regarding high risk obesity gene

[ICBINEG]

link

I think I have it.... this sounds so very like me....particularly the protein working better than anything else to reduce appetite.

So anyone else think they are in the 1:6 with a high risk obesity gene?

AIBU to think it really does help to know WHY it is harder for some people to lose / keep weight off than others?

1. 1 in 4 adults are obese. That is more than 1 in 6. So it is possible (though not probable) that everyone with this gene is obese.

How does that explain the lack of obesity before the 1980's?

Surely the explosion in takeaway/delivery outlets, cars instead of walking and the pretty sedentary lifestyle most of us lead since having the internet/games consoles...plays a huge part in it whether they have the gene or not?

Of course it is well worth exercising anyway...but it doesn't change the problem that people with this faulty gene will continue to gain weight...

....if they are unable to regulate their food intake.

The gene doesn't make you fat (not you personally). People make themselves fat because their will is not strong enough to suppress the desire to eat more.

Everyone knows what being hungry feels like. It simply boils down to whether you decide to do something about it. I grant that it's not nice to feel constantly hungry (I grew up feeling hungry due to poverty) but it really is as simple as that.

In this respect knowing whether you have the gene or not is almost irrelevant.

I agree with worra

1. Why are only 1 in 4 obese in uk/ USA, why not say Japan? Japan is also an economically developed country with enough money/ food, yet very few are overweight.

1. Why was it different in the 20/30/40/50/60/70/80s?

worra simple...it doesn't...nor was it intended to explain the lack of obesity before 1980. It was intended to point out that while some people with this gene might indeed be maintaining healthy weights it was ridiculous to suggest that there weren't enough fat people in the UK for a significant portion of the people with the gene to be obese.

Everyone with the gene COULD be obese given the levels of obesity in this country. Of course they are not all obese but a much higher fraction of them are obese than of the 'normal' people.

Re: protein, I believe the same applies to almost all humans. Eat more protein and you will feel fuller for longer.

aka the greedy gene

techno I agree with your statement but not your conclusion.

emotion forms a huge part of peoples ability to deal with over eating. If you start from a point of 'this should be easy why am I so shit' then you are more likely to fail then starting from 'I have a fault gene so I am going to have to try harder and go slower than the average person'

So knowing it isn't because you are more weak willed than the super slimmer next door who lost their baby weight in a week that you are struggling, but because you are genetically different may boost confidence and improve chances of success.

actually Japan is going the same way as us...just somewhat behind.

Also it isn't the case that the prevalence of this gene need be the same across the globe...

kilmuir while the greedy gene is apt (it makes you eat more than you need just to feel full) I am not sure that would be helpful in getting people to lose weight...

I think there's a danger of self diagnosis here too

I can imagine some people deciding they/their kids have this gene and using it as an excuse/explanation to do nothing about the weight.

Surely all this research is saying is that it is harder for some people to regulate their appitite than others because their bodies respond differently to the fact they have eaten.

If you put it in a social context that propensity may cause problems i.e. if you live in a hunter gatherer society then your food supply might be quite limited so despite any increased appitite signals you won't put on weight. If you live in the UK / US with high availability of food and unhealthy food at that, then a problem with appetite regulation is harder to deal with because the opportunities to respond to your appetite are everywhere.

Yes and the reason Japan might get larger is people eating crappy western fast food.

Eat natural, whole food. A bit of everything, followed by excercise and very few would be overweight

The uk for example seems to have a v odd view on portion sizes and what's healthy or not.
As an example:

Yesterday we visited friends for the afternoon, they kindly fed our children dinner. They were given a mountain of tomato pasta with 1/4 block of cheese each. Followed by donuts. They are 2 and 3! The portion size the same as dh 6'4. Needless to say they struggled to eat 1/4 of it and declined desert offered. Why would you give that much to toddlers? ( they have children the same age)

Same with the constant snacks they are offered all day when we are out with various friends in various places. Iv never snacked and it wouldn't occur to me to keep piling them with food all day.

It saddens me that many children I see out and about are already largely overweight. They struggle to run after a ball or climb trees etc.. Of course they may have an obesity gene, but I think the x2 bags of monster munch, raisens, and kitkat they get given on the way home from school doesn't help either.

appitite?? appetite

ICBINEG

But you are assuming that it's easy for the rest of us that don't acknowledge that we may/may not have the gene.

