To think that obesity mostly has to do with your genes

[penandpaperlife]

I've been living with my best friend for a year now due to some personal issues with my STBXH, and this has been something I've been wondering about. My best friend eats the exact same thing as me, with the same exact portion size. She also snacks on nuts and/or biscuits throughout the day (we're a freelance team so we spend basically all day together) while I don't.

Why then, is she slim and I'm not?

The only difference in our lifestyle is that she goes for a 15min run every morning. I've read studies and charts though and that seems to only burn about 150kcals. Surely that wouldn't even offset her snacks? I come from a 'fat family', she doesn't. We're both almost 30, if that matters. That leads me to believe that genetics do play a huge part here, contrary to what's often being parroted in the press. Is that possible? Does anyone have any experience with this?

There is a significant genetic predisposition. It is known that a person’s weight is affected by environmental and genetic factors. Studies have suggested that 40-70% of the variation in BMI in the population is due to genetic factors, and it is believed that many different genes contribute to this effect. To date, variations in or near two genes called FTO and MC3R have been found to contribute a small amount to BMI variation. Increasingly genetic factors are being revealed that influence hunger, appetite control and fat deposition.
That said, whilst it’s harder for some people to maintain a healthy weight, it’s much better if they continue to eat a healthy diet and exercise.

Much better not to allow children to become fat as the fat cells laid down never disappear. Childhood diet is critical to adult body fat. What’s done can’t be undone easily. Constant snacking is a real issue for child health.
Berating people farther than supporting them is not the answer any more than simply telling heroin drug addicts just to avoid hard drugs and stick to smoking dope once a week will solve the addiction fuelled mental health crisis.

I think people frequently forget the huge calorific content of wine and beer too.

Even if you eat an entire kilo of boiled potatoes, that's only 870 calories

Did you count the calories in butter? I wouldn't eat boiled potatoes without it.

Judging from my own family, I'd speculate that there is some genetic disposition to gain and retain weight more easily - it doesn't mean you'l end up obese, but definitely gain weight more easily than others.

I'm from a slim family, both parents slim and I'm slim and small-framed. DH's family is a mixture - his Mum is small and slim, Dad and his aunt/uncle are much larger-framed and tend to carry more weight.

DH and his siblings are a mixture - two skinny ones, two larger builds with much broader shoulders and a tendency to gain weight. One has let it get out of hand, the other is "well-covered" but not massive.

My DC: DS is a skinny thing like me; DD is a much larger frame, taller with far bigger hips and chest than me. She's never been skinny, always "well-covered. " She plays on a sports team and is much physically stronger than me - she's been able to lift me up since she was 11/12.

Genetics are definitely at play here, we're totally different types and DD would have to starve herself to be a similar weight to me at 14. I was a waif!

I’ve lost weight from exercise in my 20’s and lost weight from depression in my 30’d ( heartbreak was amazing but no idea why as people kept feeding me).
Diets would have me lose a bit, for a while.

Honestly you have to eat ALOT less calorie dense food. Veg and protein keep you healthy even if your calorie intake is very low. Just eat them.

That calculator is nuts. Has me at 2,100 calories a day. If I ate that amount. I would gain weight.

Studies have suggested that 40-70% of the variation in BMI in the population is due to genetic factors

Studies don't typically suggest, they prove or disprove within a degree of statistical significance.

Can you supply the research citations?

I’m confused by the people who say this :

OP “ I eat X number of calories a day and do Y exercise and I’m still not losing weight - it’s a mystery”

MNers reply “ well eat fewer calories and exercise more then “

OP “ But I don’t think that X is a lot of calories , I shouldn’t have to eat fewer calories than that”.

25 MNers reply “ Well I’d gain weight not lose it on X calories a day “.

OP “ Well I cant possibly eat less than that. And Y exercise is a lot for me so I can’t do more “.

What’s the point of asking if you are not prepared to change your eating habits? That’s why 99.9% of people are overweight.

It’s not a mystery. It’s physics, chemistry and biology.

I honestly think A LOT of people vastly underestimate their calories, at my work there are people who claim to eat in the low 1000s who will literally eat a meal deal for lunch which is usually about 1000 plus the other food and drinks for the day.

Hmmm

There is no genetic disposition, medication, or illness which can defy the laws of physics. If you are taking in more energy than you burn then it will be stored as fat. Your body cannot make fat out of air. There is nothing in the world that can make fat out of nothing.

The rate at which people will burn off energy varies and it is here where the genetic disposition comes in. Some will go through calories at a rate of knots whilst doing nothing, others will burn very few.

The rate at which your bodies burn off energy can be manipulated by certain exercise regimes which can give you an "afterburn" effect, but those regimes aren't a one size fits all. To get the maximum effect you'd need something tailored for your age, sex, and weight.

Just eat veg and protein. So easy.

