Genetics and weight

JustDoIt987

Hey guys ! Sorry for asking another question , but today a friend of mine said '' I can never be slim , my parents are both big boned''
My question is : Do genetics determine your weight ?
If someone's 'natural weight' is 130lbs , can they get to a lower weight and healthily maintain it ?

eileen0515

Anyone can get to any weight, if they consume low enough calories, genetics be damned. However what folks call genetics I would call learned behavior, at least when it comes to body weight.

crackpotbaby

Genetic have impact into your general build, where you store fat, how quickly you put on muscle and even your hormonal variances and metabolism etc but they are certainly not the only determinant.

I think sometimes families adopt similar diet and activity levels which leads to similar weight issues/non issue and this can often be misconceived as familiar traits.

A person is always going to be working within their biological framework, however being a healthy weight and reaching a certain level of fitness is achievable for most people.

crzycatlady1

I come from an over weight/obese family, and most of my relatives are also overweight/obese. I also used to be overweight, but I got my head out of my *kitten* and took care of it. Lost around 50lbs, improved all my health markers-including being the only one in my family who's reversed the progression of prediabetes AND the only one who's been able to maintain weight loss for any length of time. I'm currently at a bmi of around 20 and genetics can kiss my tushy

CharlieBeansmomTracey

both my parents were normal weight(grandparents too).Including my sisters who were all at a decent healthy weight when we were younger. now we are all either overweight or obese.mine was caused from being less active and eating more than I burned.

I was never over 140lbs except for when pregnant. I was 180 for both pregnancies and lost all the weight with the first one and half with the second.I didnt start gaining until I stopped being as active(a lot of it was due to depression,no energy,etc) highest weight for me was 209lb and that was almost 5 years ago.Im still overweight by like 9 lbs.

davert123

Genetics surely do play an important role in weight gain and loss BUT it is not possible to do anything with them. We are lumbered or blessed when we pop out of our mum :-) they are off the radar and out of our hands so my opinion is dont worry about them but get to know you , how you respond and how you can work with or work around the response. The important issues are your own psychology, knowledge and ability to integrate a decent lifestyle into your life. This is something we can do and for me is the only thing I worry about. good luck :-)

manderson27

My mum is very slim still at 94, dad was obese and died at 69 of a heart attack.

Am I fat like my dad because of genetics? (I did use this excuse quite often)

No, I am fat because I am lazy and I eat too much.

I lost 32 pounds within a year of joining MFP by counting calories and lifting, maintained for 2 years so my losing weight is nothing to do with genetics.

Sadly I have now gained back 25 pounds after quitting smoking = overeating and arthritis preventing me lifting. So my gaining weight is nothing to do with genetics.

CICO Causes weight loss or weight gain.

zyxst

If it did, the only way I would've lost weight is to develop a life-threatening illness.

richardpkennedy1

Nobody is genetically fat. You can be genetically big built and have a certain shape but anyone can be fit unless they have some medical condition that prevents it

isabellapanzica9387

I agree that we learn alot of are eating and fitness habits from our parents. Then those eating habits contribute to a persons health and weight. Also I was watching this very interesting ted talk on obesity and people's knowledge on food by Jamie Oliver. Link is below if anyone is interested.
https://www.ted.com/talks/jamie_oliver

ladyannique2017

I think there is a genetic component to body type/weight. There are people who are predisposed to be slim and willowy and others that are predisposed to be stocky and muscular. Thats why there is such a wide range of "normal" BMIs. I don't think that genes can cause obesity though because that is an extreme, just like genes can't cause someone to be underweight. IMO, so long as we are healthy, we will all fall within the normal range but by under eating or over eating we end up outside that range. Unfortunately, it takes a lot more effort and time to kill yourself by over eating and not so much to kill yourself by under eating. That's why we see so many overweight or obese people around. They're slowly dying. That's not to say there aren't other causes of being overweight like pituitary tumors, thyroid issues, medications, injuries, etc. But again, the caveat is so long as we are healthy, we'll fall into normal range. Being ill can make you under or over weight.

I also agree that the way someone is raised can have an impact on weight through good or bad eating habits.

