The surprising reason we gain fat

It’s true that we cannot eat the same way, or eat the same number of calories we used to when we were in our teens and twenties. A few reasons is that our metabolism slows, we move less and work more, and our hormone levels change.

What’s surprising is that eating just one extra cookie or 30 extra pistachios, on a daily basis, can, theoretically, cause a person to put on 10 pounds in just one year. So, that extra bite of this or that can have a profound effect on your weight.

While the math is not perfect, since the more we weigh, the bigger our organs get, and bigger bodies burn more calories; this explains why people get frustrated when it seems like they are eating the same as they always have, yet keep getting fatter.

The good news is, if you reduce your calories, little-by-little, you’ll see a smaller you, little-by-little. When you weigh less, the organs shrink, which is when your weight loss might stop. At that time, you’ll need to reduce your calories a bit more, and maybe add more exercise, to drop the extra weight.

We all tend to underestimate how many calories we eat, and overestimate how many calories we need.

Photo: me cutting up bell peppers