I'm in my 20s and my body is changing for the worst. How can I prevent it without busting my butt at the gym?

[Anonymous]

I had a killer body as a teenager and the thing was I didn't have to work for it. I ate crap and and I never exercised but I somehow still miraculously ended up with a body that made me the envy of other girls and drew attention from all the guys.

But now I'm in my 20s and that's not the case anymore. My habits haven't changed, but my look has. I've put on about 30 pounds and it's gone to all the wrong places. I guess you could say my habits caught up with me. I want to go back to looking the way I used to look but I admit I'm lazy. I want to know what the bare minimum exercise is that I can get away with to go back to looking the way I used to look. Any advice would be appreciated.

[Anonymous]

The easiest way is to regulate how much you eat. Count the calories. My girlfriend only eats 1500 calories each day because that's what she needs to maintain her weight and not continuously gain. She'll stand in the kitchen adding up all the calories she's had for the day before she goes into the refrigerator or pantry. When she nears her limit for the day, she just stops eating. When she works out, she allows herself to eat more. So if she feels like being lazy, she eats 1500 calories. If she decides to be energetic and exercise, she eats 1800 calories. My metabolism is still super high and I can eat thousands of calories per day and stay rail skinny, but she can't. It's hard for her to sit there while I'm eating potato chips and chocolate bars and not have any, but it's what you'll have to do if you want to get away with the bare minimum amount of exercise. This actually forces you to eat somewhat healthier because if you eat 3 big chocolate chip cookies from costco, you pretty much can't eat hardly anything else for the entire day so you'll have to come up with at least a balanced diet that allows you to stay healthy while eating fewer calories (not necessarily less altogether... as a can of coke is 150 calories alone for example). You don't have to be a health nut, but you'll have to cut out some of the junk. My girlfriend is a physician and this is what she tells her overweight patients. She also reminds them that things they may think are healthy and have low calories actually don't many times... like salads from restaurants. The dressings and things they put in there skyrocket the calories so be careful about what you think is fewer calories.

[WeaponZero]

What you've described is actually pretty common. It's not unusual at all people to go through puberty with accelerated metabolisms and then have them slow down once puberty ends. That's what happened to me. I've been as tall as I am now (5'10") since I was 12 years old, but I was skinny as a rail until I was in my mid-late teens despite the fact that I lived off of processed boxed macaroni and cheese and fast food and played video games 24/7. Then practically overnight it caught up with me.

There's no easy fix for this. Your body will forever from here on out be a magnet for fat as long as you don't add lean muscle to your frame and watch your eating habits. Work out 3 days a week at the gym with weights doing total body compound movement based workouts. Run or jump rope at home for 20 minutes a day (or longer, preferably) on your off days when you didn't hit the weights at the gym. Keep to healthy foods. I don't need to tell you what those are because by now they're pretty well known, but here's a few:

Brown rice

Chicken breasts (not fried)

Fish

Vegetables

Nuts

Fruits

And finally drink ONLY WATER.

[Summer-Sun]

Swimming is a good exercise to do and it doesn't take that much energy... you could change your eating habits, maybe cut out fizzy drinks, chocolate etc.. and take up swimming I'm sure you would see a difference soon! Even with cutting out junk food you will notice a difference, but there is always room fro a little treat :) so maybe be good throughout the week and have a pizza on a Saturday night or something and try swimming for 30mins 3 times a week x

[WeaponZero]

Pizza is always the worst thing to possibly eat on a treat/cheat meal because you always end up having enough left over to last you for 3 meals, so what was supposed to be a treat meal ends up being a binge =P

[Summer-Sun]

haha well I don't know what size pizza you have, but standard size maybe 8/10inch is good for meal as 1 meal lol x

[WeaponZero]

Yes but the problem is places won't deliver unless your order is over a certain amount which means if you want delivery you have to get a large or extra large pizza usually, unless you're the type who loads on the toppings (which increases the price).

[genevieve]

or your friend/boyfriend/husband orders something too, which also increases the total price or you go into a restaurant

[Summer-Sun]

i wasn't talking about ordering a pizza, but I suppose you could do that... I just meant a frozen one you put in the oven... x

[kereru]

sorry honey but you re just going to have to love excercise.

dieting lone is effectively just starving and weakening yourself, and your bodies going to cling on to every ounce of fat like life depends on it.

excercise burns fat, builds muscle (which burns even more fat), releases endorphins that make you feel good and makes you strong and fit.

just do it.

[genevieve]

Although it's not uncommon for girls who always used to be skinny to get bigger when they are in their 20s and 30s, you may want get thyroids checked out. If you gained a lot of weight in a short amount of time, this might be the reason.

