What’s Your Body Type?

How Knowing This ONE Thing Can Set You Up for Success

When I did the bikini competition back in June of 2013, I have written several times that it was a pretty bad experience for me. It was bad Spiritually because I blatantly ignored a voice from God that told me I didn’t need to do the show to make myself more “worthy” of being in the fitness industry. It was unhealthy for my mindset because I became incredibly self-involved and living in FEAR at every given moment–fear that I would fail before I got to the show and fear that I would fail after the show by gaining all the weight back (which I basically did). These things were just the things that happened to ME because I was doing it for the wrong reasons. It wasn’t because all bikini competitions are *bad.* I don’t believe that is always the case.

But, moreover, the bikini competition was a bad experience for me because of my BODY TYPE and the way that it wrecked havoc on body systems. I am an Endomorphic/Mesomorphic Body Type which means I gain weight very easy, have a high craving for food and have a naturally higher muscle mass AND higher body fat percentage (you’ll see more on this below). For these reasons, in order to get down from 19% body fat to 10% body fat, I had to take more drastic dietary cuts and increase my cardio for 5.5 solid months. Obviously 10% is not sustainable and not healthy for women. It was very hard and was a lot of sacrifice.

I wound up not having a menstrual cycle for 5 months (amenorrhea) and developed a host of stomach issues and intolerances (that I still deal with to this day) after I gained back all of the weight, as I feared I would. The mental aspects of this were the hardest part.

I have mentioned Body Types in passing several times, and I do go into more detail when you sign up for any health coaching service I offer (whether the 1:1 or the group) in my Metabolism Ebook. I go into depth about what the body types are and what you should be eating based on them (generally speaking).

For #STRONG’herAugust, I want to go ahead and break down what Body Types are and the PROS and CONS of each type so you can not only recognize and know yourself better, but you can then develop better GOALS that will set you up for success!

Please be warned, do not let this information place you “into a box” where you either use it as an “excuse” or as a “crutch” to lean on. The truth is each and every body type has opportunity for excellence and True Health! God does not look at appearance, God looks at the heart.

This information is valuable because you can establish smart goals for your body that will help you maintain your body’s health. You body is to be USED for God’s glory which usually means it needs to be in good shape. So use this information as a tool to help you figure out your BEST version of you, no matter what shape or size!

So here we go!

3 MAIN BODY TYPES and THEIR PROS AND CONS!

1. Endomorphic-

CONS: Endomorphic Body Types are those that gain weight very easily. They have higher tendency to be “Sugar Burners” which means they burn through carbs easily but not fat, so they get more hungry more often. They have higher tendency toward sugar cravings along with caffeine (sugar burner tendency’s).
PROS: While it might seem like you get the “short end of the stick” by God, I find that Endomorphic Body Types have the opportunity to be the HEALTHIEST. Endomorphics tend to CARE more about their health because they have to! They invest in themselves, know what they can eat and not eat. Many can have quite healthy figures (think of Marilyn Monroe!) and look curvy and beautiful! Take Kim Kardashian, for example. While her body type may be accentuated on pictures through photoshop, she is known for her body through Instagram, resulting in her being the seventh most followed person on the social media site (how does she not use sites like upleap to grow her followers?). This just proves that this body type can be healthy and curves should be embraced!

2. Endo/Mesomorphic-

CONS: While these body types can build muscle fairly easily, they also store fat pretty easily making dietary concern and body concern still a struggle. They will have the same “Sugar Burner” tendency and will have to restrict carbohydrates more than others.
PROS: These women have curves and know how to use them! It takes a lot of work, but it is well worth it! Also, these women can be strong and care about their health because they have to care about their food. A win/win for “True Health” in the Body.

3. Mesomorphic-

CONS: These body types can get “ripped” so fast that they might often take their True Health for granted! They can get away with maintaining a physique while eating some “crap” food (lots of processed food etc) that can still cause unhealthy results internally. Also, in women especially, having the ability to build such lean muscle mass can be undesirable from an aesthetic perspective. However, it can be great for others, especially if they find it difficult to build their own muscle mass with ease and often need to search for supplements such as peptides for sale to have the body they want.

PROS: They have a gift for weight training and athleticism. As women, these body types might have slightly higher testosterone allowing for more muscle growth quickly. Other pros is that the diet for Mesomorphic body types is typically a “Mixed Burner” which means they use both carbohydrate sources and fat sources for energy and just have to choose a balanced diet. Also tend to be average weight and in healthy BMI.

(It is my opinion that this body type is the ONLY great body type to be able to do body building competitions because it doesn’t require as much mental and spiritual strain to get the body to change so drastically).

4. Ectomorphic:

CONS: Have a difficult time putting on muscle mass at all yet can still have body fat which can someimes make them “skinny fat”. Ultra lean bodies have the highest rate of health issues later on in life and shorter life span. Ectomorphs are typically “muscle burners” meaning that their metabolism will start catabolizing their muscle tissue to provide energy when depleted. Often these are ‘Type A” individuals with lots of energy and forget to eat. Most should avoid caffeine as well, as it induced higher stress cortisol levels.PROS: The nice thing for them is they can eat just about anything and not gain any weight! They also need a diet that is higher in carbohydrates which makes eating more enjoyable. Also, ectomorphs can find really great exercises that fit so well with their body types. Things like Yoga and certain Dance (such as ballet) are really ideal for these body types. Just because it might be hard to put on weight, doesn’t mean it is. Cameron Diaz has some guns on her and cares very much about her True Health.

God has made every single body on this planet as unique as your DNA with purpose. Even if you might fall into some of the generalizations of these body types does not mean that you are defined by them! Use this information as you wish to, either to help you establish smart boundaries for your body goals, or to eat wisely, or do a really WISE thing and ignore it and just listen to your body!