Setting Fitness Goals with HomeDNA

Thank you Lipton Publicity for providing the HomeDNA kit. All opinions and thoughts expressed below are completely my own.

Ah the joys of weight loss.
HA - who am I kidding? I don't find too much joy in weight loss at all. Now that I am older, I'm realizing how much harder it is for me to get the scale to move in the direction I want. And of course, the scale did finally start to move over the summer with me losing 7 pounds to only find out a few days later that I was pregnant! So of course my weight loss came to a halt.

With the arrival of our second baby upon us (6 weeks or less!), I am starting to think about weight loss again. I've said on here numerous times that I have struggled with my weight and my body image for a large portion of my life. I certainly do not want my children (especially my daughter) to struggle with a bad body image; I want to teach them that exercise and eating healthy is a normal part of life. It has been important to me to keep my pregnancy weight gain within a healthy/normal range and luckily I'm tracking exactly where I want to be. I'm hopeful that I can lose the baby weight plus some more once I'm cleared to workout again.

Which brings me to this really neat tool I discovered call HomeDNA Healthy Weight Analysis and Report. There is no secret to weight loss; you need to eat well and exercise. That is it! Trust me, I've tried a few fad diets in my time and I know the results don't last. Exercise and proper nutrition are what you need. The HomeDNA Healthy Weight Analysis provides me with tools and information that I need to truly maximize my fitness and nutrition.

How it works:

1.) You order a kit and once you receive it, you register your kit online.

2.) The kit includes several swabs to collect your DNA. One morning, I swabbed my cheek, put the swabs in the included prepaid envelope and sent everything off to the lab for my results. Easy peasy.

3.) After a few weeks, I received a very detailed report that provides results in four key areas that can affect the way your body looks and feels:
1. Weight Loss Ability
2. Food
3. Nutrients
4. Response to Exercise

The report is full of information, extremely detailed and quite interesting to read.


I was particularly interested in learning how my body responds to different types of exercise. I learned that my body responds "below average" to cardio and "normal" to strength training. I wasn't completely shocked to read this as I've done cardio for years and not seen much change. I do know that adding strength training can really help to transform your body. My personal report recommended that "For optimal weight and fat loss results, make sure to include cardio workouts on most days of the week, along with challenging resistance training sessions 2-3 days per week." I love that everything is laid out for me, telling me exactly what I need to do to achieve weight and fat loss.
It was a little disheartening to learn that my weight loss ability is below average thanks to my genes. While I wish I had better results, it didn't come as a complete shock since I am 35. I've got an uphill battle, but thanks to this report, I've got the tools I need.

As far as food goes, my genetic response to protein was normal. The report explained that "This indicates that the amount of weight you lose when you go on a diet is not likely to be affected by the percentage of protein you eat. Choose a diet that is from 10% to 30% protein from plant or animal food sources." I also learned that my response to complex carbohydrates was enhanced and it was suggested that I may experience the best weight loss results if I follow a diet that is higher in complex carbohydrates. I'm not mad about this because it means I can consume a lot of fruits and whole grains - two things I love!

At the end of the report was a custom meal plan (including the amount of calories my body needs) and a fitness plan uniquely tailored for me based on what types of foods and exercises work best with my body. While it is only a 7 day plan, I love that it gives me a starting point to selecting the types of foods that will give me optimal weight loss results. I also love that I received confirmation that the findings in the report are correct as many of my nutrient levels matched what my doctors had previously told me.

Would you like to get your own HomeDNA kit? Well it is your lucky day!
If you click this link and enter promo code HW50 you will receive $50 off your order and will also receive free shipping. (The code is good until 4/30)