Obesity and Genetics

[Debu]

Last night on 48hrs there was a young girl who was morbidly obese, I think she was 500-600 pounds or so? Anyways, she had the gastric bypass surgey and in two years lost a couple hundred pounds. So she still is considered obese and her doctors recommendation was to have ANOTHER BYPASS to make her stomach smaller and as they flat out said "STARVE HER BODY EVEN MORE" and also to cut off all the layer of skin from before. This girl was flabby as can be. Now I was folding laundry while watching (I know, what an exciting Friday evening) so I might have missed, but I didn't hear a word about eating right and working out. She said she was BORN A FAT GIRL and will always be. Well, if you believe that than of course you will be! Did anyone else see this show? Do you really think that obesity is a genetic fault and not one of the mind and lack of will power? Yes some people have fast and some slow metabolisms but we can also eat right and work out to compensate for what we are lacking. This was just really DISTURBING to see someone sit back and say I'm fat because I was born that way, I'm not fat from all the ding dongs and ho-ho's I ate. I sure as hell don't have the perfect body but for years I have tried my best to stay healthy and in shape. I have passed up my share of donuts and twinkies and made a commitment to myself. Sorry to ramble but it was just terribly disturbing to watch what could be a young vibrant woman hover at 300 pounds.

(she actually did not go thru the last surgery since she said her tests show that she is healthy)

 

[KBgrl]

i think some people are "genetically predisposed" to obesity but i also believe that these people dont have to be fat all their lives either. i think the gastric bypass surgery is INSANE!! stapling ur stomach because u dont have the will power to watch what u eat on ur own is just ridiculous....and of course non of these people talk about diet and exercise... they have no clue what being healthy is about.

i was watching VH1 the other day "behind the music" ...and they were doing it on the band blues traveler... anyway... the lead singer in that band was a complusive over eater... he got HUGE....he ended up in a wheel chair he got so big ... one of the band member died of an over dose (a muscian overdosing...what a surprise ) which prompted him to change his ways. he changed his ways by undergoing gastric bypass surgery. hes since then lost a ton of weight and lives happily ever happy.

NOW... why do these people even let themselves get to that point!??! and why why why would someone think that gastic bypass surgery would cure an overeater. yes, it solves the immediate problem b/c they literally cant eat much but overeating is a pschological problem first. this is frustrating...im gonna stop now.....

 

[missyd143]

hey i think my shape is fine //quite muscular and toned but not shredded..my diet and training is great i weigh 128 and dont eat carbs past 3pm...after heavy weughts i have any cabr i want but mabye this is stoppin me from getting abs...can someone help? is it possible genetics can stop me from getting a shreeded midsection??

 

[diamonddiceclay]

hey i think my shape is fine //quite muscular and toned but not shredded..my diet and training is great i weigh 128 and dont eat carbs past 3pm...after heavy weughts i have any cabr i want but mabye this is stoppin me from getting abs...can someone help? is it possible genetics can stop me from getting a shreeded midsection??

it is possible

 

[Sassy69]

It seems that particularly for women, getting the ol' 6-pak to show is a matter of bodyfat. And i'm talking getting getting down around 10% and below which is not necessarily a good level to maintain for long periods of time.

 

[fawnmarie]

I'm happiest at 18-20% bodyfat - I let my men carry my six packs for me. I have my own nice little 4-pack at 20% and I'm satisfied with it.

It's my BUTT that scares me.

Sigh.

Fawn

 

[Quadzie]

Debu, I watched the entire show also. Did you not see her eating at the table with her friends? There were veggies and other healthy food at the table. I did not see her pigging out on pizza and burgers and fries or anything. Also, did you see her playing softball with her friends? I don't think she was necessarily "lazy" at all. Also, if you've ever been overweight, say even 10 lbs you know how uncomfortable that is to carry around that spare weight, can you imagine carrying around yourself and four other people all day long ?? That's what it must be like for someone who is that overweight!!

