Apple shape tips

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lucyhross
lucyhross Posts: 87 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm stuck in a rut at the moment- any advice for a fellow apple shape?

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  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
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    Hi and welcome. Eat in a deficit, do it everyday good or bad!! you can do this!!

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,483 Member
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    I am apple shape and agree with @queenliz99.
    Reading all the stickies at the top of the sub forums can be very helpful.

    Also, counting calories is all that is needed to lose weight, but once you have got the hang of that, try adding in some exercise. Cardio for heart and lungs. Resistance work for bones and muscles.

    If you are having trouble strengthening your abs a good Pilates, Zumba or especially belly dancing class will teach you how to isolate them, and your obliques, so you can perform other routines/moves with better engagement. Much better results, and more fun than doing a zillion ineffective crunches. JMHO.

    cheers, h.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    queenliz99 wrote: »
    Hi and welcome. Eat in a deficit, do it everyday good or bad!! you can do this!!

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

    This. It's the same advice for pear shapes, hourglass shapes, and everyone.
  • lucyhross
    lucyhross Posts: 87 Member
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    Thanks @middlehaitch. I eat around 1600 calories, 30%carbs 30% fat and 40% protein. I cycle around 25miles a week, gym 3-4times a week, rock climb/bouldering once a week, sort the horse out three mornings a week (yard duties etc) and normally walk over 10,000 steps a day. At the gym I start off with a 15-30min HIIT session on the treadmill or watt bike then resistant training. I have just started lifting. as you can see I think I am pretty active and just think I need to focus on my diet!
  • lucyhross
    lucyhross Posts: 87 Member
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    Maybe be stricter with sugars as I've heard Apple shapes are more susceptible to insulin?
  • kristen6350
    kristen6350 Posts: 1,094 Member
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    Lross01 wrote: »
    Maybe be stricter with sugars as I've heard Apple shapes are more susceptible to insulin?

    Do yourself a favor and stop reading things that aren't posted on MFP. There is no difference between the way an Apple Shape, a Pear Shape or an Hourglass loses weight. All food is food. That's it. Unless you have a health issue that requires you to eat a certian way to feel good, eat what you want in a calorie deficent. Maybe 1600 isn't a calorie deficent for you. Any healthy adult will lose weight by controling what goes it and what comes out.

    That's it. It's that easy. And exercise is for health. To lose weight you have to eat less. Make sure your logging is precise (use a food scale). Beware that prepackaged food can be off - weight the food to get a more accurate reading on serving size. Then do this everyday. And in months you'll weigh less than you do now.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
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    Give MFP your age, height, weight and activity level. Choose a reasonable goal like 1 lb a week loss. Eat the number of calories MFP gives you. Log exercise and eat a portion of the calories you earn.
    Log as accurately as you can and choose correct entries. Get a food scale if you don't already have one.
    Take body measurements once a month.
    Be patient. It takes time for the area where you hold your most weight to shrink even if you are losing weight. I think of it like snow piled up and some places are very deep. It gets better all over but the deep area takes the longest to melt away entirely.
  • justrollme
    justrollme Posts: 802 Member
    edited March 2016
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    kristen6350 wrote: »
    Lross01 wrote: »
    Maybe be stricter with sugars as I've heard Apple shapes are more susceptible to insulin?

    Do yourself a favor and stop reading things that aren't posted on MFP. There is no difference between the way an Apple Shape, a Pear Shape or an Hourglass loses weight. All food is food. That's it. Unless you have a health issue that requires you to eat a certian way to feel good, eat what you want in a calorie deficent. Maybe 1600 isn't a calorie deficent for you. Any healthy adult will lose weight by controling what goes it and what comes out.

    That's it. It's that easy. And exercise is for health. To lose weight you have to eat less. Make sure your logging is precise (use a food scale). Beware that prepackaged food can be off - weight the food to get a more accurate reading on serving size. Then do this everyday. And in months you'll weigh less than you do now.

    As a former apple-shape, I can support this statement. Once I got into about the middle of my healthy weight range, the "apple-shape" thing was completely gone. To be honest, at my heaviest, I felt more like a blueberry. /Wonka

    ETA: People do lose weight in different places at different points during their weight loss journey, which we cannot control. For me, I noticed that I tended to lose it first in the most recent places I'd gained it, which meant that my stubborn mid-section was the last to go.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    justrollme wrote: »
    As a former apple-shape, I can support this statement. Once I got into about the middle of my healthy weight range, the "apple-shape" thing was completely gone. To be honest, at my heaviest, I felt more like a blueberry. /Wonka

    Ha!

    I agree with the advice to stop looking for apple-specific tips for weight loss. I was what you'd call an apple shape and have found that nothing is different IRT weight loss for me compared to anybody else. I am now more ruler-ish (still not much of an indentation at the waist) with my remaining fat in the stomach area. If you want to work more on body shape, focus on strength training. A full body training program is good for nearly everybody and at a certain point you can consider whether you want to try training certain areas more to build your shoulders, glutes, etc. You won't actually change your skeletal shape or your body's propensity to gain/lose fat in specific areas but you can work on building muscle in specific areas.

