Can Endomorphs Eat Carbs and Stay Lean?


An endomorph is characterized by a wider waist, large bone structure, and easy to store fat, especially around the midsection. Prioritizing nutrition and paying attention to carb intake can help with achieving greater results.

Can endomorphs eat carbs?

Endomorphs can eat carbs that are minimally processed, ideally with the company of large amounts of proteins and fats. For endomorphs, most starchy carbs should be consumed around and after the workout time to prevent the high sugar spike that leads to weight gain.

This means eating carbs should be done mostly during the workout days.

How Many Carbs Should An Endomorph Eat?

Endomorphs have a hard time with losing fat because they have a lower tolerance to carbohydrates. This means just a little bit of carbs spike up the insulin and move the needle towards the fat storage. That’s why limiting carb intake can be a good way to lower body fat.

How many carbs should an endomorph eat?

Endomorphs should eat around 25% of carbs, 35% of proteins, and 40% of fat in the diet. For a 140-pounds female endomorph, who wants to reduce weight and eat 1750 calories, 437 calories should come from carbohydrates, 612 from protein, and 700 from fat.

But that’s if you like the numbers.

And following the numbers means you kind of making your food choices based on some charts, not on your likes and dislikes.

For instance, if you like carbs, and you start to believe that you cannot have them because you’re an endomorph, I will stop you right there.

This mindset will give you more harm than good. Because the more you deprive yourself of the foods that you like, the more likely you will crave and stress yourself about those foods. Which will lead to unwanted overeating.

Here is the trick. You can still have carbs as long as you prioritize your proteins. The most important is the amount of protein you eat at your meals because it will give you satiety and lower the sugar levels.

So the good rule of thumb is to start your meal planning with proteins. This will have the most significant effect on your results. And once you loaded your plate with proteins, then add some veggies, fruits and leave a little room for starchy carbs.

Do Endomorphs Need Carbs?

Carbs are important for endomorphs. Not only because of the energy they provide, but also the pleasure they give. Ignoring the fact that food is there to be cherished and enjoyed will totally alter your relationship with food.

Do endomorphs needs carbs?

Endomorphs do need carbs because carbs provide a good source of energy, have high satiety, are easy to digest and provide a sense of pleasure. Eating an excess amount of processed carbs as an endomorph can be detrimental, but eating mindfully high-quality carbs has a positive effect.

This means carbs are needed not just to supply the horsepower for the engine to run.

Food apart from energy has a holistic effect, and eating high-quality foods that have carbohydrates not only will deliver all the essential minerals and vitamins, but also help you with mood and mental health.

People fall off the wagon of dieting from two reasons:

  • They use food as an emotional buddy to cope with (or avoid) unwanted emotions.

This means the food is not the problem here. The problem is the problem. If we are overstressed, and we look for the emotional blanket to cuddle to, most people who struggle with overeating, use food (source).

Instead of using food as a cover for our psychological hunger, it’s much better to share your feeling and emotions with others, and use food as a way to satisfy your physical hunger.

  • They diet and deprive themselves for so long from the food they like so they eventually give up and throw the towel.

Dieting creates an enormous amount of stress and discomfort. Depriving yourself of food you want, but you believe you cannot have is also stress.

So depending on what else is going on in your life, the more stress you have, naturally, you will look up for ways to reduce the stress. Aka eats more (source).

When To Eat Carbs For Endomorph?

Let’s say you’re already seeing great results, and you just want to shred few extra pounds. Having a specific carb timing approach can help you manipulate your glucose levels. This means keeping it at bay most of the time, and increase when needed.

When to eat carbs for endomorph?

The best time to eat carbs for endomorphs is before, during, and after resistance training, together with proteins. A small number of carbs will elevate glucose and insulin levels, which will bond to the amino acids and shuttle them directly to the muscle.

This way you eat carbs, without storing the fat. Because all the sugars go directly to replace used glycogen. This process only works thanks to the impact of resistance training. It’s like air traffic control.

  • When you lift weights, carbs will go to the muscles.
  • When you do nothing, carbs will be stored as fat.

Post Workout Carbs For Endomorphs

If we gonna go one step further and want to minimize post-workout carbs, endomorphs can prioritize intra-workout nutrition. This is as simple as mixing high-quality BCAA that is rich in leucine with water and adding a spoonful of table sugar. You drink that 15 minutes before and during your workout (source).

Sugar will elevate your insulin and start to redistribute all the leucine to your muscles, while you training. This is like feeding the monster at the peak of its hunger.

Not only it will boost up your recovery but also help you minimize muscle protein breakdown.

There are multiple products on the market that you can buy as an intra-workout mix. However, if you choose to buy them, you must make sure that the sugars they have are the actual glucose or maltose.

Why?

Because if you’re drinking artificial sweeteners they won’t influence your insulin levels. And that’s exactly what you need during workout time. For the rest of the days, you want your insulin to stay low.

What Kind Of Carbs Should Endomorphs Eat?

The next step is to find the best carbs that you can eat while not working out or on the rest days.

The goal here is to either choose foods that provide you high satiety or simply combine carbs with a high amount of proteins.

Best Carbs For Endomorphs

Best healthy carbs for endomorphs are the foods that keep you full for longer because they will reduce the cravings and lower your frequency of snacking during the day.

To make this list I’ve used the satiety score.

The baseline is white bread which is 100%. So anything higher means it’s got higher satiety, and anything lower has lower satiety.

  • Oven-baked potatoes 323%
  • Oatmeal 208%
  • Oranges (whole) 202%
  • Apples 192%
  • Brown pasta 188%
  • Wholemeal bread 157%
  • Grain bread 154%
  • All bran cereals 151%

As you can see, some foods make you fuller for longer. Most of the foods that will help you with the results are plant-based, whole foods. And all the processed foods like cakes, ice-creams, and croissants will make your appetite go up, not down.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can Endomorphs Eat Bananas?

Endomorphs can eat bananas as a part of a well-balanced diet. Bananas contain a mix of starch and simple sugars, which is a perfect meal before the training because of the fast absorption of the sugars.

Can Endomorphs Eat Oatmeal?

Endomorphs can eat oatmeal because oatmeal has a high satiety score and is loaded with complex carbohydrates that don’t elevate sugar levels. Oatmeal can be a part of a balanced breakfast for endomorphs when they combine that with proteins and fats.

Can Endomorphs Eat Rice?

Rice is a great source of carbohydrates that provide a lot of energy and can be eaten by endomorphs as long as its mixed together with some other foods like vegetables, beans, legumes, meats or fish.

Can Endomorphs Eat Bread?

Endomorphs can eat bread as long as it’s come in the meal with other foods that are rich in proteins and fats like cheese, ham, turkey, bacon, peanut butter, or olive oil. Having extra macronutrients not only completes the amino acid profile but also improves satiety.

Conclusion

Endomorphs can and should eat carbs because there is nothing wrong with eating carbs. If the goal is to have better body composition, then the main driver should be to focus on the calorie deficit, not on the elimination of some specific food items.

Michal Sieroslawski

Michal is a personal trainer and writer at Millennial Hawk. He holds a MSc in Sports and Exercise Science from the University of Central Lancashire. He is an exercise physiologist who enjoys learning about the latest trends in exercise and sports nutrition. Besides his passion for health and fitness, he loves cycling, exploring new hiking trails, and coaching youth soccer teams on weekends.

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