There are three basic body types, although few people fall clearly into one of the three camps. A common example is the endomorph-mesomorph body type. A number of diets are designed for your particular body type, and there are specific diets for endo-mesos. Whether such diets are better for you than an all-around healthy diet combined with exercise is a question for your health care provider.
Body Types
Often tall and slender, ectomorphs tend to have trouble gaining weight. Body Building.com says that endurance runners and runway models often are typically ectomorphs. Mesomorphs have hard and muscular bodies. They have the build of weight lifters or football quarterbacks. It is easy for mesomorphs to pack on muscle, but it can be hard for them to lose weight. Endomorphs have plenty of body fat and plenty of muscle. No matter how much they diet and exercise, it is typically difficult for endomorphs to lose weight. Since both endomorphs and mesomorphs have trouble losing weight, a person with an endo-meso body shape will have trouble losing weight as well.
Diets
Body Building.com matches body types to particular foods that mesh with each type in terms of nutrition. Mesomorphs should limit their fat intake to 20 percent of total daily calories and consume four to six meals per day. Endomorphs should eat smaller meals several times daily, spaced out to speed up their metabolism. High fiber foods should be emphasized, such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains and beans. Dairy should be eaten sparingly. Endo-mesos can combine the dietary recommendations, favoring the endo diet if you fit more in the endo category than the meso category and visa versa.
Endo-Meso Diet
Perhaps the best known endo-meso diet is the Michael Thurmond Six Week Body Makeover. As the Diets in Review website explains, your recommended diet and exercise routine is customized for your particular body type. A typical daily diet for an endo-meso would consist of five to seven small meals per day. LaPaulia Fyffe, a nurse and an endo-meso body type, told "USA Today" in 2004 that she dropped about 50 lbs. in two months on the Body Makeover diet, eating six meals per day, mostly fish and asparagus and drinking lots of water.
Diet and Exercise
The Michael Thurman endo-meso diet may very well help you lose weight. But it requires a lot of time and effort to find the specific foods on the diet and then prepare them throughout the day. An exercise program is included with the diet, which combines resistance band training twice per week with plenty of aerobic exercise. Other endo-meso diets are more general and easier to adhere to over the long run.
Considerations
Health organizations tend to emphasize eating healthy foods and getting plenty of exercise to achieve long-term weight management and weight loss. Few, if any, focus on body types. The American Heart Association, for example, states that a "healthy diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables, and fat-free or low-fat dairy products, along with regular exercise, can help people manage and maintain weight loss for both cardiovascular health and appearance."
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