Easy Come, Easy Go
I remember reading once about body types that “gain and lose weight easily”… and of course I always thought… “huh, I gain weight easily, I can’t imagine what it would be like to lose weight easily”.
As a kid, I was always pretty much over weight. Short, soft, round, bookish. I was the computer nerd, I was supposed to be “out of shape”. I always assumed that I was the classic endomorph: short, round, soft.
A one-word description of the endomorph body type (or endo, for short) is curvy. If you’re an endomorph, your body fat may have a tendency to settle into the lower regions of your body, predominantly the lower abdomen, hips, and thighs, rather than being distributed evenly throughout your body.
An endomorph body typically has the capacity for high fat storage, and unfortunately puts fat on pretty easily. Although all body types are susceptible to excessive weight gain, as an endomorph, you are more inclined to become obese.
Of course, as strange as this may sound, I always longed to be an ectomorph, long, skinny. The ectomorph is an interesting persona in American body image. I wasn’t into sports as a kid, so my “idols”, they were rock stars, movie stars, and computer geeks… sure, the nerd with glasses, and when Hollywood or tv wants to portray a nerd, they don’t pick the fat kid nerd, no, they pick the tall skinny kid. So all of my “body role models” were ectomorphs:
A one-word description for the ectomorph body type (or ecto, for short) is slim. If you’re an ecto, mesomorphs and endomorphs usually don’t want to stand next to you. It’s not that ectomorphs aren’t personable, it’s just that you’re probably a tall, slender individual who has trouble gaining weight (oh darn!). As you may have guessed, the perfect example of an ecto is a fashion model.
Sitting around, being the fat kid, dreaming of being a rock star or a super nerd, I wanted to be thin. I wanted to have that slender long lean body. There was a small stint in high school, for about 3 months, where I decided I wanted to get fit, I worked out pretty regularly (albeit in secret) at the local gym. I lost fat quickly… but I didn’t get skinny. In fact, the more I worked out, the more disappointed I was… because I was actually gaining weight, and bulk… I was gaining muscle quickly. In retrospect, I guess this evidence supports that concept that my body falls into the classic “mesomorph” body type.
As muscularly defined, athletic-looking individuals, mesomorphs are full of energy, are physically capable of a lot of activity, and tend to be aggressive athletically. (Usually no couch potatoes in this group.) Although mesomorphs generally store fat evenly all over their bodies, they can become overweight if they are sedentary and consume a high-fat and/or high-calorie diet.
It’s interesting that underneath my soft exterior as a child, there was this untapped potential of an athlete. The classic description of the mesomorph: “Gains muscle easily, gains fat more easily.”
I don’t regret the path I lead from fat kid to Ironman, and I don’t dwell on “could’ve beens”… but it is interesting to consider, how easy it is for a mesomorph to become overweight, and how willing society was to drop me in the category of endomorph, destined to be soft and round for my entire life. Not once did a coach, PE teacher, or adult mentor offer to help me find fitness potential. There were chances: I played soccer briefly as a kid in 2nd-4th grades; my favorite teacher in Jr. High School was the math teacher, and track coach; but nothing developed from these relationships. Had my fate been sealed?
In the last four year I’ve been watching very closely how my body reacts to food and exercise. The evidence is strong that I don’t need a lot of calories to keep my engine running. My body is apparently very efficient at storing excess calories, and tapping into those reserves quickly when I need them. I have had days when I’ve eaten no breakfast, and jumped on my bike first thing in the morning for a 50+mile ride without out eating anything, and finishing the ride refreshed and not at all hungry.
So what about fat loss? Well, my weight is coming down pretty quickly… but I feel like I have plenty of energy. I weighed in at 149.9lbs yesterday morning and 147.3lbs this morning. Clearly, I must be losing water weight. But I also credit these results to my new attention to eating detail. My body responds very quickly to calorie deficits coupled with activity. Especially now that I’m providing “just enough fuel”… by eating several smaller meals throughout the day.
Easy weight fluctuations– Curse or Blessing? Well… I guess it’s both. If I pay attention to my fueling, I can easily control my weight, get lighter quickly, build muscle quickly, store extra fuel for a 12 hour race effort… But if I fall asleep at the wheel, and ignore my intake and each just a little more than I need, BAM! my body goes into storage mode… ready for the next big adventure whenever it might come… and the weight stacks up quickly.
“Easy Come, easy go” is a reciprocal property… it also means “Easy go, easy come”.
Health:
- Date: 02/29/2008
- Weight: 147.3
- Mood: Normal
- Sleep Pattern: Normal
Filed under: Diet, Weightloss, athletes, body image, body types, computer geeks, ectomorph, endomorph, exercise, mesomorph, movie stars, rock stars
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