's motd Monday March 7, 2011

[Guest guest]

GENE THERAPY

Monday, 07 March 2011

A lot of people write, or say to

me in person, "A fat gene runs in my family,

. And I'm sure I'll never lose weight for

that reason. I have several obese family members.

Oh, how I wish there were something I could do about

it. But, I'm sorry to say, obesity just runs in my

family."

Now let me be honest with you.

There are some people who're genetically

inclined to be overweight. So the statement in the

above paragraph is true. Some families do tend to

have more overweight members than others. Yes, the

obesity gene is there. In fact, it even has a name: Fat

Mass & Obesity Associated Gene. Or FTO,

for short.

Some researchers, seeking to learn more about how this

gene affects our weight, decided to do a little

study. They took a group of people, all identified as

having the FTO gene and, after dividing them into two

groups, followed them for several months.

Those people in the first group led fairly sedentary

lifestyles with a limited amount of physical

activity. And guess what? Most of them ended up

gaining more weight. (That comes as no big surprise,

right?)

But the people in the second group, (don't forget,

they had the FTO gene, too), were more active and even

maintained dedicated exercise programs. This group

burned, on average, 900 more calories per

day than the people in the first group. And here's

another thing that shouldn't surprise you, they

actually lost weight!

So what do the results of this

study tell us? Well, even if you have it, now you see

that the FTO gene does not have to rule

your life. That gene you may have been blaming your

weight on does not have to determine your weight.

See? What you weigh is still...up to you!

Hey, when it comes to our weight, we're all

"challenged" in some way. It could be this thing or

that thing "wrong" with us and we use all of those

"things" as excuses for us to remain overweight. It's

not my fault I'm overweight. It's in my genes!

But now you see, it's really all about the importance

of exercise. Like I've told you so many

times before, it's all about calories in

and...calories out. It's that simple. If

you constantly consume more calories than you

burn then, hey...those extra calories are going

to be converted into extra pounds. That's

why I'm always stressing to you how important your

workouts are.

You know I didn't exercise very much for the first

third of my life. And yes, at one point in my life, I

thought I was "destined" to be fat, too. But I was

wrong. Once I began a dedicated exercise program and

controlled what I ate, I lost the weight. And I'm

telling you FTO gene or no FTO gene, you can too!

Oh, we can make so many excuses not to workout. And

hey, I should know. That's because I used lots of

them early in my own life. But not anymore! And

how about you?

Yes, you may have members of your

family tree who're overweight or obese. But, I'm

telling you, it doesn't mean you have to

be.

So, does the FTO gene run in your family? If it does,

I'd say it's time for you to engage in a little Gene

Therapy. And that therapy begins with you

getting that body of yours...moving!

Love,