I do think there might be a genetic component involved, but it is not as simple as people make it sound. No one who is otherwise healthy is destined to be morbidly obese. No one.

Genetics affect behaviors we are predispositioned to engage in and put ourselves in, and they also effect the way our bodies respond to environments out of our control. I think genetic predisposition to obesity is one part being predisposed to an addictive personality (gorge on food, abuse carbs, etc) and another part being predisposed to pack on weight a little quicker than other people because their temperment is one which likes to exercise less than thin people.

It is true some people have fast metabolisms and eat whatever they want without gain, but then again it has been shown in studies fat peoples metabolisms are normal. Meaning, it would seem fast metabolisms are more common than slow metabolisms. Besides, a slow metabolism can account for only like a 10 pound extra gain... slow metabolism does not cause morbid obesity.

The answer is clear, like alcoholism and drug abuse, morbid obesity is a disease caused by lifestyle more than anything else. It is not primarily caused by genetics or something out of our hands. Simply said, the biggest contributing factor to developing morbid obesity is eating gross amounts of food... end of discussion. You can argue genetic temperment puts someone at a predisposition to have an addictive personality (and by the way, obesity also positively correlates with substance abuse too) but nothing in your genes made any of us fat.

I used to tell myself that there was nothing I could do about my weight, but that was because I was ignorant about health, nutrition, and in denial. I didn't want to make a lifestyle change, and I didn't think I could ever live hungry all the time (low fat diet nonsense made me believe dieting is synonomous with starvation).


The the more pertinent question is, once someone has let themselves become morbidly obese, are they destined to be that way forever? I think the answer to this question is a little darker than the question of whether or not it is in our control to avoid morbid obesity. While avoiding morbid obesity is 100% in our control, reversing the damage of morbid obesity is a bit tricker. Once we have become morbidly obese, your body changes forever. Constantly gorging on large meals and eating high quantities of food floods the brain with neurochemicals as does abusing drugs, and studies have shown that the brains of super morbidly obese people are similar to drug addicts. Drug addicts and obese people, after prolonged abuse of their drug of choice, eventually experience a "burn out" where they become totally dependent upon their drugs just to feel normal. The obese person started eating for fun, but they soon find themselves hopelessly addicted to "food highs" just to cope with the every day nuances of living.

More research still shows that extended time spent morbidly obese can raise the bodys set point level, as high levels of leptin burn out leptin receptors (thus, the body requires more leptin before it percieves "starvation", meaning you can only diet down to a certain abnormally high weight before your body feels uncomfortable letting go of more fat). Also, cyclical bouts of starvation (dieting) and prosperity (rebound gorging) can do this too. It is very important that you not do is yo-yo diet, as this has the effect of permentantly affecting your set point level. This is why yo-yo dieters eventually find the weight stops comming off as easy as before.

All in all, there is no point crying over spilt milk for those of us who became morbidly obese. Yes, it is true, obesity changes our physiology forever. Like in drug addiction, once you are a (food) addict, you are always a (food) addict and can only control your addiction but never cure it. Atkins is our way of controlling our addiction. However, the sooner you intervene and the shorter time you spend fostering your morbid obesity, the less damage has been done, and the easier the transition will be into eating normally and obtaining a normal weight. Emotional and physical habits are harder to break.

Morbid obesity needs to be looked at in the same way as substance abuse. In short, saying someone is destined to be obese is like saying someone is destined to be alcoholic. It is completely and totally untrue. Just as alcoholism runs in families (partly because of genetic temperment towards being addictive coupled with environmental examples of abusing alcohol to deal with problems), it doesn't mean you are doomed to live your life an alcoholic. Predisposition is not our destiny. The sooner we interviene in our morbid obesity, and commit to perminent lifestyle changes (NOT quick fix diets... they do not work any more than going into detox but reabusing once on the outside does), the better chance we have for rehabilitation.