Help nip this middle aged spread in the bud.

December 20, 2009 3:07 AM

Having managed 35 odd years as a skinny bastard, I seem to have put on about 5 kilos in weight over the last 3 years, and am developing something of a barrel shape in my upper body. My weight used to yo-yo a bit (+-3 kilos depending on stress and lifestyle) but doesn't seem to any more. This is a worry, as both my father and my grandfather were moderately obese from middle age onwards (I am also male). Any ideas what I can do to help prevent me from going the same way?

I have a sedentary job, but walk or cycle short distances. I don't do any "organised" exercise, but do swim a couple of times a week (but not really work out style). My diet is mostly vegetarian and I don't eat excessive quantities of chocolate or other snack foods. My alcohol consumption is light to moderate. Anyone got any ideas about what I can do to prevent the slide to fatness?

posted by singingfish to Health & Fitness (10 answers total)

1. Begin a regular workout routine.
2. Figure out how many calories you need to maintain your goal weight using something like Daily Plate.
3. Record everything (really, every little thing) you consume.
4. Eat your target number of calories less 500 per day until you reach your goal weight (1 lb weight loss per week).
5. Eat your target number of calories each day. Vary within reason, but stick to it.

Easy.

Our metabolism generally slows in the 30s, so this is an age where lots of people put on unexpected weight. It can be prevented.
posted by The Michael The at 4:02 AM on December 20, 2009

Best answer: I can tell you what happened to me, doesn't happen to everyone but it did me -- I started practicing yoga and my body flipped, dropped maybe forty pounds, changed my body fat content radically. I'm twenty years older than you are, and had packed on way more excess weight and it wasn't moving off me, not fast anyways, and my diet, though I didn't want it to be tacky, WAS TACKY, I was pretty much out of control of chocolate and other junk also. That's changed radically since I started practicing seriously, just over two years ago. Shoot me a mefi-mail if you're interested in any of the particulars, I'm back to being the skinny bastard I was until I hit forty maybe, now wearing the same size clothing I wore in high school, fun fun fun.

Which is to say, Ashtanga yoga rocks.
posted by dancestoblue at 4:35 AM on December 20, 2009

If you want simpler answers than "eat better" and "exercise", you may be out of luck.

When this started happening to me I changed my eating habits (whole grain rice and bread vs white grains for example) and joined a gym. Voilà. Best shape I've ever been in.
posted by backwards guitar at 4:43 AM on December 20, 2009

Best answer: A simple method might be to reduce or stop your alcohol consumption for some pre-determined period. Or change drinks to something lighter depending on what you are drinking already.
posted by jameslavelle3 at 5:30 AM on December 20, 2009

Staying away from white breads, white rice, sugar and other high glycemic index foods is one simple way to keep your appetite in check. Dieting is always easier if you are not hungry. Calories in minus calories out should not give a positive result if you want to keep the weight off.
posted by caddis at 5:31 AM on December 20, 2009

First, cut down your portions, especially things like pasta. Don't heap your plate up with anything but non-starchy vegetables.

Second, don't add sugar to your coffee or cereal. Since I stopped, I don't get the sudden gnawing hunger that drives me to snack on chocolate bars and other crap.

Third, consider not drinking for a while. I started my diet when I saw bathing suit photos taken on a family holiday and saw what a lifetime of "moderate" drinking had done to my cousin's bodies and realized I was going down the same road. I figure a drink a day adds up to nearly a pound of empty calories at the end of the month.

I was always around 175 lb until I was 30 and met my wife, got comfortable and put on a couple of pounds a year until I was 44. It's taken me 2 years but I've gone from 205 to 170. I don't have the muscle I had at 30, so I need to get down to 160 to feel "thin" again.
posted by bonobothegreat at 6:45 AM on December 20, 2009

Best answer: Yeah eat less and work out more
posted by matteo at 7:44 AM on December 20, 2009

I figure a drink a day adds up to nearly a pound of empty calories at the end of the month.

Depends on the drink, but probably even more: a 200 kcal beer per day (and that's at the low end) becomes about 6000 kcal/month, or about 1.7 pounds per month if those calories are above and beyond your caloric break-even point.

I love beer, especially higher-alcohol-content IPAs and the like, which can have upwards of 400 calories per 12 oz bottle, and have no problem consuming them, but I harbor no illusions about the extra work I have to do to keep those calories from accumulating in my body.
posted by The Michael The at 8:30 AM on December 20, 2009

This exact thing happened to me (I'm 37) and this program helped me. The book is cheesy, but it totally worked.

The other thing to point out regarding alcohol is that it negatively affects the body's ability to burn fat. So each 200 calorie beer can actually add more than 200 calories to your day.
posted by umbú at 11:17 AM on December 20, 2009

Easy.

Intermittently fast, here's a rundown of the major methods.

Avoid fructose, prefer glucose; great discussion of why.

Read about some paleo eating ideas, vitamin d, omega3/omega6 fatty acid consumption, saturated fat consumption and cereal grain avoidance all show promise for increasing health and reducing bodyfat.
posted by zentrification at 11:54 AM on December 20, 2009