What is Digg?84 Comments
- twertyto, on 10/11/2007, -2/+39I'm fidgety but I'm a fat-ass. What up with that?
I guess I'm less of a fat-ass than I should be. Thank you fidget gene. - MikeMcG, on 10/11/2007, -1/+33Thank FSM for my fidget gene!
- Tamriel, on 10/11/2007, -3/+23You're like 5 years old.
- coldphoenix, on 10/11/2007, -3/+21@rosstizma
That may be true, but the rate at which one burns calories has a lot to do with the metabolism that your genes establish. - Makubex, on 10/11/2007, -5/+18I didn't think that chronic masturbation would burn up so much energy either, but I'm so skinny that I get mistaken for an Etheopian all the time.
- inactive, on 10/11/2007, -1/+11I doubt that fidgeting itself burns up that much energy, but I think such people, once they are allowed to get go do things that involve serious energy expenditure instead of sitting still, watching TV
- Anrkist, on 10/11/2007, -1/+11It's true in my case.. when I'm at work, I move around my desk alot.. mess with things that are just laying around. I don't sit in the same position for more then.. 10-15min at a time. Add all of that into an 8-9 hour day, you've used up alot of energy.
- b612, on 10/11/2007, -3/+10if calorie intake is < calorie burned
you are dead
also genes have an effect on calories burned - roosterjm2k2, on 10/11/2007, -2/+8rosstizma
lets figure this out.
I eat ~ 15-1700 cals a day. I walk 3 miles a day. At my weight, 3 miles burns ~ 750 calories. Aside from the walking, I sit in a sauna every night for 30 min (more for the relaxation than weight loss, but it does raise heartbeat and does burn calories). 3 Nights a week I work out at a good speed on an elliptical machine. For my weight, going by the average person, I should be near a net 0 - 300 calories a day. Your body should burn more than that just being alive for a day.
I pretty much maintain my weight. I bounce from around 310-320. I don't complain about it. Im active, i play football, soccer, race (real) gokarts, go hiking, kayak ... Im more active than most of the people I know.
Now, I had a buddy. Works the same job as I used to (cable guy). Literally ate between 4 and 5 large pizzas a week, and drank proably 2 24-packs (cans) of beer a week. Drank soda constantly. Fast food for lunch every day. Does no exercise outside of work (sleeps half the day and spends the other half playing ps2).
He weighs about 115-120.
Tell me again that the only factor in weight is intake:exercise...? - eleventybillion, on 10/11/2007, -2/+8Genetics determine predisposition for natural metabolic response to excercise.
It's like the difference between a hammer and a nailgun. Sure, they both drive nails, but if I've got a nailgun I have to work much less to accomplish the same result.
Genes alone don't make you fat or thin, but they do determine your body style, and your metabolic response to physical activity. - Samsong, on 10/11/2007, -3/+9@Tamriel
Oh... That was a burn. - rompom7, on 10/11/2007, -1/+6I fidget heaps, can't keep still for more than 10 mins, yet I'm overweight (not obese). I'm not saying this study is wrong, I'm just saying I'm a lazy son of a bitch and do little exercise. It is scary to think, I'd probably be obese if it wasn't for my fidgeting...
- twertyto, on 10/11/2007, -1/+5ICE BURN!
- praisethelard, on 06/06/2008, -1/+5Same here, yet I'm still fat =/
- carpespasm, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4you mean like that RLS is a ***** "syndrome" concocted to medicate people who are just fidgety?
- lbeaty1981, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Wow, are you my evil twin or something? Another 6'2, 175 lb fidgeter here. I tend to get in trouble at meetings for repeatedly dismantling and re-assembling my pen, tapping my fingers on the table, etc...
- dragonlor20, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2This is a silly debate because we already know all of the answers. (Realistically we actually knew them before science ever really became involved in the whole mess.) Some people are more inclined to process calories (food) faster than others, and some people's bodies will use energy and fat more efficiently than others. If you are inclined to metabolize food more slowly, then you simply cannot eat as much as some other people if you want to stay lean.
