So we all know that you cannot “spot reduce” a trouble area of your body through exercise BUT did you know that you CAN through nutrition!?!?! Gasp. I know! Love handles be gone!
Yesterday after work I had an appointment with Nathan Barker at Function Well, Brisbane’s most personalized and effective training facility, for my first Biosignature Analysis. I had been reading up about this and wanted to know more! The general gist is that fat in different areas of your body can indicate hormonal imbalance, fix that and you reduce the fat there, enter “spot reducing”. Read the link if you want to know more.
Why did I want to do this? I love to learn about this stuff and I love to learn about how and if my body responds to different things. I wanted to see if any hormones in my body were blaringly out of whack and, quite honestly, if there was a chance of having less cellulite or love handles from making some nutritional or supplement changes then COUNT ME IN!!
I was a little nervous before the appointment. Firstly, I don’t weigh myself, I don’t own scales and I had NO idea what my weight would be…. That is enough to freak the crap out of any female.
Secondly, what if the areas I thought were my trouble spots were not the same ones he identified? Then I’d have more trouble spots!….eg- So I thought I just had a fat butt, turns out I actually have fat triceps, fat knees and a fat butt…. Awkward!
Here is Nathan’s take on the what the first BioSig does; ‘the initial Biosignature is always about establishing client goals as well as finding out current and previous training habits, training frequency, nutrition, supplementation and sleep. It is all factored into the Biosignature assessment. It is extremely common that the problem areas most people feel they have are what comes up as ‘your focus’ in the Biosignature. The key is work out how to fix it, step by step. Every person is different and whilst there may be general rules for everybody, each Biosignature can be unique in the challenges presented and different methods need to be undertaken.’.
Nathan asked me lots of questions about my training, diet, sleep and any supplements I already take. He took measurements from various body sites with calipers (they are not as frightening as they sound) and explained everything to me step by step. His clever computer program then spat out some info for us based on some very complicated algorithms.
So, what did I find out??
#1- my weight is 59.9kg (did I just put that on the Internet!?!? WTF?? See how much I am willing to share with you for the greater good!)
#2- my body fat percentage is 14%
#3- Turns out my top 2 spots “of interest” were my hamstrings and “love handle precinct” (my description, not Nathan’s)…..At least that wasn’t a surprise 😉 Interestingly, these two areas are associated with ‘Environmental Estrogens‘ and insulin sensitivity. Again, I can’t believe I am sharing this….
Environmental estrogens are endocrine disrupters and can cause hormonal imbalances in the body. Environmental estrogens can be food (soy etc), beauty products (make up, perfume, lotions, shampoo etc) or pesticides and plastics to name a few.
What do I do now? Not too much to start off with. I will take some Carnitine and fish oil at the dose Nathan reccomended. I will keep taking my probiotic and multivitamin (I will swap to a better brand when I finish this bottle). I will keep eating the same and training the same, with the exception of a minor change to the break up of my weights sessions.
Also, after researching more on environmental estrogens, I have decided that, as my body wash, shampoo, moisturizer, cleaning products etc runs out, I will replace them with a better option. You can look at how your products stack up HERE or HERE.
I am also not going to cook or reheat anything in plastic, even if it is BPA free. I will get some glass containers for this.
So, that’s it for now. Let’s see what happens. Stand by for the next installment in a couple of weeks when I will have my next lots of results and a couple of before and after’s of some amazing ladies from Function Well who have had their BioSig done too and the results they have seen. You DO NOT want to miss that! Wish me luck 😉
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That sounds really interesting! I have struggled with hormone imbalances of all kinds and at the grand old age of 25 I still have bad skin etc which I thought would have gone away when I left my teen years. I’d love to go see an expert because I’m sure there is something in my diet/ lifestyle causing it! Even when I feel Im being super healthy I can still bounce up and down in weight. so annoying!
Veghotpot, if you can find anyone who does BioSig I would highly reccomend it!
Just found a company in my home town that does it! I’ve contacted them for an appointment. thanks Id never heard of BioSig before! x
Yay you! Keep me posted on how you go! I am finding it all so fascinating!!
If you want to shoot me an email it’s myfoodreligion@gmail.com 🙂 no pressure.
Thanks, I’ll keep you updated 🙂 looking forward to seeing how it goes for you too!
I’ve read about bio signature. Can’t wait to hear about your follow up!
Thanks Getchen, I can’t wait to see what happens too!
I am right with you on the ride, just had my biosig on Tuesday and have the same spots to work on. Look forward to the updates!!
Rish, I can’t wait to hear all about your progress too! Keep me posted!
This blog post inspired me to get my biosignature done. I got it done today. I was interested more from a point to find out if it gave any clues to my health as my immune system and energy have been low these past 6 months. Very very interesting. Thanks for the inspiration.
Awesome!! So you think it was useful?
It was interesting – I guess we’ll see if it’s useful when I get the plan. I came out as oestrogen dominant with a BF of 10.5%. I suspected out of all the hormonal imbalances this might be the case. I store my fat on my thighs and hammies. Will keep you posted. Found your article on paraben free products awesome.
Awesome!! Good luck!