No excuses

 Recent research challenges the widely accepted belief that after the teenage years, our metabolism starts to slow down, accounting for middle-age spread. 

"Pontzer et al. report that energy expenditure (adjusted for weight) in neonates was like that of adults but increased substantially in the first year of life. It then gradually declined until young individuals reached adult characteristics, which were maintained from age 20 to 60 years. Older individuals showed reduced energy expenditure. Tissue metabolism thus appears not to be constant but rather to undergo transitions at critical junctures."

Pontzer and his collaborators previously used the same approach to show that African hunter-gatherers burn about the same number of calories as western adults, and that exercise only has a modest effect on weight control.

Until age 60, adults can best control body weight by controlling their diet. Exercise has plenty of benefits, don't get me wrong, but it is the slow path to weight loss.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/metabolism-adulthood-does-not-slow-commonly-believed-study-finds-n1276650?fbclid=IwAR3uDS9ZtwiuOZSbeLHpJvJ6h52RtSN08ClrM0EV4jWm606iYDf6Gpo1AKI