Comment by strangesmells02
1 year ago
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.
1 year ago
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.
I think thats basically true for most people, hence the belief that metabolism slows with age.
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.
Have kids and compare yourself against them. It truly sobering to see how much relentless energy hey have, in body and mind (and when they hit the wall with burning out all energy, they hit hard). All the movement is just burning through all energy. I feel myself very active, but next to my 3 year old son I feel glacial and lazy.
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.
[flagged]
I can think of two major, extra lifestyle factors that increase calories in adulthood that we overlook in favor of more appealing explanations like "metabolism tho":
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.
Alcohol consumption is probably in there as well.
yep, so many people go from 10k steps a day in college to 5k in an entry level position to 1k in a desk role. for a 200lb 6 ft tall male, thats 3000 kcal burned a day to 2600, to 2300. 700kcal a day being a weight change total of around 1.5 lb a week when you consider days off.
Multiply that by 15-20 years and you’re looking at a solid extra 200lbs you have. Naturally every 40 or so makes you look in the mirror, make some minor changes that last a year or maybe a bit more and it’s back to getting out from under the gelatin we’re packing onto ourselves.
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”.
6 replies →
I’m a 6’0 man who went up to 220lbs when I started working a desk job that provided sodas on demand. When I left there and went somewhere I needed to walk to eat lunch to I lost 30lbs and now hover around 190lbs.
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.
1 reply →
If inactivity were the explanation, it would be possible to fix obesity by having people be more active, yet this this does not work :
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-...
Anecdotally, to me it seems like my metabolism hasn't changed. I was overweight when I was younger because I overate. Now I don't, and my weight is normal, on the low end for my height. But nothing about the quantities turning into pounds changed, from my p.o.v. (mid 40s now).
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.
That is likely down to the type of "food" that you are eating. Or you are eating more than is necessary.
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
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 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.
Carbohydrates, including starch, are not effective in creating long-tern satiety.
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.
7-grain / multigrain bread is still a highly refined thus a highly palatable product despite the healthwashing of the name compared to whole grains.
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.
I mean from a survival perspective bread is incredible: the amount of calories it fits in versus how easy it is to eat, the increase in durability. It's not surprising it became a staple as soon as agrarian civilization happened...it's just we're also not subsistence farmhands anymore working in fields all day.
Without a meticulous food diary for comparison, you can't substantiate that you are eating the same or fewer calories. And if you can't do that, then there's no mystery here.
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?
Are you eating with the same consistency as when you were young? Are you walking the same amount as you used to? Are you partying with the same frequency? Etc.
Eating too much for sure. When younger average person spend more time outside, traveling more etc.
There's a theory that you're gut is optimizing over your life. So you were young, and you could eat garbage by the truck load and not see a pound. You're now eating better and exercising portion control, but your body has learned how to extract everything it can from food.
USA based. I was born in 1968 rebelled against my organic gardening and bread baking mom every chance I got. I weighed around 135 pounds in college and currently weigh 143. I have been as heavy as 147ish that I noticed.
There is probably some larger environmental factor that causing the majority of people to gain weight. Whatever it is started in the 1970s in the US, and has since spread to most of the rest of the world. Possibly plasticizers, or some other chemical. Even children are much heavier now.