.jpg)
Macro Morphing for Women: Tailor Your Diet to Your Body Type
There are over eight billion people on this earth and one thing is certain, there is no one like you. From our genetics and appearance to skills, beliefs, and values, many elements combine to make us unique.
One thing that sets us apart is our body. While we’re all anatomically similar, our shape and size is unique to us.
That is why we need to take a tailored approach to our diet. This can be done through macro morphing, a way of eating based on body type to help you achieve the best results.
In this article, we discuss macro morphing. We cover how it is used to achieve your fitness goals, the different body types, meal plans, and more.
What is Macro Morphing?
Macro morphing refers to tailoring your macronutrient intake based on your body type. There are three body types: ectomorph, mesomorph, and endomorph. We can adjust our carbohydrate, protein, and fat intake to support daily function and help us achieve better results.
How It Can Help Women Achieve Their Health and Fitness Goals
While each body type is different in appearance, each has certain predispositions to how it builds muscle and stores fat. For example, ectomorphs typically have a high metabolism, making it difficult to gain weight and muscle. If an ectomorph wants to increase muscle mass, they must eat a calorie surplus, combined with a balance of protein carbohydrates, and fat.
Meanwhile, an endomorph tends to carry more weight and store fat easily due to a slower metabolism. Because of this, they need to consider reducing their carbohydrate intake and focus on eating protein and healthy fats.
These changes may be subtle, but combined with modifications to caloric intake make it easier to achieve specific health and fitness goals.
The Importance of Tailoring Nutrition to Your Body Type
Nutrition is one of the most effective ways we can alter our health and appearance. While a simple reduction of calories can help us lose or gain weight, the added specificity of changing our macronutrient intake allows us to tailor our results to our exact needs.
While it is easy to generalize and tell an endomorph to eat less and exercise more, a better directive is to speak in specifics. Similar to programming a workout with specific exercises, sets, repetitions, and rest times, tailoring a nutrition to your body type can make shedding the unwanted weight, and building muscle much easier.
Understanding Different Female Body Types
Understanding your body type can help change the way you think about your body and how to approach your fitness goals. Below, we list each body type, its key characteristics, and how to morph the macros to achieve the best results.
Ectomorph: The Lean and Long Body Type
Ectomorphs have slim appearance, with narrow shoulders and hips. Presenting with a faster metabolism it makes it difficult to build muscle and gain weight.
Because of this, they require a balance of macronutrients, with a higher carbohydrate intake due to the increased energy expenditure. To gain muscle, they will need a significant calorie surplus and should consider increasing protein intake by around 10% and dropping carbohydrates by 10%.
Characteristics
- Narrow shoulders and hips.
- Slim or skinny appearance.
- Fast metabolism.
- Difficulty gaining weight and building muscle.
Macronutrient Ratio
- Carbohydrates: 55% of total calorie intake
- Protein: 25% of total calorie intake
- Fats: 20% of total calorie intake
Mesomorph: The Naturally Muscular and Athletic Body Type
Mesomorphs tend to have medium to wide shoulders and a narrow waist. They find it easier to build muscle and lose fat, providing them with an athletic physique.
A mesomorph’s macronutrient ratio can vary greatly based on their training goals. Given that they can build lean muscle easily, they can increase their protein intake, however, this largely depends on their physical activity.
Because they have a fast metabolism, a diet built around complex carbohydrates and protein is essential. Protein will help support lean muscle mass, while both complex carbohydrates and protein will help maintain satiety. This is essential for a mesomorph as eating foods with spike of energy will lead them to consume more calories, leading to possible weight gain.
Characteristics
- Medium to wide shoulders and narrow waist.
- Muscular appearance and naturally athletic.
- Fast metabolism.
- Find it easy to gain muscle and lose fat.
Macronutrient Ratio
- Carbohydrates: 40% of total calorie intake
- Protein: 30% of total calorie intake
- Fats: 30% of total calorie intake
Endomorph: The Curvier and Easily Gains Fat Body Type
Endomorphs often have a wider waist, slower metabolism, and store fat easier which results in a curvier appearance.
Because of this, their macronutrient ratio will contain balance, prioritizing protein, while reducing carbohydrate intake. As mentioned, protein can improve satiety, however, an interesting fact is that it can increase thermogenesis. This is when the body raises its temperature or energy output, increasing metabolism.
These create a positive swing of decreased total calorie intake due to satiety, and increased energy expenditure, leading to greater weight loss and fat loss.
A combination of a calorie deficit and macronutrient tracking is essential for an endomorph to lose weight. Eat meals should contain a lean source of protein and complex carbohydrates. This will help maintain energy levels and satiety, leading to a successful eating plan.
