Personalized Precision Healthcare - part 6 - Redefining Fat
"This HealthType (The Guardian) is the opportunity to change our industry and the way we talk about fat tissue"
Cam McDonald, CEO, Precision Healthcare Alliance
Body image. Shame. Societial expectations and norms.
How many women (and men) feel ashamed of their body if they don't fit the 'ideal' image of beauty, size or health?
I've spent my whole life self-conscious about my body, worrying about my weight, constantly trying to be slim.
It feels like it's been the bain of my life.
I've gone on every diet under the sun... keto, paleo, weightwatchers, the Atkins diet, fasting, calorie counting, intermittent fasting, you name it, I probably tried it somewhere along the line if it was in vogue.
Constantly watching what I eat, weight going up and down like a yoyo, and more recently since menopause not really going down.
I can look at a carrot and put on a pound.
At times I've been happy with my weight, but mostly, since the age of 13, I've held extra pounds in certain areas, particularly the belly, bum and hips.
And I've felt embarassed to call myself a 'health coach' because I'm not an 'ideal weight' and don't 'look' the perfect way a health coach should look like.
And bizarrley usually these days when I try to 'lose' weight, I put more on.
- It's not because I don't eat well
- It's not because I over-eat
- It's not because I don't exercise enough
- And it's certainly not because I haven’t tried
And then this weekend, when I did my HealthTyping™ I had the most amazing revelation, and finally understood why I've had so much difficulty staying slim my whole life...
I discovered I'm a Guardian... a protector... and I protect myself and others by storing excess visceral fat...
Biological Needs
The Guardian is my particular bodytype ('HealthType™) which is the result of thousands of years of human evolution, which can be decoded through the Shae™ Precision Healthcare Ai app.
According to my geneology and the specific way I developed embryonically in the womb, my bodytype (HealthType™) descends from neolithic history when we were out farming all day in the fields.
This bodytype is strong and enduring, and likes to be out doing manual work 10 hours a day.
Hmmm...
No wonder I have always hated sitting behind a desk. NO WONDER.
No wonder several years ago my body started screaming at me to stop sitting all day - I literally could not do it anymore, and yet this was my job - either sitting at my computer doing admin and marketing, or sitting seeing clients.
No wonder when I was younger I was more happy doing jobs like waitressing, or walking around visiting clients at their hotels in ski resorts.
No wonder I spent so much time playing sport at school and university, and being good at it (not that this doesn't apply to other HealthTypes™ either).
No frickin wonder.
And there's more to it than just the physical needs for optimal health.
Much more...
Social Needs
According to the health-typing characteristics of this 'Guardian' HealthType™, it brings with it specific environmental and social needs - and this is a major clue as to why this bodytype will hold extra weight (which in our society we call 'fat').
The social priorities for this HealthType™ are family stability / housing & shelter / and financial stability.
If these social / environmental needs are not being met for themselves or their family, they will grow, increase and preserve mass, through increasing cravings, decreasing movement and seeking pleasure. In stress a Guardian will preserve mass. This is biologically wired into the system.
It is built into the system from neolithic times, for times of famine, when they needed to survive to support their tribe. Feeling heavy FEELS safe biologically to a Guardian HealthType™.
The role of the Guardian Body Type is to PROTECT the family and children, like a big mumma or papa bear. They hold extra visceral fat so they can survive for a coming famine and look after their clan. They are conserving fat for their tribe... not even for themselves. If their community or family is stressed, they go into stress so their body can conserve energy for their community.
Visceral fat is a protective mechanism, because it's protecting the internal organs in the short-term. And yet society is trained to see fat tissue as something to hate.
Holy crap did that resonate for me.
Family stability... housing and shelter... financial stability... 3 of my biggest stressors in life these past few years.
NO WONDER I've been finding it difficult to drop those excess pounds, no matter how healthy I try to eat.
My body has been holding on to those pounds for dear life. Literally.
Instability drives stress, and under stress a Guardian HealthType willl conserve mass, because this creates a feeling of stability and safety, for themselve and pyschologically their community (family, tribe). Being light is not as safe as being heavy. So they accumulate and conserve.
Heavy means stable, stable means safe, and therefore it's not safe to 'lose' weight.
Endocrinologically speaking
Each HealthType™ has a specific hormone dominance in their body.
For the Guardian HealthType™ there is a greater sensitivity to prolactin.
Prolactin is the hormone of nurturing.
Guardian HealthTypes™ are protectors, putting others first, taking care of others first.
Prolactin makes a Guardian clan-sensitive.
They have more insulin at rest, are more parasympathetic response-geared, and always conserve 10% of their energy for the clan.
Female guardians are nurturing and male guardians are protective.
So if a Guardian is holding extra weight, it's often not about the calories... it's not just about exercise... it's about the community, familial and environmental stress.
Solutions
If a Guardian type is struggling with weight, they need to first look to what is going on in their family life / community social connections / environment, including work environment.
If they are gaining or holding weight, they need to ask 'where is the social stress, where is the instability in my life'?
In times of stress Guardians will give their resources to others. So they need to put themselves first and take care of themselves, and learn it's OK to put themselve first, because self first is not selfish.
They are built for 10 hours of daily physical activity. Sitting behind a desk doesn't cut the mustard. They need to move.
And it's essential to have good daily rhythmns.
According to the HealthType™ needs, they need to exercise, rest and eat at certain times of the day (as by the way do each different HealthType™ - each of the 6 bodytypes has different chronotypal and rhythmic needs).
And they need to do the right exercise for their bodytype, at the right time of day to suit their biology.
All of this is taught in the Precision Healthcare App, once you have completed your HealthType assessment.
I'll leave you with a quote from from Precision Health guru Cam McDonald:
"If you get a Guardian out of community stress, and they have a safe peaceful home, you settle their finances down, and allow them to feel comfortable in the home that they have, all their cravings start going away... food regulation gets better, cortisol reduces, insulin sensitivity regulates...
The reason these types hold weight is because of social stress, and yet society makes out it's their problem... 'they're not exercising... not eating right'... when what is really happening is this bodytype is holding weight in an attempt to protect everyone around them due to the inbuilt geneological directive of protecting the tribe".
Discover your HealthType
If you've been struggling with your weight your whole life, (or even had problems putting on weight) and want to finally discover why, come along on the 5 day Challenge this June - it's possibly the only time I will be offering this in 2026).
