The Perfect Excuse
Overweight people pay attention: you now have the perfect excuse for being obese: scientists found a ‘fat gene’.
A gene that contributes to obesity has been identified for the first time, promising to explain why some people easily put on weight while others with similar lifestyles stay slim.
People who inherit one version of the gene rather than another are 70 per cent more likely to be obese, British scientists have discovered. One in six people has the most vulnerable genetic make-up and weighs an average 3kg more than those with the lowest risk. They also have 15 per cent more body fat.
The findings provide the first robust link between a common gene and obesity, and could eventually lead to new ways of tackling one of the most significant causes of ill health in the developed world. One in four British adults is classified as obese, and half of men and a third of women are overweight.
So: not to worry. It is not your fault. Stop blaming yourself, now. Those three megaburgers a day don’t have anything to do with it!
Common sense, of course, would dictate something very simple: if you put weight on more easily than other people do… don’t eat as much as they do. Eat less.
Cross posted at my own blog.
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8 Responses to “The Perfect Excuse”
I can tell MVDG has never spent an evening with a chocolate mousse cake in the refrigerator, just sitting there, available, waiting, calling.
If only life were so simple, and we could live well and prosper by obeying rules on a handy index card.
-Don’t lose your temper.
-Don’t go over the speed limit.
-Don’t gossip.
-Smile.
-Be nice
-And above all, be like everybody else.
Some goals, worthy as they are, are harder for some to reach than for others.
Some people just aren’t perfect, the dirty rats!
And I have to live with a chocolate cake!
Doma: I am not suffering from being underweight myself, but come on…
You know, reminds me of what someone said about the mistake addicts make: for instance heroine addicts. When they fall back they say “but it’s everywhere!” Once they are thought that the needle doesn’t stick itself into their bodies, they have to stick the needle in themselves, not the other way around, they can break more easily with their addiction.
Also: I quit smoking and I am quite certain that not eating chocolate cake is less difficult than quitting smoking.
What one man can do, another can do!
MDVG-
I understand your point. As usual, it’s the tone in which the point is wrapped that gets to me. Honestly, you were channeling my ‘no excuses’ father, and I had many a bettle with him about my imperfections. My problems with authoritarianism stem from that, I’m sure.
You’re just a stand in.
If conservatives would just drop the preachy tone, they’d make more friends and influence more people.
P.S. I AM underweight.
I was actually being playful Doma… Sadly I failed in getting that across seemingly…
MDVG-
Playful? Me, too!
I was grinning as I was typing.
Must remember tha hahaha clue.
lol yes darn it – playfulness doesn’t get across very well in writing, does it?
Lets invent a sign
Just wait until the insurance companies start requiring testing for this gene.
Gotta really disagree with you on this one Mike. I’ve known people who put on weight incredibly fast if they slip off of anything other than a strict diet. I know to some folks it seems really easy, but there are people out there who definitely have issues that go beyond mere lack of discipline. We have an instinct to eat alot, and to eat high energy fattening foods at that, that was bred into us over a very long period of time.
Now me, I’m fat because I drink alot and don’t excercise.