Fat weight gain - Is it our genes or lifestyle?

Studies have shown that 80% of children born to two obese parents become obese. However, only 14% of children born to normal weight parents become obese. Also, studies on adopted children show that genetics account for only around 33% of a child's weight. The studies often suggest that lifestyle factors such as activity levels and eating habits of the family are more important. Heredity only controls the metabolism, the rate at which calories are burned, it cannot control what, when and how much we eat.

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Use your head to create your goals

Instead of creating a normal goal for this year's resolution like "I'm going to lose 10 pounds this year" it may be a good idea to create smaller but totally different goals. Using easy-to-achieve goals for each separate month may help you reach your final goal over the course of this year.

As an example you could say to yourself...
"For this month I'm going to cut out chocolate".

A goal like this should much easier to achieve and require less of an effort. Saying your going to lose 10 pounds in 3 months will require a great deal of effort in many areas, exercise, food intake. etc.

When you hit each small goal it may help drive you to select another new simple goal, for example: "Every time I go to a restaurant I will choose the healthiest / low fat dish".

Then for the next month it could be...
"I will reduce the amount of bread I eat each day and substitute it for the healthier low calorie crisp breads from the health shops"

Then maybe....
"I will make up a fruit salad to place in the fridge and try to eat a good portion before a main meal".

There are thousands of different, achievable goals you could make up, all relating to your own lifestyle and food choices. But, because they all require less effort and are less invasive to your lifestyle they should be easier to live with everyday. As these small goals all build up it will lead to some decent weight lost over the future months. The weight will also be lost at a steady pace meaning there's a better chance it will stay off.

Here are some more ideas for small achievable goals:

Reduce the number of convenient packaged foods eaten for lunch.

I will substitute many of my takeaways for a Subway takeaway.

For the next month I will walk around the garden 3 times every morning before breakfast.

I will get off the bus one stop before the normal destination and walk the extra distance.

I will clean out the garage this month, then the basement next month.

I will wash the car more frequently.

I will get a dog so I can walk him everyday.

For this month I will eat little and often to try to reduce my stomach size naturally.

For this month I will do 3 sets of sit ups and press ups every other day.

I will buy more fruit and place it in the sitting room so it's visible when I get hungry.

I will stretch everyday for ten minutes.

I will take a cold shower once a week to help burn more calories.

I will cut out alcohol during the week.

I will eat more berries.

For one month I will snack on raw vegetables before a main meal.

Try to use your head and think before selecting any goal. Try not to do too many goals at once, take your time and get it right. Try to make next year's resolution NOT a weight loss resolution.

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Question about exercising

Hi. I just want to clarify, is it correct to say that if I jog at a reasonable pace, which I can still converse, then I'm burning fat. But if I really push myself to jog faster till I'm breathless, then I am burning carbohydrates instead?

Yes, basically if we train at a lower intensity we tend to burn a higher percentage of fat.

We actually burn all 3 types of fuel (carbs, fat & protein) all the time. The difference is the percentage of each fuel used. While resting or doing light work we burn a higher percentage of fat, the only problem is we don't burn lots of energy at light work rate. As we work harder we burn more energy but the percentage shifts.

As an example, ( forget the protein energy used for simplicity reasons) we may burn 80% fat, 20% carbs when resting but only about 60 calories per hour burned. That's equals about 48 calories of fat per hour.

When walking we may burn up to 180 calories per hour, the ratio of energy burned may shift to 50%, 50%, that equates to 90 calories of fat burned. It means it's better to exercise, however there is a limit. If we exercise at too high intensity we may shift the ratio too far ( 90% carbs 10% fats) so even though we may burn about 500 calories per hour, it equates to only 50 calories in fat. Another problem is if we use up our carbs stores quickly we tend to crave sugar to replenish stores, this can often lead to overeating.

To complicate matters fitness plays a huge role. The fitter the person the harder they can work and still continue to burn higher degree of fat calories - it's basically because their energy system is in top shape. That's why you never see an overweight distance runner!!

The idea is to select a balance of work rate which is suits you. Train enough to burn sufficient calories without overdoing it. As you gain fitness over the months of regular training sessions you can gradually workout harder to burn off more calories and fat weight.

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