Partner Spotlight: Composition ID
By: Christine Bean
This week, we caught-up with Rafi Aldajani, Managing Partner of Composition ID in Arlington, VA, to hear more about their science-based approach to improving health and fitness, and how MightyMeals has become a vital part of their clients’ nutrition plans.
How did Composition ID get its start?
Rafi: Tiffany Harlan founded Composition ID in 2014. The flagship location in DC, which is now our headquarters. I am her business partner at the latest location in Arlington, Virginia, which opened in November of 2018. Composition ID also has locations in Bethesda and Baltimore, as well as a partnership in Houston. Tiffany holds a degree in Kinesiology from University of Maryland, as well as nutrition and personal training certifications and through her training and studies, Tiffany realized the importance of science and data when it comes to a person’s body composition, specifically in terms of establishing a baseline and setting goals. The outdated measure of calculating your body composition is the scale; have you lost weight or gained weight? But that gives you an incomplete picture of your body composition. The optimal goal is to have low body fat and high lean muscle mass. At Composition ID we empower our clients with data to ensure that they are achieving the results that they set out to accomplish.
What makes Composition ID unique?
Rafi: We are one of the few places in the DC metro area that has a DEXA scan machine, which is the most accurate measurement tool of body composition on the market today. We are also the only business in DC with a mobile DEXA ‘ScanVan’ which we regularly take to gyms to scan their members on site. DEXA gives you information on your body fat, lean muscle mass, bone density, and your visceral fat, which is the deep abdominal fat that surrounds your vital organs. Not only does it give you that info based on your overall numbers, it breaks it down by body part based on percentage and pounds. This is important because there are many other body composition tools that claim to measure your body composition accurately, like ‘stand-on’ or hand-held scales but they are wildly inaccurate and can vary by 5-15%. If you’re measuring based on faulty data, that can really send you down the wrong direction in terms of decisions regarding diet and training. I chose to invest in this company because we believe in a very hands-on and personal touch with all our clients. We take time to sit down with everyone and go over their reports in detail and stay in touch with follow-ups to make sure everyone is hitting their goals. We really want them to know we care, and we aim to build a long term relationship with our clients. We also offer corporate wellness consulting, nutrition coaching, resting metabolic rate testing, (how many calories your body burns within a 24-hour period,) and we hold monthly seminars where we have local, like-minded businesses bring someone in to talk about what they do and how it may be beneficial to add-in their services to your overall nutrition and fitness program.
How did you get connected to MightyMeals?
Rafi: I was connected to MightyMeals co-owner, Dan Graziano, through our CEO Tiffany. When I discovered how delicious the meals were, I was hooked. I was definitely eating MightyMeals 6 days per week at one point!
How does MightyMeals benefit your members?
Rafi: Well, a large part of what we do at Composition ID is nutrition coaching. We sit down with our clients and do a detailed analysis of their current nutrition habits, and based on that combined with the results of their Resting Metabolic Rate test, we completely revamp their diet. We suggest how many calories they should consume each day, and what the breakdown of macronutrients (carbs, fats, and proteins) should look like. MightyMeals is very beneficial during this process because it eliminates the guesswork for our clients. The ordering process couldn’t be easier; you just follow your suggested macro program and order within those guidelines. Most people don’t have the time in their busy schedules to meal prep on Sundays for the week. It makes it so easy on our end, and it has become a vital component of a nutrition program.
What is your favorite MightyMeal dish?
Rafi: Oh, most definitely the Rotini & Grassfed Beef Bolognese… not ashamed to say the container looks licked clean when I’m done!
About Rafi Aldajani:
Rafi Aldajani is a Managing Partner at Composition ID/Arlington. Rafi is certified in nutrition coaching and personal training. He works closely with Composition ID clients to achieve their body composition change goals, from conducting extensive testing to determine current body composition and metabolic rate, to consulting/coaching on changing and maximizing nutrition and training. The two key components to Rafi’s philosophy are applying discipline and consistency to the latest body composition testing, nutrition and training techniques in order to blast-through one’s goals.
Connect with Composition ID
Follow Composition ID on Facebook for more information!