Q: How come all of my friends can eat a lot of junk food without getting fat? I weigh over 200 lbs and I eat healthier than some of them, I know metabolism is involved but it can't be like that with ALL of my friends can it? Can being overweight be generic or is that a myth?

A: It is genetic to some degree, but even a person with the worst genetics can get themselves in pretty darn good shape with discipline and time. The reasons why some kids eat junk and seemingly get away with it while some get quite fat is due to metabolism differences (to some degree) but more importantly in the amount eaten and how active the kids are in general. Many kids eat one burger and fries and maybe a small breakfast and that's all they eat -- it's junk but because it's so few calories they don't gain weight. While others will eat the burger, fries, and a shake in addition to the three regular meals -- they eat about the same amount of junk but it's all extra calories on top of their regular meals which leads to weight gain. That is NOT to say that the kids who only eat one burger a day and nothing else are doing good -- eventually such a poor diet will catch up with them both fitness-wise and health-wise. But during the teenage years they might well get away with it.

The other thing is activity levels. Playing sports and being generally active would allow you to burn some of those extra calories off which may be your friends' 'secret'.

But if you really overeat, whether through regular foods or junk or a mix of two, even a lot of cardio won't help you. And in the worst case scenario you used to overeat when young, gained a lot of weight, and now cut your calories drastically killing your metabolism so you don't lose weight even though you eat little and/or healthy. In this case, you'd need to rev up your metabolism through the kind of diet I describe in the Nutrition article -- many small healthy meals throughout the day.

My advice would be to not look at your friends but instead focus on fixing your own situation by improving your diet (as described in the Nutrition article), and by being more physically active, including weight training. The results won't come quickly, but over months and years you'll look and feel better and better while your friends's poor diets start catching up with them.