue, like hypothyroidism).

Let's look at five of the most common weight loss problems:

I'm following the program perfectly. Why isn't it working?! 

Cortisol is a word you should become familiar with, as it's a key factor here. Cortisol is actually a performance-enhancing stress hormone that serves an important function in survival situations. Unfortunately, when we force too much daily stress on our bodies, we shift into a state of chronic cortisol release. This can cause us to store excess fat as a survival instinct. While it sounds pretty dire, it's generally only a serious problem in those with poor lifestyle habits. 

The beginning of a diet and/or exercise program, however, is a survival situation. In a very simplistic sense, your body releases cortisol, which, in turn, causes excess water retention to help you rebuild broken down muscle tissue. While this is cortisol functioning properly, it does lead to a period of water weight gain as you adjust to a new program. It's nothing to worry about. By following a solid plan, your body will adapt by repairing this muscle tissue. This results in an increase in your metabolism and leads to weight loss if that's your goal. 

The trick is that there is no hard line on how long this adaptation takes. It's based on your individual parameters. Just rest easy in the fact that it will happen, unless you force it not to.

I'm barely eating.

Severe undereating causes cortisol release, as it's the definition of a bodily emergency.  A short period of strategic undereating with proper hydration will help your body dispense of unneeded food (most of us chronically overeat) and regulate bodily functions. Go too long, however, and chronic cortisol release is the result. 

I've been doing hard workouts for weeks. 

On the performance theme, you need to continually improve, which is why workouts get harder as you move through any of Beachbody's programs. It's also why we add resistance (via added weight or gravity, as is the case with jumping) to workouts. If you're doing the same workouts at the same intensity constantly, you are not forcing adaptations that lead to changes in your metabolism. This is called a plateau. 

A plateau, technically, isn't gaining weight—it's remaining the same—but a proper diet and exercise program should continually force improvements (in the form of adaptations). Otherwise, your metabolism won't continue to increase, which is the goal of most weight loss programs.

My friend and I are doing the exact same thing and he/she's losing. 

Back to adaptation. We all react differently. The only absolute is that our bodies will change over time with a healthy program. A fitness rule called the Specificity of Adaptation states that it takes the body between 3 and 12 weeks to adapt to new stimuli, which is a very broad range. This is why it's vital that you stick to your program and not change it repeatedly based on your daily results! 

I lost weight for a while but now it's stopped. 

You eat less to lose weight. Things are going great, but suddenly you plateau—or start gaining. Odds are, your metabolism has slowed down in order to deal with the decreased calories. You're starving your now fit body, so it's doing what it needs to do to survive. The answer to this problem is pretty simple: eat more. 

Monster Oatmeal Follow @CoachFabs

 A tasty and filling high-protein oatmeal flavored with almond milk and cinnamon.

2 1/4 cups of water
1 pinch himalayan salt
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1 scoop protein shake
2 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon slivered almonds
1 tablespoon dried cranberries

1. Heat the water, add the salt and bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low and add the oats, cooking the oats should take about 5 minutes.

2. Add the protein shake, if it becomes too thick then add almond milk to it.

3. Sprinkle with cinnamon and top with almonds and cranberries.

Calories: 500

Fat: 11 g

Carbs: 72 g

Protein: 31 g

Almond butter and blueberry oatmeal Follow @CoachFabs

1 1/4 cup water
1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
4 teaspoons of all natural almond butter
1/2 cup fresh blueberries

1. Bring water to a boil

2. Add oats and cook for about 4 minutes, remove from heat

3. Combine the oatmeal and almond butter in a medium serving bowl, top with blueberries

Calories: 308

Fat: 14 g

Carbs: 38 g

Protein: 11 g

Tips: Depending on your goals you might want to add some more protein to this meal, you can do that by adding a scoop of protein, if you do that, make sure to do it after you cook the oatmeal, while mixing the almond butter, if it becomes too thick you can add a little almond milk. You can also replace the almond butter with all-natural peanut butter.

Tempeh Scramble Follow @CoachFabs

1/2 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil
5 ounces of tempeh, diced, a pack normally is 8 ounces
1/2 medium red bell pepper, diced
1/4 medium red onion, diced
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
Himalayan salt and black pepper (to taste)

1. Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium heat

2. Add the tempeh, bell pepper, onion and thyme, cook, stirring frequently for 4 minutes

3. Season with salt and pepper

Calories: 309

Fat: 12 g

Carbs: 22 g

Protein: 29 g

Power Granola Follow @CoachFabs

This high-protein granola, flavored with cinnamon, is delicious with almond milk and fresh blueberries.

1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1 tablespoon chopped walnuts
2 teaspoons pumpkin seeds, without shells
1 tablespoon raisins
1 dash ground cinnamon
1/2 scoop protein shake
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
1/2 cup fresh blueberries (optional)
1. Mix all your dry ingredients together in a bowl
2. Top with blueberries and serve with cold almond milk

Tip: you can mix 10 servings of the first 6 ingredients and have them ready to go, make sure you store them in a airtight bag to keep it fresh.

Calories: 365

Fat: 13 g

Carbs: 47 g

Protein: 19 g

Mind over Mattress Follow @CoachFabs

There is a sense of control acquired from beating the inner voice. If your mind wins the battle between victim and success, things start on a high note and usually only get better. Recognizing the voice is your best defense against him. When the alarm goes off and the voice tells you that you went to bed far too late to get up this early, or that you can workout later today, DON’T LISTEN! Those who stay in bed won’t be competition for the big guys, but they will have to watch out for you. When you are in charge of the inner voice, there will be no stopping you.

The morning is a great time to exercise. It sets you up for the day with energy, focus, and enthusiasm. Some mornings when I done with my workout, I feel like I can conquer the world. Stress has to work a lot harder to get hold of me, and I am better able to deal with the problems of the day. Exercising in the morning will make you more productive and contribute to making you more successful.

Breakfast is an important meal that we often neglect due to time constraints. Rushing to work with a bagel is not going to give you the energy or focus required to perform at a high level. By taking more time in the morning, you have have a healthier meal, which will make you more productive and effective. There are also options like Shakeology a great meal replacement meal, this is a dense dose of nutrients that provides our bodies with all the tools it needs to tackle the day ahead.