Anecdotally: I havent changed diet one bit, actually I eat way healthier than when I was younger.
And still weigh much more than when younger.
And still weigh much more than when younger.
Proving that its not metabolism would imply that our weight gain in later life is a combination of other factors. I would bet good money on the increase in sedentary leisure activities, the reliance on motorised vehicles and a lack of energy to be active.
I would bet on those long before anything as nebulous as diet or intake volume.
We can reverse that, like we can revere many ways we slowly decline, just need a right mindset. Spend a really active vacation or start a new sport and lack of energy of yesterday will be gone, to certain extent. One can always do some dramatic change in lifestyle to see a dramatic change in body, weight, strength, stamina etc.
I see as people get older their mental model of how they behave and think often mimics somebody much older than their actual age, acting as if they are completely powerless to greater evil forces of muscle atrophy and weight gain. It simply ain't true but going against it is certainly harder than just complain.
1. We eat out more as adults. Our skinny kid/teen selves didn't even have the money/vehicle/norm to eat out much less do it daily like we can as adults. This also includes eating out during our lunch break. Every time we eat out that's an easy 1000+ calories.
2. When you live with a partner, every time they ask "wanna eat something?" and you say "yes", that's a moment you wouldn't have eaten had you been a bachelor. We'll even say yes when we aren't hungry.
It's funny how much we want to believe in factors out of our control.
In order to really, truly, get a handle on your weight - you need to increase muscle mass, operate at a slight caloric deficit, eliminate excess calories, and forgive yourself. The easiest way to distract you from excess calories is by doing something that keeps you busy (and hopefully works those muscles). Bikes rides, hikes, climbing gym, treadmills, skating, skiing, walking at a faster than moderate pace, running, weightlifting, tree cutting, brick laying.
People often get demotivated when they call it “working out”. Instead, just call it “working”.
* full episodes on Youtube
Food tracking is completely useless unless you also have a food scale, which, for whatever reason, is not terribly common in American kitchens. At least I never had one growing up and my Mother fancied herself a serious baker. Volume measurements are terrible if you are trying to track caloric consumption.
And I have not used a food tracking app but they appear to depend on honest inputs. I can just imagine someone telling their friends, "I don't know why I'm gaining weight $FOOD_APP says I'm only eating 1400 calories a day", somehow forgetting to put the 3 glasses of wine they are consuming into the app.
So totally IME but the best way to lose or maintain a healthy weight (whatever that means to you - the world really doesn't care) is to have an honest, internal drive to get it done. No one, no app, is going to do it for you. Do the cookies in the break room look good? They sure do, but I like my body far more than those cookies.
No amount of leg work will reverse putting garbage in your body.
When I learned how to swim last year that dropped to 175 ish and would’ve probably kept dropping if I spent more than 3 months going to the pool for an hour a day twice a week.
https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/U1RxtW9oglcck-2g2X_SrKzIA44=...
exercise not help at all. the body compensates in many ways
400 calories burned from a run does not magically offset a donut. The conversion rate may be flat or even negative.
source: https://www.vox.com/2016/4/28/11518804/weight-loss-exercise-...
Actually the main thing that changed for me is I started compressing all my eating into 1-2 meals per day. That way I could track it. Before I couldn't tell you if "I haven't changed my diet" because it was a continuum of eating from morning till night. I have no idea what changed over time, couldn't even tell you for one week. Once I "bounded" it I was able to bring my weight down quickly.
Btw, sorry if this sounds snarky, it seemed like flagging this as anecdotal was the right way to start so I copied it.
A diet that contains a high nutritional content will prevent you from over-eating due to satiety signals (unless you have a hormone issue) rather than eating to the point of feeling "stuffed" - if someone is eating to the point of feeling "stuffed" then it would suggest that they are not eating food with a high nutritional content, or that they have some disorder that is interfering with their normal eating process.
If you look to the animal kingdom, the lion kills the zebra, feeds then walks away, the next in line feeds, then walks away, etc, etc... no animal eats until they are "stuffed" - if they did then they would become another animals prey because they are too "stuffed" to move!
No wonder some countries consider it rude to clear your plate of food. (too bad the Brits do this the other way around!) lol
if this were true it would be possible to create a diet full of foods with such satiety signals and the obesity crisis could be fixed. way easier said than done. 7-grain bread is very nutritious yet a loaf is easily 1000+ calories. Easy to overeat on it given it's just mostly air.
The satiety after a few hours since a meal is mainly determined by the amount of proteins and of fat contained in it, not by the amount of calories.
For instance, after a meal including 50 g of proteins and 50 g of fat, most people would not be hungry for at least a half of day, or even for an entire day.
If you remove from your 1000 kcal loaf of bread 500 kcal of starch, which can be done by washing the dough before baking the bread, and you eat the result (i.e. a bread greatly enriched in proteins) together with 50 mL (46 g) of olive oil, you will eat less calories, but you will be satiated for many more hours.
A better example would be something like sprouted whole grain bread, like Ezequiel brand, which is hard to eat plain. If everyone replaced their wonderbread with whole grains I would absolutely expect better body weight outcomes.
If you are eating 3000 calories of healthy food and you used to eat 2400 calories of junk food, why would you weigh less now?