There is one factor we cannot control, and that is our genetic inheritance. Like it or not, if your parents were both thin, you and your siblings will tend to be thin. If your parents were heavy, you will have a similar tendency.
We also tend to inherit our parents’ shape. If your parents were apple-shaped, carrying their weight in their chests and abdomens, you are likely to be apple-shaped as well. If they were “pears,” carrying their weight in their hips and thighs, you are likely to be pear-shaped as well. There are all sorts of shape variations. Size is more easily changed than shape. If you carry your weight in your hips, as you lose weight you might become a skinny “pear,” but you will still be a “pear.”
Fat on the abdomen is easier to lose than hip fat. Although hip fat is more difficult to remove, it is also less likely to contribute to health problems. To determine whether you are at greater risk of health problems from being overweight, take a tape measure and measure around your waist and around your hips. For men, increased risk of health problems begins when your waist is bigger than your hips. For women, they begin when your waist is more than 80 percent of your hip measurement.
If you have passed that point, your weight problem is not a cosmetic issue anymore. It is a very real contributor to heart problems, cancer, diabetes, and a broad range of other problems that you do not want to have.
Some people believe that, because there is a strong genetic component to our size and shape, there is nothing they can do to lose weight. This is not true. Although the genetic factors that are passed from parents to children exert important effects, we do not just give our children DNA. We also give them recipes. We give them attitudes about food and preferences for various kinds of food. We also tend to pass along an interest or disinterest in physical activity, and attitudes about health and about how our bodies should look. These can all be modified, if we decide to do so. Whatever hand we have been dealt by our inheritance, there are still steps we can take to change our weight.
The key about genetics is to remember that it is only one of several factors that affect your weight. It shows your tendency. But within that tendency, there is a great deal that you can do to help reach the body size you want.