You will lose weight ( not eating sugar, shit processed foods or high calorie carbs ) and stay healthy because vegetables have do much , Meat or vegan gluten free whatever. Protein and veg.

@Leflic I agree, but it doesn't completely explain why some ppl are bony (shoulders, hip bones jutting out) like me and others are voluptuous like my DD (no bones sticking out, always looked "well-covered.")

We live in the same house eating similar diets and she's taller than me. Perhaps we're processing our food at different rates, as @Lockheart says.

It’s not the same as calories in/calories out. It really isn’t.

Someone eating a diet high in vegetables and fibre, with the same calorie intake as someone who eats, say, white bread/processed food but the same energy intake, will me less prone to obesity and weight gain due to the impact on the microbes in the gut.

We didn't have those problem in the past as I was around then and I remember - you did get the older tubby person, usually women in later years. But food wasn't as easily available, all the irresistable takeaways weren't there or the private vehicles to get you to them and away. Or the ready meals.

Eating in the streets wasn't really done apart from the odd chippy.
Our genes haven't changed since then.

IME it’s not genes, it’s hornones. I’ve had extreme weight changes both up and down due to various hormone treatments even though my diet and exercise levels stayed the same.

I’m not saying hormones are the only reason people can be over or underweight. But where there are discrepancies between people with similar diets / exercise levels I believe hormones could be playing a part.

I have experienced weight loss or gain being disproportionate to diet and exercise levels. I’ve been from a size 10 up to size 14-16 on one treatment, back to a 10 and then down to a 6 on another.

If you look up low oestrogen levels, weight gain or difficulty losing weight is a symptom.

Obviously an underactive thyroid causes weight gain. Turns out that quitting smoking can often trigger thyroid issues and I saw a study last year which said that those who gained weight when they quit smoking had dramatically reduced thyroid hormones compared to those who hadn’t gained weight. In the past gaining weight in that situation was put down to eating more etc.

My best friend eats the exact same thing as me, with the same exact portion size. She also snacks on nuts and/or biscuits throughout the day (we're a freelance team so we spend basically all day together) while I don't

She snacks all day. Thats the difference.
One choccy biscuit a day (say 100 calories) over a year is 36500 calories. Thats 2 and a half weeks of food per year.

Imagine not eating a morsel for 2.5 weeks. You'd lose a lot of weight.
Thats the ddifference. Not genes.

She snacks all day. Thats the difference.

The non-snacker i.e. me is the overweight one here.

Okay so I did a bit of observation yesterday (more so than usual).

Friend: Uphill sprinting and slow jogging in the morning, moves around all day, stands about 1/5 of the time while we're working.

Me: Sits down all day.

Food: Our food is meal-prepped like I said so we take out individual containers we packaged over the weekends (all the same portion) from the fridge and re-heat them. Lunch was chicken breast with paprika and random spices, sweet potatoes, and broccoli. Dinner was salmon with a squeezed lemon, asparagus, beetroot.

Friend's extra food: 2x protein shakes, an orange, several biscuits

My extra food: 4x coffee (this is the first day I'm drinking it without cream), a glass of wine

I’d agree hormones can play a part.

The pill affected my weight, I think it made me feel hungrier somehow. I didn’t realise its effect until I stopped taking the pill, and effortlessly lost over a stone in about 6 weeks.

All of a sudden I just wasn’t as hungry anymore. It’s really easy to eat less when you’re just not feeling hungry!

That’s sobering lmc and true. My weight crept up to 11st 9 am 5 ft 6. 4 months later I’m 9st 9. Simple as eating less (16/8) and an hours cardio each morning. I think if anyone did that whatever their genetics they would lose the weight. I was having biscuits twice a day eating what I wanted. Not any more!

Also I'd like to add that I haven't gained weight since I moved in a year ago. I'm usually +/- 2lbs from before, depending on the day.

If you smoke, stop smoking cigarettes
Glad you mentioned that, alloutoffucks, because I've done that and lost weight.
In both cases I had to stop finding excuses why it was 'complicated' and just get on with doing it. Neither one was 'easy' , but they were both straightforward.

Stoping smoking can apparently make your risk of diabetes higher. I wish I knew that before because I would swap stoping and losing weight around. Now I am quickly working on weight loss in an attempt to mitigate the risk🙄

If you both eat exactly the same amount of calories (which is hard to know unless you’re weighing food and measuring drinks!) then she’s at a 150 deficit from you. Say, for arguments sake, you’re both eating exactly the right number of calories for your respective heights, you will both remain the same weights - her her former slimmer frame and your larger one.

I think genetics does play a part but diet and exercise more so. My mum and grandma struggled with their weights and we all had a common issue - love of food and snacking! I’ve managed to buck the trend and am slim because I eat a healthy plant based diet, my mum has lost a load of weight because she runs and exercises daily. In our case I think there was an addiction to food being passed down but it was a behavioural issue not a genetic one.