What works and doesn’t
What works or doesn't work is based on your body type. And there are three different body types:
Ectomorph (I Type)
Mesomorph (V Type)
Endomorph (O Type)
In an earlier chapter we also spoke about portions and handed out a rough idea of what you might be looking to consume when you sit down to eat, however, different body shapes react differently to the different Macronutrients which brings us back to our original statement, “Each person/ body is different and must be treated as such”. We’ll briefly take you through each of the body types and their tendencies to show you where you may be going right or even where you might be going wrong on your current plan.
Calorie intake isn’t the be all or end all when it comes to putting on weight. Certain body types react differently to some Macronutrients than others so whilst you and your mate might both require 2000kcal intake, eating exactly the same food as each other may see one of you lose weight and the other gain weight and feel fatigued!
Ectomorphs are those annoying people who seem to be able to eat almost anything and never lose their stick figure shape! This may be the case for the moment as their body burns hot they require more carbohydrates. You read right, the C word is actually a macronutrient that Ectomorphs require as they bounce around all over the place with more energy than you could dream of! An Ectomorph may look at distributing their macro portions like this:
Protein = 25%
Carbohydrates = 55%
Fats = 20%
Next up, Mesomorphs or V Types. Mesomorphs are quite similar to an Ectomorph except for the fact that they find it quite easy to build muscle. Mesomorphs will therefor need to look after the increased muscle with extra protein whilst finding energy through fats in their diet. Below is what a Mesomorphs diet may look like when breaking down their daily Macro consumption into percentages:
Protein = 30%
Carbohydrates = 40%
Fats = 30%
Finally, Endomorphs or O Types. O types generally find it quite hard to burn Carbohydrates and therefor it’s not the macronutrient that they’d go for on a daily basis, keep in mind that they’ll still need to consume them each day but it won’t be anywhere near as much as Ecto or Mesomorphs will. The breakdown of macronutrients for an Endomorph would look something like this:
Protein = 35%
Carbohydrates = 25%
Fats = 40%
So as you can see, calorie intake is one thing but it’s where we’re bringing these calories from that will play a large role in how energised you feel or whether weight is gained or lost. Combine this chapter with Daily Energy Expenditure and just look a puzzle, all the pieces will start coming together quite nicely.
Justin Beard Pn1