Being fat is not my fault!

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stacesand
stacesand Posts: 63 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Well, it is, I admit it...:blushing: but found this article and thought it was interesting. So, if you're having a hard time losing weight, you should change things up and know that you're constantly fighting against your body.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/215115/page/1
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Replies

  • Wecandothis
    Wecandothis Posts: 1,083 Member
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    So... Americans have this Gene in a much greater percentage than the rest of the world? I don't buy that.

    I believe there is some truth to that - that some of us have a fantastic metabolism - for a cave man - A metabolism that drove us to survive and worked with us during the lean years when a great percentage of people would die.

    But I do not accept that I can not win this battle. I will not accept it. And I will not use it as an excuse. :)

    I'm on a journey to non-obesity, in spite of having an incredibly efficient metabolism. Who's with me? :laugh:
  • proctor0828
    proctor0828 Posts: 179
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    I refuse to accept that I'm going to be overweight because my genes say so...
  • preggo5
    preggo5 Posts: 11
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    bump
  • jennb5255
    jennb5255 Posts: 33 Member
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    I'm with ya! My whole family is on the big side and I refuse to live like this because "it runs in the genes." Well those genes stop with me. I plan on showing everyone that it doesn't have to run in the genes and that we can slim down and be healthier. I'm making new genes to hand down to my children! My weight problem is simply because in the past I've been lazy and not in control of my diet. Well now I'm in the driver seat and on a mission to find the slim, healthy me that I know is in here! :happy:
  • justdoingit
    justdoingit Posts: 185 Member
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    I am not originally from the US, as far back as I can see into my family history, NO ONE in my family was even slightly overweight. In our country, we walked everywhere, back in the 60's and 70's, a Pizza Hut or McDonalds was about as foreign as a UFO. I am one of 7 kids, after having her 7th child, my mom still had a 23" waist (hand washing clothes for 9 people every day might have had something to do with that.) I can undeniably say there was no "gene" in our family that would make us overweight.

    When we moved here, (and while I LOVE the US and thank GOD I live here) one of my sister's in particular (the thinnest one originally) took to McD's, BK, Pizza Hut, and all things fried, breaded, etc. she soon started gaining weight and didn't stop until she reached 280lbs. She had a daughter who also shared her mother's diet and while she was thin until she was four, she started to gain weight too and is now a 24 year old obese individual.

    I think the type of foods we love and crave in this country cause our slow metabolic rates, cause us to feel sluggish and tired, and wreak havoc on our health. While I am no doctor or specialist, I think we need to change the way we think about food and adopt healthier habits, then we see positive changes in our health.

    MFP helps with doing just that!:drinker: :smile:
  • nightangelstars
    nightangelstars Posts: 337 Member
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    Okay, let's assume the premise that Americans have a 'fat gene' in our population. Why, then, is it that only in the last half-century or so that we started to really struggle with obesity? Why do the rates continue to rise by the year? I'm pretty sure that our genes aren't mutating year by year.

    Here's the evolutionary answer. Humans evolved (all of us, not just Americans) to crave fatty, sweet and salty foods. The reason for this craving is twofold: we need these types of food, as they are excellent sources of energy (and food is fuel) and contain elements (such as sodium) that our bodies need to operate properly; also, in the time period during which these cravings developed, these types of foods were hard to come by and so needed to be eaten when they were found regardless of whether we were hungry or not at the time. What's going on now is explained by the mismatch hypothesis: the mismatch of our evolutionary history and biology, and our environment which now offers these foods at any time of the day or night, 24/7. So, while part of this may be genetic, the other half of the equation is the foods we eat - even if we had extra 'fat genes' in our DNA, if we didn't have plentiful access to high-caloric-density foods, we still wouldn't get fat. What we do here is we try to take out half the equation - balance the environmental side of the scale using our highly developed brains and self-control to live a healthy lifestyle.

