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Article by Tom Venuto
by Tom Venuto
Battle Your Biology? Fat Chance," says a headline in the health section of today's New York Post. "We've known for a while that genes - more than environment and behavior - explain obesity" argues Dr. James Rosen, an eating disorder specialist and professor at the University of Vermont. Quoting new research and citing psychologists, dietitians and physicians, the article goes on to explain that more and more evidence proves that your weight is genetically determined and if you're fat, "it's not your fault." While there is some truth to these statements, believing you are destined to be overweight for life because you've inherited "fat genes" is the most disempowering and self-defeating attitude you could ever adopt. The only way you'll lose weight permanently is to accept total responsibility for yourself and acknowledge the fact that you have the power to change, regardless what mother nature has given you to work with.
There's no denying that heredity plays a major role in how difficult it will be for you to lose fat. You inherited a body type, metabolic rate and body chemistry just as you inherited your eye color and hair color. In teh 1930's, Harvard psychologist Dr. William H. Sheldon developed a classification system for these different body types called "somatotyping." While there are no absolutes, Sheldon identified three basic body types, ectomorphs, mesomorphs and endomorphs. Ectomorphs are the lean, lanky types. These people can eat like a horse and never gain an ounce. They are usually very thin, with fast metabolisms and extremely low body fat. Mesomorphs are the "genetically gifted." They are muscular and lean and are natural athletes. Mesomorphs lose fat and gain muscle with ease. Endomorphs have slow metabolisms, they are often carbohydrate sensitive, they gain fat quickly if they eat poorly, they gain fat if they don't exercise, and they may stubbornly retain body fat, even on a healthy diet.
The tendency of endomorphs to store fat easily can be partly attributed to metabolic problems that are genetically transmitted. For example, endomorphs often metabolize carbohydrates inefficiently. Normal people can eat lots of carbohydrates - up to 60% of their total calories - and they stay lean. Endomorphs produce too much insulin when they eat carbohydrates and this leads to increased fat storage and difficulty in losing existing fat.
Scientists claim that obesity may also be due to chemical imbalances in the brain. Researchers at Johns Hopkins recently announced the discovery a "nontoxic compound" called C75, that blocks an appetite regulating hormone in the hypothalamus. When injected in mice, the researchers documented a 30 percent greater weight loss because the drug caused the mice to eat less. More research is planned to develop a similar appetite suppressing drug for humans. Unlike Xenical, which blocks fat absorption in the intestine, this new drug would affect the brain's chemistry so that people feel full sooner.
Many physicians and health professionals consider these metabolic and chemical conditions as diseases. "Obesity is a disease and should be treated like one" says Jackie Newgent of the American Dietetic Association in the Post article. But with the market for weight loss drugs booming, this should be view should be look upon with a great deal of suspicion. More than 45 companies worldwide are trying to develop new obesity drugs, such as C75 because it is potentially the biggest market in the world for drug sales. According to Justin Gillis, a staff writer for the Washington Post, the stakes couldn't be higher. Gillis writes, "In world where a blockbuster drug is worth $1 billion a year in sales, analysts give $5 billion as the low estimate for sales of an important obesity drug. If a company developed a truly safe, effective weight loss drug, and sold it for $3 a day to one quarter of the 97 million American adults estimated to be overweight, sales would exceed $26 billion a year in this country alone."
In articles like the Post feature, the medical community is trying to convince you that "if you are obese, it's not your fault - you were born fat, so don't feel guilty." Then they add, "but don't worry, we have a new drug that can 'cure' you." Doesn't that sound like there's an ulterior motive at work here? Before you buy into this media manipulation and run to your doctor for a prescription of latest miracle drug, you'd better wonder whether its your best interests they have in mind or the commercial interests of the pharmaceutical companies. Besides, drugs are never the solution if they treat the symptoms and not the cause. The editors of the obesity.com website said it best: "Weight loss drugs do not take the place of diet, exercise, patience, and perseverance." Drugs should be considered a last resort for people who are morbidly obese, who have tried everything else unsuccessfully and are at risk for serious health problems if something is not done.
Obesity is the result of many influences. Genetics is only one of them. Like it or not, the primary cause of obesity is your own behavior, which you alone control. Most of the factors that affect body composition are entirely under your own control. These factors include how much you eat, what you eat, when you eat, how often you exercise and how hard you exercise.
"Dieting can be an uphill battle against your genes." says Post writer Joyce Cohen. Unfortunately, if you're an endomorph, Cohen is right. Losing weight is definitely easier for some people than for others and that doesn't seem fair. But that's the way life is. Life isn't fair. Let's be honest; not everyone is going to become an Olympic Gold medalist, a Mr. America or a fitness model. But don't despair - you are not doomed to a life of fatness if you don't have "athletic genes."
