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"Fat gene" is a euphemism for a genetic relationship (I think you realize that).
It's a free country. If you you want to believe 2 + 2 = 5, you have that right too.
I don't, but you are certainly free to do so.
I am basing my opinion (and yes, that is what it is) on the real life experiences that I have had, and my friends and family have had. Genetics absolutely does affect body type - as in where your body stores fat, (i.e. pear shaped, wide butt, large chest, etc.) but the environment you grew up in determines the eating and lifestyle behaviors that caused the weight problem. You have some strange agenda here; you constantly tell people here that they have no control over their own bodies and that it is useless to try and lose weight because they will not be able to maintain that loss.
I find your attitude to be negative, defeatist, and completely unsupportive to the many here that are trying to lose weight. Why on earth are you here?
I find your attitude to be negative, defeatist, and completely unsupportive to the many here that are trying to lose weight.
You forgot to mention realistic, sincere, and honest.
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Originally Posted by ChessieMom
Why on earth are you here?
I am waiting for someone to prove me wrong so I can learn something. Why contribute to and visit a forum that has members that you agree with? You won't learn anything. Sometimes it takes a dork like me with the keyboard equivalent of a big mouth to enliven and enrich a forum.
I'm not here to kick people.
Besides, I'm fighting the battle just like the rest of you.
I don't want to deprive myself of every food I love, although I have banned ice cream from my diet except on very rare occasions.
And you shouldn't have to, unless your definition of "deprivation" means that you can't have certain foods at every meal and snack. Any food can be worked into any food plan, as long as it's compensated for later.
You said you like cheese, right? Lord help me, I love the stuff. But I've determined that it's a trigger for me, so I avoid it unless I know there's a finite amount to be had. I treat it sort of like a condiment -- just a bit here and there -- or eat it with other foods so that the cheesy goodness is not the only flavor I'm tasting. That seems to reduce the trigger and/or craving.
Do you plan your meals ahead of time? Do you journal? I use an online journal, and enter the menu in the morning. Most days I hate to go through the inconvenience of entering new foods or changing quantities, so I just eat what I've already told myself I'm going to eat.
Oh, the mind games we play ...
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Exercise is the only way for me to be able to eat more of what I want without gaining 1-2 lbs a week.
Funny. For me, it's all about food. I can exercise my brains out, but if I eat a lot, or eat the wrong things, look out.
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I'm going to go back to walking (how can I mess that up?!),
I dunno ... I manage ... Watch out for those curbs.
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Originally Posted by Charles
Exercise will not help much to lose weight. You'll just make yourself hungrier.
That's not been my experience. Exercise really does curb my appetite. Also, it not only takes my mind off food -- you might say I've traded one addiction for another -- but it also takes up the time that could be used for eating.
And sleeping. That takes time away from eating, too. Oh, if I could just sleep all the time.
For how long? I suspect a person will be hungrier (demand more energy) on an exercise day than on a non exercise day.
Sure, five minutes after running four miles the last thing I want is a piece of chocolate or a bagel or pizza or KFC or ice cream...but because I ran those for miles I will, that day, want more food than if I hadn't run. I think most people do.
I just swam 2000 yards about an hour ago. I am not hungry at this time. In two hours I will be starving - and that is after my lunch.
"Immediately after vigorous exercise, appetite decreases, probably because of a temporary rise in body temperature, specialists say. But as soon as body temperature normalizes, appetite goes up.
So if you're trying to lose weight, exercise alone - without calorie restriction - doesn't help much. Exercise increases appetite because the body burns calories as you exercise, and this stimulates appetite to make up for the expended calories, said Dr. James Fries, a professor of medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine."
If people are less hungry after they exercise, we probably wouldn't be reading this:
Michael Phelps’s typical menu:
Breakfast: Three fried-egg sandwiches loaded with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions and mayonnaise. Two cups of coffee. One five-egg omelet. One bowl of grits. Three slices of French toast topped with powdered sugar. Three chocolate-chip pancakes.
Lunch: One pound of enriched pasta. Two large ham and cheese sandwiches with mayo on white bread. Energy drinks packing 1,000 calories.
Dinner: One pound of pasta. An entire pizza. More energy drinks.
For how long? I suspect a person will be hungrier (demand more energy) on an exercise day than on a non exercise day.
You generalize in error. I never notice a difference on my long workout days...it definitely does not increase my appetite. If anything, it makes me completely forget about eating. Unless we are talking about running 13 miles...yep - I am usually needing some refueling after that. But I've been doing this for many years now, I know my body pretty well. It's takes some time, and discipline, to reach this point, for sure.
