Weight Loss

Weight Loss according to Body Type?

Can you imagine what life would be like if we all liked the same things? Thankfully we are all unique individuals and just as we have different tastes, talents and attitudes so we also have different body types. Your body type is a scientific classification of your overall body shape, and and it 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.

Scientists in the health field have developed a classification system for the different body types. There are three basic body types for male and female are: Endomorph, Ectomorph and Mesomorph.

The first body type is called endomorphs. These people are naturally big boned and have such characteristics as 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.

The second body type is the ectomorphs. This type of person is considered thin 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.

The third body type is mesomorphs. This type is a naturally muscular person with wide shoulders, small waist, athletic build, low body fat percentage with an increase metabolism.

So now you look at your body and are thinking you have characteristics from more than one category. In reality you may actually have some characteristics from 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. We all display some characteristics from each body type, although one type will usually dominate. It is the dominant type of characteristics which determine the actual body types assigned to us.

Regardless of the body type we may have, 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

What happens to our bodies when we go on a weight loss program and begin to cut our calorie intake by eating less? 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

As we begin to lose weight we may be discouraged when we look in the mirror. Muscle loss may not be obvious 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?

It would appear therefore that although you may need to cut down on the amount of food you eat, 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

Jackie Whalen