If you feel that you have the genetic predisposition towards obesity, you can lose fat like everyone else, you're just going to have to work harder at it than other people. Look at it this way: it can actually be an asset because it will force you to develop a stronger work ethic and to become more persistent; disciplines that will carry over to other areas of your life and make you a stronger person all around. Arnold Schwarzennegger said, "Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strength. When you overcome hardships, that is strength."
The first thing you must do if you want to lose weight or succeed in any area of your life, is to accept complete responsibility for your situation. In a short but powerful little book called "As Man Thinketh," the author James Allen wrote, "circumstances do not make a man, they reveal him." What he meant was that we are not products of our environment or our heredity (our "circumstances"), instead, we products of our own thinking and belief systems. We create our own circumstances through positive thinking and positive action and we create negative circumstances through negative thinking and lack of action or wrong actions. In other words, we are responsible for where we are, what we have and how our bodies look.
Some people get really angry when I tell them this: They say, "Wait a minute. Are you trying to tell me that when bad things happen to me, it's my own fault? That I brought unemployment, financial difficulty, failed relationships, weight gain or even health problems onto myself? Because if that's what you're saying, that's totally unfair!"
My friend, with very few exceptions - some things really are completely out of your control - that is exactly what I am saying.
If you don't accept the fact that you are 100% responsible, you will never be successful. When people find themselves in undesirable situations or they aren't getting the results they want, it's all too easy to make excuses: It's my genetics, I have big bones, I have a slow metabolism, I don't have enough time to exercise, etc. etc., etc. Making excuses is relinquishing control. It is saying that you are at the mercy of circumstances instead of you being the creator of your circumstances. Stop blaming and start taking responsibility for your life. Take action! Start working out. Eat better. Do something - do anything - but don't just sit there on the coach and curse your parents for giving you the wrong chromosomes.
So, are you a frustrated "endomorph?" Do you feel like dieting is an uphill battle against your genes? If so, please don't quit and just chalk in up to "bad genetics." You are not doomed to a life of being overweight. Yes, genetics will largely dictate your athletic ability and how difficult it will be for you to lose weight. That doesn't mean you can't get lean if you got the short end of the genetic stick. It just means you're going to have to adjust your diet and training to fit your body type. You're also going to have to work harder and be more persistent than the genetically gifted people. Maybe obesity really should be classified as a genetically-inherited "disease." But frankly, if you have a "disease" that forces you to learn more about exercise and nutrition, to eat nutritious foods, to adopt a healthier lifestyle, to develop a strong work ethic and to become a more persistent person, that sounds like a blessing in disguise to me.
Tom Venuto is the author of Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle, located at: Burn The Fat
by Tom Venuto
Battle Your Biology? Fat Chance," says a headline in the health section of today's New York Post. "We've known for a while that genes - more than environment and behavior - explain obesity" argues Dr. James Rosen, an eating disorder specialist and professor at the University of Vermont. Quoting new research and citing psychologists, dietitians and physicians, the article goes on to explain that more and more evidence proves that your weight is genetically determined and if you're fat, "it's not your fault." While there is some truth to these statements, believing you are destined to be overweight for life because you've inherited "fat genes" is the most disempowering and self-defeating attitude you could ever adopt. The only way you'll lose weight permanently is to accept total responsibility for yourself and acknowledge the fact that you have the power to change, regardless what mother nature has given you to work with.
There's no denying that heredity plays a major role in how difficult it will be for you to lose fat. You inherited a body type, metabolic rate and body chemistry just as you inherited your eye color and hair color. In teh 1930's, Harvard psychologist Dr. William H. Sheldon developed a classification system for these different body types called "somatotyping." While there are no absolutes, Sheldon identified three basic body types, ectomorphs, mesomorphs and endomorphs. Ectomorphs are the lean, lanky types. These people can eat like a horse and never gain an ounce. They are usually very thin, with fast metabolisms and extremely low body fat. Mesomorphs are the "genetically gifted." They are muscular and lean and are natural athletes. Mesomorphs lose fat and gain muscle with ease. Endomorphs have slow metabolisms, they are often carbohydrate sensitive, they gain fat quickly if they eat poorly, they gain fat if they don't exercise, and they may stubbornly retain body fat, even on a healthy diet.
The tendency of endomorphs to store fat easily can be partly attributed to metabolic problems that are genetically transmitted. For example, endomorphs often metabolize carbohydrates inefficiently. Normal people can eat lots of carbohydrates - up to 60% of their total calories - and they stay lean. Endomorphs produce too much insulin when they eat carbohydrates and this leads to increased fat storage and difficulty in losing existing fat.
Scientists claim that obesity may also be due to chemical imbalances in the brain. Researchers at Johns Hopkins recently announced the discovery a "nontoxic compound" called C75, that blocks an appetite regulating hormone in the hypothalamus. When injected in mice, the researchers documented a 30 percent greater weight loss because the drug caused the mice to eat less. More research is planned to develop a similar appetite suppressing drug for humans. Unlike Xenical, which blocks fat absorption in the intestine, this new drug would affect the brain's chemistry so that people feel full sooner.
