Fat gene or no fat gene…

In an article titled, “The Staggering Cost of Obesity Increases To $100 Billion Per Annum” it states that, “Obesity kills a staggering 300,000 Americans every single year and health-care expenditures and associated cost of obesity have gone up to a whooping $100 billion per annum. The World Bank roughly estimated that about 12 percent of the U.S. budget of health care is largely spent on the treatment of obesity.” Estimated 12% of the U.S. budget for health care is for fat people. So what about the other 88% of the budget…Call me crazy and I am no expert but I think the number of people who smoke in this country might be comparable to those who are fat and we never see handy-dandy informative articles like this one on how the detriments of cigarettes people smoke affect the healthcare budget. They certainly cannot blame me as part of the problem with obesity and the healthcare budget because being self-employed no insurance company will even cover me because I am “morbidly obese.” Hmmm…Strange considering I am healthy as a horse, no diabetes, no hypertension, no known hereditary risk factors, do not smoke, do not drink, take no regular medications, and can pass a physical exam with flying colors…except I am fat. You can bet your bottom dollar that I am healthier than a good percentage of people that are covered by insurance who do smoke, drink, take daily medications, but just fall within the weight guidelines. A video by Dr. Victor Bellonzi is included in this informative little article about how genetics absolutely positively has nothing to do with whether a person is overweight or not. Not to state the obvious but he probably has never had a weight problem. To quote Dr. Bellonzi, “If you don’t take the time and the care to watch out for these things you create a different situation.” He is referring to how you treat your genes and that we don’t need to blame genetics for any part of our weight problem because it is totally irrelevant. Really?? So, I guess I cannot blame genetics for my brown hair, blue eyes, large front teeth, my big toe and second toe being the same size, the space between my eyes, the shape of my ears…geez must I go on? So genetics plays a role in all of those features about me but there is no way that it plays a part in my body habitus. Seriously this guy is nuts! “If you are overweight it is not because of your genetics it is because you haven’t treated your genes the way they needed to be treated to get the outcome that you wanted unless you wanted to be overweight so you have to start learning how to treat your genes.” Yes Dr. Bellonzi, you have figured me out…my whole life I have wanted to be fat. Last time I checked we do not have any control on genes we inherently receive from our parents or ancestors. There are plenty of people who are thin and eat whatever they want and never do a drop of exercise but on the flip side there are people who have struggled with their weight their whole lives who do watch their diet and exercise only to have the same outcome. So why is that if genes do not play a role? Genes are a powerful part of our makeup and I did get the fat gene. Do you think it is too late to get a refund?

Until next time, keep laughing!