People who think fat is not a genetics issue

In the long run, does it really matter if genetics play a role? I never doubted this was the case to some extent, but the same conclusion can be made according to the study: OVEREATING makes people gain weight, NOT genetics. Beyond that it's a matter of just how much they will gain when they overeat. About this article, I say, SO WHAT? Eat less and move more. This equation has not changed.

It matters in that people still judge the overweight as lazy slobs when the fact is that it just is a lot harder and requires constant vigilance that others don't have to worry about. If you weren't naturally talented at math, and you were required to be an engineer and while you CAN do it, it takes twice the effort and is ten times as frustrating, it would be pretty crappy to tsk tsk you for wanting to be a English teacher instead.

I'm not making excuses, just pointing out why it gets so damn hard for some of us to "simply" eat less and move more when it's such an uphil battle and one slip can wipe out a weeks worth of hard work and deprivation. Understanding that it really is harder and validating that with data makes it an easier pill ( for me at least) to swallow.

How do you explain this?

In a seminal series of experiments published in the 1990s, the Canadian researchers Claude Bouchard and Angelo Tremblay studied 31 pairs of male twins ranging in age from 17 to 29, who were sometimes overfed and sometimes put on diets. (None of the twin pairs were at risk for obesity based on their body mass or their family history.) In one study, 12 sets of the twins were put under 24-hour supervision in a college dormitory. Six days a week they ate 1,000 extra calories a day, and one day they were allowed to eat normally. They could read, play video games, play cards and watch television, but exercise was limited to one 30-minute daily walk. Over the course of the 120-day study, the twins consumed 84,000 extra calories beyond their basic needs.

That experimental binge should have translated into a weight gain of roughly 24 pounds (based on 3,500 calories to a pound). But some gained less than 10 pounds, while others gained as much as 29 pounds. The amount of weight gained and how the fat was distributed around the body closely matched among brothers, but varied considerably among the different sets of twins. Some brothers gained three times as much fat around their abdomens as others, for instance. When the researchers conducted similar exercise studies with the twins, they saw the patterns in reverse, with some twin sets losing more pounds than others on the same exercise regimen. The findings, the researchers wrote, suggest a form of “biological determinism” that can make a person susceptible to weight gain or loss.

It's a genuine question. I am beginning to feel absolutely destined to always be fat. There is a 90% plus chance of putting it all back on and then some if I do shift it. Maybe I'm just having a bad day :frown:

In the long run, does it really matter if genetics play a role? I never doubted this was the case to some extent, but the same conclusion can be made according to the study: OVEREATING makes people gain weight, NOT genetics. Beyond that it's a matter of just how much they will gain when they overeat. About this article, I say, SO WHAT? Eat less and move more. This equation has not changed.

It matters in that people still judge the overweight as lazy slobs when the fact is that it just is a lot harder and requires constant vigilance that others don't have to worry about. If you weren't naturally talented at math, and you were required to be an engineer and while you CAN do it, it takes twice the effort and is ten times as frustrating, it would be pretty crappy to tsk tsk you for wanting to be a English teacher instead.

I'm not making excuses, just pointing out why it gets so damn hard for some of us to "simply" eat less and move more when it's such an uphil battle and one slip can wipe out a weeks worth of hard work and deprivation. Understanding that it really is harder and validating that with data makes it an easier pill ( for me at least) to swallow.

This line of thinking is what got you to the place you are in now. One slip will not undo weeks of hard work. Believe it or not, people didn't just get this way overnight or by having one bad meal. Further, you shouldn't ever be depriving yourself. 500 cals below maintenance is basically like not eating one extra snack a day. If your doing more than that then you are basically paying your own price for lack of patience.

Oh and yeah, this is coming from a long time fat kid that is used to telling himself every excuse in the book. If you can still hear those little voices in the back of your head and give in to the hundreds of excuses than I just don't know what to tell you other than maybe at this time you just don't want it bad enough.

No, it is a simple as eat less move more...serious medical condition aside. The plan is simple, yes, the execution is harder for some but its still a simple concept.

I think genetic factors play a role in fat loss.

I think anyone assuming that it's all genetics and not at all behavioral, is fooling themselves quite badly. I'm not suggesting you are doing this.

You cannot control your genetics.
You CAN control your lifestyle choices, and fortunately time and time again when we see examples of people who sustain caloric deficits, they lose weight. So fortunately there is something that can be done about it.

Over the course of the 120-day study, the twins consumed 84,000 extra calories beyond their basic needs.

That experimental binge should have translated into a weight gain of roughly 24 pounds (based on 3,500 calories to a pound). But some gained less than 10 pounds, while others gained as much as 29 pounds.

I think the analogy with alcoholism is a good one actually. Alcoholics are expected to remain fiercely vigilant all their lives, maybe that's the way I need to look at it.

Thank you for the congratulations, I am pleased with my loss. I am just a little tired I think. I had a bad weekend (for all sorts of reasons) and ended up eating way over my goal. It's logged and I am trying to move on and have a good week this week but it rather terrified me how easily I just went overboard.