Hourglass
If you're an hourglass, you're likely to have a narrow waist with a wellproportioned upper and lower body. And if you gain extra pounds at all, they're likely to go straight to your hips. An hourglass lady such as Mallika Sherawat looks amazing, purely in terms of vital stats, and for her, the secret to looking good is toning up without building huge muscles.
Activities such as pole dancing or belly dancing will encourage those with an hourglass shape to use their core strength and tone the tummy area. If you want to lose excess weight, running on a treadmill or on a cross trainer would be perfect. In the gym, 10-15 reps of squats, lunges and pushing and pulling exercises would increase the metabolic rate and burn extra fat. Another easy way to raise your metabolism is to eat more chillies!
So adding fresh chillies, chilli powder or flakes to dishes will give you a fine daily dose of an active chemical called capsaicin, which increases our calorie-burning rate.
Pear
You are probably a pear if you're not quite an hourglass because you're smaller on top and yet you have pronounced hips. A pear shape's hips are slightly wider than the shoulders and if you gain weight, it goes straight to the hips and thighs. Pop stars such as Shakira and Beyonce are both pears, and so are Bollywood's darling Madhuri Dixit and our very own munni Malaika Arora Khan.
Pears need an exercise plan that will reduce excess weight on the lower body while building up the top half. To tackle a chunky bottom half, cycling would do the job and for the top half, using the chest press or shoulder press at the gym will broaden the shoulders. A healthy diet is crucial too - because calories from junk food will go straight to the hips and thighs, making you look even more out of balance. Snacking on fresh fruit and nuts and drinking lots of water is a good way to target thigh-fat. Fresh nuts are also rich in essential fats, which can limit fat storage.
Ruler
If you go straight up and down, like Anushka Sharma or F.R.I.E.N.D.S star Courtney Cox, you may be a ruler shape. This shape has slender arms and legs and there is little difference between the size of the hips, waist or shoulders. But if you gain weight, it goes to the stomach or bum, and puts you at risk of 'dairy bottom', which is a fat bottom caused by eating excessive dairy products. Rulers must opt for cow's milk alternatives such as soya or oat milk. Nut and seed butters can be used as spreads instead of regular butter. For exercise, ruler shapes need a balanced workout that covers all muscle groups. Experiment with any exercise that takes your fancy such as horse-riding or line dancing. Cardio activities will target any excess weight in problem areas such as the stomach or bottom.
Square
If you have a large waist and shoulders, then you're likely to be a square, like Rani Mukherjee. To add more symmetry to your shape, squares need to focus on the lower body and shoulders, for which swimming is a great exercise. Half an hour of swimming or repetitive squats and lunges by using equipment like a leg press at the gym should do you good. Shoulders can be worked on by doing press-ups and pull-downs. Scientists have proven that people who gain weight on their upper body may suffer from an imbalance of the sex hormones estrogen, progesterone and testosterone, and for them, a diet high in phyto-estrogens, would help get the balance right. These substances can be found in Soya products as well as in chickpeas, lentils, rye beans, alfalfa beans and flaxseeds.
Apple
If you have a large chest and a bit of a tummy but with slim hips, it is likely you are an apple like Ayesha Takia is. If you gain weight, it is likely to go around your waist. For the appleshaped, managing stress is key. But yoga or pilates can make you relax.
Stress is enormously disruptive to blood sugar levels as it makes you overproduce the stress hormone cortisol, which in turn leads to excess abdominal fat. Eating little and once in every two to three hours is the secret. Adding a little protein to every small meal and snack is vital. Try an egg for breakfast, fresh nuts or hummus for a snack, a bean or lentil soup for lunch and grilled fish for an evening meal. These foods will provide a good daily dose of protein and keep your blood sugar levels steady.
The more stressed you are, the more weight you carry on your upper body. Hence, this shape should focus on resistance training rather than cardio.