  • scolaris
    scolaris Posts: 2,145 Member
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    Let me sift thru my opinion as a card carrying Apple:
    Both views voiced above are 'right' insofar as apple body types AT MIDLIFE can indeed be a sign of insulin resistance... A normal annual physical will monitor those health markers & alert you to larger health concerns.
    BUT many overweight apples started out as lean rectangles. Even as a small size two I never got much smaller than a 25" waist, and to be that size at the waist I had 33" hips, not the 10-12" difference common for pears & hourglasses.
    There is no 'wrong' body type. There are notable athletes, actresses and runway models from every body type but you won't find many rectangles working in lingerie sales like Victoria's Secret.
    The strength of the lean rectangle shape is that it is a very athletic looking build. Lowering ones overall body fat percentage will only enhance that athleticism.
    And it is possible to do some modest recomp with time, building muscle in the glutes thru squats etc and further revealing pecs and back through ever lower overall body fat. But that's a slow gradual process that unfolds over years of work, not a few months of dieting.
    Learning to dress for ones shape is the most empowering tool since we are all viewed in clothes most commonly. There are loads of good online resources for that.
    It's important to accept and embrace your body type. Don't use it as an excuse to do nothing! Find a few role models who you feel are beautiful examples of your own type, use a news service like wonder wall to watch how they dress themselves for the red carpet or in every day life & have some fun with crafting your own image!
    xoL
  • SingRunTing
    SingRunTing Posts: 2,604 Member
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    scolaris wrote: »
    Let me sift thru my opinion as a card carrying Apple:
    Both views voiced above are 'right' insofar as apple body types AT MIDLIFE can indeed be a sign of insulin resistance... A normal annual physical will monitor those health markers & alert you to larger health concerns.
    BUT many overweight apples started out as lean rectangles. Even as a small size two I never got much smaller than a 25" waist, and to be that size at the waist I had 33" hips, not the 10-12" difference common for pears & hourglasses.
    There is no 'wrong' body type. There are notable athletes, actresses and runway models from every body type but you won't find many rectangles working in lingerie sales like Victoria's Secret.
    The strength of the lean rectangle shape is that it is a very athletic looking build. Lowering ones overall body fat percentage will only enhance that athleticism.
    And it is possible to do some modest recomp with time, building muscle in the glutes thru squats etc and further revealing pecs and back through ever lower overall body fat. But that's a slow gradual process that unfolds over years of work, not a few months of dieting.
    Learning to dress for ones shape is the most empowering tool since we are all viewed in clothes most commonly. There are loads of good online resources for that.
    It's important to accept and embrace your body type. Don't use it as an excuse to do nothing! Find a few role models who you feel are beautiful examples of your own type, use a news service like wonder wall to watch how they dress themselves for the red carpet or in every day life & have some fun with crafting your own image!
    xoL

    All these ladies are rectangles...
    rectangular-body-shape.jpg

    Here's Heidi Klum, a rectangle, at the Victoria's Secret fashion show...
    heidi_klum_body.jpg?w=660&h=785

  • lucyhross
    lucyhross Posts: 87 Member
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    Thanks for all the advice. I really struggle to eat much less then 1500 but I will give it my all!
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,627 Member
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    shape does not matter.

    CICO does.
  • TasnimEz
    TasnimEz Posts: 280 Member
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    scolaris wrote: »
    Let me sift thru my opinion as a card carrying Apple:
    Both views voiced above are 'right' insofar as apple body types AT MIDLIFE can indeed be a sign of insulin resistance... A normal annual physical will monitor those health markers & alert you to larger health concerns.
    BUT many overweight apples started out as lean rectangles. Even as a small size two I never got much smaller than a 25" waist, and to be that size at the waist I had 33" hips, not the 10-12" difference common for pears & hourglasses.
    There is no 'wrong' body type. There are notable athletes, actresses and runway models from every body type but you won't find many rectangles working in lingerie sales like Victoria's Secret.
    The strength of the lean rectangle shape is that it is a very athletic looking build. Lowering ones overall body fat percentage will only enhance that athleticism.
    And it is possible to do some modest recomp with time, building muscle in the glutes thru squats etc and further revealing pecs and back through ever lower overall body fat. But that's a slow gradual process that unfolds over years of work, not a few months of dieting.
    Learning to dress for ones shape is the most empowering tool since we are all viewed in clothes most commonly. There are loads of good online resources for that.
    It's important to accept and embrace your body type. Don't use it as an excuse to do nothing! Find a few role models who you feel are beautiful examples of your own type, use a news service like wonder wall to watch how they dress themselves for the red carpet or in every day life & have some fun with crafting your own image!
    xoL

    As an apple slowly turning into a rectangle, I really love this post. Thank you!
  • scolaris
    scolaris Posts: 2,145 Member
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    Good find with Heidi! Yes, she's a great example. I find Cameron Diaz really inspiring.

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