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habits vs genetics?
AliceAxe
Posts: 172 Member
What do you believe is more of a factor , habits or genetics?
after watching the documentary it realy has me wondering, how much is realy in our control?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_PRHuuoeCs
after watching the documentary it realy has me wondering, how much is realy in our control?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_PRHuuoeCs 1
Replies
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I'm not sure what plays a bigger part or if they could be half and half. Genetics play a big part. My little sister has a different dad than me and my brother. Him and I are lucky and gain muscle very easily. My sister does not, and even when active or playing sports, she does not look muscular like us. Of course habits come into play. If I didn't work out or eat healthy, I wouldn't be as fit.4
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Genetics decide whether you have long or short limbs, broad or narrow shoulders, big or small feet, a long or short torso, fine or heavy bones.
Genetics are the reason I look fantastic at 5'9" 165 but my close friend of 25+ years, a woman of the same height, Maria, looks her best at 140.
Genetics plays a large role in hunger and satiety and fat depositing patterns.
Genetics can be a fairly solid explanation for why BMIs of 20 - 27.5 are associated with the best overall health outcomes (that's quite a spread)
But choices (lifestyle, habits) are the primary factor for morbid obesity (class III), and likely obesity of class I and II as well for most, if not all, people. I reserve the right of objection for those dealing with Cushing's or other rate and serious metabolic disorders, out in the case of this documentary, Prader-Willi Syndrome. It's notable that both physical self regulating and emotional self regulation (impulse control and emotional stability) are compromised.
Our bodies have a considerable amount of natural variation. But our choices determine our physical fitness levels, and we're not going to get really fat without some actual actions on our part making that possible.
In the documentary, is notable that the families are struggling with their weights as well: they are not modeling healthy eating or fitness for their children, in addition to the extent challenge of their disorder. These are human beings and they're going to react to that disparity the same way kids do whenever their parents say "do as I say, not as I do" But I don't know that they can do more than moderate the effect of the disability at best anyway. I know a family with one child with this syndrome; the whole family is thin and athletic, except the child with PWS. His parents make good choices for themselves and him, but he's still obese. That's the reality of this syndrome.26 -
No time to watch the video, but in everyone it is a combination of both. Having said that, to say just because you have bad genetics you have an excuse is a cop out. There are many, many people who have succeeded in spite of their genetic by being aware of them, and actively dealing with them.7
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Habits. Someone posted a study elsewhere today that talks about BMI similarities between birth parents and adopted children -- I haven't read it yet, but that would support the idea that whether you are susceptible to gaining weight tends to have a genetic link, which makes sense to me. But the fact remains that the BMI of the country as a whole (and other countries as a whole) has increased, which is related to environment (and positive changes probably as much or more than negative ones). If environment plays a role, than habits do to and can be changed to be better adapted to the environments we are in, as well as to change the specific environment we are in to some degree.4
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I think it's calories in and genetics which influence your natural body composition.3
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Overfatness is not genetic. Your genetics *may* alter your TDEE, but it's a rarity that it'll be more than 15% from some studies.
Mind, 15% on the standard 2000 Calories-a-day diet is 300 calories, or about a single Klondie bar.6 -
Take any overweight/obese person and CONTROL their eating habits for them. Guaranteed they lose weight. Genetics will dictate your physical build, BMR, etc., but doesn't control how much your eat.
In the documentary, the people depicted have a genetic disorder and it seems based on mentality, not a physical need.
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although genetics play a part in how you carry fat- hips, butt, belly, etc- people can't blame with DNA when they eat far over the needed calories and have a non active life style.
Have you seen the show secret eaters? It's British but people are people. People who think they are medical abnormalities, or that it's their genes are probably not realizing how much they eat. A person's DNA does not control how often they put the fork to the mouth.5 -
Just tagging this to watch later when I have more time. Not sure from the post alone what is being asked.1
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BreezeDoveal wrote: »With the right habits and mindfullness, one will alter their genetics anyway.
