Fat Loss Lie #7

Some people will never be able to lose weight and they should just give up and accept their genetics for what they are.

It's true; your heredity will, to a certain degree, dictate your athletic ability and the ease and speed with which you can lose fat. However, it's a lie to say that some people can't lose weight because they've inherited a "slow metabolism."

Let's be honest; not everyone is going to become an Olympic Gold medalist, a Mr. Universe or a Miss Fitness America. However, you should never just "accept your genetics" and give up. Everybody can lose fat. It just takes a little longer for some than for others.

Some people have inherited a metabolism and body type that tends to favor fat storage. This body type is called an "endomorph." Endomorphs may have a slower metabolism, they’re often carbohydrate sensitive, they gain fat quickly when they eat poorly; they gain fat quickly if they don't exercise, and they may hold onto stored fat, even on a clean, low fat diet.

Weight loss is easier for some than for others and that doesn't seem fair. But that's the way life is. This simply means you're going to have to adjust your diet and training to fit your body type and metabolism.

You may have to work harder than other people. You may have to be more persistent than other people. You might need a stricter diet than other people. You might need to train more intensely than other people. You might have less margin for error (fewer cheat days).

The question is: Are you willing to do what it takes for you?

I write and speak about the role of genetics in fitness a lot and the reason is because I'm sick and tired of hearing people using their "bad genetics" as an excuse for why they can't get in shape.
It's amazing what a human being can achieve when they have a crystal clear goal and they’re willing to do whatever it takes to achieve that goal. Need proof?

Marla Runyan is a world champion middle distance runner. At the 2000 Olympic trials in Sacramento, Runyan captured third in the 1500 meters, finishing in 4:06.44; a time good enough to gain her a berth on the 2000 US Olympic team.

At the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Runyan was eighth crossing the finish line in 4:08.30.

Is this disappointing? Not when you consider that Runyan has been legally blind since her 9th birthday. Marla suffers from a genetically inherited disease of the retina, called Stargardt's. She is considered legally blind because her condition cannot be corrected. Her vision is limited to the peripheral - she can only see shapes in front of her, and can't even make out the face of her coach ten feet away. Despite this so-called handicap, Marla Runyan is the eighth best runner in the world in the 1500 meters.

The first U.S. paralympian to reach the Olympics, Runyan says she doesn't even look at her lack of sight as an obstacle; "I think my vision is just a circumstance that happened and I don't look at it as a barrier. I never said I want to be the first legally blind runner to make the Olympics. I just wanted to be an Olympian."

"I have been legally blind for 20 years. I am very used to my eyes and how the world appears to me. In fact, I am so used to it that I often forget I see things differently from everyone else. The track looks the same to me as it did 15 years ago. Therefore, I do not consider my vision impairment a "handicap" when it comes to running. It is not a factor or an excuse for a bad race."

And then there's Carl Joseph. Carl Joseph was captain of his football team. He could dunk a basketball. He high jumped 5 feet 10 inches. He threw shot and discus. He was also born with only one leg.

Like Runyan, the difference between Carl and others with genetically inherited disabilities is nothing more than his attitude. Carl Joseph didn't make excuses:

"A lot of people go through life wishing they could change this or
that. God gave me one leg, and I'm just as happy and thankful to
be healthy and to have done as much as I have. Ever since I was
a kid I could do anything I wanted to. One leg or two, it didn't
make any difference to me. It's all in the mind. My mind always
told me I could do things, so I just went out and did them."

- Carl Joseph

When I first wrote about these two athletes as examples of what genetically disadvantaged people can achieve, I received an e-mail from an angry reader (who was very overweight and convinced that his genetics were to blame and there was nothing he could do about it). He wrote; “Tom, those are terrible examples. – Will a positive attitude restore Marla’s sight? Will positive thinking re-grow Carl’s leg?”

I felt sorry for this poor fellow because he entirely missed the point, and because of his own “vision problem” he has limited his own development. The answer to his questions of course, are no; the chances of positive mental attitude growing back a leg or restoring one’s sight are mighty slim.

But that doesn’t matter; the difference between people like Marla and Carl and the man who wrote to me is that Marla and Carl didn’t use their genetic disabilities as justification for their own failure and mediocrity or as an excuse for not even trying.

Marla and Carl did the best they could with what they had. It was much harder for them; and even with all the effort, they still couldn’t reach the level of those without such disabilities. But being better than others was not the goal. What they did was to become the best they could be. They became champions in their own right. They got out there and played the game.


“Argue for your limitations and sure enough, they’re yours.”

- Richard Bach, Author of “Illusions”