Prime
Which body shape are you?
Female body shapes.
What you need to know:
When you stand in the mirror, does your body shape resemble a pear, apple, hour glass ruler or is it cone shaped? Sarah Tumwebaze finds out the different women body types you can identify with
You have always wanted to gain weight; you therefore embarked on a mission to eat your meals on time and even force yourself to eat when you do not have the appetite. But as you struggle to gain weight someone else is struggling to lose it and has even taken slimming bills but she is not yielding any results. Many women who starve, diet, exercise, go for different fitness lessons either gain or lose weight. But have never taken time to understand their body types and shape.
According to femalecare.net, throughout history, female body shapes have played a large role in the way women look at themselves and have influenced the way others look at them as well. The roles body shapes play have far-reaching effects in determining a woman’s role in life, her exercise routine, and the clothes she wears.
“Female body shapes are determined partly by genetics or circumstance. A woman’s bone structure dictates which areas of the body will be the widest and smallest. Sometimes, there really isn’t anything women can do to change their basic body shapes short of plastic surgery, reconstructive surgery, extensive weight training, or extreme dieting. However, a woman’s specific choices of diet and exercise can influence her body’s shape to some degree,” the website states.
Rodney Byamugisha, a medical Nutrition Therapist at St Catherine Clinic says, “body types or shapes are normally composed by our genes which determine the sizes of our body frames.” He reveals that there are three major body types which every woman needs to know and understand before embarking on the weight gain or lose weight mission.
Ectomorph (Ecto)
These are skinny and thin, they eat whatever they want, whenever they want and never gain fat or weight. The ribs of an ectomorph person are visible and delicate. Their upper arms and thighs are weak; their toes, fingers and neck are long and their face features are sharp. The female ectomorphs are flat chested and look boyish.
Byamugisha explains that Ectos have a high metabolism system which burns up the calories and also leads them to visit the toilet more often. “Because of this, even when they eat a lot of food, they never gain weight thus having a light body, with small joints and lean muscles. And in the case of men, they have long limbs with thin muscles and small narrow shoulders.”
Dr Robert Mwadime, the Regional Senior Nutrition Adviser to the Food and Nutrition Technical Assistant Project (FANTA), advises that the best way to gain weight for an ectomorph is by exercising a lot. “Exercising is good because it reduces stress and also increases one’s urge to eat food.” He also adds that eating small frequent meals as opposed to one bulky meal rich in proteins, fats and carbohydrates because these contain calories and thus an efficient way of gaining weight.
Mesomorph
The mesomorph body shape is genetically gifted with an athletic build. Byamugisha says that people with such a body shape normally have larger bones and large muscles. “People with such a body type don’t worry about what they eat because they easily gain weight and at the same time can easily lose it,” he says. He however noted that such people gain weight around the abdomen and in the upper parts of their bodies. They also have cellulite around the waist and normally have a masculine build.
Endomorph (Endos)
Such people are normally soft and easily gain weight because they have a slow metabolism. Dr Mwadime says that Endomorph body shaped people have a short build with thick arms and legs. Byamugisha elucidates that in such a body type, weight gain occurs on the whole body. “Therefore Endos should aim at reducing the extra fat by exercising a lot, eat less carbohydrates and fats but increase the consumption of proteins, fibre and water,” he says, adding that fibre helps in preventing constipation where as the water helps to transport the nutrients and also washout waste products from the body. Byamugisha however warns that such people should eat small meals so that they do not have excess energy in their bodies.
Therefore, if you are out there and are trying to either gain or lose weight to fit in that particular dress you bought two months back but have not yet got any results, it’s time that you get to know your body type and how best you can attain the results you need.
Your body type
Hourglass
Women with an hourglass shape are often envied by all their friends. This is because hourglasses have well-proportioned upper and lower bodies, with a distinctively narrow waist. However, if you are an hourglass, you may find that you tend to gain weight all over your body, particularly in your hips and chest area. Hourglasses tend to be endomorphs or mesomorphs.
Pear
Pear-shaped women tend to have larger lower bodies and smaller upper bodies. If you are a pear, you will find that your hips are slightly wider than your shoulders and that you tend to gain below your waist. Pears usually have small chests and flat stomachs. Most pears are mesomorphs.
Apple
Apples are generally bigger on the top half of their bodies than on the bottom half. They commonly have slim hips and a large chest and stomach. Apples tend to gain weight above the waist or along the backside. The majority of apples are mesomorphs or endomorphs.
Ruler or banana
Women with a ruler shape tend to be slim. Rulers have no large differences between the size of their hips, waists, and shoulders. Rulers tend to put on weight in their stomach and backside, while maintaining slender arms and legs. Most rulers are ectomorphs.
