One way to set today's stage is to state what I hope you already know. I enjoy doing everything that needs to be done to create this column.

I better. If I didn't, what a waste of time. Since June of 1989, I've created more than 1400, and what probably takes you two minutes to read usually takes me 10 hours to write.Maybe it takes that long because I value style as much as substance. I know if I cloak the really important concepts in creative or clever or comical writing, you're more likely to remember them. If you remember them, you just might try them and feel better.That's something else I hope you already know. The goal of each article is to make as many readers as possible a bit more physically fit or a few pounds lighter - or maybe even a whole lot happier. That's why today's article focuses on personalizing your diet.Again.Because this will be the fourth consecutive article that addresses the matter in some manner, I considered changing topics. But as soon as I thought about the goal of all columns and how well personalizing my diet has worked for me, my hesitation waned and I typed this headline.After all, Americans spend billions of dollars each year in an attempt increase energy, decrease body weight, and reduce the incidence and severity of illness. Wouldn't people already interested enough to read a health-and-fitness column be open to personalizing their diet to achieve one, two, or all three of these?You would assume so - if they knew how to do it.Unfortunately, there is no blueprint. No how-to manual exists. But if you know a bit about your body type and how it affects the way you metabolize protein, carbohydrates, and fat, you should be able to make a successful eating adjustment or two.That success should motivate you enough to keep experimenting until you've personalized your diet to such an extent that it allows you to achieve whatever you want to.Time for a quick and simplified body type review.If you link up the word "dough" with endomorph, you'll probably remember that's the body type that tends to be "doughy" and add fat easily. If you link up "muscle" with mesomorph, you'll probably remember that's the body type that tends to be muscular and add muscle easily.If you employ the process of elimination, you'll probably remember the third type, ectomorph. If a body doesn't add fat or muscle easily, it tends to remain thin.So which type are you?To some extent, you are all of the above. What you need to determine is your degree of endomorphy, mesomorphy, and ectomorphy.Picture that famous guy you frequently see in a tank top and shorts, Lebron James. He is as muscular as many professional football players even though he runs about 3 miles every time he plays in an NBA game.To remain so muscular while competing in a highly aerobic sport at its highest level means James is predominantly a mesomorph. But despite the huge aerobic demand placed on his body, if he's not diligent with his diet, he can gain weight.That means, to a lesser degree, he's an endomorph.What he's absolutely not is an ectomorph. The only way James is losing a lot of weight is if he becomes terribly sick - or a Buddhist monk.So using the 1-to-7 scale employed to assess body type, you would probably give James a 3 for endomorphy, a 6 for mesomorphy, and a 1 for ectomorphy.Another well-known basketball player, Steph Curry, would probably record the same numbers but in totally different categories: a 1 for endomorphy, a 3 for mesomorphy, and a 6 for ectomorphy.So what does such a dramatic difference in body shape suggest? That when they ingest the same amount of protein, carbohydrates, and fats, their bodies react differently - especially when it comes to the carbohydrates.James's digestive system probably breaks down carbs quicker, and it's just about certain that his body would produce more insulin than Curry's if their blood sugar levels were similar. That's a safe statement to make because insulin is the storage hormone, transporting energy first to the muscles and then possibly (or probably if you don't eat properly) to the fat stores.James is not gaining muscle (or fat) unless his body is producing insulin. Same for Curry. It's just that Curry needs to consume more carbohydrates to produce the same amount of insulin as James.Even though this ends the fourth consecutive column on personalizing your diet, much has been left out. This article, for instance, only directly addresses one of the three benefits claimed in the headline.A three-credit course may not even do the topic justice.Luckily, you don't need one or even any additional information to begin. All you need to do is honestly assess your body type and then change the way you eat to either produce more or less insulin or more or less of its opposite, glucagon.Increasing the percentage of protein you ingest while decreasing the percentage of carbohydrates - particularly simple carbs - decreases insulin production, making it less likely that you add body fat, but it also reduces your odds of increasing muscle mass. Continue replacing carbs with protein and you reach a point where insulin production becomes so limited that glucagon production increases.Glucagon breaks down stored fat to provide the blood stream and the muscles with energy, creating "good" weight loss.Contact Kevin Kolodziejski at

kolo@ptd.net