In fact, many people who come to see me are experiencing a weight problem for the first time. Among the first-timers are women who notice small to moderate weight gain with the onset of menopause. The extra weight isn't a problem, and they want to make sure it doesn't become one. They feel like there are certain things that they can do now to lose some weight and avoid a lot of weight gain in the future. And they're right.
Some men meet their first challenge with weight gain just as they're reaching middle age.
That's to be expected. Metabolism changes as we get older, and the food that we consume doesn't get burned up as quickly. Even if our eating habits don't change, it's easy to put on a few pounds and much harder to take them off. In fact, by the time you're a mature adult, you need 100 fewer daily calories than you needed when you were growing up. Some people who have never had weight problems in the past find that a new medication can have side effects.