Weight Loss

Body Type and Weight Loss – What do they have in common?

Did you know that your body type is a scientific classification of your overall body shape, and is determined by a combination of certain physical characteristics. Your genes determine your body type therefore, your body shape will develop from birth to adulthood. Body types can never be changed and no matter what type you possess, you can still achieve weight loss relatively quickly with the correct choices of food and tactics for weight loss or weight control. Its all about balance and following a sensible plan.

The three basic body types for male and female are: Endomorph, Ectomorph and Mesomorph.

Here’s a definition about each body type to give further clarification:

Endomorphs: The naturally big boned person characterized with a round face, a soft and flabby body in general, wide hips, bigger waist, slow metabolism and high number of fat cells. This type usually finds weight loss a constant struggle. Its may mean some extra time at the gym.

Ectomorphs: The skinny person with a linear appearance, small muscles, ultra fast metabolism, low body fat, narrow shoulders, hips and waist. Doesn’t usually have to worry about weight loss. Don’t you just hate those types of people. Eat all you want and don’t gain a pound. I used to be like that, but as I have aged, I have noticed putting on a few extra pounds and it taking longer to get off.

Mesomorphs: The naturally muscular person with wide shoulders, small waist, athletic build, low body fat percentage with an increase metabolism.

We all display some characteristics from each body type, although one type will usually dominate. You may think that you fit into more than one category. This may well be true as it is extremely rare for an individual to display all of characteristics for their body type. It is the dominant type of characteristics which determine the actual body types assigned to us.

It still is about how many calories we consume and burn in a given day. In fact whatever the body type, if we want to achieve weight loss we need to create a negative energy balance or a calorie deficit. The number of calories we cut from our intake needs to be sufficient enough in order to see some results fairly quickly. So if we begin a new diet by cutting our calorie intake by about 500 per day we will lose weight over the course of a week or two. However just cutting calories is now not deemed to be a sensible way to approach weight loss

So what do you do and what happens to our bodies when we choose to cut calories? During a calorie deficit our bodies still require the same amount of energy so they start to use up energy stores to make up for this 500 calorie deficit. However, as our bodies inevitably use up extra proteins for energy AND to maintain normal protein synthesis, we end up with a net loss of total protein. This results in a gradual loss of lean muscle, and this is the start of a lowered metabolism and consequently a slower weight loss

One thing to keep in mind while losing weight is related to exercise. The more you incorporate cardio and weights, your body will likely lose fat, but you will also probably gain some muscle mass. Just keep in mind, muscle loss may not be obvious when looking in the mirror because the body will take it from other, less priority areas and not just from our skeletal muscles. The stomach is a classic area where protein is broken down for use, as there’s less need for a large stomach capacity because we have lowered our food intake. Ever noticed how we can no longer eat those big meals we once used to eat before dieting?

Although you may need to cut down on the amount of food you it is vitally important you don’t drastically cut your calories as you may be doing your body and your weight loss more harm than good. Just stick to a balanced approach to whatever goal you set for yourself.