Let’s talk Genetics: Does FAT really run in the family?

Hey Fit-Squad,

I am super pumped today lol. No particular reason other than the fact that it is TUESDAY. That is what the JOY of the Lord does mehn.

Ok, why are we here?

I wanted to quickly address this whole ‘Fat runs in the family’ cos I hear that a lot, right with its brothers…

I don’t lose weight fast, we are big boned in my family, etc

First of all, this topic is so broad and I cannot exhaust it in one post but I would touch the meat of it and stay focused on fat and family…

Ok, do I believe that genes have a role to play in the whole fat thing?

Sure

Your genes are VERY powerful!!!

There are a couple things that you inherited from your mama and dad, and you see that even in your siblings.

Your stature too. Somehow, you may realise that you all share a few physical traits in common, and one that I really like when I see it is a family of chubby face and full legs.

But when it comes to fat running in the family and we are big boned in the family, my sister, it is not true.

While your genes may SLIGHTLY predispose you to fat, it is nothing that a healthy lifestyle cannot correct.

You see, family is very powerful.

I think about how for some of us, we learnt to open maggi and then squeeze it all around the pot of whatever we are cooking. One day in my campus fellowship, we were doing this cooking thing and this babe opened maggi and threw the entire cube inside. I was moderating so I screamed and so did a few others.

Why didn’t she crush it?

Then my Pastor said something like it was because this was how we learned it in our home doesn’t mean that is the right or only way to season our food.

It was such a lesson that never left me.
How things are done in the home is really how we continue to do things for a long time. It is the right way and most times the only way, we believe. I have tried to not squeeze maggi but for the life of me, I cannot.

This also taught me that the lifestyle, especially our eating habits at home is what is largely responsible for your weight or weight challenges today.

I recall a friend who has a real struggle with junk telling me how she grew up rejecting most foods and so her mom would let her eat pastries, biscuits and chocolates instead. Having grown that way, the battle she was fighting now to attain a healthy lifestyle was HUGE.

I felt a cross between sad and responsible.

Which is why I am so passionate about moms getting it right. Don’t be lazy mama. Use that power right.

My son today always talks about exercising. Everyday, he shows me a move he wants to do, asks to join me, brings my dumb bells, attempts working out, etc. He sees me work out on a regular, so that is his normal.

We also are not a junk home. I don’t have any fizzy or packaged drinks in my home, except that which we are given and I usually give it out. We drink water, tiger nut milk, smoothies and zobo. My son asks me for a smoothie daily. I also don’t do a lot of junk so they will not grow up predisposed to it, and most likely wont deal with weight challenges, by God’s grace.

I feed my family mostly wholesome healthy foods.

Conversely, if we rolled deep with junk, funked around with fizzy drinks and never work out, my kids will grow with that mindset and truly when they are older, it will be hard to depart from it and then it would show in their weight cos I have no lepa genes in me.

Chances are also very high that the parents would reflect a body size that feeds regularly on unhealthy foods, so everyone in the family will be big. Then people will say FAT RUNS IN THIS FAMILY

No, it doesn’t.

An unhealthy lifestyle runs in the family and so it manifests as FAT.

The day everyone starts to lead a healthy lifestyle is the day they have opened the door for fat to leave. Stay consistent at it and soon, even into the next generation, people would start to say ‘You guys are slim in your family ooo’.

If you see my family, you may be tempted to say FAT runs in it, and may have excused me for being 106kg back then.

But look at me today,

and recently two of my siblings have gotten on board this train and I have seen them torch fat well.

Now I want to quickly address those who you notice are slim in their family, and no matter what they eat, they stay slim.

First of all, I have spoken to a few and then I ask for a sample of their meals over the past 2 weeks. My sister, some of them hardly eat. You may see them eat a few times here and there, maybe even unhealthy foods but somehow, that is all for the day. Then some people have the metabolism of a furnace, thanks to genetics. They burn as fast as they eat, leaving them on the small side.

But let me tell you girl, I have seen people I could have sworn were slim in their family and after years of consistently nurturing poor eating habits, they mess up their blessed metabolism, slow it down and soon start to see the effect of their overeating. They get FAT!!! You probably know a few like that.

Plus, you can be slim and unhealthy. Let’s not get that twisted. The goal is healthy, not slim!!!

The same way people may say ‘I don’t lose weight fast’ or ‘we don’t lose weight fast in our family’.

NO, honey.

Your lifestyle over the years has slowed down your metabolism and so you have to start new healthier habits and then stay consistent at it for a long time to start to see your body work optimally again, which includes fat burning.

Let me tell you guys, genes are strong but your lifestyle can so overpower those genes, especially if you are consistent at it.

We wont all be lepa like Agbani cos we don’t have those genes, but you can have the best physical manifestation of your genes and it is not FAT.

Your best may be a size 0 or a 10 but whatever it is, people won’t call you fat.
Some of us will have to work harder than others to maintain that optimal weight but WE ALL CAN.

And while we are here, there are no BIG BONED people. Bones don’t jiggle. If it jiggles, it is FAT!!! Those lies just stop you from taking responsibility for yourself and fixing issues that need to be fixed.

FAT is unhealthy so why would a good God give such unhealthy gift as any family’s lot in life.

So, does fat run in the family as a result of genetics?

No.

Just lifestyles and cultures run in the family and usually would manifest in the physical.

I hope this settles it for you.

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