So maybe your pants are feeling snug or you can no longer easily zip your jacket. Join the club. Weight gain feels almost like a right of passage for those of us entering our later years. And the implications are not only for your wardrobe. There’s increasing evidence that your extra weight is taking its toll on your brain and increasing your risk of cancer. And there’s new evidence out of Stockholm that as we age, the fat tissue in our body goes through changes independent of other factors influencing weight, so that no matter what you do, your body may be putting itself at higher risk of increasing weight. So, do you just throw up your hands in defeat?

Experts clearly say no. There is much that can be done to fight weight gain or even take off added pounds. For example, from the Tufts University Health and Nutrition newsletter comes advice about how to challenge weight loss myths and maintain a healthy weight. Some of the revelations? You don’t have to feel hungry in order to lose weight and you don’t have to fast or eat multiple tiny meals in order to be successful. So close the fridge door and find out more here. And research just published in the British Medical Journal of Nutrition, Prevention, and Health provides more compelling evidence about the value of eating nuts to help prevent the average 1lb weight gain/year of US adults. Just a handful of nuts a day (don’t be tempted to eat half the jar) can provide valuable protein and fiber to leave you more filled up than that bag of chips you’re used to. So put down the crackers and listen here to better understand why nuts should be a regular part of your diet. But one warning: don’t think you can get the same advantages by spreading on Nutella or other sweet nut butters: Ingesting those is the equivalent of downing the frosting on a cupcake, so you’ll only gain the calories without nutritional benefit.