You seem to feel that people are unable to exercise without consuming an equal amount of calories, or more, even. If you have reached a point where you have "balanced out", you have a good feel for calories in and calories out...you have learned what your body requires and how to balance exercise and diet. I am at that point. I have been there for years.
But, if someone is on a weight loss path, and they have fat to lose, that fat is not there because they ate what they burned, or because they ate when they were hungry. It's there because they ate MORE than they burned, and they ate when they were NOT hungry. THESE are the impulses that need to be rewired. Exercise is part of that rewiring.
Do you find this to be the case on your workout days? Are you unable to control your own hunger?
You generalize in error. I never notice a difference on my long workout days...it definitely does not increase my appetite. If anything, it makes me completely forget about eating. Unless we are talking about running 13 miles...yep - I am usually needing some refueling after that. But I've been doing this for many years now, I know my body pretty well. It's takes some time, and discipline, to reach this point, for sure.
You seem to feel that people are unable to exercise without consuming an equal amount of calories, or more, even. If you have reached a point where you have "balanced out", you have a good feel for calories in and calories out...you have learned what your body requires and how to balance exercise and diet. I am at that point. I have been there for years.
But, if someone is on a weight loss path, and they have fat to lose, that fat is not there because they ate what they burned, or because they ate when they were hungry. It's there because they ate MORE than they burned, and they ate when they were NOT hungry. THESE are the impulses that need to be rewired. Exercise is part of that rewiring.
Do you find this to be the case on your workout days? Are you unable to control your own hunger?
I don't know everything. Maybe your situation is different. Or, maybe because you exercise everyday, it wouldn't be eating more on exercise days, but less on non-exercise days, I don't know.
But, we can't generalize on your individual situation.
I normally write "95%" or "most". I rarely write "I" to project my physiology on the world. I just use google.
Maybe you are the 5%.
Finally, I think most of what I have written applies to the original poster and to most people who post similarly on this forum and most people in general. For example, what percent of people have successfully "re-wired" their eating habits? Not many. If it was so easy....(you know the rest).
what percent of people have successfully "re-wired" their eating habits? Not many. If it was so easy....(you know the rest).
I think we all know that it isn't easy. But that is a far cry from constantly telling people here that they can't accomplish their goals. And it just seems to that you enjoy doing that, for some strange reason.
And I don't know the percentage of people that have lost weight and kept it off. But they certainly exist. And those are the people to learn from.
ME!!!!!!!!!!!!! I DID! And I can't even exercise all the times because I have to baby my knee and let my lazy side exist!
I do not even know how long it has stayed off now because I stopped keeping track.But it has been years.
Everyone can do it. They just need to keep at it and take as much times as they need. Other people's stories are fun for motivation but its not a race.
I wonder if the gene theory of being overweight is true?
This is just one family, but here it is:
My mother was heavy. My father was average, but got heavy after he retired.
We're three siblings:
Oldest brother: Morbidly obese. Favorite foods eaten all the time are cheese steaks and hoagies. Eats lots of junk foods. No exercise. Has diabetes, among other health conditions.
Middle child, brother. Average weight. Tending to put on a bit of weight now retired. Rides his bicycle long-distances. Eats average American diet, including meat. Not very much junk food. Fairly healthy.
Youngest child, female. Me. Average weight. Goes to gym 3-4x week, rides bicycle around town and on errands. Mainly a vegetarian. Avoids processed and junk food. Easy to put on weight if not diligent about diet and exercise. Quite healthy.
So there you have it: our family.
Did my older brother inherit a special "fat gene" or did he create his fat from his lifestyle choices?
And middle brother & me? It's very easy for me to gain weight without paying close attention to my nutrition and exercise. Did I inherit the "fat gene" and am postponing it due to my lifestyle choices?
And do I feel "deprived" from my food diligence? No, I don't. I'm never hungry because I've studied nutrition enough to know how to have foods that are delicious and nutrient-dense so I'm never hungry. An example is breakfast this AM: an egg scrambled with black beans and a few left over new potatoes with salsa mixed in. A smallish portion, along with a banana. And a big glass of water.
Is claiming a "fat gene" an excuse for poor lifestyle choices? Or is it reality? Or is it a tendency to gain weight easily if not very diligent?
I'll leave it up to the nutritional experts or health care providers to supply the scientific facts as I really don't know.
What I do know is that, for me, determination to maintain a healthy life makes it happen.
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Watch out for those curbs. 