People, please do not feed the troll.
Or do; it's kind of entertaining.
(Honestly, I think BreezeDoveal is the best troll I've seen since Usenet days, so good on you, sir or madam.)2 -
BreezeDoveal wrote: »With the right habits and mindfullness, one will alter their genetics anyway.
I think that sentence would only be true if you change "will" to "may".0 -
Genetics establishes parameters. Habits allow one to either be limited by those parameters or break past them.10
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BreezeDoveal wrote: »What is DNA anyway? It is just 3 little letters, and people talk about it like the D stands for Destiny, and then they proceed to let that mindset give them that D over and over.
You're not kidding. Sick and tired of always getting the D repeatedly. Now I chose my own D.1 -
What do you believe is more of a factor , habits or genetics?
after watching the documentary it realy has me wondering, how much is realy in our control?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_PRHuuoeCsWhat do you believe is more of a factor , habits or genetics?
after watching the documentary it realy has me wondering, how much is realy in our control?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_PRHuuoeCs
. A few episodes of Secret Eaters will clear this up for you.What do you believe is more of a factor , habits or genetics?
after watching the documentary it realy has me wondering, how much is realy in our control?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_PRHuuoeCs
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Genetics can definitely play a large part - particularly in how we experience hunger and satiety. Some people will always be predisposed to overeating because they are always hungrier than they "should be", and they don't feel full as easily or as strongly.
Does that mean they are destined to be fat? No. It means they will have to make a conscious effort and try harder to keep themselves in shape compared to the rest of the population. It does stack the deck against them, and in many ways it's an explanation, but not an excuse.12 -
So I woke up the other day with this thought...
Could body type evolution be a neuro-biologic response? Could apple, pear, hourglass... shapes be connected to how our genes form thought?
The mind muscle connection may help one target areas better. There is purposeful focus in this process. For instance, to hip thrust using the glutes (not the quads or hams), one has to activate the glutes. So I was wondering that maybe certain people have a subconscious secondary focus gene that may form the body shape or are predisposed to activating certain muscles over others.
Is it survival of the fittest that has shaped our current body types? And can the next generations evolve into a different body type through conscious mind muscle connection? Is sitting at a desk all day forming a new body type?3 -
Genetics establishes parameters. Habits allow one to either be limited by those parameters or break past them.
Pretty much this. Everyone in my family looks like 250+ pounds of chewed Wrigley's. I used to be among them. The ridiculous eating habits that my family members foist upon, and reinforce amongst themselves are entirely to blame. The sad part is, I didn't even find the fatloss process painful, or even mildly uncomfortable. It was just a matter of making myself do it. It was a combination of apathy and *kitten* eating habits. Not genetics, not hunger, not something as ridiculous as food or sugar "addiction". It was plain and simple, pathetic apathy. All it took was someone finally pointing out what a disgusting tub of *kitten* I had become, and within a year I went from morbidly obese, to barely overweight. Three years later, and I'm working a lean bulk cycle from 157 lbs. at 5'10".
Funny how that worked out.7 -
What do you believe is more of a factor , habits or genetics?
That's a very incomplete question - which regards to what? Which habits and what genetics.
Genetics, habit AND environment have an intricate interplay with regards to how we develop and who we are.
If you think that you can say "well, I'm not going to lose this weight because I have fat genes" and use that as some crutch you are probably right - you won't lose the weight. But it isn't about genetics, it's about attitude.
With regards to only weightloss, this question comes up all the time. Sure, genetics plays a huge role in lipid storage, disease, mental capacity to keep habits, etc... but don't confuse these factors with the games your mind plays to get you to throw in the towel. Not one person that has consistently maintained habits has not created some kind of transformation over time. How one keeps at it, what one constructs to maintain habits outweighs most thinking about "it's in my genes".