Characteristics
- Wider waist.
- Curvy appearance.
- Slower metabolism.
- Stores fat easily.
Macronutrient Ratio
- Carbohydrates: 25% of total calorie intake
- Protein: 35% of total calorie intake
- Fats: 40% of total calorie intake
Designing a Meal Plan Based on Your Body Type
Calories, macronutrients, numbers, facts, and figures can all feel like a lot to process and put into practice. So, below we have created small sample meal plans based on your body type to show you just how easy macro morphing with nutrient-dense can be.
The following meal plans will have calories and macronutrients divided evenly across four meals.
Ectomorph Meal Plan: High-Carb, Moderate Protein, Lower Fat
The following ectomorph meal plan is to gain lean muscle. Below is we list the calories and macronutrients for each meal. Due to an ectomorph's higher metabolism, we have increased calories to 2,200. This is to create a calorie surplus, allowing them to gain weight and build. muscle.
Each meal should contain a lean source of protein, and complex carbohydrates, and while choosing low-fat food options to stay within your daily fat intake.
- Calories: 2,200 calories per day
- Carbohydrates: 55% of total calorie intake = 302 grams
- Protein: 25% of total calorie intake = 138 grams
- Fats: 20% of total calorie intake = 49 grams
Mesomorph Meal Plan: Balanced Carbs, Protein, and Healthy Fats
This mesomorph meal plan is designed to maintain health weight and muscle mass. The average calorie intake for women is 2,000 per day, which does vary based on age, weight, and activity level.
Furthermore, these meals should contain a source of protein to maintain muscle and satiety.
- Calories: 2,000
- Carbohydrates: 40% of total calorie intake = 200 grams
- Protein: 30% of total calorie intake = 150 grams
- Fats: 30% of total calorie intake = 67 grams
Endomorph Meal Plan: Lower Carb, High Protein, Higher Fat
This endomorph meal plan is designed for weight loss. Centered around a calorie deficit, it also reduced carbohydrate intake in favor of additional protein to help improve satiety. Furthermore, additional protein is essential for maintaining muscle mass during a calorie deficit.
- Calories: 1,800 kcal
- Carbohydrates: 30% of total calorie intake = 112 grams
- Protein: 40% of total calorie intake = 158 grams
- Fats: 30% of total calorie intake = 80 grams
Tips for Adjusting Macros to Meet Specific Goals
Whether it's to lose weight, build muscle, or sustain energy levels, nutrition is the ket to achieving our health and wellness goals. Below, we detail how to adjust your macronutrients to meet specific goals.
Weight Loss: Adapting Macros for Fat Loss
When it comes to losing weight calorie deficit is king, as we want to be burning more calories than we are consuming. While the equation of calories in an calories out is simple, it takes more than just starting ourselves to ensure the success of a weight loss diet plan. This is where macronutrients come in!
Calorie deficit can lead to feelings of hunger and decreased energy, which is completely normal. However, unmanaged macronutrient ratios and poor food choices can make it a real drag and reduce meal plan sustainability.
For weight loss, protein and complex carbohydrates need to be prioritized. As mentioned, protein can improve satiety. Meanwhile, complex carbohydrates are rich in fiber and offer a slow release of energy. These two macronutrients can keep us full between meals, reducing snacking and helping us stick to our calorie deficit.
Muscle Gain: Increasing Protein and Caloric Intake
Like weight loss, gaining muscle requires us to prioritize protein, however, this time we need to focus on a calorie surplus. Building lean muscle mass requires a positive protein balance when we have greater protein synthesis, than protein breakdown.
To achieve this, we need to hit our recommended daily protein target. The recommended daily intake for the average person is 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight per day. To build lean muscle mass, this figure increases to 1.4–1.6g/kg/day.
While protein is an important factor for gaining muscle, carbohydrates must also be consumed to fuel our body for the intensity resistance training session.
Maintaining Energy Levels During Workouts
Maintaining energy levels is essential for a great workout. While it can be tempting to drop carbs altogether and create a major calorie deficit, we won’t be leaving much fuel in the tank to perform in the gym. Sure, we can push through our training sessions, but will likely result in poor performance, fatigue, and additional muscle soreness.
To combat this, we can increase carbohydrate intake. Carbohydrates are our primary source of fuel, with complex carbohydrates providing slow-release energy.
Therefore, by focusing on protein and carbohydrates, we can improve workout energy levels, reduce fatigue, and enhance recovery.
How to Track and Adjust Macros Based on Progress
One misconception about setting nutrition-related fitness goals is that we can set and forget our calorie and macronutrient intake,.Whether we are making great progress or our plan isn’t working, we will need minor tweaks to progress toward our goal.
