12 archetype protocols · free
Twelve metabolic protocols.
Generic advice fails because everyone's starting position is different. We identified the 12 metabolic archetypes we see most frequently and wrote a citation-backed starter protocol for each. Browse below — or take the Assessment to be routed to yours.
Archetype protocol
The The Stressed Sleeper
High stress + poor sleep dominate. Fix infrastructure first.
Sleep deficit and elevated cortisol are doing more metabolic damage than your diet. Until you address them, every dietary intervention is fighting uphill.
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The The UPF Saturated
Ultra-processed food dominates your day. The single biggest lever.
Ultra-processed food is the dietary variable with the strongest evidence base for driving overeating. Removing it produces ~500 kcal/day spontaneous reduction without calorie counting.
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The The Sedentary Snacker
Low movement + frequent grazing. Your muscle is doing nothing.
Low total daily energy expenditure plus constant low-grade insulin from grazing creates a perfect metabolic-syndrome storm. The lever is muscle.
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The The Diet Hopper
Multiple cycles. Your TDEE calculator is lying to you.
Repeat dieting produces measurable, persistent metabolic adaptation. Generic calorie targets undershoot for you. Approach this differently than first-timers.
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The The Hormonally Disrupted
PCOS / thyroid / metabolic syndrome. Treat the upstream, not just the calories.
PCOS and thyroid disorders are upstream of weight — fixing them requires addressing insulin resistance, inflammation, and hormonal cascades, not just calorie targets.
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The The Perimenopause Shift
Female + 40+ + new metabolic issues. Prioritize muscle and bone.
Perimenopause produces 5–10 years of hormonal turbulence and central fat redistribution. Strategies that worked in your 30s won't work the same.
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The The Post-GLP-1 Plateau
Recently stopped a GLP-1. The rebound is structural — here's how to blunt it.
Two-thirds of weight is regained at 1 year post-discontinuation without intervention. The protocol prevents rebound and preserves lean mass.
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The The Insulin Resistant
Reversible — but only with sustained intervention, not symptom management.
Insulin resistance is reversible. The Newcastle and DiRECT trials showed T2D remission in 46% with structured weight loss. The protocol is mechanistic, not symptomatic.
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The The Stress Eater
Stress + UPF + frequent eating. Behavioural intervention precedes dietary.
Cortisol-driven preference for hyperpalatable food is amplified by sleep deficit and UPF availability. Behaviour-change framework matters more than macros.
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The The Carb Cycling Athlete
Very active + multiple diets tried. Underfueling is the more likely problem.
Very active adults who've cycled through multiple diets often underfuel during high training. RED-S risk is real. Adequate fueling beats deficit for most.
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The The Aging Lifter
45+ and active. Anabolic resistance, recovery slowing — adjust the system.
Adults 45+ have anabolic resistance — need higher protein per meal to trigger muscle protein synthesis. Recovery is slower; adjust accordingly.
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The The Skinny-Fat Sedentary
Low movement + low UPF but no muscle. The lever is muscle, not deficit.
Eat reasonably but don't train. Body composition is the issue, not weight. Building muscle solves more than another deficit.
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Not sure which is yours?
The Metabolic Damage Assessment matches your answers to the right archetype — including the cases where two profiles overlap.