Quiet the Ghost in Your Genes: Rule 8 to Control Your Appetite

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Well, if you can't blame your mom directly for your surging appetite, how about blaming your dad AND mom for your genes? That's a satisfying answer, because it doesn't blame anyone personally. Your parents are no more responsible for their own genes than the ones they passed on to you.

So, let's start there. Let's accept the fact that, if you are overweight by more than a few pounds it's probably the fault of your genes. That done, what do you want to do now? Stay overweight? Get fat?

You have a perfectly good excuse. Lean on it. Use it for all its worth. When you reach for that extra serving of mashed potatoes, say out loud, "Mom and Dad, this spud's for you!" There, you have peace in your war with food.

That having been said, were you looking for an excuse?

Or a solution?

Before we talk about potential solutions, let's take a closer look at your genes. Because, as it turns out, your fat-building genes are actually great genes. In fact, if it weren't for them you wouldn't be here.


Somewhere, far back in your ancestry, was a woman who got pregnant in the late Summer or Fall. She was genetically able to accumulate fat during the "abundant food" time of Summer and Fall. During the "starvation" time of Winter and early Spring, she was able to supplement her diet (for both herself and her unborn child) from her fat reserves.

Fat in the Winter. Thin in the Spring. Your grand-forebearers had exactly the right "fat building" genes to bring their healthy babies into this world. And you are the recipient, the direct descendant of that happy "fat building" gene.

Women who could not build fat reserves during the "abundant" time, were not as fortunate in bringing their babies to full term. In short, most Skinny-in-the-Fall women didn't pass on their skinny genes. Fat-in-the-Fall women passed on their genes more prolifically. Today, this accounts for about 80% of us. You are fortunate to be alive today because of Fat-in-the-Fall women, successive generations of them. If you're overweight in every season, chances are, you too are a Fat-in-the-Fall woman, too. Or man.

Your family survived because of fat. So, say: "Thank you mom, thank you grandma, thank you great grandma. The noisy ghost in your genes, that you bequeathed to me, made me what I am today. Alive. Just fatter than I should be."

So, how do you quiet these ghosts in your genes?

The same way your great-great-grandmother did. She feasted in the Fall. And starved in the Winter. Feast. Famine. That's the key. Eat heartily all Summer long, gorge at Thanksgiving, then eat a pittance, (barely at all) in the Winter. It really is that easy. That's what your great grandma did. Are you up for that?

If not, if living off the "fat of the land" is not your style – which involves you willingly getting fat during swimsuit season, then stop eating and getting skinny during the "put-on-a-coat-fasting-season" (I'm not talking about a Winter diet here, I'm talking about not eating at all). Are you ready for that?

If not, what can you do? In a way, all you have to do is the reverse what your great grandmother did. What she did, you should NOT do. She awakened the fat-ghost hidden in her genes, making it an active part of her dietary life in the Fall. And she put it back to sleep in the Winter.

So what should you do?

Here are two ghost quieting lessons for you.

Lesson 1: Don't eat starchy foods (potato, rice, pasta, refined grains, etc.) with protein foods (meat, fish, plus fatty foods, etc.) in the same meal.

What? What can that possibly do for your appetite? Well, as it turns out, quite a lot.

When great grandma, (and you) ate these foods together, they doubled their fat formation from that meal. Doubled it. Unbelievable, but absolutely true. Plus, it made her much hungrier at her next meal, so she would repeat the fat-building step.

Think of Thanksgiving. Lots of starchy foods (mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie), and lots of meat (turkey, ham, roast beef anyone?). For great grandma, this led to the generous formation of fat that allowed grandma to be born healthy. For you, it compels you to decide between Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig.

Every culture has a tradition akin to ours, of a Fall harvest celebration, with ripe-for-the-picking starchy foods, and abundant meat – a celebration that usually lasted for days, not just one meal. Your old progenitors may not have known it, but it is what got them through the Winter, starvation season.

The lesson for you? Don't eat starchy foods with protein or fatty foods in the same meal. When eaten together they make you gain fat. They jump-start your hunger and appetite. Repeat.

Chances are, combining starchy foods and protein foods in the same meal is the reverse of what you do now. Because you have been taught to serve a "balanced" meal, do you make a point of having a starchy vegetable with your meals (hamburger and a bun, meat and potatoes, fish and rice, pasta and sausage, spaghetti and meatballs)? Those kinds of "balanced" meals are adding pounds. Do that multiple times a week, and you have a weight problem.

How do you undo the weight gain? Run great-grandma's methods in reverse: Don't eat starchy foods with protein or fatty foods in the same meal. Simple, but effective.

Lesson 2: Eat lots of raw fruit, but eat it alone.

(No, I don't mean skulking off into a corner to hide while you eat a banana.)

You see, when your great-grandma started eating the first fruits of Spring and Summer, and coupled it with eating anything else available, she was able to quickly rebuild her depleted fat stores, after a long Winter of sparse eating. That's how she successfully breast-fed grandma after she was born.

