Will I Ever Be Able To Attain A Slender Figure, Or Are Some People Just Destined To Be Chubby?

Dr. David Katz answers the question: 'Will I Ever Attain A Slender Figure?'

ByABC News
December 22, 2008, 3:55 PM

February 1, 2009 -- Question: Will I ever be able to attain a slender figure, or are some people just destined to be chubby?

Answer: There are two real challenges if you're aiming for that perfect body. And, of course, we'd all like to look like underwear models and a lot of us never will. One is unrealistic goals. We don't all have to be model-perfect. What we really should be striving for is good health, high levels of energy, a feeling of vitality -- that's a great goal. And if we can achieve that goal, frankly, we should all be happy with the skin we're in.

So one problem is these unrealistic goals, but the other problem is it's not all about you. Whatever you do to try and eat well and be physically active, takes place in a world that either supports those efforts or conspires against them. And frankly, the modern world so far, really conspires against efforts to eat well and be active.

Throughout most of human history, we've lived in a world where calories were scarce and hard to get and physical activity was unavoidable. We have devised a world where physical activity is scarce and hard to get and calories are unavoidable.

It would be much easier for all of us got get closer to our ideal weight and maintain it if policies and programs in the places we live, our communities, support those efforts.

So, aim for a realistic goal, for starters, and also, we really need one another to be part of a bigger solution than just our personal effort. And then I think we'll all get much closer to our weight goals without working quite so hard.