Were You Born to Be Fat or Has Fatness Been Thrust Upon You?

By Rosie Peters

Actually, for me it was both! I got the genetics from my Dad and the eating habits and disregard for exercise from my Mum. Luckily I missed out on the hat trick and managed to (eventually) overcome the defeatist born-to-be-fat attitude that threatened to envelop me.

Are you big boned? Chunky by nature? Me too. But big boned people don't have to be fat because of it. We don't have to exercise any harder or longer than fat fine boned folk to achieve goal weight.

As a big boned woman, my healthy weight is about 12kg heavier than a fine boned person of the same height. The healthy weight range charts do take the differences in our frames into account. So if you are big boned like me, don't despair. Take heart. You are not really born to be fat; you are just never going to be shopping in the "petites" section. You never really expected to anyway.

My parents were both farmers' children. They grew up on a diet of huge portions of fatty meat, with lots and lots of simple carbs - good old white bread and potatoes.

Morning tea, afternoon tea and pre-bedtime tea and bikkies were all part of the family ritual, long after the farms and the energy draining physical work had disappeared. Mum just continued the habit with the next generation.

Now that's all fine and dandy when you are a kid, running about, climbing trees and riding your bike to school. But at the onset of semi-sedentary adulthood, look out.

The onset of independent adulthood is the ideal opportunity for you to fix up your poor eating habits for a weight control diet, do a bit of research and eat nutritious meals that are good for you.

But it's never too late to get it right so if you start anytime soon no matter what your age or stage of overweight, you"ll feel and see the benefits within a few short weeks.

You really do need to find an exercise that you can learn to love. If you are almost totally uncoordinated because your Mum would never let you play team sports or drive you to the pool for training, you should consider walking.

It's easy, its free and you've done it all your life. Just not quite anywhere near enough of it - but that is all going to change. Walking is the exercise of choice of the vast majority of fat loss success stories - nothing is stopping you from joining their ranks.

Get walking on those good solid legs of yours. Every day. 45 minutes to 1 hour will do it for you. Oh, go on then, take 1 day a week off, you deserve it and you'll be rested and refreshed and looking forward to your next energetic walk after a little pause.

The aerobic nature of regular brisk walking is going to tone and lean your body and big boned or not, you are going to look great. Impressively statuesque, I'd reckon.



Take up the challenge. Neither genetic heritage nor a shonky upbringing should stop you from losing weight and getting fit.

Just disregard your genes.

Discount your dubious role models.

Reject your fatty "birthright" and thrust that fatness away from you. You will never look back.

Rosie Peters gives common sense advice, encouragement and tips for weight loss, sensible diet and lifelong fitness. Sometimes it's not what you want to hear, but what you need to know. Visit Rosie at weight-control-diet-advice.com.

Rosie's e-Book Weight Loss is Simple may be what you're after. Check it out & get a FREE copy of her popular e-Book Fat No More, while you're there.