Anecdotal. I began to pack pounds in my late 20s. Desk job coupled with mild exercising did it. Then I saw the uncles around me and decided not to turn into one.
Three things make a difference:
Good diet, exercise, and sleep.
If you balance those three, you will begin to notice a change. Your stress levels drop, and that also will help in not adding weight. I also started intermittent fasting. Initially, I skipped eating for 24 hours once a week. Now, it's a 12-12 regime where I eat dinner by 9 and break my fast at 9.
Sleeping well is also important. Getting eight hours of sleep is not the point. Getting restful sleep is. You should able to fall asleep, stay asleep, and wake up without an alarm. If you cannot do that, a lot of things are not aligned in your body.
As we age, we look for shortcuts. Coffee to keep us up. Alcohol to make us feel better. Sleeping aids to help us sleep. Dieting pills and dietary fads to lose weight.
None of this will work.
You have to accept that your mind-body axis is not balanced and have to make a seismic shift in your entire life.
Forever.
Exercise regularly. And not just lifting weights or doing machines, but get your heart rate racing. HIIT is considered, of late, a solid exercise regime to boost your metabolism and keep you fit. Once your Base Metabolic Rate (BMR) increases, you will be burning more calories even when you are resting.
In essence, accept that you are a slave to your body's compulsions, and that's why you are what you are. If you want to fix your body and/mind, it takes discipline and perseverance. But it's easily doable.
https://old.reddit.com/r/india/comments/adfadb/comment/edi5y3x
very respectfully,
kushal