So you gained 5-10 lbs due to inactivity... now what?

I see it happen to my friends all the time, especially the ones that are drinkers or who have just returned from a vacation somewhere. They let everything slide for a while and this becomes even more noticeable in people that are older than 40 like I am.

It is very easy to gain 5 lbs once you cross that metabolism threshold, for me it was around 38 years of age but everyone is different. It has been my observation that it happens more frequently with women than men and while this is unfair biologically speaking it does seem to be the case.

Weight seems to yoyo a lot more often when you are older and there are many reasons why this is the case. However, when it does happen I think that most people approach fixing it the wrong way.

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For a lot of the people that I know that gain weight their knee-jerk reaction is to introduce a large amount of exercise into their lives from day one and while this sounds like a great idea, more often than not, it results in failure. The reason for this is that especially for bodies that are accustomed to doing nothing other than sitting in an office chair all day, the shock of extreme exercise can seriously hurt. It can hurt to the point where it makes the person not want to do it again and I'm a big believer that if exercise isn't at least somewhat rewarding, that it isn't going to continue in the longer term. It certainly isn't going to be a lifestyle change.

For most people that gain some weight for whatever reason, the way to nip it in the bud is actually via diet and light exercise like simply going for a walk. People have the wrong idea about weight loss because of the very industry that is meant to be helping you achieve it. The industry always shows you videos of super fit people that are doing rather hardcore exercises that a normie or a beginner is not going to be able to maintain. The idea of going from zero to hero is a lovely one, but for 90% of people this is not something that they are going to stick to.

Not long ago I found myself with a bunch of extra weight that I had acquired of a period of about 5 years of near zero physical activity and eating whatever I wanted. I was around 230 lbs and this is roughly 50 lbs more than I should ideally weigh.

I consulted a friend of mine who is a trainer and they put me on an absolutely wonderful path and one that I was unlikely to abandon. At first it involved almost zero exercise but instead focused on getting the right food in my house and in my body. Protein-rich meals with very little in the way of carbohydrates was the key and since I told the trainer friend that I was very unlikely to stop drinking, he suggested that I simply switch to lower carbohydrate alternatives. Furthermore the trainer suggested that at least at first I do NOT try to run or cycle or go to spin classes or anything like that. Instead, he suggested that I find a podcast that I like and simply go for a 30 minute to 1 hour WALK every day.

I followed this system for around 4 months before I felt like going to the next level. I cheated with my food every now and then but once I started to look at the scale and see that I was losing weight rather rapidly without any extreme exercise at all, it was a strong motivator for me to try to do even more.

Most trainers that aren't trying to sell you supplements will tell you the truth and that truth is that weight loss is 80% the fuel that you put in your body (diet) and a mere 20% what you use that fuel for (exercise.) Most people presume that it is the other way around and that is dead wrong.

Changing diet can be challenging for people that have seriously bad habits in their diets and in my case it was beer. I love beer and socializing without it is challenging for me. This all comes with time though and honestly, if you aren't dedicated to the dream to some degree it is almost impossible to achieve goals of weight loss. If you can put yourself in the right mindset and make these changes real via meal planning and addition of healthy snacks into your cupboards, I really don't think it is that difficult at all.

So if you have a goal of losing 5 lbs that you gained rapidly just remember that you can just as rapidly take those 5lbs off... you just need to have a plan and stick with it and remember that the intense exercise can always come later and even then only if you want it to. It really isn't a huge part of the process.

_{I've seen a lot of ups and downs in my life as far as weight is concerned but by finding a program and sticking with it I am now the strongest I have ever been in my life. I still drink beer too!}