Born Fat and Lazy
Mood:  mischievious
Now Playing: The Eugenics War Vol 1
Topic: Health
Doctor on your back? Suffering from Diabetes type II or High Blood Pressure (HBP) -- perhaps you're morbidly obese? Maybe it's not your fault. Maybe like the Rhesus Monkeys in the This experiment you're genetically predisposed to inactivity.

We're pretty sure that there are certain fat levels that are caused by genetic factors as are certain of the ailments listed above -- but now, apparently your default activity level is part genetic as well.

I suppose we could blame a culture that starts us out glued to a static television set and feeds us unhealthy fat inducing foods, but it turns out that we are also victims of our genes. That for some of us, it may be actually harder to overcome our genetic predisposition to sedentary living. Perhaps were not lazy and unmotivated by choice, but rather by birth.

What other genetic death warrants are there hanging over our heads? How do we overcome them? Can we breed this out -- or perhaps like acne we simply must use whatever tools fall into our hands as best we can.

So, what I'm wondering is when you're predisposed to a sedentary existence, do you realize it? How do you actively fight it when you're given to inactivity? Is there an "Action" group that can save us from our basically inactive choices? When we choose to read rather than hike do we KNOW what drives that kind of decision?

This is a real problem and I don't mean to make too much light of it -- see one of my original posts to Mike Gallagher taking him to task for just calling fat people lazy. If you are inherently lazy or not prone to movement based activity fatness is a likely consequence. But like a fear of heights, can it be overcome? I'd like to know because I invested almost $700 dollars (and those who know me, know what a cheap SOB I can be) in a gym membership. That, as they say, is a lot of scratch. However, I found I couldn't read while doing the exercises and my wife felt left out when I tried to listen to books on CD. We are both given to sitting and reading rather than going on nature hikes -- we love cooking, but we are not by nature prone to physical activity. We have tried, but can find no joy in the repetitive process of exercise. Even the very nice rewards of being healthier, feeling better, and looking better doesn't seem reward enough for us. So, we sporadically go to the gym in a way that gives transitory benefits, but not long term success.

I ask you what are a pair of genetic couch potatoes to do?

Til next time.