Website design By BotEap.comDid you ever think that your genes were fighting against your weight loss? Maybe you can remember when you were a kid hearing people tell you that you had “big bones” or to my peers, maybe you spent a lot of time with mom in the husky section of the children’s clothing store. Well, there is something to be said for how your body type affects your weight and what you can reasonably expect from a weight loss journey depending on your body type. Let’s look at the three body types and see if you can find where you fit.

Website design By BotEap.com• Mesomorph: If you are a mesomorph, you are the envy of your gym, basically your body builds muscles quickly and easily and you will have well defined shoulders and a chest that is bigger than your waist. You will keep the fat evenly throughout your body. Think of the natural athletes you know. I would say that there is really no reason for you to be overweight, I mean go to the gym and a somewhat reasonable diet will take away any extra weight that you have allowed to accumulate. However, keep in mind that meosmorphs who pack on the extra pounds are at very high risk for heart disease, so be sure to mix in some cardio with your weightlifting.

Website design By BotEap.com• Ectomorphs: Ectomorphs are skinny by nature, in fact, these people have a hard time gaining weight no matter what they eat. (I know, we all want to come back as ectomorphs) Ectomorphs often excel at cardio, but struggle to gain weight. They often hold whatever weight they manage to put on the belly area (think of the look of a pregnant man, a skinny guy with a big belly) and with their small frame they can’t hide the weight at all.

Website design By BotEap.com• Endomorph: Endomorphs like me are best described as round if you’re male or curvy if you’re female. We tend to keep our weight in the lower part of our body, most of our weight is centered in the belly area or in the hips and thighs (belly for me, lucky me). We find it very, very, very easy to gain weight and we are the group most likely to be obese. Now for the good news, our fuller frames allow us to better carry our weight and no one looks better when it comes down to us endomorphs (think about it, a slimming endomorph woman has an hourglass body). We have a higher rate of heart disease and are at high risk for knee and ankle injuries due to the stress that the extra weight puts on the joints. While we will never be skinny, and most likely won’t become muscular mesomorphs when we lose weight, we tend to look more naturally healthy, not over-muscled and not too skinny.

Website design By BotEap.comNow for a bit of confusion; most people are a combination of more than one body type. For example, I’m probably 75% endomorph and 25% mesomorph (and absolutely zero ectomorph), but when you know what your dominant type is, you can form realistic expectations of your health journey. I don’t expect to look like Stallone in Rambo anytime soon, but once I took most of my weight off, I filled out a suit nicely. So if you’re a mesomorph, do weights as muscle building is second nature to you, but also do some cardio for no reason to die of a heart attack after putting in all that work. If you’re an ectomorph, put on your cardio! You can take it easier with weights, as it won’t make the noticeable changes you’re looking for. If you’re like me and you’re primarily an endomorph, set reasonable expectations for what you want your body to look like, combine weights and low-impact cardio, and follow a low-calorie diet and you’ll soon be looking amazing, natural, and healthy.