When it comes to seeing a good rate of weight loss, it is important that you identify your own individual body type. The three classic body types include ectomorphs, endomorphs, and mesomorphs.
Typically ectomorphs tend to be naturally thin and tall, so chances are this doesn’t include you because you wouldn’t need to lose weight in the first place.
The main difference then between mesomorphs and endomorphs is mesomorphs are more likely to have a muscular stature, while endomorphs have a higher amount of body fat in proportion to muscle.
When you’re of the endomorph variety, there are some important factors you’re going to need to keep in mind as you go about your weight loss program in order to see optimal results.
Here are the main things to keep in mind.
Weight Loss For Endomorphs Rule #1: Though Shall Eat More Protein
For endomorphs in particular, they tend to store carbohydrates as body fat, so they’re going to be better off utilizing a lower carb, higher protein diet. While high protein diets prove to be relatively effective for all body types, this is even moreso the case if you’re a natural endomorph.
Further, that protein will keep you feeling satisfied so you’re less likely to want to chew a leg off your table because you’re so hungry.
Weight Loss For Endomorphs Rule #2: Though Shall Weight Train
Now, if you ask any endomorph what their method for fat loss is, nine out of ten of them will recite cardio, cardio, and more cardio.
Bad, bad, bad.
While cardio can help with fat loss, for the endomorph, this is a very bad thing. Why? Basically, unless they do something to encourage their body to build some muscle, when they do lose weight, they are just going to be a smaller version of their current self – with that same high body fat percentage.
This winds up looking ’soft and flabby’ rather than firm and toned.
Weight training as an absolute must do if you are an endomorph looking to lose weight.
Weight Loss For Endomorphs Rule #3: Though Shall Avoid Crash Diets
While crash diets are bad, for the endomorph, they’re even worse. Since the endomorph may not have a lot of muscle mass altogether, when they crash diet, they lose some of the muscle mass they do have, which then slows their metabolism further.
A slower metabolism means harder weight loss over the long run, which is something that’s really going to hinder your progress.
As a general rule, I would suggest never taking your calories lower than 8 times your body weight in pounds – and a calorie intake at that amount needs to be highly planned out around specific requirements that will prevent muscle mass loss (most people will do better using a calorie intake of no lower than 10 times your body weight in pounds).
Weight Loss For Endomorphs Rule #4: Though Shall Take Diet Breaks
Finally, even if you are an endomorph, you still need to be incorporating diet breaks into your plan where appropriate.
Let’s face it. If you have 30+ pounds to lose, this is not going to be fast process. At a max of 2 pounds a week (a safe rate of weight loss), you’re looking at about four months, minimum.
If you have more to lose, it’s going to take longer.
Whenever you’re on a diet for a longer period of time, you need to start incorporating diet breaks into the plan.
This is to help ensure that the metabolism stays higher, you stay psychologically saner, and that the fat burning hormones are maximized.
Long-term, low calorie diets are a nasty idea – so you need to take a diet break every 8 weeks or so – minimum (the leaner you get, the more frequent these breaks should be).
So, if you would classify yourself as an endomorph, be sure you are taking these weight loss principles into account.
If you don’t, you’re going to have a hard and long road to seeing success with your weight loss.
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