Arguing vehemantly that weight is all due to genes is a silly argument, and even those who argue this know it to be silly. Yes, some people are inclined to be fat, but that inclination isn't the only factor involved. We have no reason to take the side of genes over the side of overeating your (meaning specific to you) body's capacity. Overeating (or at least not eating right) is still the problem, but we have to define overeating more accurately: You are eating more than YOUR body can efficiently process.
Anyone who has ever been outside of the US (not to Ireland or England, those countries certainly won't help us in this example) can see that genes only go so far. If it were the case that OUR rates of obesity were the cause mostly of genes, it would seem to follow that other countries would look very similar to ours - but that isn't the case at all. So let's stop putting the blame on genes and start doing what no one seems to want to do in the first place, which is to eat right. It's all about moderation. I know that i drink a LOT of beer per week, so I also know that I can't be drinking a ton of soda or buying a ton of fast food on top of that. You simply don't get to have EVERYTHING, take the things you sincerely enjoy, and a little less of the things you don't enjoy as much. Endulge every so often, but make sure it is an endulgence, not your eating habit.
Please, please, please stop proclaiming that everything is out of your control. If your genes suck, eat fewer twinkies. - vsaint, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3As a fat fidgeter, this story gives me great hope.
wait....
*****. - Artifez, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3It makes sense, fidgeting is most likely just a symptom of having a more active metabolism.
- JoeHeavyFlow, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3Then why isn't everybody who has Parkinson's Disease buff?
- alok0, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1i like to fidget... article is 'likely' wrong
- InfamousAtheist, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1I always knew that my constant leg-bouncing, which has annoyed the living ***** out of my little sister for the better part of 25 years now, would pay off for me. I'm tall and skinny, and fidget like crazy.
Plus, it was totally worth driving my sister insane when we were kids. AND nobody ever kicked my ass over my fidgeting. - chaesar, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Oh my god people, the amount of confusion on this board about calories and metabolism, its no wonder we're all so fat!
I think people are reading into this too literally. The act of fidgeting doesnt keep you thin, that isnt nearly enough of a calorie burn, I think they are meaning to say that fidgeting is a sign of an overactive metabolism, burning more calories than are needed, which causes the release of extra amounts of energy, resulting in a fidgety demeanor. - elnerdo, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Next time, read what I said before telling me that I'm wrong, chaesar.
I was referring to (calories burned) as a variable (Using it in the same manner that it was used above me). - GunsGermsSteel, on 10/11/2007, -2/+3Well I fidget AND I'm fat so I'm wholly unpopular.
- b612, on 10/11/2007, -0/+11 gram of fat = 9 calories (not real calories i think its really 9 kilo calories)
1 gram of protein = 4 calories
1 gram of carbs = 4 calories
it would kill you, obviously not right away but over time.
if you don't believe me try a diet of no fat, protein or carbs for a few months. - elnerdo, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2buff != skinny.
Have you ever seen an obese person with Parkinson's?
I'm skinny. I weigh 130 pounds. I'm certainly not buff. - burdalane, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2I wonder if I have the gene. I was very stationary as a child, but now I fidget quite a lot. Anyway, it's time for the obese people to deliberately make an effort to fidget.
- JAVandiver, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2@ Everyone bitching about being fat...
Stop reading Digg all day and get some exercise! - elnerdo, on 10/11/2007, -3/+4But genes do change (Calories burned)
- swooshonln, on 10/11/2007, -2/+3I swear restless leg syndrome is to blame (in part) for my shape. Either leg does NOT stop bouncing until I sleep. I'm 5'11 and 170 lbs. I eat like a fat man. Theres no way its all metabolism. I'm at a desk 8 hours a day Monday-Friday, and work out every other day. Still, bouncing my leg constantly has GOT to burn calories.
Off Topic
I think you could link anything to skinny people as long as it makes them move. "Figity" Gene = More Movement. Moving takes Energy. Energy burns Calories. - qwertydvorak, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1People who fidget are less likely to be obese.
