I Haven’t Changed My Diet… Why Am I Gaining Weight?
If you’re living with Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS), you’ve probably experienced the maddening reality of weight that simply won’t cooperate. Some of my patients even watch the scale climb despite eating well, moving gently, or in some cases, eating less than they did before they got sick.
And inevitably, someone says,
It’s just calories in, calories out.
If only it were that simple.
When you’re dealing with CIRS, the weight gain you’re noticing isn’t a lack of willpower. It’s not laziness. And it’s certainly not your imagination. CIRS fundamentally changes the way your body regulates weight. It’s at the hormonal level, at the cellular level, and deep inside the mitochondria that drive your metabolism.
Until those root mechanisms are addressed, the usual diet-and-exercise strategies don’t just fall flat… they often backfire.
Let’s unpack what’s actually happening and more importantly, what you can do about it.
How CIRS Disrupts Weight Regulation
CIRS isn’t a single-symptom condition. It’s a whole-body inflammatory state that touches nearly every system. One of the first systems to wobble? Weight regulation.
Here are the core mechanisms I see every day in clinic:
1. Leptin Resistance: The “I’m Full” Signal Goes Quiet
Leptin is your appetite thermostat. It tells your brain,“You’ve had enough. We’re good here.” In CIRS, inflammation blocks the brain from hearing that message.
What that means for you:
- Cravings increase
- Metabolism slows
- Weight becomes stubborn and resistant to change
This isn’t overeating, it’s a communication breakdown. If you never feel full after eating, it’s not be your willpower. It’s your leptin.
2. Low MSH: The Master Regulator Takes a Hit
Melanocyte Stimulating Hormone (MSH) plays a huge role in sleep, weight, pain, and inflammation. In the vast majority of CIRS patients, MSH is low.
Low MSH leads to:
- Poor sleep
- Higher inflammation
- More pain
- Difficulty burning fat efficiently
When MSH drops, everything gets harder.
3. Insulin & Blood Sugar Become Unstable
Chronic inflammation pushes insulin levels up. This nudges your body to store more fat, especially around the abdomen. You may notice:
- Carb crashes
- Sugar cravings
- Feeling shaky or irritable between meals
- Fatigue after eating
This isn’t a “bad diet” problem, it’s a biotoxin-driven metabolic shift.
4. Mitochondria Slow Down
Your mitochondria are the engines of your cells. They turn food into energy. But when inflammatory signals are constantly firing, mitochondrial genes get suppressed. Energy drops. Metabolism slows. Fat storage increases.
I call this “energy hoarding mode,” and it’s completely reversible once inflammation is addressed.
5. Sleep Gets Fragmented
Insomnia, early waking, and non-restorative sleep are extremely common in CIRS. And when sleep goes down, cortisol and ghrelin go up. The rise in these two hormones is = the perfect recipe for increased hunger and weight gain.
Why “Eat Less, Exercise More” Backfires in CIRS
This is one of the most painful parts for patients: the harder you try, the worse things get.
Why?
Because the underlying issue isn’t calories, it’s inflammation. When you cut calories too far, leptin resistance actually gets worse. When you push too hard with exercise, post-exertional crashes flare. When you fight your body instead of supporting it, everything tightens.
This isn’t a discipline problem. This is a biotoxin-driven physiology problem.And physiology always wins… until you change the environment and calm the inflammation.
What You Can Do to Address CIRS-Related Weight Gain
Here’s the sequence I teach every patient — grounded in the Shoemaker Protocol and the lived experience of hundreds of cases.
1. Remove Biotoxin Exposure First
Nothing changes until exposure stops. You can take all the supplements, eat all the salads, and meditate all you want but if the environment is still triggering your immune system, weight will remain stubborn.
This usually means starting with ERMI or HERTSMI-2 testing and working with a CIRS-literate provider to interpret the results.
2. Begin Phase 1 of the Shoemaker Protocol
Binders like cholestyramine or Welchol bind and remove biotoxins from the body. As the toxic load decreases, hormones like leptin and insulin begin to regulate again. Many people notice that their weight stabilizes and stabilization is often the first sign a deeper shift is happening.
3. Practice Anti-Inflammatory Nutrition
This isn’t about dieting, it’s about steadying blood sugar and calming inflammation. More information about what to eat if you have CIRS here.
Focus on:
- Lean protein
- Non-starchy vegetables
- Healthy fats (olive oil, avocado, nuts, omega-3s)
Reduce:
- Processed carbs and sugars
- Alcohol
- Foods high in preservatives/additives
The goal isn’t perfection, it’s consistency.
4. Support Sleep Like It’s Medicine
Sleep isn’t a luxury. It’s one of the most powerful hormonal reset tools you have. Think:
- Restorative sleep hygiene
- Light management
- Nervous system regulation
- Evaluating noise, air quality, temperature, and EMFs
- Addressing pain and inflammation upstream
Better sleep often precedes better weight regulation.
5. Choose Gentle, Sustainable Movement
In CIRS, intense exercise is gasoline on the fire. Instead, choose movement that builds capacity rather than depleting it:
- Walking
- Gentle yoga
- Stretching
- Light resistance training
The goal is to move without triggering crashes.
6. Track Progress Beyond the Scale
Weight is just one metric, and honestly, not the most important one early on. The first signs of healing in CIRS usually look like:
- Stable symptoms (tomorrow looks a lot like today)
- Calmer mood
- Better sleep
- Improved resiliency
When the body is safe again, the metabolism follows.
The Emotional Weight of Weight Gain
This part matters.
Weight changes can stir up shame, frustration, confusion, and grief. Many patients have been dismissed by clinicians who don’t understand the biology of CIRS. If that’s your experience, let me gently say this:
Your body isn’t broken. You aren’t doing anything wrong.
Your metabolism is protecting you in the only way it knows how.
And when we remove the danger signal and reduce inflammation, the body does what it’s wired to do, heal.
At Flourish Clinic, I’ve watched countless patients stabilize their weight not through dieting, but through following the Shoemaker Protocol and supporting the system as a whole.
FAQ: CIRS & Weight Gain
Will I lose weight once I finish the Shoemaker Protocol?
For many people, yes. Though it’s usually gradual. As hormones and mitochondria normalize, weight often follows.
Can medications help?
Sometimes. Medications that support leptin or insulin sensitivity may be helpful but they are not a substitute for environmental work or binders.
Is there a specific “CIRS diet”?
Not really. But low-glycemic, anti-inflammatory eating patterns tend to support recovery beautifully. That aside, I do recommend tracking your blood glucose with a continuous glucose monitor so you can see exactly how food choices impact your blood glucose and therefore your energy.
Why do some people lose weight with CIRS?
CIRS affects people differently. Some lose weight due to gut malabsorption, while others gain due to leptin resistance and inflammation. Both patterns reflect the same underlying mechanism: dysregulation.
In Summary: Why Am I Gaining Weight With CIRS?
If you’ve been gaining weight — or stuck at the same number no matter what you do — please hear this:
You are not to blame.
Your body is responding to inflammation, not misbehaving.
When you:
- remove exposure
- begin the Shoemaker Protocol
- support sleep, nutrition, and gentle movement
…your metabolism can shift from “protective shutdown” to healing. And when healing begins, weight normalization becomes possible again.
