Is it greed or is it genetics? Why are you fat?

mommyof4cpa

Ever fly on an airplane and hear the flight attendants say during the safety briefing "place your own oxygen mask on first before assisting others"? I have repeatedly failed that lesson as it applies to my own life and my own health and my own happiness.

cuinboston2014

We use food as a means to show love. When someone is going through a rough time the inclination is to bring them a treat. When someone does something amazing, let's get together and celebrate with food and drink. It's greed. We want what we want when we want it. Food has always been used in my family to celebrate - and it always will be. Same with my friends.

And that's fine - in moderation.

I have 3 sisters who are all my mom's size - around 5'3" and thin. I was always the big one - being fat growing up and grew to 5'10". I thought I was destined to be the fat one. But then when I started losing weight I realized it wasn't my genes. My genes make me tall and give me broad shoulders but they don't make me fat.

Food makes me fat. My decision to eat more than I burn makes me fat. My decision to drink wine and eat ice cream makes me fat. Having an unrealistic idea of how much I am eating makes me fat. So now - turning it around and enjoying thigns in moderation, tracking things, regardless fo my jeans - I will never be small like my sisters but I can sure as hell be strong and lean regardless of my genetics. I may have to work out differently to achieve the results but ehy will come.

I agree that only a small portion of people can blame genetic conditions or diseases on weight gain. These are extremely legitimate but it's not the case with everyone.

mumblemagic

I do not believe there is an "overeating" gene. Overeating is a learned function. The reason the children of obese parents usually become obese themselves is because they are immersed from birth in a lifestyle of over indulgence of food and usually little to no exercise activity.

This is not entirely true: studies have shown that there is a gene that controls appetite, and some people just never feel full. Ever. Which obviously causes them to eat..... and they get fat. Some people do have genetic conditions that affect their metabolism, e.g. hypothyroidism, which can cause weight gain.

However, those situations are very very rare and most people it is just a case of run of the mill eating too much. When this runs it families, it is usually due to learned behaviour not due to genetics.

KateK8LoseW8

I have a really hard time believing that genetics has nothing to do with it. My entire extended family, regardless of physical location from Texas to England to Ohio, education level from high school to phD, or income has trouble with their weight. I really believe that some people are prone to weight gain, and others are not, whether that's due to an increased hunger level, greater tendency toward enjoying high calorie foods, or whatever. Some people get fat, others don't, and you tend to see a trend in families.

That said, our bodies do not react to calories any differently than anyone else. Weight loss and weight maintenance is possible with calorie control. It's not a life sentence to be obese. It's just that we can't regulate our calorie intake instinctually. Maybe with YEARS of practice, but I know from loss and gain and losing again that I can't just eat when I'm hungry and stop when I'm full. I'm always hungry, and I'm never full. I can down 6,000 calories in a day easy. My boyfriend, who is skinny and comes from a skinny family? He gets full and he stops eating at some point. I don't. I can always eat more. I have to monitor my calorie intake for the rest of my life, because I don't have that switch that goes off when I've had enough.

So yes, it is greed. But I seriously believe that the greed is something ingrained in me both genetically and from my youth. It is both a physical phenomenon and a learned behavior. That said, that's no excuse. We just have to control our intake with an external resource rather than listening to our bodies.

ouiouilezizi

It is NOT greed.

It is simple: we are hard-wired to seek out pleasure (sex, density-high foods, good experiences) and in the past this wasn't an issue because we didn't have such easy access to these foods. People ate simpler, more seasonally, there wasn't as much choice, and if you wanted a cake you'd have to spend a small fortune to make one yourself.

Eating has become way more complicated than it was for our ancestors. Couple this with advertising and a society that doesn't really have a solid eating tradition as they do other parts of the world, and we got a body mass problem. But no individual who suffers from obsesity is to blame.

You can't, and shouldn't, "Catholic-guilt" being overweight.

batgirl_273

I come from a family history of obesity, diabetes and bad eating habits. I want to say genetics, but it's not, it's environmental factors mostly.

I was influenced as a kid... I copied what I saw around me.. I ate what was handed to me, and those meals were not healthy, or portioned. I was a picky eater, which is also not genetics, it's something I was allowed to get away with. My mom never force fed me food (nor should any parent), but she was too lax in letting me get away with not eating my veggies, and choosing to eat junk instead.

I'm an emotional eater. I was also oblivious to portion control and what healthy eating actually is. No one taught me, so I had to teach myself. I didn't over-eat because I was greedy, I over ate because I had no idea that's what I was doing. I thought a bag of doritos was ok because they are made from corn, and corn is good for you, if that makes any sense. I didn't know what a calorie was or how hard it was to burn them off.