For example, say our daily calorie intake is 2,200. We would create a small deficit of 400 per day to lose weight. This leaves us with 1,800 per day. We may also consider increasing our protein intake by 10% and reducing our carbohydrate intake by 10% to preserve muscle mass during the calorie deficit, improve our satiety, and increase our metabolism by boosting thermogenesis.
Once we successfully lose weight, we need to switch to maintenance calories and adjust our protein and carbohydrate intake to their initial percentages.
In this example, we recommend increasing intake by 200 calories to 2,000 calories. Once this is done, we can monitor energy levels, performance, and weight. If the weight stabilizes, then this is the correct amount. If weight increases, then we drop it again by 100 calories.
This can also be applied to someone who wants to build muscle mass and is in a calorie surplus. Once they hit their goal weight, they can adjust their macronutrients and calories to maintain their progress.
Common Mistakes When Macro Morphing
Like any adjustments to health and nutrition, macro morphing is subject to several mistakes that may do more harm than good. Below, we highlight the most common ones and what you should do to avoid them.
Over-Restricting Carbs or Fats
Over the past couple of decades, carbs and fat have been blamed for making us overweight. From the low-fat boom in the 80s and 90s to the low-carb boom in the 90s and early 2000s, mass media and the dieting industry have led us to believe we aren’t achieving our weight loss goals because we consume these macronutrients.
Sadly, this narrative has led to many restricting carb and fat intake, which can resulted in many people losing weight, however, they will experience tiredness, irritablity, and nutrient deficient which leads to poor weight loss plan adherence.
As mentioned, carbohydrates are an essential food source for the body. They provide us with energy, fiber, and several other vitamins and minerals that keep us in good health. Healthy fats provide us with energy and are used to absorb vital nutrients while supporting hormone production and cell function.
While the excess of these can lead to weight gain, the act of over-restricting them is an over-correction which will ultimately result in poor health. The key to effective marco morphing is and always has been balancing your macronutrient intake. By providing our both with each macronutrient, we improve our chances of achieving our fitness goals and overall health.
Not Adjusting Macros for Changes in Activity Levels
One of the most common mistakes in macro morphing is not adjusting our macros to match our activity levels.
For example, say we are a mesomorph we have just begun our fitness journey and decided to lose weight. We place ourselves into a calorie deficit, adjusting our macronutrients to carbohydrates 40%, protein 30%, and fats 30%.
After six months we have achieved our weight loss goal and we decided to start training for strength which entails lifting heavy weights with maximum effort. We adjust our calories to maintainance calories while leaving our macros the same.
The first couple of sessions are great, however, we do experience muscle soreness and fatigue, which may be the result of the increased training intensity. However, after a month the fatigue and soreness rarely subside, which has led to poor lifting performance.
This is what happens when we don’t adjust our macros to match our activity level. Strength training does require protein and fat, however, the decrease in carbohydrates means we aren’t providing our bodies with enough fuel to perform or replenish muscle energy stores. This leads to fatigue, soreness, and poor recovery, limiting our lifting capacity for the following session.
In this instance, we need to create a calorie surplus to meet the training demands. Furthermore, our macronutrients must be adjusted to 55-65% carbohydrates, 15% protein, and 30% to provide our body with energy to perform our heavy lifts and adequately recover.
While there is no one-size-fits-all approach to training and nutrition, this provides us with a general idea of how to change our macros based on our energy levels.
Ignoring the Importance of Micronutrients
During macro morphing, it can be easy to get fixated on calorie and macronutrient intake as they are major determinants for achieving our goals. However, we must also consider choosing nutrient-dense foods to get our essential micronutrients.
Micronutrients are essential for overall health and well-being, playing a vital role in metabolism and maintaining tissue function. They are important for bone, muscles, heart, brain, digestive, and nervous systems while supporting immune function and hormone regulation.
Achieving our goals is possible through eating food that contains little micronutrients, however, this will result in nutrient deficiencies which can impact our long-term health.
But we know what you are thinking — there are so many micronutrients, is it even possible to track them without spending hours each day obsessing over each food's nutritional information?
Fortunately, most of our micronutrient needs can be met by consuming a variety of nutrient-dense whole foods. These are packed with micronutrients, with each food containing similar and slightly different vitamins and minerals, meaning that by increasing variety, we can ensure we are hitting our micronutrient intake.
If you would like to track your micronutrients, consider speaking with a nutritionist or using a nutrition tracking app. A nutritionist can help create a tailored meal plan to help you meet your dietary needs, while apps have large food databases that will have all your nutritional information.
