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You can't escape your shape! You can modify it to a degree, you can alter it, but you can't change your individual body type. A person's body type, that unique combination and distribution of fat, muscle, and bone, is set in stone at birth. It's all programmed within your DNA as to how you are going to develop. Are you going to be tall or short? Are you going to have wide hips or narrow hips? Are you going to have a large bone structure or slight? Are you going to store the majority of your fat in your hips, buttocks, chest or abdomen? The person that you will become later in life is already pre-packaged by the time that you are born. Many people who are right now torturing themselves in a gym somewhere with unrealistic expectations as to what they can achieve through a spartan workout regime would be liberated and set free if they would accept this chiseled in stone truth!

Now, I'm not advocating just tearing up your gym membership and heading straight for the sofa with a beer and a slice of pizza. No! Exercise is healthy, and exercise is great for both the mind and the body. And many people - myself included - have made great changes in their body composition by way of a regular exercise regime and a balanced diet. I've altered my body shape considerably over the years, but I haven't changed my genetically predisposed body type. No matter how much weight I lose, no matter what the number on the scale says, I have a flabby stomach and love handles. Whether I weigh 220-pounds or 175-pounds, my midsection is my most troublesome spot. I store a disproportionate amount of body fat in my midsection. Whenever I lose a significant amount of weight, the rest of my body - my arms, my legs, and my chest - all thin out rather nicely. But my midsection is another matter. My abdominal area and the love handle area retain a significant amount of fat no matter what I weigh.

I wish I could change that. But I can't! Outside of expensive liposuction and/or a tummy tuck, that area will remain a trouble spot for me for the rest of my life. And the reason it will remain a trouble spot for me is because my genetic code, which was passed down to me by my parents, has it written in stone that I will always store a disproportionate amount of body fat in those areas. And I hate it! I wish I could somehow access my motherboard and retool my internal programming, but that ain't likely to happen. And, as of now, I'm too broke and poor to even consider liposuction and/or a tummy tuck, so my love handles and abdominal pudge is going to be a part of me no matter what I weigh. All of the crunches and sit-ups and miles spent running on the track at the gym are not going to change that. You can't escape your shape!

Learn more about this author, Jason Medina.
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