    And we can all accomplish this goal, regardless of what the nay-sayers think! Keep going, MFPers! We can do it! :flowerforyou:
  • Phoenix_Rising
    Phoenix_Rising Posts: 11,417 Member
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    Based on historical family photos, women in my family have a 'fat gene'. Also a predisposition to adult on set diabetes, heart attacks and strokes.

    I'm doing all I can to fight it. Genetics may be against me, but my heart is encouraging me to keep chugging!! :flowerforyou:
  • pinkissheek
    pinkissheek Posts: 185
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    I can see how genes play a small part in your weight...like your bone structure, your height, and possibly your metabolism...but it has nothing to do with being healthy and getting down to your goal weight... like me for example I will never be a size 3 it just wont happen because of my bone structure but when I reach my goal weight of 150 I will be a size ten/twelve, by which I will look healthy and god forbid skinny! so yea to a degree genes has something to do with it...but don't use it as an excuse!
    Jessi:flowerforyou:
  • July24Lioness
    July24Lioness Posts: 2,399 Member
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    We as humans have not evolved. That is why there is a prevalance of disease and all of these disorders, we were not meant to eat processed filled foods with sugar and salt and man made fats.

    Humans are not meant to eat grains, and other foods that are being grown since the dawn of the agricultural revolution. Hence the prevalance of Celiac disease, so many wheat and other grain intolerances, etc................

    Okay, let's assume the premise that Americans have a 'fat gene' in our population. Why, then, is it that only in the last half-century or so that we started to really struggle with obesity? Why do the rates continue to rise by the year? I'm pretty sure that our genes aren't mutating year by year.

    Here's the evolutionary answer. Humans evolved (all of us, not just Americans) to crave fatty, sweet and salty foods. The reason for this craving is twofold: we need these types of food, as they are excellent sources of energy (and food is fuel) and contain elements (such as sodium) that our bodies need to operate properly; also, in the time period during which these cravings developed, these types of foods were hard to come by and so needed to be eaten when they were found regardless of whether we were hungry or not at the time. What's going on now is explained by the mismatch hypothesis: the mismatch of our evolutionary history and biology, and our environment which now offers these foods at any time of the day or night, 24/7. So, while part of this may be genetic, the other half of the equation is the foods we eat - even if we had extra 'fat genes' in our DNA, if we didn't have plentiful access to high-caloric-density foods, we still wouldn't get fat. What we do here is we try to take out half the equation - balance the environmental side of the scale using our highly developed brains and self-control to live a healthy lifestyle.

    And we can all accomplish this goal, regardless of what the nay-sayers think! Keep going, MFPers! We can do it! :flowerforyou:
  • stormieweather
    stormieweather Posts: 2,549 Member
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    Eating habits are passed from generation to generation.

    Were we taught to clean our plates and to eat even if we weren't hungry? Were we taught that food is pleasure and more is better? Were we given heatlhy choices as children or sugary, fattening ones? Were we taught that our worth was in our 'looks' , thereby giving a perfect excuse to overeat when our confidence is low? Did our parents park us in front of the TV with snacks as a substitute babysitter?

