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What your body shape says about your health

Should you wear skinnies or boyfriend jeans? Your body shape can help you decide which jeans you’d look best in – and reveal a few things about your health too.

The most common shapes are pear, apple, inverted triangle and rectangular. People of all shapes and sizes can be healthy, but sometimes your shape could put you at risk for certain diseases.

Your natural body shape is determined by your genes, but diet, exercise, sleep and stress levels all play important roles in “shaping” you.

Apple

If most of your weight accumulates around your hips and abdomen, you have an apple-shaped body. So basically, you’d be wide on top and small on the bottom. The apple shape usually develops with age and is most common in men, giving them a “pot belly”. This shape shows that you follow a poor diet, do very little exercise and are highly stressed. For men, drinking too much alcohol is a big contributor to this shape. An apple shape means excess fat in your abdominal area. This increases your risk for cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and high blood pressure. That’s because this type of fat builds up deep in your torso and constantly dissolves into the bloodstream, circulating throughout the body.

Stay healthy

Being active is very important if you’re apple-shaped. Choose exercises like swimming, cycling, jogging or weight training to help regulate your weight. Weight training is also good. If you can’t find the time to exercise regularly because of an office job, get up often to stretch, take walks during your lunch break, and take the stairs instead of the lift. For your diet, include protein-rich foods, lots of fibre and go easy on carbs. Avoid processed foods, cakes and biscuits, and instead, fill up on fruits and veggies.

Pear

Pear-shaped people are heavier at the bottom. As a pear, your hip section would be wider than your upper body, so most of your fat is deposited around your thighs, hips and buttocks. Pear-shaped people are healthier than apple shapes as they have less fat around their abdomen. This reduces the risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes, but the extra weight around the hips can increase the risk of osteoarthritis. Pear-shaped women are also more at risk of breast cancer as they have higher levels of oestrogen.

Stay healthy

By converting fat into muscle, pear-shaped people can lower their chances of getting diseases like osteoarthritis. Do exercises targeted at leg muscles like running, strength training and power walking. Fill up on high-protein foods like eggs, soy, cheese, milk, yoghurt, beans and lean meats like skinless chicken. Remember to check your breasts regularly for lumps that may hint at the beginnings of breast cancer. Talk to your doctor if you have any worries.

Rectangular

Like a ruler, a rectangular body shape is straight and slim. People with this shape carry their weight proportionally, but they may also have some weight around their middle.

Stay healthy

This shape usually indicates a fast metabolism. So, you can eat just about everything in moderation and aren’t at risk for a specific condition. You should still watch your calories, though. If you aren’t too happy with your straight frame and would like to build some curves, go for strength training. Focus on your shoulders, buttocks and thighs to add in a few healthy curves to your body.

Inverted triangle

Broad shoulders with a narrow waist point to an inverted triangle body shape. It might sound silly to be shaped like a triangle, but it’s a healthy shape. It means you’re likely to have enough muscle and a good waist-to-hip circumference. Like the rectangular shape, you’ll have a fast metabolism and won’t gain fat easily. If you stick to a healthy diet, keeping the weight off will be easy.

Stay healthy

To keep healthy and build muscle in your bottom half, choose exercises that will work your thighs, waist and buttocks. Try lunges, stepping and squats with cardio to get rid of fat in your midsection. Include enough chicken and fish in your diet to keep your protein levels at their peak. This will lower your risk for health conditions.

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