Took me 29 years to break the "cycle" i was so used to living. Over eating is very much like any other addiction... it's not genetic, it's environmental and situational factors that influence you to make the decisions you do, but they are still YOUR decisions.

Mamakatspokane

Genetics may help me gain it easier but it's the other part of my family that made me fat... The habits I developed as a kid, some taught, some learned but all were "family habits" So my family is big but I don't think it's genetics...it's habits

Pearsquared

It's a developed habit for me. Not genetics, but I learned it so early in life that it is very difficult to break. We had a lot of junk food, but not so much that I had a big weight problem - I was overweight enough to be the "fat girl" in school, but not so much that it was an overt health concern. I gained another 30-odd pounds after I left school and left behind the physical activity that kept me relatively thin.

Then there was the binge eating. I'm only now realizing how bad it got. I was a binge/restrict type, and didn't think I had a true disorder because I didn't purge after my binges. It got to the point where I was so self-conscious about my food that I couldn't eat in front of others, and had huge binges at night because I was starving.

Most of the weight gain came from that. Still fighting against the binge/restrict cycle. I find myself trickling more and more of my allotted calories towards the evening so I can have my "binge". It just makes me grouchy during the day though, because I'm barely eating anything.

GadgetGuy2

It is encouraging to see so many people @MFP are aware that obesity can be a result of BOTH behavior (greed) and genetics(genetics).

It is also encouraging to see that most of those with a modern understanding of obesity, also know that behavior is more important than genetics, in most cases (i.e. most people can overcome any predisposition to obesity by controlling their behavior (i.e. what they eat and how physically active they are)).

Knowledge is power. My mother-in-law continues to fail at dieting. She is adamant that genetics has nothing to do with it(all the women on her side of the family are obese, except my wife that works very, very hard to stay slim), and claims that her character must be flawed. I feel so sorry for her having to think she is flawed.

I wouldn't be surprised if her depression about her flawed character motivates her to eat comfort foods.

My wife has worked hard (diet and exercise) most of her life (H.S. to present) to maintain a healthy weight. My daughter joined MFP about a year ago, and is following in the footsteps of my wife, now that she has slimmed down. My mother-in-law continues to blame her flawed character, rather than work hard like my wife and daughter do to overcome their predisposition to obesity.

ktsmom430

For me it is both. I inherited my maternal grandmothers gene's and I ate way too much. It is what it is. I have come a long way, but the proof is in being able to maintain. Not easy per the statistics.

etoiles_argentees

genetics. I've never been overweight.

lucan07

For me it was the little green men that forced me to eat to much!

OK! it wasn't really the little green men, I was lazy and greedy!

bttrthanevr

No I don't think your genes make you want to eat. You've been taught that food fixes things. My daughter in law is obese as is her whole family on both sides. She's always blamed in on her genes but standing back and watching how they interact and how they use food it's so obvious that food is how they handle everything. It isn't wanting food it's that food is what you do when you're celebrating, what makes you feel better when you're sad, what you do when you're angry, how you reward children, show love to your spouse, etc.

I would agree with that. From what I can observe with overweight/obese friends/family food seems to be the standard response to almost ANY emotion....

I'm upset = eat
I'm angry = eat
I'm stressed = eat
I'm happy, let's celebrate = eat

^^THIS^^

tiggerhammon

I wish I could blame it on genetics. But, no, it's all me.

However, I tend to eat when I am emotional and my messed up emotions are totally genetic.
Every single one of my siblings, including myself, have been diagnosed with depression. My mother ( and half her siblings) and my grandmother. I got my depression from a genetic chemical imbalance and I feel the extremely strong urge to eat when I am depressed.

Still doesn't mean I am fat because of genetics. I am fat because I eat when I feel the urge.

guroprincess

Genetics, the way I was raised, and my own personal error.

Genetics: I have PCOS which makes it a little more difficult to lose weight. Additionally my mother's side of the family has always been very heavy.

The way I was raised: I was raised on spaghetti and frozen pizza. Wasn't ever forced to eat vegetables or anything "healthy". Absolutely no healthy habits taught to me by anyone.

My own personal error: Most of my weight was put on when I went through puberty. Around that time I also became a lot more inactive-- I went from playing outside all day and getting tons of exercise to staying inside playing video games/on the computer all day. As a teenager I never really noticed my weight crawling up until I got to be obese.

(That's not even mentioning that I used to be a "boredom eater" and have always traditionally went out to eat or done something food related when visiting friends and family.)

There's not much I can do about genetics, but I can teach myself new habits and try to overcome the personal errors I've made in the past with regards to my health. I've forgiven myself for them and moved on past it-- now it's just a matter of forming new habits with food and exercise.