Are You Destine To Gain Weight?

Your genes are why your eyes are brown and your hair is red. They are what make you,  "you". But can genetics determine the size of your jeans?

Research shows that differences in your genes can lead to weight issues. So if your parents are obese, you’re more likely to be, too. But that doesn’t mean you will without question. Many people with obesity in their families aren't heavy. And you can fight the odds with diet and exercise.

Is There a “Fat Gene?”

There’s one gene that’s getting a lot of attention, called FTO. Scientists found that people with certain differences in this gene have a 20% to 30% higher chance of obesity. And those differences are pretty common. That said, I don't think your genes will make you fat, but your parent's genes change as they change. So if they were overweight when you were conceived then maybe those genes may have created a fat baby, but that doesn't mean you're going to stay fat. I remember a case in my family were one boy was born over 11 

pounds but throughout childhood and now as a young adult his weight is perfectly normal.

Dozens of other genes are linked to weight as well. Some, for example, cause people to just naturally store more fat. That could be heredity. But it’s still unclear exactly how much weight genes really do carry. Are you really destined to be overweight?

“Obesity is a very complex disease, and many factors can contribute to it and cause it, including genetics, behavior, and environment,” says Naima Moustaid-Moussa, PhD, director of the Obesity Research Cluster at Texas Tech University. Obesity can run in families -- not because of genetics, but because of habits and environment, she says.

More than a third of adults in the United States are obese, Moustaid-Moussa says. “The number of Americans with obesity has steadily increased over the past five decades, but this can’t be explained by some dramatic changes in our genes.”

Jung Han Kim, PhD, an obesity researcher and professor at Marshall University’s Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine, agrees. Obesity has increased around the world with industrialization, a sedentary lifestyle, and a fat-filled diet, she says.

The Bottom Line

Family history alone doesn’t seem to be enough to make you obese. “Genetics does play a role, but the truth is who you are is still determined by how you live your life,” Li says.

So the same advice holds true:

Get active. Aim for 2 1/2 hours of moderate-intensity exercise like brisk walking every week. Even doing 10 minutes at a time helps. Weight training, done at least twice a week, will help make your muscles strong.

Eat less. Cut calories. Lopping off 500 to 1,000 a day can help you lose 1 to 2 pounds a week.

Choose good-for-you foods. Go for fruit, veggies, whole grains, and fat-free or low-fat dairy foods. Fish, lean meats, beans, eggs, and nuts are also good options.

There's a bunch of different opinions about cutting calories for weight loss. Personally, I had to change the food I was eating. If you eat fresh, healthy foods you will be cutting calories. It's all the manufactured foods and drinks that are loaded with calories.
We are a product of our environment and in your early years, you eat whatever your parents feed you. And the exercise you get depends on your parents. So before you reach middle school you are pretty much programmed to do whatever your parents allow you to do, which depends a lot on the region of the country and whether you live in the city or country.

Those formative years are very important in the way you will develop as an adult. So in some respects, if you're looking for someone to blame, maybe your parents did have something to do with your weight problem. But most of the chubby kids in school have lost that fat, I know I did, so you can't use that excuse forever. 

If you really want to lose the extra flab you can get help, I write 4 blogs and I’ve written two E-books. E-books are the easiest and cheapest way to learn about any subject without groping through hundreds of websites looking for the material you want. 

My first e-book is “HowBadDoYouWantToLoseWeight” and it sells for $2.99 on most online bookstores like Amazon, BN.com, iBook, Kobo, and Gardner books in the U.K.

My second e-book is available in the same stores. And on smash words.com. Just type in the search line “getting to a healthy weight”.