So I purchased a DNA test from https://idlife.com/ back in January. As they say about their test kit:

IDLife can help you connect the dots of your genetic makeup with recommended diet and lifestyle choices to create a truly personalized nutrition and fitness program.

~ IDLife marketing

In short from me, I wanted to see what my genetics said about what type of exercise I’d best respond to, what types of macros are my friends or foes, anything I can determine for micronutrients, and just whatever they could say I’m predisposed to.

They said it would take 3-4 weeks after they received my samples, and my results arrived this morning. I dug in when I had time to during the day because I still had work to do. Now it’s well past evening and I’ve had more time to dive into the nitty gritty. I’m not going to cover everything, but these are the big takeaways that I will expound on to varying degrees.

Prone to inflammation

Pretty standard idea there. The results suggest more cold fatty fishes to help tame this topic, but I’ve never been a fan of seafood. I can handle tuna for sure, but I’ll also mostly just supplement with omega-3 capsules which they also suggest as a route.

I do have a local nutrition place that sells capsules at decent volume per serving, but looks like I may want to start doing 1.5 servings to meet the listed 2000mg suggested.

Need increased Vitamin D and Folate

I have a computer job, and it’s presently winter, so I should supplement this one as much as I can, and consider sitting on my porch for a bit during the spring/summer months. Stupid sun glare though.

Alternatively, tuna is also a decent source of vitamin D and that could help offset reliance on omega-3 supplements. I tend to eat tuna with mustard, and any time I get to add mustard to my belly, is a good time.

Apparently I have need for slightly more than normal Folate. This may mean picking from some good sources like Pinto, Garbanzo, or black beans or more likely avocados. If somehow needed, supplementing with activated methyl-folate would be best, now to figure out where I could get that. Ensuring that I have B6 and B12 vitamins will mean maximized absorption and metabolizing.

Muscle performance

I will be at my best, if I have a healthy mix of mixed power and endurance. I should mix it up by cross training and incorporate full body movements to maximize muscle performance. Apparently my muscles are fully capable of adapting to both power and endurance activities. A very generalized item of this spot is that I have good potential for generating explosive movements required for jumping, throwing and sprinting. This may also explain why I did so well with my “personal records“.

Strength plus cardio

Since the end of 2022, I have not actually been doing my three days a week strength training routine on Monday/Wednesday/Friday with Ned. This started back when I was talking about first going keto but we’ve not yet formally resumed. That’s not to say that I’ve been lazy and not doing anything. I’ve actually been utilizing the available classes through Anytime Fitness to make up for things. This has typically been at least one high intensity class, also called a “burn” and one-to-two strength classes called “builds”. Given what my DNA is claiming, I have to believe that that was a silent great step to take, alongside the lower carbs and intermittent fasting changes I’ve been playing around with. I am in the high 240lb range after all now.

Direct quote from the PDF results sheet: “You may have to exercise more intensely and for longer periods to lose weight. Add bursts of cardio to your strength training regimens to burn more fat.“

I had typically been doing about 30-ish minutes with Ned, and these classes are actually aimed to be 60min. Not sure how to best add in cardio bursts in the Build days though.

Recovery

I am susceptible to Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness. Basically there’s good chance that I will be sore in the days following a good workout especially if I’m increasing intensity and resistance, and I should take steps to warmup, stretch, and foam roll more frequently to help manage.

Risks of obesity and weight regain

My DNA is saying that I’m moderately susceptible to obesity. As they put it, “genes influence one’s susceptibility to become overweight and have an influence on weight-related behaviors. Once any weight gain associated with how these genes are expressed occurs, certain genotypes can make it much more difficult to lose that weight.”

Kind of hard to summarize the obesity risk section. Eat well, eat low glycemic index carbs when eating carbs, stay hydrated, and the more rigorous the exercise, the better I’ll suppress appetite.

Regarding weight regain they list this as normal risk with an asterisk of caution. I should stay the course and switch to maintenance level of macros which makes complete sense to me. We’ll see how it goes whenever I decide to try a bulk, but that would be increasing macros a bit as well as increasing exercise intensities, keeping things in a good balance.

It does also say “Do not go very long periods of time without eating as your body is likely to go into ‘starvation mode’ and lower its metabolic rate.” but doesn’t say what “very long periods” is numerically. So I am going to assume that I shouldn’t do extended fasts like 30 hours+, but I do think there’s benefit for me in my 16:8 schedule with the occasional 24 hour fast.

Risks of overeating

Allegedly, I have high risks of overeating, because it takes longer for me to detect and feel when I am full. They suggest waiting 30min before going for second helpings.

With this one, I’m actually not that worried. My eating habits have been grazing snacks for fast breaking, and then whatever my meal ends up being in the evening, and since I do actively track my macros, I am really good at stopping either once it’s 10pm or my macros are filled in. If I go over majority of the time, it’s from admitted booze.

Bitterness

In short, it’s much easier for me to taste bitterness in food and beverages. Recommendations are to get creative with and explore various spices in place of salt and sugar. I have not added sugar to anything intentionally in a long time, so zero worry there. I have started using more salt in food/beverage, but that’s largely for the sake of electrolytes more than reducing bitterness. I’m open to more spice variety regardless.

Summary, so far

I’ve already gone pretty long and there’s even more takeaways to write about, so I’m going to break this into multiple posts and continue dissecting all of the information going into the weekend and whatnot. I’m looking forward to the final list of action items and trying some new things out to see if I can push even further to reaching goals. I know if beans come down to a potential return item, even if they are carbs, I’ll be happy because I could return a bit more readily to Qdoba 😀

Action items, so far

1. More omega-3
2. More D
3. More avocados and considering beans.
4. Continue mixing HIIT and strength training, for both power and endurance.
5. Stretch!
6. Stay the course once I reach my goals. Don’t regress to past bad habits, as I will undo hard work.
7. Keep sticking to macro limits and time restriction eating.
8. Explore the spices of life.