My nutritionists advice for an endomorph - what you eat

auticus

From my blog:

So we know that I'm approaching my year on MFP and that I've been stuck for six months going on seven months now. So what have I learned?

Losing weight and getting in shape comes down to diet & exercise. For some people, that is more than enough.

If you are an ectomorph, you will find gaining weight a chore and hard. I have a couple friends who can literally tear through 6000 calories a day and still say very lean and they dont' have a regular workout routine.

Then there are the mesomorphs, which is what everyone wishes they could be. These are the people that can get fat, but when they start working out it takes little time at all for them to get well defined and look awesome.

Then there's the least desireable body type, the endomorph, which is the perpetually fat person. These people have to work very hard to keep the weight and body fat off. As it so happens this was the card I drew when I came screaming into this world and much of my family shares this genetic trait.

An endomorph can look good but will typically never have the extreme definition that their mesomorph counterparts can achieve. An endomorph that is in good shape will often be called barrel chested, bear-like, and can possess great strength, but will typically always have a larger amount of body fat.

The first thing to understand is how to deal wtih the body type and how to work it properly to come down in weight and body fat.

The standard "calories in / calories out" only gets you so far. To truly get into the best shape, one must look at what calories they are putting in. This is where I've been stuck.

See... I have a sweet tooth. I'm also insulin resistant, which is a trait shared by many endomorphs. What this means is that I will want sugar, and I will want to spike my insulin and once that happens, the insulin will store everything as fat. As such, I need to avoid insulin spiking foods as much as possible.

Even 0 calorie diet sodas will spike insulin. That means I can still gain body fat even though I'm not getting calories from the soda because the insulin levels in my body will still be elevated and anything i take in will be stored as fat. It can also contribute to diabetes, again... even though I'm not taking in any calories.

This is obviously very bad.

So my working out like I do is great but it is being sabotaged by my little cheating here and there. Cheat days need to be lessened to one every two weeks, not one a week. That kills me but ... I have a choice to make now. Stay fat or sacrifice the IHOP on Saturdays.

Here's an example menu:

Meal 1 - two eggs and two pieces of plain wheat toast
Meal 2 - Protein Shake
Meal 3 - 3/4 cup brown rice, 4 oz chicken
Meal 4 - Turkey Breast
Meal 5 - Stir fry with chicken or low fat beef
Meal 6 - Tuna

Meal 1 - 3/4 cup oatmeal (no sugar), 4 egg omelete (egg white only) and 1 cup of skim milk
Meal 2 - six crackers
Meal 3 - two pieces of grilled chicken
Meal 4 - Pasta with whole weat and low fat beef
Meal 5 - 2/3 cup bran cereal with cup of skim milk
Meal 6 - protein shake

Words cannot describe how the above makes my stomach turn but here I am at a cross roads... 50% of my intake in a day should be protein. While I may never have visible ab muscles, I can drop my body fat down to below 20 if I stick to the above and drink plenty of water.

Even my coffee can no longer have sugar in it and ... well... I'm going to be a grumpy Chris for the next couple weeks as I detox...

MustBeTheRows

You can find out your type at http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/becker3.htm

Most people fall somewhere between one of the three categories.

iceqieen

Thank you for sharing this, it is interesting

swedishwillow

This is fabulous news ;D
I think if you allow yourself to become obsessed with these facts you'll be fine ;-)

moe5474

bump. This is fabulous

Pspetal

This sounds like the exact same menu/diet plan for the Michael Thurmond 6 day body makeover I did, except for no dairy products and no salt. I lasted the 6 days but I felt like I was eating ALL day! I also got really really tired of fish and chicken, 2 foods I love! I lost 8 pounds in a week and kept it off for 1 month. Then it all came back. The good thing about that diet was that I really started appreciating the taste of the food without salt and realised I needed very very little salt for taste. I tried doing it again but I got tired of eating 6-7 meals...Your diet seems less restrictive than the one I did. Going by by own experience, I can tell you that it will be hard for the first 2 days, but you'll get used to it and even like it after that. Good luck!

Telugammayi87

bump

erinmieskowski

bump

lorraine_2015

im an endomorph too

jeepman777

oh.. how I feel your pain brother

jeremiahbannister

I just downloaded the app today and I immediately began looking for endomorph diets. This piece was great. I've struggled all my life with losing fat--my family always said I wasn't fat, just stalky. Worse yet, my family had a history of diabetes and heart disease. Still, we were all locked in to the one-size-fits-all 3-meals-a-day routine. Being from Battle Creek, Michigan, and with family members working at Kellogg's, we always ate sugary cereal. This really has been such an insightful piece! Thanks.

curvynblonde

bump

happyheathen927

You know all the pasta, oatmeal, rice & cereal also spikes insulin, right? If you're looking for a way of eating that minimizes those spikes, check out paleo/primal.

efirkey

I am a Meso trapped in an Endos body.

Taraanne76

Endo here too. I remember being little in elementary and being embarrassed my fingers couldn't encircle my wrists, and my footprints on the cement after getting out of the pool looked like squares w/ toes.

