When your body is growing it requires massive amounts of calories, above and beyond what are required to simply maintain it's present state. It's easy to become accustomed to the portion sizes that you eat during this period and to view them as being normal, however once you stop growing, and particularly if you become sedentary, your nutrition requirements drop significantly. This also coincides with when most people become independent and start making their own dietary decisions, often leading to massive amounts of junkfood, making the problem even worse.
The solution is simple: eat right and move around. Even small changes will make a big difference over a long enough period. The important thing is consistsncy so don't pick some absurd diet that you will quit a week later, immediately regaining the weight from the resulting binge. The book "brains over brawn" available in free ebook form, is great at explaining what you can do in a common sense, fairly conduct format.
Eat good food, composed primarily of lean proteins, vegetables, some fruits, small amounts of whole grains, beans, etc. The food should not be over processed or contain tons of additives. It's better if you make it yourself, as you can tailor the portions and control the ingredients. If you eat slightly less calories than are needed to sustain your body in an active state (while being active), you will lose weight. If you are obese, base this number of off your lean body mass as the excess fat will heavily skew it. Also, if you are obese, consult a doctor regarding any health complications that might ensue from exercising (e.g. Running while significantly overweight can be very damaging).
And exercise. Cardio is good, but boring. Weightlfiting is better. It stimulates massive growth which is great for burning fat. It also can be done in a short amount of time, helps you look better and better as you lose the fat, and is wonderfully empowering for large people as you are already going to be fairly strong simply from the everyday task of lifting yourself. The major lifts: deadlifts, squats, press, and bench press work the entire body at once and are excellent for promoting physical developemnet. If done correctly, they are very safe. See rippetoe's starting strength book for an excellent guide to proper form. The somethingawful.com watch and weight forum is also great for sound advice.
20-something weight gain
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When your body is growing it requires massive amounts of calories, above and beyond what are required to simply maintain it's present state. It's easy to become accustomed to the portion sizes that you eat during this period and to view them as being normal, however once you stop growing, and particularly if you become sedentary, your nutrition requirements drop significantly. This also coincides with when most people become independent and start making their own dietary decisions, often leading to massive amounts of junkfood, making the problem even worse.
The solution is simple: eat right and move around. Even small changes will make a big difference over a long enough period. The important thing is consistsncy so don't pick some absurd diet that you will quit a week later, immediately regaining the weight from the resulting binge. The book "brains over brawn" available in free ebook form, is great at explaining what you can do in a common sense, fairly conduct format.
Eat good food, composed primarily of lean proteins, vegetables, some fruits, small amounts of whole grains, beans, etc. The food should not be over processed or contain tons of additives. It's better if you make it yourself, as you can tailor the portions and control the ingredients. If you eat slightly less calories than are needed to sustain your body in an active state (while being active), you will lose weight. If you are obese, base this number of off your lean body mass as the excess fat will heavily skew it. Also, if you are obese, consult a doctor regarding any health complications that might ensue from exercising (e.g. Running while significantly overweight can be very damaging).
And exercise. Cardio is good, but boring. Weightlfiting is better. It stimulates massive growth which is great for burning fat. It also can be done in a short amount of time, helps you look better and better as you lose the fat, and is wonderfully empowering for large people as you are already going to be fairly strong simply from the everyday task of lifting yourself. The major lifts: deadlifts, squats, press, and bench press work the entire body at once and are excellent for promoting physical developemnet. If done correctly, they are very safe. See rippetoe's starting strength book for an excellent guide to proper form. The somethingawful.com watch and weight forum is also great for sound advice.
Goodluck!