    What are we teaching OUR children?
  • cheshirekat
    cheshirekat Posts: 126 Member
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    What is interesting is that in a study with rats that had the exact same genetic dna, they gave one set of rats a lifestyle with exercise and a healthy diet and the other rats could eat as much as they want and had limited exercise, what they found is that the rats with the healthy lifestyle were thin, healthy, and even a completely different color than the other rats, who were overweight and brown. Scientists believe that even if you have a genetic makeup that points to obesity, the genes don't necessarily ever have to become active during a lifetime, and that has a lot to do with environment aka lifestyle choices. So just because obesity, or anything else such as diabetes or lung cancer, runs in your family doesn't necessarily mean that is your ultimate fate, especially if you lead a healthy, toxin-free (well as much as possible) lifestyle.
  • BrendaLee
    BrendaLee Posts: 4,463 Member
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    If you come from a family full of overweight people (like I do), it's most likely common shared eating habits that made you that way rather than a predisposition. There's 12 kids in my family, and 7 of us are overweight to varying degrees, 2 are on the heavy side of normal, and 3 are very skinny.
  • hasiangirl
    hasiangirl Posts: 1,613
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    americans do have a fat gene its a proven ffact.......we have the abundance of CHEAP fast food that isnt even really food.....is it? :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: anyway my fat gene has a specific name....... Mcdonalds :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
  • metalpalace
    metalpalace Posts: 576
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    It's always going to be a mix of nature and nurture. In this case it's genetics and lifestyle choices. If you have a genetic propensity to get fat and you couple that with eating too much and not being active then you're going to get fat. You just have more of an up hill battle than genetically "skinny" people have and skinny people should be sensitive toward that to.
  • FireMonkey
    FireMonkey Posts: 500 Member
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    I didn't think the article was making "excuses" - I got out of it that it's more important to lead a healthy life than obsessing over scales and clothing sizes. We have control over our actions, but that does not necessarily mean we always get the desired results - witness the many threads on here where people do all the "right things" and still can't lose weight. If you only worry about your weight, you may get discouraged and assume a more unhealthy lifestyle again, but if you approach this as a healthy lifestyle change, then weight doesn't matter nearly as much as being healthy and fit.

    Thanks for posting the article, certainly "food for thought" (the best low-cal food I can think of :laugh: )
  • astridfeline
    astridfeline Posts: 1,200 Member
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    your title must be catchier than mine! :laugh:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/65646-role-of-genetics-in-obesity-newsweek-article

    "Although our high-calorie, sedentary lifestyle contributes to the approximately 10-pound average weight gain of Americans compared to the recent past, some people are more severely affected by this lifestyle than others. That's because they have inherited genes that increase their predisposition for accumulating body fat. Our modern lifestyle is thus a necessary, but not a sufficient, condition for the high prevalence of obesity in our population."

    This seems to me like an argument to change the American lifestyle, not to be complacent about obesity. And other parts of the article saying that voluntary control of food intake has little impact on weight loss (or gain), indicate that small calorie deficit is the best course to take. This article makes me mad. :explode: :mad:
  • magglett
    magglett Posts: 2,000
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    bump
  • Wecandothis
    Wecandothis Posts: 1,083 Member
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    I didn't think the article was making "excuses" - I got out of it that it's more important to lead a healthy life than obsessing over scales and clothing sizes. We have control over our actions, but that does not necessarily mean we always get the desired results - witness the many threads on here where people do all the "right things" and still can't lose weight. If you only worry about your weight, you may get discouraged and assume a more unhealthy lifestyle again, but if you approach this as a healthy lifestyle change, then weight doesn't matter nearly as much as being healthy and fit.

    Thanks for posting the article, certainly "food for thought" (the best low-cal food I can think of :laugh: )

    Thanks for that perspective on the article, it was a much different one than I had when I read it through!!
  • dumb_blondes_rock
    dumb_blondes_rock Posts: 1,568 Member
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    I have the "fat gene", everyone on my dad's side of family is overweight, and some of them are even OBESE....but what that means to me is i can't eat everything that i want, in order to beat the gene i have to eat properly and exercise....not like those naturally thin heffers that can eat whatever they want and not budge an ounce.
  • metalpalace
    metalpalace Posts: 576
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    I have the "fat gene", everyone on my dad's side of family is overweight, and some of them are even OBESE....but what that means to me is i can't eat everything that i want, in order to beat the gene i have to eat properly and exercise....not like those naturally thin heffers that can eat whatever they want and not budge an ounce.

    The majority of those "blessed" thin people are more prone to sickness and disease than larger people simply because being thin causes a lot of people to falsely believe they are somehow less susceptible which ultimately makes them more vulnerable. Consider it a blessing that you have more obvious symptoms of being out of shape because you are more likely to take action and live healthier.

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