(that documentary is about people with genetic and mental health challenges which are extremely rare. 1 out of 30000 persons or so.)2 -
Or as I told a church friend who cares, "I knew how to cook and how to eat. I didn't know what to cook or why to eat." It was ignorance, habits, upbringing, culture. Money and cheap food will prove to be a limiting factor on population. PWS is an extremely rare genetic condition. Most of us have relatives with one or another genetic impediment and those of us who don't might not know how lucky we are.3
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Genetics.1
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So I woke up the other day with this thought...
Could body type evolution be a neuro-biologic response? Could apple, pear, hourglass... shapes be connected to how our genes form thought?
The mind muscle connection may help one target areas better. There is purposeful focus in this process. For instance, to hip thrust using the glutes (not the quads or hams), one has to activate the glutes. So I was wondering that maybe certain people have a subconscious secondary focus gene that may form the body shape or are predisposed to activating certain muscles over others.
Is it survival of the fittest that has shaped our current body types? And can the next generations evolve into a different body type through conscious mind muscle connection? Is sitting at a desk all day forming a new body type?
Sitting at a desk? Will not evolve...1 -
in_the_stars wrote: »So I woke up the other day with this thought...
Could body type evolution be a neuro-biologic response? Could apple, pear, hourglass... shapes be connected to how our genes form thought?
The mind muscle connection may help one target areas better. There is purposeful focus in this process. For instance, to hip thrust using the glutes (not the quads or hams), one has to activate the glutes. So I was wondering that maybe certain people have a subconscious secondary focus gene that may form the body shape or are predisposed to activating certain muscles over others.
Is it survival of the fittest that has shaped our current body types? And can the next generations evolve into a different body type through conscious mind muscle connection? Is sitting at a desk all day forming a new body type?
Sitting at a desk? Will not evolve...
Slow twitch, fast... eating what your ancestors ate, on and on... Listen to that EV Guy's post, I'm too far in genetics research to read the current PAP studies. I apologize.1 -
Genetics definitely plays a small part. I have 2 boys, both with SN and no off switch with food. One is long and lanky, like his dad, the other is dumpy, like me. They carry weight very differently and the one who takes after me has a bit of a belly and chunky thighs. He doesn't have his brother's long limbs and wide, angular shoulders. Even their dad, who has been on this weight loss journey with me, stayed like something skinny that had swallowed a beach ball, rather than got properly fat all over.
Habit influences how that plays out, though. I have close family who are all on the heavy side, save one son, who is a high level athlete, trains regularly and does moderate what he eats at mealtimes. He's inherited the height from his dad's side but is built like a very long rake!2 -
Ask yourself how many morbidly obese people existed 100 years ago.6
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sunnybeaches105 wrote: »Ask yourself how many morbidly obese people existed 100 years ago.
This is interesting as the culture of skinny = attractive is relatively new. Obesity has historically been a sign of wealth and affluence, which as you state destroys the "It's my genes" narrative.3 -
sunnybeaches105 wrote: »Ask yourself how many morbidly obese people existed 100 years ago.
Doesn't mean there isn't a genetic component, just that in the past most people didn't have access to sufficient food to gain that much. Genetics can definitely make people want to eat more, by increasing hunger and reducing satiety, but weight still comes down to CICO - if you lack access to a surplus of calories you can't gain.
In fact that's why a predisposition to overeat would be evolutionarily favorable - historically people didn't have access to enough food to cause obesity to be a serious health risk, and those who ate a lot during times of plenty were less likely to perish in the next famine. Now we have a drive to prepare for a famine that isn't going to happen.8 -
That was heartbreaking...0
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As I said above, I think there's a genetic component as to why some people seem to be more prone to obesity (including the choices that lead to it) and I also agree that it would have been evolutionarily favorable -- being able to eat when not immediately in need of food certainly is, not some kind of malfunction caused by tasty food or such nonsense -- but I think sunnybeaches is making a good point, because so often people take things like genetics and "set point" and all that to suggest that we have no control over our weights. That the average BMI has changed so much shows that it's not just "natural body shape," as some claim.2
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