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Are people helpless in controling their weight?

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Replies

  • Dnarules
    Dnarules Posts: 2,081 Member
    This is probably the most arrogant thing I've seen you post.

    And yet...
    Do I believe I got fat because of my genetics...NO. I eat and drink too much.

    ...we are in agreement.

    No, you and I are rarely in agreement. I don't blame genetics for my weight. But to say genetics plays 0 role is either arrogant or ignorant. Your choice.
  • Sjenny5891
    Sjenny5891 Posts: 717 Member


    Regardless, 100 calories is nothing. You can easily burn that by standing up for a while instead of sitting.

    .
    Is this true?

    Yes, if you stand long enough! The other thing is, standing tends to make people fidget more, use stabilizer muscles, shift their weight, etc. insome cases. Even sitting I move my legs and feet, upper body, etc. All the time. I've never had an overweight issue. It's been said that people who fidget more, burn more calories. I think that's reasonable. It's called "NEAT" -- non-exercise adaptive thermogenesis" and is the modern explanation for "fast" versus "slow" metabolism in healthy, hormonally balanced people.

    In some cases, it can supposedly amount to a 900 calorie difference in a day between high-fidget people and low-fidget people. I don't know if I believe that extreme...but I definitely can see how there could be a few hundred calorie difference. Most of the studies I've read point to fidget behavior as a key difference between thin and obese people, other than caloric intake. And guess what...they claim fidget behavior *may* be...wait for it...influenced by genetics and heritable...

    That sounds an awful lot like ADHD.
    It runs in my family. I drive the others at work crazy constantly pacing at my machine. I can see the extea 200 caqlories the pedomoter shows, but 900?? WOW
  • Charlottesometimes23
    Charlottesometimes23 Posts: 687 Member
    I'm late to the party here but my 2 cents, for what it's worth....

    Large family studies have shown that obesity is around 50% heritable. This also means that 50% is environmental, which is something that we all have control over to a certain extent.

    I do believe that weight control can be more difficult for some people for biological (genetic) reasons, but apart from rare situations, certainly not impossible.

    It's fine to acknowledge genetics, but I don't believe that it's fine to let it define your success or failure.
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