Know your type to better lose weight

Whether it is low carb, low fat, gluten free or vegan – you name it, there is a diet plan out there for it. But if you’re like many Americans, total commitment to a diet doesn’t necessarily mean it will be successful for you. Dr. Mark Liponis, author of The Hunter/Farmer Diet Solution, said failure with a diet isn’t your fault.  You may have been following the wrong diet for your metabolism. In his book, Liponis places people in two different categories – the hunter and the farmer. “These people are really very different kinds of people, and they need different eating strategies and different diets to lose weight,” Liponis said.  “The hunter is the one who is putting on weight more around the middle of the body….The farmer puts on weight more under the skin and in the hips, the thigh area.” According to Liponis, if you’re unsure about which category you fit into, there are simple blood tests you can take to better understand your metabolism.   Hunters tend to have higher triglycerides in their blood and lower HDL levels than the farmers. When it comes to picking a diet to follow, Liponis said it’s important for people to understand their specific metabolic type.  He also noted that exercise isn’t always an effective weight loss strategy for some people either. “Exercise doesn’t always make us lose weight,” Liponis said.  “We go to the gym, we burn 300 calories, then you know what happens? You have a sports drink, a smoothie, a granola bar and there go the 300 calories.  And when you exercise, of course, you’re a little hungrier.”