Many physicians and health professionals consider these metabolic and chemical conditions as diseases. "Obesity is a disease and should be treated like one" says Jackie Newgent of the American Dietetic Association in the Post article. But with the market for weight loss drugs booming, this should be view should be look upon with a great deal of suspicion. More than 45 companies worldwide are trying to develop new obesity drugs, such as C75 because it is potentially the biggest market in the world for drug sales. According to Justin Gillis, a staff writer for the Washington Post, the stakes couldn't be higher. Gillis writes, "In world where a blockbuster drug is worth $1 billion a year in sales, analysts give $5 billion as the low estimate for sales of an important obesity drug. If a company developed a truly safe, effective weight loss drug, and sold it for $3 a day to one quarter of the 97 million American adults estimated to be overweight, sales would exceed $26 billion a year in this country alone."
In articles like the Post feature, the medical community is trying to convince you that "if you are obese, it's not your fault - you were born fat, so don't feel guilty." Then they add, "but don't worry, we have a new drug that can 'cure' you." Doesn't that sound like there's an ulterior motive at work here? Before you buy into this media manipulation and run to your doctor for a prescription of latest miracle drug, you'd better wonder whether its your best interests they have in mind or the commercial interests of the pharmaceutical companies. Besides, drugs are never the solution if they treat the symptoms and not the cause. The editors of the obesity.com website said it best: "Weight loss drugs do not take the place of diet, exercise, patience, and perseverance." Drugs should be considered a last resort for people who are morbidly obese, who have tried everything else unsuccessfully and are at risk for serious health problems if something is not done.
Obesity is the result of many influences. Genetics is only one of them. Like it or not, the primary cause of obesity is your own behavior, which you alone control. Most of the factors that affect body composition are entirely under your own control. These factors include how much you eat, what you eat, when you eat, how often you exercise and how hard you exercise.
"Dieting can be an uphill battle against your genes." says Post writer Joyce Cohen. Unfortunately, if you're an endomorph, Cohen is right. Losing weight is definitely easier for some people than for others and that doesn't seem fair. But that's the way life is. Life isn't fair. Let's be honest; not everyone is going to become an Olympic Gold medalist, a Mr. America or a fitness model. But don't despair - you are not doomed to a life of fatness if you don't have "athletic genes."
If you feel that you have the genetic predisposition towards obesity, you can lose fat like everyone else, you're just going to have to work harder at it than other people. Look at it this way: it can actually be an asset because it will force you to develop a stronger work ethic and to become more persistent; disciplines that will carry over to other areas of your life and make you a stronger person all around. Arnold Schwarzennegger said, "Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strength. When you overcome hardships, that is strength."
The first thing you must do if you want to lose weight or succeed in any area of your life, is to accept complete responsibility for your situation. In a short but powerful little book called "As Man Thinketh," the author James Allen wrote, "circumstances do not make a man, they reveal him." What he meant was that we are not products of our environment or our heredity (our "circumstances"), instead, we products of our own thinking and belief systems. We create our own circumstances through positive thinking and positive action and we create negative circumstances through negative thinking and lack of action or wrong actions. In other words, we are responsible for where we are, what we have and how our bodies look.
Some people get really angry when I tell them this: They say, "Wait a minute. Are you trying to tell me that when bad things happen to me, it's my own fault? That I brought unemployment, financial difficulty, failed relationships, weight gain or even health problems onto myself? Because if that's what you're saying, that's totally unfair!"
My friend, with very few exceptions - some things really are completely out of your control - that is exactly what I am saying.
If you don't accept the fact that you are 100% responsible, you will never be successful. When people find themselves in undesirable situations or they aren't getting the results they want, it's all too easy to make excuses: It's my genetics, I have big bones, I have a slow metabolism, I don't have enough time to exercise, etc. etc., etc. Making excuses is relinquishing control. It is saying that you are at the mercy of circumstances instead of you being the creator of your circumstances. Stop blaming and start taking responsibility for your life. Take action! Start working out. Eat better. Do something - do anything - but don't just sit there on the coach and curse your parents for giving you the wrong chromosomes.
So, are you a frustrated "endomorph?" Do you feel like dieting is an uphill battle against your genes? If so, please don't quit and just chalk in up to "bad genetics." You are not doomed to a life of being overweight. Yes, genetics will largely dictate your athletic ability and how difficult it will be for you to lose weight. That doesn't mean you can't get lean if you got the short end of the genetic stick. It just means you're going to have to adjust your diet and training to fit your body type. You're also going to have to work harder and be more persistent than the genetically gifted people. Maybe obesity really should be classified as a genetically-inherited "disease." But frankly, if you have a "disease" that forces you to learn more about exercise and nutrition, to eat nutritious foods, to adopt a healthier lifestyle, to develop a strong work ethic and to become a more persistent person, that sounds like a blessing in disguise to me.
Tom Venuto is the author of Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle, located at: Burn The Fat
