DO YOU SIT BEHIND A DESK?

I am curious as to how many of you earn your living sitting behind a desk.  I know I do and I'm pretty sure the majority of the people on this site do as well.  I have two brothers and two sisters.  We all have the same mother and father.  My two brothers and one sister are of a normal weight, but my older sister and I are not.  My two brothers and the one sister all have jobs where they are on their feet a good majority of the day.  My older sister is not on her feet.  On my mother's side they are all pretty much average weight, where on my dad's side there are some who are obese.   I just wonder if my older sister and I were the only ones that really did get the fat gene or to what extent the professions that we have chosen has played a role in our obesity.  Is it possible that they did get the fat gene, but their jobs have kept it at bay?  Does it depend of the number of fat genes?  I would love to know if I truly did get the fat gene.  My older sister actually eats the most healthy, although not necessarily small portions.  My two brothers and one sister do not have the best eating habits and they eat a descent amount.  Brenda

I think the habits we adopt tend to contribute to the way we end up.  I think we also train our fat gene to be fatter or not.  The difference between myself and my siblings is how we used food.  I think that is a big component in this whole equation. I am 5'7", my sisters are both 5'4, my Mom 5'3, my brother 6'0 and my Dad is 5'8.  No real sense there, huh?  My sisters have both gotten to 200 pounds with the help of pregnancy, but never stayed there long at all.  They both dieted in one way or another to get to an acceptable weight.  My older sister pretty much stays at around 160 and my little sister stays at around 140.  My Mom is most comfortable at 145 and my Dad is an even 175.  My brother is around 190.  I got up to 400 pounds at one point.  We have very little real obesity in the family, an aunt and her daughter pretty much.  Apparently my grandmother on my Mothers side died who died before I was born was overweight, although most said she was just a "big woman".

The point of my post?  I don't know about the fat gene but if it exists I think those of us who get morbidly obese have definitely fiddled with it enough to make it an issue.

Donna, I watched a show recently and I don't know if this lady was a nutritionist or a doctor or what.  Her  motto was that the fat gene loads the gun, but our environment pulls the trigger.  Like you keep wondering,  with your eating habits and exercise routine why are you still over 200?  It's hard to understand.  I know a lot of people would probably be much less.  I do realize you are very tone and I'm guessing that's a factor.  In your pictures you don't look over 200.  When you go to the doctor I guess he or she has no explanation.   I just noticed you removed your ticker, I guess your trying not to focus on the numbers. I think your healthy and happy and that's all that matters.  Weight sure can be puzzling though.  Have a great holiday. Brenda 

My ticker stopped working!!  I have to reload it along the way.  but it only showed up as a little red box so I took it off. LOL

I do, I do!!

Lifestyle change without changing my other habits was the major contributor to my weight gain.  I was an athlete through college and very active above and beyond the sports I played.  I ran the mile in 5 minutes at 220 pounds. Fast forward to a life in IT without changing eating patterns led to a snowball effect that I'm obviously still trying to correct.  There may be a "fat gene" but what you do plays a far more significant role in my opinion.

Bert, That's it then, I'm quitting and no more desk job for me.  Oh, wait I've been here for 24 years.  I think I'll pass...LOL.  Maybe I should have looked into other things years and years ago.  I don't know about a new profession for this old dog.   I better just change the old dog and not the job. Brenda

When I said "what you do" I wasn't referring to your or my job, I meant our actions in general.  In my case, working at a desk most of the day, not getting exercise after hours, and not changing my eating patterns led to my weight.  By actively pursuing other avenues for exercise and changing my eating patterns I could have avoided the precipitous weight gain.  In other words, it wasn't that I was meant to be this way, I made me this way.

I sit on top of my desk (really!) so maybe I can avoid your fate.

my job is somewhere in between a desk job and somewhat active. I do MBWA (management by walking around); i visit and review about 3-4 sites a day.  I have unloaded trucks in low heels. I have lugged office supplies into my car, then up a flight of stairs, sometimes several times a day. I rarely actually sit more than 20 minutes at a time before going someplace and doing soem amount of walking. I eat a LOT less than when I had a moderately active job as a cook, yet i am fatter. I absolutley believe in the fat gene. Or the skinny one. I've seen people eat large amounts of food for breakfast lunch and dinner that would put me to the 400# mark in about a year. I realize some fat people do eat that much food to get fat with, but i think in most cases, fat people's bodies will not burn as efficiently.  Very few people who are thin "work" at it. They just are thin...the only thin people who work at it are ex-fatties.  I have a sister who is a slug. she has yet to break 100#. She eats whatever she wants. I have hiked, biked, walked all my life, and will gain at the thought of eating. Now, tell me she works at it and if i find you...oooh just don't let me find you.