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habits vs genetics?
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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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rankinsect wrote: »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.
I don't disagree with you, but my point is that we can still do something about it. We aren't helpless. Lemurcat12 above made a much more complete response on this point. My concern is that these things start to be viewed fatalistically as if people are "meant" to be fat or skinny without considering how much lifestyle/habit changes can make a difference. I love to eat and I genuinely enjoy being "stuffed" at times. I wish I didn't because this would be so much easier.5 -
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.
People love to say this, but it's not true except for a fraction of a percentage of the very wealthy and royalty, who could actually afford to be gluttonous. And even then, there's little evidence that this was considered "attractive" any more than the fat billionaires of today are considered attractive. People unfamiliar with art history always point to Rubens as an example of how fat people ("Rubenesque") were considered desirable, but leave out the fact that Rubens was a distant outlier for a very short period, and that even most of his contemporaries painted women that would fit into today's idea of attractiveness. Men in particular were nearly always painted as extremely muscular.
Attractiveness has always meant "relatively slim" in Western society, back as far as the Greeks. It's almost like we're genetically predisposed towards people who appear physically healthy.
edit: It's also important to differentiate "desirability" from "physical attractiveness." The guy today who has a yacht and a Lamborghini may be physically hideous, but he's still going to get tons of women because his wealth makes him desirable. Similarly, a fat person 400-years ago would have been very desirable, but not necessarily physically attractive.12 -
sunnybeaches105 wrote: »Ask yourself how many morbidly obese people existed 100 years ago.
Well 100 years ago would be 1916 and the answer is ... mostly rich people1 -
sunnybeaches105 wrote: »rankinsect wrote: »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.
I don't disagree with you, but my point is that we can still do something about it. We aren't helpless. Lemurcat12 above made a much more complete response on this point. My concern is that these things start to be viewed fatalistically as if people are "meant" to be fat or skinny without considering how much lifestyle/habit changes can make a difference. I love to eat and I genuinely enjoy being "stuffed" at times. I wish I didn't because this would be so much easier.
Oh, I agree fully that even if the genetic deck is stacked against you, it doesn't mean you can't be a healthy weight. It does mean that it will likely require some additional effort to reach and maintain goal weight.6 -
IMO, it's like a card game...
Genetics is the hand you are delt.
Habit is how you choose to play those cards.
I agree with what someone said earlier though that environment/culture can be a big factor as well.8 -
The older I get, the more I believe in the effects of genetics. You can maximize your potentials but once you hit about 50, the genetics kick in and you look more and more like your aunts and uncles.1
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michael_hatten wrote: »The older I get, the more I believe in the effects of genetics. You can maximize your potentials but once you hit about 50, the genetics kick in and you look more and more like your aunts and uncles.
If your aunts and uncles became less active and had portion creep, sure.3 -
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