Eat Right For Your Body Type 

It's important to know how to customize a meal plan for different body types. 

A good and bad fact about fitness is that not every exercise or diet program is made for everyone or every female body shape. One key factor in creating your plan is to determine your fitness goals. Obviously, there is a different program if you want to gain muscle mass as opposed to if you want to lose bodyfat.

Just as important of a factor in creating a program is the body type that you have. Everyone knows that person that can eat whatever they want and have no body fat anywhere. Then there are those who rarely work out but have a nice muscular physique. Finally, there is the person who gains fat at just the thought of food.

In this article, we’ll describe a little bit about each of the three body types and how to best approach your nutition plan to best meet the fitness goals most commonly found with these types of individuals. The information provided here is a starter’s guide on where to begin for each body type, but eventually every individual must test and adjust a program to leverage the elements that result in the greatest impact.


Ectomorphs

Definition: An individual characterized by a lean slender body build with slight muscular development

An ectomorph is essentially someone who greatly struggles to gain any type of body mass. Often called ‘naturally skinny’, ectomorphs need a large amount of calories to put on muscle mass. Although junk food such as French fries and chocolate could provide those extra calories, those types of food usually have what are called ‘empty calories’ in that the calories they do have do not contribute healthy nutrients and often result in increased fat. The food taken in by ectomorphs should come from good sources rather than junk in order to promote the muscle-building effort.

The inability for ectomorphs to gain body mass mainly is the result of a naturally high metabolism. If you are an ectomorph engaged in a mass gaining exercise program in need of energy (calories), carbohydrates should become your primary source of fuel, in the gym and afterwards.

Examples of good sources of carbs are oatmeal, rice, fruit, pasta, veggies, bread and oatmeal.

The diet for an ectomorph is actually rather simple. Eat a lot. A good rule of thumb is to track your current daily diet. Document your current daily caloric intake and simply add 500 calories throughout the day. If after a few weeks, you still see no change in weight or mass, simply increase that caloric intake another 100-200 calories a day. Obviously, it is highly recommended that those calories include healthy and smart food choices to realize the full potential of your new diet.

It is common to recommend that you get 25% of your calories from protein, 25% from good fats and 50-60% of your calories from carbs. Aim for complex, or slow carbs rather than simple carbs. Avoid saturated and processed fats and ensure your meal timing reflects your exercise and recovery schedule.

Endomorphs

Definition: An individual having a heavy rounded body build often with a marked tendency to become fat

If you're an endomorph, the good news is that you are part of a large club (so to speak). Chances are that you struggle to reduce the amount of body fat while still enjoying your daily eating habits. It requires a change in lifestyle and your approach to food, but it isn’t as bad as you may think. Although the trendy high protein diets can result in successful weight loss, those that have tried that route will agree that it isn’t a sustainable lifestyle. However, it is important to note that it has drawn attention to the importance of not overdoing your carb intake and ensuring a healthy protein intake.

Carbohydrates will trigger a release of insulin, which although can help build muscle, can also encourage increased fat storage. Protein, on the other hand, does not trigger a release of insulin, yet adds good calories that are unlikely to result in an increase in fat.

The endomorph diet reflects an emphasis on protein, although not a complete avoidance of carbohydrates. A common caloric split is 40% protein, 40% carbs and 20% fat. Taking the similar approach of the ectomorph nutrition plan, track your current daily caloric intake and instantly reduce that number by 500 calories per day. If you still see no fat loss, adjust your exercise program and intensity and continue to reduce your daily caloric intake in small increments.


Mesomorphs

Definition: An individual having a husky muscular body build

Mesomorphs have often been dealt a pretty good hand. They often add muscle relatively easily without having to worry about packing on fat. In saying that, they aren’t immune to fat gains with wreckless dieting on junk food. In saying that, it is much easier for the mesomorph to realize their fitness goals with limited impact to their daily diet. Often, the goal is to provide enough carbs to fuel your workouts and enough protein to enable optimal muscle growth.

Complex carbs, such as rice, pasta, oatmeal and rough bread, along with complete food proteins such as eggs, milk, fish, chicken and lean beef should be the base of your diet. As with other bodytypes, avoid processed foods and ensure full vitamins and minerals are consumed with a wide variety of healthy food choices.

A common and effective caloric split for mesomorphs often includes 35% protein, 45% carbs and 20% fat. Caloric intake will vary depending on your own personal fitness goals. If you are looking to add muscle, complete the exercise of adding 500 calories per day listed under the ectomorph plan. If your goal is to lose some bodyfat, follow the exercise of eliminating 500 calories from your daily plan listed by the mesomorphs. Adjust this total based on the impact your seeing from your eating plan.


Remember to continually monitor your success, no matter your body type. The best way to measure your success is simply by using a scale and a mirror. There is no secret formula as every body is different, but the various approaches listed above should give you a good starting point to ensure that you come out of the gate effectively no matter if you’re skinny, fat or Ah-nold.