Pear-shaped people 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 weight below your waist. Pears usually have small chests and flat stomachs.
Apple-shaped people 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.
Do You Have Any Of These Traits?
APPLES & PEARS WILL FOLLOW THE SAME NUTRITIONAL GUIDELINESNaturally Usually large boned, large joints, large frame
Short, tapering arms and legs
Smooth, round body contours (round or pear shaped body)
Wide waist and hips
Waist dominates over chest
Tendency to always store excess calories as fat (can’t get away with overeating)
Keeping fat off after it is lost is a challenge
Tendency to have insulin resistance
Tendency to be sluggish, slow moving and lacking energy
Sensitive to carbohydrates (carbs are easily stored as fat)
Responds better to eating higher protein and moderate carbs
Naturally slow metabolic rate (fewer calories burned at rest)
Cardio is necessary to lose weight and body fat
Extremely difficult to lose weight (requires great effort)
Bouts of fatigue and tiredness
Often describe themselves as having a "slow metabolism"
Tendency to gain fat easily as soon as exercise is stopped
Tendency to lose fat slowly, even on a "clean," low fat, low calorie diet.
Often overweight, even if they don't eat very much
Respond best to frequent exercise
NUTRITIONAL STRATEGIES FOR “APPLES & PEARS”
“DON’Ts” Processed and refined carbohydrates that contain white sugar and white flour (they’ll convert to body fat more rapidly in Apples and Pears).
“DO’s” Get enough protein, Cardio exercise, a Carb “Zig-Zag” eating plan,
Exercise is an absolute MUST - Apples & Pears generally have a very difficult time losing fat with diet alone. Even a close-to-perfect diet often doesn’t work by itself because the endomorph needs the boost in metabolism that comes from exercise. The endomorph must do everything in his or her power to stimulate their metabolism and this means combining good nutrition with weight training and aerobic training. To diet without exercising means certain failure for the endomorph. I will post exercise ideas on my blog.
Cardio
Apples & Pears need a larger quantity of cardio to lose body fat. They can lose fat with surprising ease by doing some type of cardio at least 4 – 5 times per week. Often, they successfully lose weight, but then put it back on if they haven’t made the commitment to continue exercising for life.
Make a lifelong commitment to fitness
Apples & Pears must commit to becoming active for life, and avoid quick fixes or any short-term approach to fitness. After reaching the long term ultimate body fat and body weight goal, Apples & Pears need to commit to three days a week of exercise - for life – to keep the fat off. This should be done for health reasons anyway, but for the Apples & Pears, exercise is essential to maintain a desirable body fat ratio. Once you begin, you must keep going or you will lose your momentum. Every time you stop your exercising habits, you can be sure the body fat will slowly start to creep back on. Long “vacations” from physical activity are not a good idea. Get your momentum going and keep it going. Find types of activity you enjoy doing.
Increase your training duration
Losing fat all boils down to burning calories. You must burn more calories than you consume each day. 20 minutes is the recommended starting point for effective fat burning. For maximum fat loss I recommend 30 minutes of continuous aerobic activity until a goal is achieved. Go back to the 20-minute workouts for maintenance only after you reach your goal.
Avoid over-sleeping.
Apples & Pears should avoid excessive sleep.
Use metabolism-stimulating exercise
Weight training exercises that utilize large muscle groups like the back and legs are extremely effective for stimulating the metabolism and for stimulating the hormones that increase fat burning. High rep leg exercises (squats, lunges, leg presses, etc) are particularly effective for this purpose. Toning classes, yoga, Pilates and similar activities have some fantastic benefits, but for the Apples & Pears, this type of activity is NOT the ideal way to lower body fat. Participate in these activities as a supplement to your regular weights and cardio, but not by themselves.
Always be on the lookout for something to motivate and inspire you.Apples & Pears sometimes lack motivation, especially in the beginning. The solution is to be on the constant lookout for anything and everything to motivate and inspire you. Read your goals every single day join a support group, do whatever you can to stay focused and motivated!
Restrict carbohydrates, but never remove them completely
The Apple & Pear nutrition strategy leans towards higher protein (and slightly higher fat) diet with more moderate carbohydrates (This is necessary because most Apples & Pears tend to be carbohydrate sensitive. People with normal carbohydrate metabolisms can consume up to 50-60% of their total calories from carbohydrates and stay lean, while Apples & Pears will tend to gain too much fat eating this many carbohydrates. A “Zig Zag” approach to carb intake is ideal. Ask Emily for more info on this.
Keep cheat meals to once or twice per week for Apples & Pears
Poor daily habits or frequent cheat days always seem to set them back. Cheat days should be reserved for special occasions or as well-deserved rewards for a week of great training and nutrition.
Be consistent and persistent
Going on and off diet and exercise programs will never work for the Apples & Pears. They will lose body fat just like everyone else, but it almost always takes a little longer. The results will come, but not without time and effort. Patience is a virtue all Apples & Pears must cultivate.
When somebody commits to the 24 Day Challenge with me (on www.JoinEmily.com), I commit to mentoring them far BEYOND those 24 days! This blog is just a start! For even more, go to www.PepInYourStep.net!