Long-Term Success with Macro Morphing
Long-term success with macro morphing comes down to the quality of our nutrition, and our ability to monitor and adjust our diet to meet our current needs. Below we discuss our tips for ensuring successful macro morphing.
When and How to Reassess Your Macros
There can be many ups and downs during the macro morphing process, which can give us the urge to adjust our macronutrients. However, when we adjust then at the wrong time can negatively impact our progress. So, when is the right time to reassess our macros?
A common mistake many make is to adjusting macros at the first sign of a plateau. Whether they gain extra weight or see poor performance, they react and preemptively make dietary changes, which gives our bodies little time time to adapt to our training and diet.
The best thing to do is plan check-in times within your program to reassess and make adjustments. This can be done every month or at the halfway mark, which allows time for our body to adapt to training. If after a month of plateaus of no major changes, then we can adjust our macros.
For example, if someone in a calorie deficit trying to lose weight gains weight, they may want to increase the deficit slightly, while increasing protein intake and reducing carbohydrates.
For individuals looking to gain muscle but who aren’t making progress should consider increasing their calorie intake and shifting proteins and fats to carbohydrates. This will give them more energy to perform in the gym.
Each scenario requires us to assess our diet, training, and progress. This enables us to determine when and how to reassess our macros.
Maintaining Flexibility in Your Diet
The key to long-term success with nutrition is the ability to be flexible with your diet. While it can be tempting to go cold turkey and swear off all our favorite foods, it can lead to frustration, boredom, and poor adherence.
Macro-morphing alongside calorie tracking may sound restrictive, but it actually gives us greater control over what we can eat — Want to go out for a nice dinner and a glass of wine on Friday night? Reduce your calorie intake that day.
Want to enjoy a night out with friends? Reduce your calorie intake by 100–200 each day during the week.
Tracking your nutrition is the key to improving flexibility. It allows you to regain control of your health, without losing sight of your goals.
Incorporating Whole Foods and Healthy Choices
Adding whole, nutrient-dense foods is an excellent way to ensure macro morphing success. Making a healthy shift can be challenging as is achieved by lowering our calorie intake and reducing calorie-dense processed foods. This can lead to hunger and cravings.
The addition of nutrient-dense, whole foods can lead to greater satiety and improve energy levels. This is because they are loaded with essential vitamins and minerals, which not only the body tissue and systems but can also contain fewer calories, allowing us to eat a greater volume. This leads to greater overall health and increases your chances of achieving your macro morphing goals.
Conclusion
Macro morphing is an incredible tool to improve our health. Adjusting our macronutrients to match our body type has a range of benefits including:
- Improved weight loss.
- Increased muscle mass.
- Enhanced training performance.
- Sustainable energy levels.
- Greater nutritional awareness.
- Great dietary flexibility.
If you would like to try macro-morphing or tailoring your nutrition to your specific goals identify your goals, and calorie intake, and begin tracking your nutrition using an app.
The app will help you develop greater nutritional awareness and allow you to start achieving your fitness goals.
Just remember to set your goals, and avoid premature changes to your plan. This will give you a clear picture of your progress, which can be assessed and adjusted to help you achieve your goals.
FAQs
What is macro morphing, and how can it help women?
Macro morphing is a nutrition approach focused on adjusting the intake of macronutrients—proteins, fats, and carbohydrates—to support specific fitness or health goals. For women, this method can help achieve balanced weight management, hormonal health, and muscle toning by tailoring nutrient ratios to meet individual needs at different life stages.
How do I know what my macro ratios should be?
Determining the right macro ratios depends on your personal goals, lifestyle, and activity level. Women seeking weight loss might emphasize higher protein, while those aiming for muscle growth may increase carbs. Consulting a nutritionist or using a macro calculator can help set an initial ratio to adjust as needed.
Can macro morphing help with menopause symptoms?
Yes, macro morphing can help manage menopause symptoms by balancing blood sugar, supporting energy levels, and reducing cravings. Adjusting protein, healthy fats, and fiber intake can contribute to stabilizing hormones and alleviating common symptoms like fatigue and mood swings.
How does macro morphing differ from other diet approaches?
Macro morphing focuses on the balance of macronutrients rather than strict calorie counting or food restrictions. This approach allows more flexibility and personalization, especially beneficial for women who want to adapt their diet to changing needs without sacrificing energy or satisfaction.
What foods are best for macro morphing?
Foods rich in lean protein (like chicken, fish, and legumes), healthy fats (such as avocados and olive oil), and complex carbs (like whole grains and vegetables) are ideal for macro morphing. Including fiber-rich foods can also aid digestion and support hormonal balance, making it easier to reach your goals.
