As we enter a new year armed with resolutions to improve our lives, there’s a good chance we’ll also be carrying something less useful: extra pounds. At least half a kilo, to be exact.
“Weight gain” does not have to be inevitable. Here’s what’s behind this sneaky annual phenomenon and some practical measures to prevent it.
Adults tend to gain weight progressively as they age and typically gain an average of 0.5 to 1 kg each year.
While this doesn’t seem like a lot each year, it amounts to 5kg in a decade. The slow but steady nature of weight gain is why many of us won’t notice extra weight gain until our fifties.
Why do we gain weight?
Subtle and gradual changes in lifestyle as we progress through life and age-related biological changes cause us to gain weight. Our:
– Activity levels decrease. Longer work hours and family commitments can cause us to become more sedentary and have less time to exercise, meaning we burn fewer calories.
– Diets get worse. With hectic work and family schedules, we sometimes turn to pre-packaged and quick meals. These processed and discretionary foods are loaded with hidden sugars, salts, and unhealthy fats. A better financial situation in the future may also result in dining out more, which is associated with higher total energy intake.
Dr. Nick Fuller said adults can gain pounds slowly and barely notice it, calling the phenomenon “weight gain.”
Dr. Fuller said adults should maintain a number of healthy habits, including an active lifestyle, into adulthood.
– Sleep decreases. Busy lives and screen use can mean we don’t get enough sleep. This alters our body’s energy balance, increasing our feelings of hunger, causing cravings, and decreasing our energy.
– Stress increases. Financial, relationship, and work stress increase our body’s production of cortisol, which triggers food cravings and promotes fat storage.
– Metabolism slows down. Around age 40, our muscle mass naturally decreases and our body fat begins to increase. Muscle mass helps determine our metabolic rate, so when our muscle mass decreases, our body begins to burn fewer calories at rest.
We also tend to gain a small amount of weight during festive periods, times filled with high-calorie foods and drinks, when exercise and sleep are often overlooked. A study of Australian adults found that participants gained 0.5 kilograms on average over the Christmas and New Year period and an average of 0.25 kilograms at Easter.
Why we need to prevent weight gain
It is important to prevent weight gain for two key reasons:
1. Weight gain resets our body’s set point
Set point theory suggests that each of us has a predetermined weight or set point. Our body works to maintain our weight around this set point, adjusting our biological systems to regulate how much we eat, how we store fat, and expend energy.
When we gain weight, our set point resets to the new higher weight. Our body adapts to protect this new weight, making it difficult to lose the weight we have gained.
But it’s also possible to lower your set point if you lose weight gradually and with an interval weight loss approach. Specifically, lose weight in small, manageable portions that you can maintain: periods of weight loss, followed by periods of weight maintenance, and so on, until you reach your ideal weight.
Dr Fuller said the timing of large meals plays an important role in promoting healthy maintenance of energy, adding Australians should eat more natural foods such as fruits and nuts.
2. Weight gain can lead to obesity and health problems
Undetected and uncontrolled weight gain can lead to obesity, which can increase our risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, and several types of cancer (including breast, colorectal, esophageal, kidney, gallbladder biliary, uterus, pancreas and liver).
One large study examined the link between weight gain from early adulthood to middle age and health outcomes later in life, following people for about 15 years. Those who gained between 2.5 and 10 kg during this period were found to have a higher incidence of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, obesity-related cancer and death compared to participants who had maintained a stable weight.
Fortunately, there are steps we can take to develop lasting habits that will make weight gain a thing of the past.
Seven practical steps to prevent weight gain
1. Eat from big to small
Try to eat most of your food earlier in the day and reduce the size of your meals to ensure that dinner is the smallest meal you eat.
A small or low-calorie breakfast increases feelings of hunger, specifically the appetite for sweets, throughout the day.
We burn calories from a meal 2.5 times more efficiently in the morning than in the evening. Therefore, emphasizing breakfast instead of dinner is also good for weight management.
2. Use chopsticks, a teaspoon or an oyster fork.
Sit at the dinner table and use different utensils to encourage eating more slowly.
This gives your brain time to recognize and adapt to the signals from your stomach that it is full.
3. Eat the entire rainbow
First fill your plate with different colored vegetables and fruits to support a high-fiber, nutrient-dense diet that will keep you full and satisfied.
Meals should also be balanced and include a source of protein, whole grain carbohydrates and healthy fats to meet our dietary needs (for example, eggs on whole grain toast with avocado).
4. Seek nature first
Retrain your brain to trust nature’s delights: fresh vegetables, fruits, honey, nuts and seeds. In their natural state, these foods release the same pleasure response in the brain as fast, ultra-processed foods, helping you avoid unnecessary calories, sugar, salt, and unhealthy fats.
5. Choose to move
Look for ways to incorporate incidental activities into your daily routine, such as taking the stairs instead of the elevator, and increase your exercise by challenging yourself to try a new activity.
Just be sure to include variety, as doing the same activities every day often results in boredom and avoidance.
6. Prioritize sleep
Set a goal of getting a minimum of seven uninterrupted hours of sleep each night, and help yourself get there by avoiding screens for an hour or two before bed.
7. Weigh yourself regularly
Getting into the habit of weighing ourselves weekly is a guaranteed way to help keep the pounds from creeping up on us. Try to weigh yourself on the same day, at the same time, and in the same environment each week and use the best quality scales you can afford.
This article was originally published in The conversation.