Have you ever wondered why you eat the same as your partner or friend, but get totally different results? Today we’re going to take a look at how your body type affects your nutrition requirements and how you can find out exactly the right balance for yourself.
Firstly, let’s take a look at the three main body types – Ectomorph, Mesomorph and Endomorph.
- Ectomorph. These are generally your naturally lean people, or the people you love to hate as I put it. They can eat, eat, eat and seem to never put weight on, they have fast metabolisms. However, they can have their own challenges with building lean muscle and strength.
- Nutrition guidelines for an ectomorph. They get the majority of your calories from carbohydrates (around 50%) as they respond to adrenalin and carbs are used when adrenalin is present, moderate protein levels and fairly low-fat levels. Never skips meals. Always aim for high quality foods (even though they can ‘get away’ with eating low quality foods in the short term).
- Mesomorph. Your naturally athletic people that respond well to stimulus. They can build muscle more easily than ectomorphs. They can also increase fat mass more easily which means we need to support their muscle building ability while monitoring their fat mass levels.
- Nutrition guidelines for a mesomorph. Looking at a really balanced split across carbs, protein and fat (roughly 37% carbs, 33% protein, 30% fat depending on your goal). Of course, still want to focus on high quality, nutrient dense whole foods.
- Endomorph. The thicker set body and can be at a higher risk of insulin resistance meaning they don’t process carbs as easily as the other body types which can lead to storing more body fat. For this reason, we’ll look at a lower carb intake.
- Nutrition guidelines for an endomorph. Lower carb intake with higher protein and fat. Roughly 30% of calories from carbs, 35% protein, 35% fat, again depending on your specific goal. Food quality is hugely important for endomorphs, and they need to be very consistent with their nutrition habits 7 days a week.
Now we know a bit more about body types and how to structure our macro nutrient balance, how do we know which body type we are? At Vision, your very first session will include a body type analysis, 10 simple questions to determine which body type you are and give you clarity around your nutrition requirements.
To arrange your complimentary consult to find out which body type you are simply click here and we’ll be in touch.