In related news, people who fidget are more likely to annoy others. - xxenclavexx, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1We funded this experiment? This is so lame. You probably could prove people who talk alot burn more calories than people that don't, but guess what nobody cares, or at least nobody should.
- mrsaturn, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Actually, they're probably related, at least to some degree. The "fidget molecule" is a protein (Bsx) produced in the hypothalamus, the region of the brain that is thought to control appetite [1]. The hypothalamus links the nervous and endocrine systems, the latter of which includes the thyroid. Bsx is a homeobox transcription factor, a class of proteins that "typically switch on cascades of other genes" [2]. Because of this, I would suspect screwing with the Bsx gene could impact the performance of many different functions of the endocrine system, besides hyperactivity and metabolism.
[1] - http://www.vmrpcr.com/main_pages/article_read_en.php?id=160
[2] - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeobox - chrgrose, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Im skinny as hell and I think I have 4 fidget genes -- one for each limb. Sometimes I think im having a friggin seizure.
Thanks flying spaghetti monster!! - TeenForums, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Well duh.
- LeegleechN, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Probably because people who fidget are more likely to be active. It's not actually because of the fidgeting.
- slapded, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1i fidget, but i also put mayo on fries. im still fat though. i think fidgeting makes me fat
- onelove, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1this is funny, as i was reading this my knee was bouncing like crazy, and ive been thin my whole life
- sdpdt, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Glad they said "less likely."
Sincerely,
Fat Fidgeter - tehbored, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1So that's why I'm not fat...
- dash1185, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1@b612
Actually this is not a diet ... it's called fasting ! - iRoy, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Change "fidget" to "on coke" and you have a much more accurate title.
- zushiba, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0I use to fidget all the time, I also use to be quite skinny. I got sick once with something doctors didn't have a name for yet, at the time they called it the "5th disease" for 3 months I couldn't eat anything but beef broth and medicine assuming I could keep it down. I was too weak to move from bed and my throat was completely covered in soars so swallowing was an exercise in self mortification, which also didn't make the nearly houry barfing periods much fun. More stomach acid on your throat? Yes please :(
After that I was never the same, stopped fidgeting so much, still played outside and did all the normal kid things but my metabolism was never the same since and now I'm overweight.
I'm sure taking a computer job isn't helping. - chaesar, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1Oh my god people, the amount of confusion on this board about calories and metabolism, its no wonder we're all so fat!
@ rosstizma - It's obvious you are wrong, I'm not going to dogpile on you about this.
@ elnerdo - Genes (genetics) do NOT change, not unless you are exposed to radiation or have cancerous cells, but that is localized to a part of the body.
@ b612 - That would not kill you, that is how people lose weight, because it forces the body to burn calories stored in the body (i.e. fat).
I think people are reading into this too literally. The act of fidgeting doesnt keep you thin, that isnt nearly enough of a calorie burn, I think they are meaning to say that fidgeting is a sign of an overactive metabolism, burning more calories than are needed, which causes the release of extra amounts of energy, resulting in a fidgety demeanor. - rooftopsuicide, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1Digg: where non-medical personnel get to play doctor for 5 minutes at a time.
- bovilexia, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0i am living proof that these people have no clue what they are talking about. i mean seriously fidgeting burns what like maybe 10 calories a day, 15 if you are really bad?
- bixel, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0I am as fidgety as a monkey and thanks to that I am reed thin and people love me and I got great teeth, I also have a sleeping problem. :P
- TheClassic, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1My first reaction is duh, but then I tried to think of counter-examples. I think I'm prone to fidgeting, I used to be skinny, but I'm now overweight. Part of this I attribute to eating compulsively (for the sake of having to do something, or for the sake of having something to do while I'm doing something else), which I think is a result of the same trait that leads to my fidgetiness. Of course this doesn't say people who fidget are never obese, just that they're less likely to be.
- s1nister, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1Damn my nerves of steel, I knew they'd end up as untimely demise.
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