Apple shape advice??
 

I was just posting a reply on "what parts of your body do u dislike the most" and it got me thinking...i need advice!
I'm a very strange apple shape. I mean i have quite a small waist but ALL the weight i have seems to gather round my lower stomach, i have huge back handles and it looks so weird.
Does anyone ahve any advice on how to help shift this weight? It's so stubborn!
Cat
x

Are you sure your very strange apple shape isn't actually a pear? It sort of sounds like it might be.

No, a pear is hips and butt.
Sorry, I've always heard that you can't spot reduce. It will just come off with everything else. I've heard diet affects belly fat; too much breads might do it. Sit ups and weight lifting and exercises focused on the core might be the way to go.

That's what I thought. I always associated apple shapes with having very broad shoulders and somewhat narrow waists, hips... My best friend is a perfect example. She's very broad, has large arms, but almost no hips (like a boy shape) and she's overweight. She just carries her weight from the waist up- not the waist down.

Here's a good site that explains the difference. Figure out which you might be. It also offers good tips for either shape:

http://www.uniquelywoman.co.uk/women's_apple_pear_shape_body_images.htm

I have a big stomach so I don't think that will help you all that much. I find that clothes that don't HANG on me look better, yeah they may be a little more fitted against my belly but if they are snug and the bust then flowy it looks like I'm pregnant.

Raw - that website is interesting... I guess I'm glad that I'm an apple because it's aeasier to lose the weight in the upper body but the health risks are scary!

I'm exactly like you are!
I have a small waist, small boobs, but i seem to have almost all my weight on my lower stomach, and i also have huge back handles. But my boom is kind of small.
And the weight on my lower stomach and the back handles seems to stay the same :(
Someone once told me that I'm an hourglass with small boobs, lol, but i don't know.
My body is really weird.:dizzy:

I'm an apple! My husband calls me his mini-fridge (: My shoulders and hips are about the same size, and my stomach is just as large because I've gained so much. Ta-da! Mini fridge! Or apple. Lose the weight and you should lose the stomach, however, I don't think it will change how you are proportioned at all. But the back handles will disappear! (I'm working on mine too... blah...)

I am pretty sure that I'm an apple shape. My stomach is my biggest problem. I have 36B breasts, then the smallest part of my waist is 29 inches, around my belly button is 36 inches, and around my hips is 37.

YEEEP. I definately think I am an apple. Nothing has really changed it, either.

That's like, the opposite of a pear, though.

I'm the opposite of an hourglass, which looks to me more like an apple.

I'm an apple shape, which is related to the fact that I have PCOS and therefore insulin resistance. It sounds like I carry my weight in a similar way as you do. There is no way to spot-reduce, and I know for me personally I have found that my tummy tends to be the last place I lose fat.

I can tell you something I've learned about how I dress! I've finally accepted the fact that wearing the low-slung pants that have been very popular this decade just accentuates my problem area- as does wearing cropped shirts. I tend to wear capri pants (helps me looked a little more balanced, I think) that sit at my navel and then opt for a shirt that comes down close to my pelvic bone. You can also wear a longer tank underneath a shorter shirt- layering really helps hide my "spare tire."

One more note, since a lot of apple shapes have insulin resistance (whether they know it or not) doing strength training helps insulin resistance where regular cardio does not. Since high amounts of insulin in the blood stream forces the body to store fat, anyone with insulin resistance who is trying to lose weight will find it extremely difficult until they deal with the root problem! Strength training helps with fat loss regardless of your body type- but us apple ladies can really benefit from it!

Hope this helps!

With those measurements I'd say you are an hourglass shape as your bust and hips are roughly the same and you go in at the waist. If you were apple shape your waist to hip ratio would be much higher say something like a 33" waist with a 37" hip. A pear-shaped might have say a 32" bust with a 37" hip.

Kitty

Ok I have to be the weirdest. I'm an apple, it all goes to my stomach. But I have small boobs, wide shoulders, and small legs. Basically at my skinniest I resembled some kind of frog. It sucks and I can honestly say that building your stomach abs and continuing to lose weight is your best bet. Your tummy will probably be the last thing to budge sadly!

I Always think i have the biggest butt in the world. lol But i have a small waist so after i reach my goal weight i think ill be the most pleased woman in the world haha.