If you have an hourglass shape with extra fat clinging to your stomach area, strengthening your abdominal muscles will help, but it cannot be the only way you attack the fat. Consuming fewer calories than you expend is the only way to get rid of the excess fat. There is no way around this simple fact.
Having an hourglass body shape means that when you gain weight, it is not concentrated in one area like apple-shaped or pear-shaped people. That means weight gain can be hard to spot if you're not regularly checking the scale.
Apple Shape
Also called a “beer belly,” it means you have more fat stored around your stomach, while your lower body stays thin.
Hourglass Body Shape
Your shoulders and hips are well balanced. When you gain weight it is usually equally distributed and you will probably gain weight on both your bust and your hips. You will also have a Rounded Tummy.
The first place men typically lose weight is the belly, while women tend to lose weight all over, but hold onto weight in their thighs and hips, Dr. Block explains.
The average height was 65 inches (5'5”) with a range of 60 inches (5') to 71 inches (5'11”). The average weight for the Hourglass category was 133 pounds with a range of 103 to 211 pounds. The body measurements used to define the Hourglass category were the bust, waist, and hips.
An apple-shaped person is someone who holds a large amount of fat in the abdomen, has a large waist, and has generally slimmer legs and arms. If you're an apple-shaped person, you tend to have a large amount of visceral fat, increasing your risk for heart disease.
If you eat too much and exercise too little, you're likely to carry excess weight — including belly fat. Also, your muscle mass might diminish slightly with age, while fat increases.
Hourglass women can lose excess weight from the body but still maintain a shapely figure by eating a healthy, nutrient-rich diet and starting an exercise program that consists of running for cardio and strength-training for muscle toning.
Is it healthy to have an hourglass figure? 'Genetics play a role in the "hourglass figure" however, only 8% of women have a naturally small waist and wide hips,' cautions Dr Perry. 'You can be ultra-slim and yet be unhealthy, and likewise have an hourglass figure and be fit and healthy.
What is the rarest body type? The hourglass body shape is the rarest body shape as it requires equal bust/shoulder and hip proportions with a dramatically smaller waist size. While this body type is frequently coveted, ideal body shapes are always changing and one body shape should never be looked at as superior.
Yours is the least common female body shape, with only 8 percent of women having an hourglass figure, but probably half of all women think they have one (ok I made that last figure up, but it's a LOT).
The condition known as hour-glass stomach is one where there is a constriction between the cardiac and pyloric orifices. It may be either congenital or acquired. The former is said to be extremely rare, while the latter is much more common than we believe.
“Hourglass syndrome is the result of performing stomach gripping often or for an extended period of time,” Dr. Browning says. “The muscles of the upper abdomen become hypertonic, or tight, and the muscles of the lower abdomen become weak and underused.”
Even if you're thin, you can still have too much visceral fat. How much you have is partly about your genes, and partly about your lifestyle, especially how active you are. Visceral fat likes inactivity.
If your stomach sticks out even if you are skinny, you may need to change certain habits to try to get rid of it. In order to do so, first you need to figure out what causes your protruded belly. It may be the regular consumption of alcohol, stress, hormones, bad posture, recent pregnancy, bloating, or others.
Causes include poor diet, lack of exercise, and short or low-quality sleep. A healthy diet and active lifestyle can help people lose excess belly fat and lower the risk of problems associated with it.
A waist circumference of more than 35 inches in women and more than 40 in men indicates an unhealthy amount of visceral fat. Measure your belly at the level of the navel, not at the narrowest part of the torso.
If you notice your stomach tends to become more round after meals or the puffiness seems to come and go, it's more likely you're dealing with bloating. However, if your rounder stomach is consistent and you've been dealing with it for a while, it's more likely to be caused by fat.
In the simplest of terms, B bellies are shaped like the letter 'B. ' Typically there is a “waistband” effect that divides the belly into an upper and lower part, resembling the letter 'B' from the side. This differs from the more common 'D-shaped' bellies or apron bellies that don't have the waistband.
It's all about proportions. In other words, you can have an hourglass body and be tall, short, slim or curvy. The ideal body doesn't exist, the important thing here is to recognise the specific features of our body and learn how to show it off with clothes that we feel comfortable in and identify with.
Avoid boxy and straight skirt styles as well as stiff fabrics. Keep away from skirts with big voluminous pockets, ruffles, darts or other embellishments around the hips unless you balance them with details around the chest. Finally, stay away from low-waisted skirts since these would add bulk to the lower body.