subject: Figuring Out the State of Your Weight [print this page] Figuring Out the State of Your Weight Figuring Out the State of Your Weight
As you age, your metabolism starts slowing down and the rate at which you burn calories drops by about 2 percent every ten years. If you're still consuming the same number of calories at age 40 that you did at age 20, and you're not exercising more, you can easily start putting on 10 or more pounds a year.
Figuring out why gaining weight is so easy for some people
Gaining weight is easy many people do it! All you have to do is get into the habit of eating the types and amounts of food that contribute more calories than you can possibly metabolize as energy. That's all it takes. The years go by, and your eating habits catch up with you. Just 100 excess calories a day (the number of calories in a handful of pretzels or a couple of mini muffins) adds up to 36,500 excess calories at the end of a year and those calories result in a 1012 pound weight gain. After just a few years, you have a big weight problem.
You may be the type of person who gains weight just looking at a cheese platter, while your coworker can devour second and third helpings without putting on an ounce. Her metabolism is different from yours. It's probably faster. Chances are, though, her attitude toward food and exercise is different too. She may dislike exercise as much as you do, but she may have figured out what she needs to do in terms of exercise because she feels the payoff is worth it.
Some people simply move more than others throughout the natural course of their day, which helps them maintain a healthier weight. Thanks to a documented phenomenon known as the "fidget factor," these people burn several hundred calories a day just by their use of body language. They often walk fast and talk fast, and they can't sit still for long. Even if their jobs keep them in front of a computer all day, they have to get up frequently and move around. If you know someone who frequently fidgets, you've probably noticed that he or she can get away with eating more food than someone with a calm demeanor.
Everyone who has ever tried to lose weight knows that losing weight isn't always as simple as balancing eating and exercise. Other factors are involved in weight gain. For instance, if being overweight or obesity runs in your family, then you may have a genetic predisposition to easy weight gain. On the other hand, even if your parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, and uncles are mostly overweight, it may not be in your genes. It may just be that you picked up bad eating habits.
Many of your diet routines the times of day you eat, the types of food you choose, the reasons why you eat, and even your habits of eating slowly or quickly, reading the newspaper, or watching television while you eat probably came from your parents, who "inherited" them from their parents, and so on.
Recognizing why losing weight is so hard for some people
Unlike gaining weight, losing weight when you're healthy is rarely easy. Why?
Losing weight just isn't as simple as gaining weight. To gain weight, you don't have to understand all the different reasons why you're doing it. You just have to overeat or underexercise. To lose weight, and lose it for good, however, you need to have a better understanding of how and why you gained weight so you don't just keep on repeating the behavior.
For some people, being overweight becomes a chronic condition, just like heart disease or osteoporosis. It won't go away by itself and no quick-fix diet can resolve it. You need a lifetime plan that includes a calorie-controlled diet and exercise program you can comfortably stick with.
Hundreds of strategies for losing weight are available, but not every plan works for every person. Everyone has a different build, metabolism, genetic makeup, and tolerances and preferences for diet and exercise plans. That's why no one-size-fits-all diet exists. You have to participate in the development of your own personal weight-control plan to be successful. Your plan must be flexible, and it has to keep you feeling happy and satisfied or you won't feel motivated to stick to it.
Gaining weight is something you can do by yourself, but to lose weight, most people need the support of family, friends, and, often, strangers in the form of professionals and members of support groups. In the past, if diets have failed you, your support system may have been weak. If so, you may have given up and gone back to your old habits.
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