There are eating disorders that people have that can attribute to their overweight status. The best part of the show is that she accepted the fact that she was going to be overweight the rest of her life. If she can accept it, why can't we?

 

[new@gettinbig]

I think a lot of it has to do w/ your environment..You usually pick up on eating habits and lifestyle of those around you..especially if it is your parents etc. America wants a drug or some type of medical procedure for everything...We don't want to have to work at it or change our old habits...that would cause distress and we might sweat a little too....

When I see clients 90% of them hate exercise and were not athletic when they were growing up..but some were but as soon as they hit college and a 9-5 job they quit taking care of themselves..quit cooking healthy and began eating fast food and junk. Too tired at the end of the day to take a walk or lift some weights and these days of non activiity turned into weeks.. months and now years..Then we all want a quick fix of something that has taken years to finally develop into a problem..being overweight has then caused so many other problems like high blood pressure, diabetes, back pain, high cholesterol and so on..With proper diet and exercise on can avoid many health conditions and becoming morbidly obese...but a pill or a surgery is not going to do it...they have to change their lifestlye and be willing to be CONSISTENT with it as well...

 

[MS]

There ARE some genetic disorders that cause obesity, such as Prader-Willi, but on the whole, the genetic component of obesity is meaningless without the environmental component. Our ancestors did not get fat. They DID NOT BECOME OBESE and they were carrying the exact same gene pool as we are today. The exceptions were high ranking officials who were pandered to and didn't have to lift a finger to look after themselves. So there's your answer. It is human nature to be as lazy as you can and still survive. In the old days, there was just no opportunity to lie around and stuff your face while being passively entertained. Where the genetics come into it IMHO is when you put two people in the same environment, with access to the same amount of leisure time and food, and one of them becomes obese and the other one becomes a bodybuilder! This is where Spats concept of 'temperment' or 'personality' comes into play. There are also elements of "novelty seeking' and 'harm avoidance' etc.... that come into it, but I think you'll find that modern obesity comes down more to the genetics of personality in a particular environment, but we should never forget the power of education to change people's lifestyle choice, no matter what genetic background they carry.

 

[Sassy69]

Not that I know much about the whole genetics thing - there have to be situations where a person has some combination of stuff (thyroid, perhaps tendency to be an addictive personality, etc) , but excluding those cases, I think we've seen pretty clearly that its environment and education. The fact that studies on obesity in the US show a continual increase in the number of obese people despite the Jane Fonda craze, the Atkins Diet, etc. has to indicate that there is either (or both) there is a flaw in how the education is occurring or that environmental needs (i.e ease of convenience over health, work burn out and dependence upon quick fixes to fix problems).

I think education is one of the biggest advantages of being on this board - we've all experienced and seen the phases you have to go thru to get the traditional breakfast, lunch, dinner diet out of your belief system and switch it over to the 5-6 small meals. People won't believe a change in a tradition unless its packaged as "something" like the Atkins diet - something that you can put on a label and refer to as some sort of package deal - not just some basic changes in what you are doing. And by the same token, there are the people who recommend different of these "packages" so it becomes a matter of which package has the best set of bullet points on their book / box / advertisement.

Environment can be changed once people are educated enough to understand how they can change their environment. E.g. spending an extra 30 min the night before to prepare your food for the next day vs. a 10 min wait in the McDonalds drive thru. Then in 10 years, which seems more efficient - spending the same extra 30 min preparing your food for the next day or stopping off at your doctor's office get your prescription renewal for high blood pressure? Spending the weekend biking with your kids, or sitting around the house bitching about how tired you are all the time.

Its either an investment in preserving the quality of your life until the end of being a victim of the stress of your life taking the quick and convenient solution because you are too tired to deal w/ it.

Yea -- I guess in an ideal world huh? But still, it borders on tragedy just how many fat people and, increasingly, fat kids you see on a regular basis. I know the frustration I've had w/ my little 10-15 lbs i've dragged around all my life, but if that were 100 lbs I seriously wonder if I'd have enough self confidence to pull my ass out of the rut and do something about it or just sit back and suffer.