Other than that you either have to accept your new body or change your habits

[theydidntnameme]

Well personally from college I've seen it happen to people. There are some pretty slim freshmen (guys and girls) that transform over a couple of years. I think you should be glad that your body held up as long as it did, not a lot of people are that lucky, but everyone's number gets called sooner or later.

You admit your lazy, and that is a big stumbling block. It doesn't help that you've never had to work for your body before. But I can tell you right now, you can start making changes while your still young and get back to where you were, or you can be sitting here 10 years from now asking the same question. You have a chance right now to take control of your health and Do The Right Thing if you can fix your diet and exercise.

What I'm trying to say is don't spend all your time trying to come up with a plan. Just go out and do. Don't make it complicated. If you're eating junk, cut it out. Go for a jog regularly. The key is to stay consistent, don't skip days and DONT CHEAT, cheating only hurts yourself. If you truly want to get back the body you once had then you'll be willing to make some sacrifices here and there to get it. So don't over think, it's just a matter of whether or not you want it... So cut out the bad food, get some exercise and stick to it... Start slow and work your way back to the top.. Hope that helps :)

[Konnour]

Don't eat crap anymore.

Losing weight mostly depends of what you eat rather than how much you exercise.

I know people who got weight issues due to slow metabolism, and to look more-or-less okay meant as not chubby they exercise like hell and never eat so-called unhealthy food, aka food which contains FAT.

Many young women gain weight at their 20s, it's natural thing which purpose is to make nutrition savings for the kid.

Regardless whether or not she ever plans to have children.

But if you want to accelerate the weight loss you'll have to bust your ass in the gym, if only by diet you won't have satisfying results.

I know what you mean - pills! There's a lot of crap for lazy people who want to lose weight but still want to dwell in gastronomic perversions.

But most of such pills are just a scam and even if some of them work it's not without really bad side-effects.

Though not about weight loss, steroids are a great example of this, how chemicals which promise you to help getting the body you like don't do it without high price, and it's not about money.

[Levin]

Find an activity that you actually enjoy doing so it doesn't seem like a chore. Kickboxing, tennis, badminton, swimming, all can be fun cardio activities. There's that zumba dance craze, there's various other girlie activities they do at your local health centre. I don't know why everyone is obsessed with going to the gym to lift weights. It's no wonder people get tired of it once they're more comfortable with their bodies, it's boring. I personally would rather run or jog, however haven't been able to for a while because I've injured myself.

Also, look at your diet. You may not necessarily have to overhaul it. Just some small changes, smaller , healthier meals, and a few treats here and there. Never drink fizzy drinks because it's just a waste of calories.

Having said all that, don't expect to get anywhere with your lazy, half hearted attitude. It's a waste of time if you just go do some activity once a week, or give up after 3 weeks.

[WoodWizzard87]

You were still growing from puberty in your teens, and your metabolism was ramped up due to that. In your 20's, depending on genetic factors and how muscle will decide your normalized metabolism. Stop eating Potato chips and subway/pizza every otherday. Switch to water and cut out soda and candy. Also you should work out, 30 lbs is just the start, if you get more depressed the weight is gonna balloon up You.

[MzNatalie]

Welcome to aging. Exercise and eat healthy. No caffine, soda, sugar, fast food, pizza's and all the really good stuff. Next comes wrinkles that start around 25-26 sagging areas especially your boobs which kids make even worse...your prime is over and your beauty fading. Just make yourself as comfortable with the process of life. I cannot stress eating healthy enough.

[Levin]

thanks for that, I may just go and kill myself.

[MzNatalie]

It's life. Be prepared. It happens to everybody. Accept it and embrace it now while you are young so you won't obsess over it when you are older. Your life isn't over because you start to age and if you don't do anything about it you will end up fat, gross and nasty. now isn't the time to get lazy.

[Brando]

Welcome to reality: gym and change your habits, or nothing.

[Dimonik]

Eat less and regulary. Take up jogging and some sort of aerobics/yoga. No need to bust your ass at the gym constanly, but you need to do something to keep a fit body!

[Anonymous]

You can continue looking great, even in your 30s and 40s. Look at Demi Moore and Johnny Depp. You must control the amount and type of food you consume, and you need to exercise.

Buy P90X and do the program. In 90 days you'll have a new body.

[pepper01]

when you hit your mid 20's your metabolism goes down. you need to eat right and go to the gym. there's no fix for it you just gotta do it

[Anonymous]

Read "Fit for Life" by Harvey Diamond

Avoid the middle aisles of the supermarket - that's where the crap is.

[WeaponZero]

I've been to a few different supermarkets and they had different layouts so that isn't always true =P I get the point though.

[ElPapi]

Drink a lot of water.