Gallowmere1984

Your friend is a victim of the same defeatist bullcrap that I fell for, for the first 27 years of my life. I was obese by age ten, and never bothered changing that until my late 20s. These days? I'm the only one in my family who isn't fat, because I accepted reality, accepted responsibility, and worked to undo the damage.

Luckily, my success has rubbed off on my mother and brother, who have lost a collective 90 lbs. in the last three months. It's almost like genetics and fatalism are not one and the same.

yskaldir

JustDoIt987 wrote: »

My question is : Do genetics determine your weight ?

I wouldn't say determine, but greatly influences. However no one is genetically predisposed to be 45% bodyfat.

If someone's 'natural weight' is 130lbs , can they get to a lower weight and healthily maintain it ?

They can (not the same as will), they might be miserable doing it. As to whether it can be healthily maintained, that's too individualistic to answer.

krisb1701d

http://www.shiftn.com/obesity/zoom-map.html

You can see here an old map of some of the 100s of societal, neurological and physiological factors that influence obesity. Since then further research into the microbiological and bacteriological processes means that anyone here saying anything about the relation of someone's epigenetic predisposition to obesity is ignorant at best.

This is a huge area of research and it is entirely possible that someone can be overweight and have very little control over it, regardless of their understanding of calorie deficit. Bacteria outnumber our cells ten to one, and if the drive you to eat... There is little you can do in the short term to combat that.

snowflake954

I will tell you what I think after watching my mother-in-law confinded to her bed and wasting away for 2 years. She had always been a little plump and became skin and bones. It really impressed me that it's all CICO. She had trouble swallowing and couldn't eat enough.

JohnnyPenso

I was big boned for most of my adult life. Oddly, when I eventually dropped from 240 to 160 through diet and exercise, I was no longer big boned.

mskimee

Both of my parents (and my brother) are "big" in every sense. Tall, heavy etc. I'm 5ft tall and was a heavy teen, but lost the weight. My point is I wasn't heavy cos of my genetics, I was heavy cos all I ever knew was big portions of convenience foods. To me a chicken breast was healthy, even covered in cheese, oil and breadcrumbs cos it was chicken, right??
I think it's a case of learned behavior. If your parents only show you unhealthy foods for the 1st 20 years of your life, its a hard one to unlearn.
Also trying to match my family's portion sizes. they are all 5ft 9 or over, they carry their weight different!

BrettWithPKU

JustDoIt987 wrote: »

Hey guys ! Sorry for asking another question , but today a friend of mine said '' I can never be slim , my parents are both big boned''
My question is : Do genetics determine your weight ?
If someone's 'natural weight' is 130lbs , can they get to a lower weight and healthily maintain it ?

Your friend's statement is self-defeating, and to let that define him/her is a mistake.
Your friend says "I can never be slim"; I say, "Not with that attitude." And therein lies exactly what needs to change: your friend's attitude (and maybe a few habits).

CSARdiver

No - unless you consider people living in the third world genetically skinny.

There is no basis to this thinking other than avoidance of personal responsibility.

The_Enginerd

krisb1701d wrote: »

Bacteria outnumber our cells ten to one, and if the drive you to eat... There is little you can do in the short term to combat that.

This is not true, the ratio is closer to 1:1
http://www.nature.com/news/scientists-bust-myth-that-our-bodies-have-more-bacteria-than-human-cells-1.19136

Lounmoun

I think saying you can't be a healthy weight because you are large boned and your family is an excuse. If you put the work in you can weigh less. It doesn't mean you'd enjoy weighing less or look awesome weighing less but it is possible to lose weight and maintain a lower weight if you eat and burn the right amount of calories to do so.

I am a more medium frame. I have weighed 100 lbs (slightly underweight) to 180 lbs (obese). I felt good about 125- middle of the healthy range.

wellthenwhat

I was always chubby. My family and friends assured me, "oh, you aren't fat, you're big boned, muscular, and so on." Then I lost the weight. I actually have a fairly light bone frame. I was fat.

jemhh

My husband is what I would consider larger framed--broad shoulders, thick wrists, etc. Yet it doesn't prevent him from reaching a healthy body fat level, which is what I consider slim to be. There's no reason to think that having a larger frame requires an addition amount of padding (i.e., fat.)

krisb1701d

The_Enginerd wrote: »

krisb1701d wrote: »

Bacteria outnumber our cells ten to one, and if the drive you to eat... There is little you can do in the short term to combat that.

