What might cause a sudden change in metabolism? I say ‘sudden’ but maybe that’s relative. Like many people I gradually gained weight during my 30’s, 40’s, and early 50’s. During that period my weight would go up and down but the general trend was to gain about 8-10 lbs. a decade. Something different, though, seems to be going on now. I recently got weighed at a doctor’s appointment and while I knew I’d had to ‘upgrade’ my wardrobe a few months ago I was semi-shocked to find I had gained 29 lbs (got rid of the bathroom scale last year) over the last 11 months! Thing is, I don’t think I changed any habits or made any lifestyle adjustments during that time that would account for this. I may have had more stress than usual at work this past year, but apart from that can’t think of anything that would easily account for the sudden increase.
The doc read me the riot act about regular exercise and diet, and seemed to treat the gain like this is something that just happens when you hit middle age, but that seems to me like an awful lot of weight to gain in a fairly short span of time. I’m going to follow his advice and start an exercise regimen and try to reduce calories, but now I’m wondering if something else is going on. Maybe I should have the doctor check my thyroid function or something else?