One size fits all? Don't fall for it.

Now I know by the title, the first thing you are probably thinking about is t-shirts. You know the ones. You go to a show or event, and they have "one size fits all" give-a-way shirts. You get it and it's an XL. Sure it fits a lot of the people, but if you are bigger than an XL you are out of luck. Also, if you are one that doesn't like to swim in their shirts, you are out of luck too.

But that is not what this post is about. No, it's about cookie cutter/one size fits all exercise programs and diet programs. You see them everywhere. Heck just stay up late one night and watch paid programming. In 30 minutes you are bound to see infomercials advertising some kind of exercise program or new diet craze/supplement. But much like clothing, it may not really fit you!

Sure these programs work for some people. But everyone is different. Everyone has different needs when it comes to their diets and their exercise. Now some people that "work" for these program producers will talk about modifying to fit you, but that is BS. You can't take a person that suffers from extreme back pain and have them do HIIT and Plyometrics, it's going to cause more harm than good, even with modification of moves. The same with taking a vegan and putting them on a regular meat and potato diet. Or lets go even a step further, you can't put everyone on an IIFYM (if it fits your macros) diet. IIFYM is really popular right now. Sure, it works, but again only for some people. Are there studies that show that it works? Yes there are, but there are also studies to show that IIFYM is absolute garbage and is only popular because of one or two PHD's in the fitness industry boasting about it's the best way to diet.

The whole point of all of this, is if you buy a program from TV or the store, you may get results, but you probably wont get the results you want if you get any at all. You need to get something tailored for you. One final note, make sure to read the fine print on the infomercials you watch, it will state "results shown are not typical". Just some food for thought.

Don't get habits confused with genetics

We hear from every source these days that obesity is a "genetic" disease. However, I completely disagree, and I know there are more people that disagree.

First let's look at obesity in your family. Are both your parents fat? Yes? But were they obese when they were younger? or did it occur as they got older? Are your grandparents overweight? Yes? Again, ask the same question about your parents.

In my case, you could say I was morbidly obese because my father is obese. Well that's what the "experts" would say at least. But lets go back to 1974 when my dad graduated high school and married my mom. My dad graduated weighing in at a whopping 119 LBS. But how can he be obese now? Oh his family must be morbidly obese right? Wrong. My dad's whole family were a bunch of bean poles. But what about me? I picked up my dad's eating habits.

That's right. It's not genetics, it is picking up your parents habits. My dad for as long as I can remember has been a snacker. When my dad would be off duty and would be home with me, he would snack. So, I would snack. It eventually turned into a thing that when I was bored, I would snack, because that is the habit my dad passed on to me. It's like with healthy eating. I wasn't raised around eating healthy or restricted portions. If I wanted a second helping, I could have it. This all led to my being morbidly obese.

Sadly though, parents and their children don't want to take the blame for their own problems. They would rather blame a non-existent genetic disease on their problems than admitting that they have just passed on and excepted bad habits.

I've changed my bad habits. No longer do the days exists where I mindlessly snack because I'm bored or watching TV. Do I still snack though? Yes I do! But I snack healthy, I eat either an apple, banana, celery stalk or brocoli. If I'm not eating those, then I have 8 almonds for one snack, and 14 almonds for a second snack. I do this only once between meals. I mostly only do this to keep my metabolism going. I survive the day just fine and no longer feel phantom hunger at bored times.

Make a change in your habits, and stop blaming genetics if you are obese.