This is not true, the ratio is closer to 1:1
http://www.nature.com/news/scientists-bust-myth-that-our-bodies-have-more-bacteria-than-human-cells-1.19136

Interesting paper, thanks for that. While his findings are still under review it does note that there is still a higher concentration in the gut. I believe the point about the GI microbiota driving us to eat still stands.

BCullari

My "genetics" made me fat, yet when I cleaned up my eating and exercised regularly, my "genetics" suddenly made me fit and healthy with a total weight loss of 80 pounds.
People love excuses....

FreyasRebirth

My Nutrition teacher (who has her degree in exercise physiology) believes someone can be healthy/athletically fit/metabolically normal and still be overfat. I would say it is normally an excuse but she says there are some people whose bodies are just really good at storing fat. Twin studies have shown that genetics can play enough of a part that fat-prone children will still weigh more than their peers when they are adopted by a normal weight family.

Having a larger frame would mean your 'ideal weight' is a little bit higher but it isn't like we're talking about 30 lbs higher. The difference between medium frame and large frame is only like 10 lbs, and it is likely at least some of that is going to muscle and bone mass.

BeauNash

There is more and more evidence that there is a genetic component to weight gain/obesity (e.g. this paper published this month).

The exact magnitude of the contribution is unknown and even if it is quantifiable, is likely to be small. But that's not to say that it will be easy - we'll just have to work a bit harder at CICO and perhaps have to put up with more bumps and stalls along the way. Sound familiar?

gothomson

While there is some debate on the impact of genetics on weight loss your friends statement is basically an excuse. I cant remember who said this but I think its true "I find people that say the can, or cannot, achieve something are usually right". In other words if you decide you're gonna fail before you start, guess what? You'll fail. Some people will have a genetic issue no doubt, but all too often, when I hear that sort of argument ( "I can never lose weight / stop eating meat / do regular exercise / eat healthy food") its short for "I cant be bothered changing".

Tacklewasher

FreyasRebirth wrote: »

Having a larger frame would mean your 'ideal weight' is a little bit higher but it isn't like we're talking about 30 lbs higher. The difference between medium frame and large frame is only like 10 lbs, and it is likely at least some of that is going to muscle and bone mass.

What I've read is that it can be up to 10% difference. So, for me, that would mean the top end moves from ~ 180 to ~200. But, I do know my current goal of 220 is still overweight.

jemhh

Tacklewasher wrote: »

FreyasRebirth wrote: »

Having a larger frame would mean your 'ideal weight' is a little bit higher but it isn't like we're talking about 30 lbs higher. The difference between medium frame and large frame is only like 10 lbs, and it is likely at least some of that is going to muscle and bone mass.

What I've read is that it can be up to 10% difference. So, for me, that would mean the top end moves from ~ 180 to ~200. But, I do know my current goal of 220 is still overweight.

Why do you say that it moves your top end up? Normally there is a healthy weight range. For my height the range is 115-154. I would expect that a larger framed woman may have an ideal weight on the higher end of that, medium frame in the middle, small frame at the bottom.

The_Enginerd

krisb1701d wrote: »

The_Enginerd wrote: »

krisb1701d wrote: »

Bacteria outnumber our cells ten to one, and if the drive you to eat... There is little you can do in the short term to combat that.

This is not true, the ratio is closer to 1:1
http://www.nature.com/news/scientists-bust-myth-that-our-bodies-have-more-bacteria-than-human-cells-1.19136

Interesting paper, thanks for that. While his findings are still under review it does note that there is still a higher concentration in the gut. I believe the point about the GI microbiota driving us to eat still stands.

At this time, some correlations between gut bacteria population and weight/obesity have been found, but I believe it would be a drastic overstatement of the evidence to date to suggest that there is causation of any sort causing folks to overeat. Folks who are overweight also tend to eat more/differently and be less active. My gut ( ) feeling is the causation is likely the other way and the differences in bacterial populations found is due to the lifestyle differences that lead to obesity.