Yep, sugar and carbs are the devil for the endo. Guess that's why I only ever lose weight cutting these out. I did WW religiously for months and only lost 5lbs since back then the lower point food was carb-y.

jonnythan

....... You people aren't seriously discussing somatotypes, are you? In 2013?

Taraanne76

Ummm, apparently we are.

jonnythan

Ummm, apparently we are.

I see. Well you might be interested to learn that the entire concept of endo/ecto/mesomorph is a bunch of total bunk made up by a 1940s psychologist, and it corresponds to nothing at all in the real world.

Taraanne76

Well, I can agree the personality traits associates w/ body types aren't applicable to real life but I do believe there are diff body types that react in varying ways . Like my hubs is naturally built and my mil/bil try so hard to gain weight and can never seem to. Here I am in the midst of them always on a diet like wth!?

blu_meanie_ca

....... You people aren't seriously discussing somatotypes, are you? In 2013?

You know, I learned about these in health class (back then the date started with 19--). I had no idea they were pop psychology. Thanks for giving me a word to google... now I feel like I've learned my thing for the day.

blu_meanie_ca

a) Relax - diet soda does NOT, in fact, spike insulin. It's not good for you the way a salad is, but, it's not bad for you like heroin.
b) If you are IR, your macros should read more like 25% carbs, 30% protein, and 45% fat. Protein converts to glucose, just like carbs do (only slower). Too much protein = high insulin levels. Fat has no effect on insulin and blood sugar levels.

myofibril

As such, I need to avoid insulin spiking foods as much as possible.

yet you say this this

50% of my intake in a day should be protein.

Dude, seriously forget about somatotypes - they are the physiological equivalent of astrology....

sociologywoman

I'm a true endomorph...I've been referenced to as "stalky", "thick" and so forth. I love weight training and when I do, I definitely bulk up more than perhaps most. Not crazy, but definitely a lot more than most woman lol

I also am hypothryoid... does anyone have any experience with this -- from the endomorph diet experience? I've started reducing my carbs but I've been doing a lot of reading that doing so could affect and lower the thyroid function. I already have an issue and don't want to make it worse.

I have a very difficult time loosing weight, and am fearful of upping my calories too much, I just went from 1200 to 1600 since my workouts have been seeming to lack and I feel exceptionally tired and unmotivated. I realize it's going to be a lot of playing around with the numbers to find the "magic" number for me.

Any advice or input is appreciated!!!

jonnythan

I'm a true endomorph...I've been referenced to as "stalky", "thick" and so forth. I love weight training and when I do, I definitely bulk up more than perhaps most. Not crazy, but definitely a lot more than most woman lol

I also am hypothryoid... does anyone have any experience with this -- from the endomorph diet experience? I've started reducing my carbs but I've been doing a lot of reading that doing so could affect and lower the thyroid function. I already have an issue and don't want to make it worse.

I have a very difficult time loosing weight, and am fearful of upping my calories too much, I just went from 1200 to 1600 since my workouts have been seeming to lack and I feel exceptionally tired and unmotivated. I realize it's going to be a lot of playing around with the numbers to find the "magic" number for me.

Any advice or input is appreciated!!!

There's no such thing as "endomorph." It's a bunch of baloney made up by a 1940s psychologist.

You'll probably get more help if you post the rest as a new topic though. Just leave out the endomorph part or the thread will devolve into a debate over somatotypes

bhallada

45% fat is NEVER good for a diet - it should always be 33% or lower

jonnythan

45% fat is NEVER good for a diet - it should always be 33% or lower

No, this is not true. 45% fat is totally fine.

jjefferies7

Somatotypes are essentially your bone structure. Now why would your bone structure have any effect on your nutrient partitioning or your ability to gain/lose weight or build muscle. It doesn't.

DivaLuvsDisney

Where the heck are the fruit and vegetables in this "diet"???

SteelySunshine

It looks like total rubbish to me. But, whatever works for you.

paulperryman

Endormorph here, and i stuck with the MFP suggestion of 55% carbs, 30% protein and 15% fat + a dropping all junk food and sugar drinks and flavoured milk. + an extreme increase in exercise going from almost nothing to 6 days a week and it worked great for 3 months i lost over 15Kgs, the last 2 months have been an up and down rollercoaster, tho i am stll eating a hell of alot better then i was 6 months ago and still exercising 5-6 days a week without fail the weight loss has stalled several times and the body fat/BMI seem to have stabilised at around 28% down from 43% roughly

High Intensity Cardio+Weights/Core + eat/drink enough = overall health gain

now on 45% Protein, 30% carbs and 25% fats. increasing weights and core regime's, not losing weight but certainly looking better, and you need to cycle around so the body doesn't get use to one thing over and over thats all i say

CysterWigs

Dude, seriously forget about somatotypes - they are the physiological equivalent of astrology....

THIS. All day long. Down with any and all psuedoscience purporting to be the real deal. Psychology is full with BS like this.