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"Fat Genes"

 

TTTT: “I got fat genes.”

Truth: Weight is not an inherited trait.

I used to say it a little differently.  I would say “I didn’t get skinny genes.”  Or “Everyone in my family is fat.  I am supposed to be fat and there’s nothing I can do about that.”  This wasn’t a huge exaggeration.  Both sides of my family tree are filled with people who are overweight and obese.  It is a prevalent theme in my family heritage, and those who don’t measure up to these labels are the outliers.  

I don’t know EVERY one of their stories, but I do know several- many of them maintain terrible diets, lead inactive lifestyles, have physical handicaps, unaddressed traumas, etc.  There are SO many factors outside of genetics that are contributing to the shape of my family tree. 

Yes, genetics and DNA are real, but BMI is not an inherited trait.  Your height is an inherited trait.  Certain things about your skeletal frame influence where your body stores excess weight.  But the amount of excess weight that you have, is NOT an inherited trait. 

Aside from the color of your hair, eyes, or skin- there are many other things that your parents passed on to you.  Such as…

  • Your daily rhythm of when you do and don’t eat.
  • How frequently your meal comes from a takeout bag.  
  • A fried egg requires a skillet of bacon grease.
  • A late-night adventure warrants fries or ice cream.
  • Positive associations with a Sunday morning donut ritual. (This morphed into multiple days a week for me.)
Then there’s lifestyle stuff…
  • How much time do you spend sitting in a car each week?  Your definition of “normal” here is typically inherited.
  • If a 60+ hour work week is “normal” to you, then it makes sense that you have difficulty finding time to be physically active.
  • I thought playing sports was only for kids.  My mom was so busy taking us to all of our sports, she never maintained a sports league.  I knew that was an important part of being a kid, I didn’t know that this was something that I could intentionally do to help me stay active as an adult.

It’s the classic nature vs. nurture debate.  It’s easy to point to our family tree and use that as justification for our own excess pounds.  If we convince ourselves that being fat is simply our nature, then this is something we have no control or influence over.  But this is a lie.  It is a lie that I once believed.  The truth that I wish someone would have told me is this: in terms of weight-

You look like your parents,
because you live like your parents. 

You did not inherit your BMI, you inherited the behaviors that are contributing to your BMI. 

If you’ve been telling yourself that being fat comes with your family name, please take time to consider what else has been passed on to you.  Take some inventory and identify where you’ve inherited some unhealthy patterns and develop your strategy for re-defining “normal” in your life.  These types of changes do not come easy, but they are worth the work!  Little by little, you will change your own shape and then the shape of your family tree for future generations.  It can be done.

Please let me know if there is anything that I can do to encourage you in the pursuit of your health.


Here is a link to the original TTTT Post, explaining my heart behind these posts- Tell The Truth Tuesday


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