Have you ever asked superfit/superslim how hard it is for them to maintain? I can tell you as one of those people that it's bloody hard work. I love fatty foods, take aways, cakes, sweets and every other thing that's bad for you. I've just discovered Marvelous Creations (the popping candy one) and could eat truck loads of the stuff. Yet I summon up loads of self restraint and go without. I find it incredibly difficult maintaining less than 20% bodyfat and don't eat burgers when everybody else is. It takes a lot of restraint to eat salad when people around you are tucking into gorgeous pizzas etc.

Sometimes I fall off the wagon and stuff myself silly with all that is bad. But then after a few weeks I look in the mirror and realise the pain I have to go through to get back on it. Runs, weights, low carbs, the feeling of continuous hunger.

I grant that some people are genetically fortunate but for most of us it's a tough, tough slog.

Maybe I have the gene but TBH I couldn't care less as the only thing that really matters is how I see myself in the mirror. Not in a vain way but whether I'm carrying too much bodyfat.

"Eat natural, whole food. A bit of everything, followed by excercise and very few would be overweight"

See this is my problem...I can do that and have done it and continued to pile on weight.

Of course the abundance of food so dense in calories it is extremely easy to mistakenly over eat on is a problem. but doing a bit of exercise and eating whole foods isn't enough if your basic problem is being possessed of a greedy gene.

techno you sound just like me - I think you have it too.

I am not assuming that everyone slim is slim by dint of genetics any more than I am assuming that anyone fat is fat by dint of genetics.

I just think it is helpful to acknowledge that the difficulty of losing weight is not equal for all people...by a long shot. So if you are finding it fucking hard, maybe give yourself a pat on the back for keeping up the effort rather than a kick in the teeth for not doing better...

although I acknowledge worras point about people using it as a reason to declare weight loss 'impossible'.

It would have helped me because I didn't understand why it was so hard to lose weight, but I was determined to do so. It would not help someone not determined to succeed and may in fact be distinctly unhelpful. Although you aren't going to lose weight unless you are committed to it anyway...

I remember the programme on Channel 4 a few months ago about this, it was hosted by one of the female doctors off Embarrassing Bodies.

The participants in the show were given loads of information about the ?fat gene? that they carried, but surprise surprise, it made absolutely no difference to the advice they were given? The same advice given to anyone on any weight loss programme? Cut out junk food and alcohol, eat little and often, cook fresh food from scratch, exercise more, and hey presto ? weight loss.

It?s amazing what a weigh in on a TV show broadcast to 4 million people can do for motivation to beat the fat gene.

ICBINEG

To be honest I don't think I have the gene at all. What I have is a world where eating 1000 dirty calories is far easier to do that it really should be. You'd have to be going some to eat 1000 calories in fruit/veg. The following link is related to 200 cals but you get the picture:

www.wisegeek.com/what-does-200-calories-look-like.htm

The thing is I don't ever kick myself as it's tough for everyone. Difficulty is relative when I train as hard as a friend but fail to see the same fitness gains (or vice versa). We are all different so just need to get on with it. Life is never the same for anyone. Intellect, strength, skill etc, etc. None of us are on a level playing field so it never crosses my mind. I just do what I do.

hmm see I could easily eat in day 2 avocados, a large banana 3 satsumas a punnet of grapes and a pile of redcurrants.

Would easily exceed 1000 kcals.

thats a cool page though...I am loving the butter in particular!

I look at my family on my Dad's side and wouldn't be surprised if this gene is expressed there

My Grandfather was obese (I never met him - GM died in her 30's)

All 4 of his children were obese at some point in their lives even though two of them left home in their early 20's and lived in another country

Of his 10 great-grandchildren 9 are overweight or obese even though 3 of them live in a different country.

I've got the skinny as a rake gene so I imagine that I am not welcome on this thread.

However my poor son definately has the fat gene and my daughter has the skinny as a rake gene. They eat the same meals and both do excercise.

Most fat people I know fall into two possibly three categories.

Those that don't give a shit or try anything.

Those who's meds dictate their lives.

Those who try and try and try and never really succeed because they're told to simply eat less, do more. They're told they are lazy, greedy and crap human beings, they are told they eat shit and that's why they're fat.

If you discount the first two categories for a moment, you have to question WHY people find it so difficult? This may be ONE reason of many, and it could prove useful to many people.

Though I agree real diagnosis is required, and that's another matter, when I went to my GP about my worries and my weight, I simply wasn't fat enough to qualify for real help.

Reallytired you are welcome (by me anyway) my sons are like yours. My youngest eats for England and is waif thin, my eldest is really careful, he is obsessed with healthy eating, and yet is overweight. Other than being told he's fat and needs to eat a healthy balanced diet (which he does) there's very little help available and a lot of blame throwing in my direction!