Your body wants to be fat. So does mine. And I’m not just talking about our tendency toward late-night snacking or grabbing an extra scoop of ice cream. We are biologically hardwired to put on weight. Like they say in the programming world: it’s a feature, not a bug.

But for those of us carrying around a few extra pounds, it sure doesn’t feel like a feature. However, if we accept this as true, we can shift our mindset and use this understanding to our advantage.

Hardwired to Be Heavy

The world we live in today is not the world our bodies were designed for.

For most of human history, food was scarce. If we wanted to eat or feed our families, we had to hunt, gather, or eventually farm it ourselves. That was the norm for thousands of years.

• Moses couldn’t pick up a Pub Sub.
• Alexander the Great couldn’t order DoorDash.

Even historical figures from just a century ago—Einstein, Babe Ruth, Walt Disney, FDR—would have no concept of a modern supermarket where food from all over the world is at your fingertips. Supermarkets as we know them didn’t even exist until the 1930s.

For most of human existence, food required effort to obtain. That’s not to say it wasn’t available—just that it took real physical work to secure it.

Today, we live in an era of food overabundance, where calories are highly concentrated, easily accessible, and require minimal effort to consume. Thanks to ultra-processed foods, you can now eat in a single sitting what your ancestors might have taken an entire week to collect.

Our bodies can’t keep up.

Technology Moves Faster Than Biology

Biological change happens slowly. But technological advancements—especially in food production—move fast.

Because calories were once precious and hard to come by, our biological systems are still wired to store excess calories for future use. And that storage system? Fat.

That’s all fat really is—stored energy.

In a world where your next meal was uncertain, your body prioritized storing unused calories as fat rather than ramping up metabolism to burn them off. It was a survival strategy.

But survival strategies from thousands of years ago don’t always serve us well today.

Old World Bodies, New World Problems

Other than some minor adaptations, the bodies we walk around in today are biologically identical to those of our great-great-great (x100) grandparents.

The difference?
We now have unlimited access to cheap, calorically dense foods.

So what do we do with this information?
Toss in the towel and settle down with a family-size bag of Doritos?

Well… no. But understanding that your biology is working against you can help you take smarter, more sustainable action.

Action Items: How to Use This Knowledge to Your Advantage

1. Relax.
   Hopefully, knowing that biology is involved takes some of the pressure and guilt off of you. Struggling with weight isn’t just about willpower—it’s about working with your body, not against it.

2. Eat Like Your Ancestors (Mostly).
   Focus on whole, minimally processed foods that your body actually recognizes—lean proteins, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and whole grains. Think about eating what your great-grandparents ate before industrial food processing took over.

3. Make Movement a Daily Habit.
   Our ancestors burned calories getting their food; we have to intentionally add movement into our day. Walking, strength training, yoga, and even small lifestyle changes (like taking the stairs) help counteract excess calorie storage.

4. Control Your Food Environment.
   If ultra-processed, hyper-palatable foods are engineered to be irresistible, the best strategy is to limit exposure. Keep high-sugar, high-fat processed foods out of sight—or better yet, out of the house. Make the healthy choice the easy choice.

5. Embrace the Long Game.
   There is no quick fix. You’re working against thousands of years of evolutionary biology, so expect setbacksand focus on small, sustainable changes over time. Consistency always beats perfection.

Understanding that your body is doing exactly what it was designed to do can help you reframe your relationship with food and weight. Instead of fighting against your biology, work with it—and build habits that align with both your health goals and human nature.

Would love to hear your thoughts—what strategies have helped you navigate today’s food environment?