The lesson for you? Eat fruit abundantly, but always by itself.

Practicing these two lessons can go a long way toward quieting the ghost in your genes – the noisy ghost that makes you fatter than you should be. Unless you plan to get fatter, or go on a 120 day fast at the end of Summer, quit eating like great-grandma. While it made her thrive, it's killing you.

How do you control your appetite?
Conclusion 8: Quiet the Ghost in Your Genes


Next article...
How do you control your appetite?
Rule 9: Make a Decision

CelebrateLifeNutrition.com – Satisfy Your Hunger
©2009 Laura Gontchar. All Rights Reserved.

Blame It on Mom: Rule 7 to Control your appetite

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It is important sometimes to ask why you eat the way you do. The most satisfying answer to that is "Mom made me do it."

Mom may have made you do it. But, mom is not a villain, of course. Nor was she on a path to destroy your happiness. She saw her job as passing on the dietary wisdom of her mother and grandmother, while making some new traditions of her own.

Moms do that. But that is not to say mom was always right. You know that too, but what you only fleetingly understand is that her most indelible lessons were not taught to you. They were caught.

Just like mom passing on her cold to you, although she didn't realize you were catching it from her. Nor did she intend it. Nevertheless, you caught the cold from her. She sneezed. Later, you sneezed.

How we eat, what we eat, what we don't eat, when we eat it, are "caught" things. Mom could preach all she wanted about healthy eating habits, but most likely you now eat like her, healthy or not. You followed what she did, not what she said.

Now, I'm not saying you like and eat the same foods as mom. Perhaps you do, perhaps you don't. No, the real mirror image of your mom is in your attitude to food. I'll give you some examples:

--Do you feel compelled to eat just about everything that's put on you plate even today?

--Do you pick at your food?

--Or push it around with your fork while you're thinking of something else?

--Or eat absent-mindedly?

--Or eat when you are tired, or depressed, or upset, or discouraged?

--Or reward yourself with a sweet or fattening treat? (Especially late at night?)

In each case you are either following her pattern, or rebelling against it.

She didn't tell you to do any of these things, but if you remember carefully, you'll pick up the clues to how you "caught" these habits early on. And they are persistent habits, long after mom has stopped being a major influence in your daily life.

The other night I was at a quick serve restaurant with family friends. It was a bit late and the regular restaurants were all closed. We had just gotten out of the movie, and we were famished. So we loaded our plates and began to eat. Now I wasn't half way through the plate when I began feeling full. A few bites later, I was stuffed. Still I kept forking it in. I was seeing more and more plate, and less and less food covering it.

How stupid was I? I wasn't hungry. Still I ate. And ate some more. Then I realized, "Mom made me do it."
We didn't always have the most abundant or elegant food on the table when I was young, so my mom's rule was, "If you put it on your plate, eat it all. Or don't take it at all." I definitely joined the clean-plate-club at an early age. I'm still a card-carrying member. Our old mantra: "Remember all the starving children in China!"

Knowing I don't have to eat it all--knowing I shouldn't, hasn't stopped me from eating more than I should--I eat it just because it's on the plate. I'm not stupid, so how can this be?

Have you ever felt that way about eating? Do you feel compelled by a mysterious force to eat in ways that you know is not the best for you? Perhaps mom is at fault. But, that doesn't solve anything does it?


The key understanding is freeing yourself from these hidden, powerful compulsions. You do that by first understanding they are there (whether or not you caught them from mom). Next by choosing and consistently using new, more healthful habits.

Once you start that process, you will uncover layers of strangely self-defeating eating behaviors, lurking just below the surface of the most obvious ones.

The difficulty is that this process is not an easy task. It is not a fully rational task. You can't just talk yourself out of a silent, compelling behavior of which you are dimly aware. But you can flag it, so that when it happens, you can give yourself a pause, and take the quick action needed to change your behaviors.

It's sort of like a diet. But this is not a diet about food. It is a diet of ideas. You need to eliminate the caught things--behaviors, ideas--that push your hunger and your cravings out of your control.

What I have learned to do is to be aware--of what I eat, when I eat it, how I eat, and what I don't eat. These "caught things" can destroy my best of intentions if I didn't bring them out of the darkness of unquestioned habits.

Does any of this resonate with you? Have you ever felt food compulsions in any way?

You see, it is easy to blame your lack of healthy eating on mom, especially when she's not around to defend herself. But, if you are looking for a solution, look in the mirror. You really do know most of what you need to know to control your appetite and lose weight. You just have to discover the hidden "caught" things that constantly defeat you. Then implement a way of consistently doing something more healthy.

And you need to do them now. Why? Because it is the mom in you that is passing on your "caught things" to your kids and grandkids. Is that what you want?

How do you control your appetite?
Conclusion 7: Blame It on Mom

Next time...
How do you control your appetite?
Rule 8: Quiet the Ghost in Your Genes

CelebrateLifeNutrition.com – Satisfy Your Hunger
©2009 Laura Gontchar. All Rights Reserved.