Endomorph Diet & Workout Plan 2024 – Helpful Tips For Weight Loss

Excuses. We all make them, especially when our waistlines happen to be the topic of contention. It’s an age-old gag: I’m not fat. I’m just big-boned.

We all have a friend who never seems to gain an ounce, no matter what you guys are chowing down on. Can your body type really determine how easily you gain and lose weight? If so, what can you do to make it easier to keep your own body trimmed? Is there really such a thing as an endomorph diet? Can supplementation help?

In this article, we’ll discuss strategies for endomorphs struggling to keep the weight off for good. Even if you’re not an endomorph yourself, you will still find plenty that you’ll be able to add to your own routine.

What Is The Endomorph Body Type?

If you’re not sure whether or not you’re an endomorph, consider the following criteria and see how many of these qualities apply to you:

• A relaxed posture and way of moving
• A larger bone structure and higher body weight than average
• Larger muscle groups, yet lower muscle mass in terms of body composition
• Some excess fat, as well as a higher body composition percentage of body fat overall
• The tendency to gain weight easily, rather than to lose it
• The tendency to hold onto weight more stubbornly than others; you store fat efficiently and for long periods of time
• The inability to gain muscle mass as effectively as others, even with steady-state training
• A slow metabolism

What Should Endomorphs Eat To Lose Weight?

Before saying anything else, we want to clarify: nothing about endomorphic bodies makes losing weight more difficult mathematically. No matter what your body type is, weight loss is nothing more than a caloric deficit^[1]. If you expend more than you take in, you will lose weight. If you take in more than you expend, the opposite will occur. 

This is good news for you; a balanced diet and lifestyle are easy for anybody to achieve and maintain, body type be damned. 

Let’s talk about food first. What should endomorphs eat to lose weight?

High-Fiber Foods

When we’ve got something sitting in our stomachs, we feel good. It’s a happy sensation, and foods high in fiber tend to fill the space without loading you down with too many calories. Fiber is also vital for gut health and digestive function^[2], keeping everything moving along.

This clinical trial^[3] found that a high-fiber, high-protein diet was able to successfully reduce voluntary intake in a control group of dogs. If you want to lose fat, the key is satisfying yourself. If you feel good after a meal, you’re much less likely to reach for more afterward. Complex Carbohydrates

Fiber, as we just learned, sits in the stomach and keeps us feeling fuller for longer. Complex carbohydrates (carbs) help us do the same thing. Unlike refined carbohydrates, it takes more time for the body to break these longer carbohydrate chains down in order to digest them.

For every second that those carbs spend in your stomach, your body is feeding off of them, resulting in a much more sustained boost of energy. You eat a candy bar, on the other hand, and, in ten minutes, it already feels as though it’s disappeared. 

Snacks and meals that include whole-grain oats and whole foods give you more bang for your caloric buck and more energy for extended periods of time as you go about your business. You feel calmer, more focused, and much less prone to hitting the drive-thru in a moment of weakness.

Healthful Fats

Healthy fats are not only able to facilitate the absorption of nutrients^[4]; they also appear to have some impact on how satisfied you feel after eating a meal, as some studies suggest^[5].

While moderation is key here, especially if you’re one to over-indulge at times, cutting fats out entirely will probably not be necessary in order to lose weight. Olive oil, for example, is one heart-healthy way to include some saturated fat into your diet. Low-fat dairy products are also a moderate source of good fats, as are avocados and nuts of all varieties.

Our best bit of advice? Weigh it out; knowledge is power. Get your fix, whether it be a handful of almonds or a couple of pieces of dark chocolate, and find a way to make it fit into your new lifestyle. 

The Best Exercise for Endomorph Body Types

Those among us who avoid exercise when possible are usually avid calorie counters. The unfortunate truth, however, is that calorie restriction has been shown clinically^[6] to result in a slower metabolism and basal metabolic rate.

The good news? If you can get yourself moving, you’ll enjoy the flip side of that particular coin: your body will be burning more calories at rest than ever^[7]. 

If you shy away from the gym when coming up with a new workout plan, try finding an activity that you look forward to doing every time you exercise. The right exercise program will keep you coming back for more, leading to a healthier lifestyle in the long run.

What are the best exercises for endomorphs? We’re glad that you asked. 

Low-Intensity Exercise

Low-intensity workouts don’t have to feel like you’re wasting your time or starting at square one. In fact, we would argue that they’re the perfect way to condition yourself for more vigorous exercise as your fitness levels increase.

You can burn calories easily by jogging lightly or even just walking briskly on a treadmill every single day. The ultimate endomorph workout is one that keeps you engaged in an activity for a longer period of time – you can build up your stamina by starting slow, and gradually working your way up to a more involved workout plan.

How many calories does running on a treadmill burn? A lot of that will depend on your own weight and how purposefully you move your body as you run. On average, if you weigh 160 pounds, you’ll burn around 12.4 calories per minute^[8] while jogging on a treadmill, all while building lean muscle throughout the body in the process. Those fat cells won’t even know what hit ‘em.

How many calories do you need to burn to lose one pound of body fat? It takes a deficit of 500 calories per day to lose one pound per week through a combination of diet and exercise.

Weight Training

A weightlifting workout program might seem intimidating if you’ve never pumped iron before. We highly recommend giving it a shot – weight training is good for so much more than simply building muscle outright.

The most important benefit of weight training exercises: having a higher percentage of muscle mass in your body has been linked definitively to a higher resting metabolic rate^[9]. 

Some of our favorite weight exercises for endomorphs include deadlifts, hammer curls, and compound exercises, like a squat with an overhead press.

High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)

HIIT exercise routines involve short bursts of very high-intensity exercise with momentary rest periods between sets of moves. There are a few other compound exercises that will get you in shape and make you look amazing, like HIIT exercises – think CrossFit, only in micro doses and without the unfortunate gym membership fees. 

HIIT isn’t a single type of exercise, but, rather, the pattern in which you partake in a variety of workout moves. You can do anything that feels good to you – single-leg knee drives, a lateral raise on each side, anything that interests you as long as you’re giving it your all until your scheduled rest period has arrived. Then, repeat this process until you hit the floor.

Final Thoughts

Those with endomorph bodies know that healthy living isn’t always easy; gaining weight is never fun, and sometimes it can feel like nothing ever solves the problem. The good news is that, with the right workout plan and philosophy in the kitchen, your fitness goals might be much easier to accomplish than you think. 

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