What Is An Endomorph Body Type? And Can An Endomorph Lose Weight?

While there are 3 body types – Ectomorph, Mesomorph, and Endomorph (see their explanations here) this article will focus on the Endomorph.

ENDOMORPHS generally have a smooth, round body, medium-large bone structure, small shoulders and shorter limbs. They usually carry their weight in the lower abdomen, hips, and thighs rather than evenly distributed throughout the body. Many endomorphs have a higher body-fat percentage, putting them at greater risk for of developing diabetes, infertility, certain forms of cancer, gallbladder conditions, heart disease, diabetes, hypertension and depression. 

And one of the problems endomorphs encounter is weight loss.  Can you relate? Every diet you’ve tried doesn’t seem to work – Adkins, Keto, Weight Watchers, Paleo, eating salads and low cal foods all the while jogging and working out?  You may have lost a few pounds with these, but then comes the plateau and the weight won’t budge.  Or you gain it all back. So why is this?  

Because as we’ve found (and I’m talking strictly out of experience) when you’re an endomorph there is really only one way to lose the weight and keep it off.  It’s called METABOLIC CONFUSION – confusing your metabolism.

Metabolic confusion is cycling your carb intakes with low and high days.  It’s really quite simple: 

• Cycle one is a LOW CARB DAY which is where you increase your healthy fat intake AND DO A LOW KEY WORKOUT.
• Cycle two, the day after a low carb day, you increase to a moderate HIGH CARB DAY, which will reignite your metabolism AND WILL ENABLE YOU TO DO A MORE VIGOROUS WORKOUT. 
• Cycle three is simply repeating with a LOW CARB DAY, next with a HIGH CARB DAY, etc etc.

So what’s the big deal with eating carbs and how do they work for your body?

• Carbs are digested and are broken down into glucose (which is fuel for your body and your brain).
• Glucose enters the pancreas which produces insulin (which converts to energy).
• Insulin is stored as glycogen (which is stored in fat cells).

So as you can see, CARBS ARE GOOD. Our bodies need carbs for energy.  We just need to burn them off the right way so they’re not just sitting in our fat cells making us just that … FAT!  And this is where CARB CYCLING comes in.

Carb cycling enables you to better utilize fat for burning as fuel, instead of burning carbs and muscle tissue for fuel.  When you eat high carbs at the right time, it resets your metabolism and tells the body to produce thyroid and leptin hormones, which are good for a healthy weight.  When you eat low carbs, it tells the body to use up its stored carbs (glycogen), which then burns the stored body fat that will lead to both body fat loss and water loss, which results in weight loss !!

How to determine how much high and low carbs to consume in a day for carb cycling …  

• HIGH CARB DAYS – Eat 2 o 2.5 grams of carbs per pound of body weight
• LOW CARB DAYS – Eat .5 grams per pound of body weight.

So for me, at 140 pounds, in order to lose weight I should be eating 280 to 350 grams of carbs on high days, and 70 grams of carbs on low days. I’ve seen charts that say 225-235 grams on high days and 2-60 grams on low days, but you decide which is best for your body.

On high days your carb intake is from starchy carbs like whole grains, fruits, pasta, potatoes, rice, non starchy veggies and dairy. On low days your carb intake is from non starchy foods like veggie, some dairy like eggs, and fish, steaks, avocados, nuts and cheese.

So now we know what carb cycling is, what low and high carb days look like, and what you can and cannot eat.  So now what? Well there are a lot of sites on the web to help you with daily/weekly/monthly meals and plans, but most come with a price … “buy my recipe book, become a member for a monthly fee, have our pre-made meals delivered to you.”  That’s all good if that’s your jam. But I believe in helping others in the same situation as me at no cost.

So I’ve come up with THE 50FRIENDLY CARB CYCLING DIET PLAN, complete with a weekly menu that I myself am following.  And I’m starting this tomorrow, on September 1, 2019 to show that I indeed practice what I preach.  If you too want to follow along and don’t want the hassle of scouring recipes on hundreds of sites, simply click the photo on the left to open your PDF weekly meal schedule.

Here is the Week 1 Menu – Sunday 9/1/19 through Saturday 9/7/19. I’m also starting off at 139 pounds – so let’s see if this METABOLIC CONFUSION really works. Good luck and may the “weight loss” force be with you