Body Type
Body Type
It''''s a terrible tease. Three simple words in green and yellow glow at you from across the mall. The Body Shop.
Oh, if only it were true--a place where you could go and actually purchase a different body. Or order up various parts. You know exactly what you''''d ask for. Longer legs. A smaller derriere. And oh please, yes, don''''t forget the slimmer waist.
But it''''s a dream, a mirage, a fantasy. While you can get environmentally friendly bath beads and potions to soothe your tired self, you can''''t order a new body at The Body Shop.
Maybe it''''s just as well. After all, is this body that has served you so well all this time really all that bad?
If you find yourself blurting out a resounding "YES!" take a minute to reconsider. Before you resign yourself to that conclusion, let''''s take a closer look at the type of body you have. How is it shaped? What impact does that shape have on your physical health? Your emotional well-being? Most important, how can you come to terms with it and learn to accept it as the wonderful piece of human architecture that it is?
Body Type-ography
Chances are you think of your body in terms of short, tall, fat, thin, top-heavy or bottom-heavy. A lot of us do.
But researchers and health experts have another way of describing the various shapes and sizes we come in. One system classifies our bodies into three categories, called somatotypes.
Women who are long, lean and lanky, with a small, delicate bone structure, narrow hips and a small waist are called ectomorphs. Their legs tend to be longer than their torsos. This body type--most models have it--has become our society''''s current ideal.
Women who are more heavily boned, carry more fat than muscle and accumulate their fat mainly around their abdomens are called endomorphs. Their legs are generally shorter than their torsos, their breasts tend to be larger than average and they tend to gain weight rather easily. Endomorphs are sometimes referred to as apple-shaped.
In between the tall and skinny ectomorphs and the shorter, plumper endomorphs are bodies called mesomorphs. Mesomorphs tend to be athletic and have broad shoulders and hips, narrow waists and a high percentage of muscle in comparison to fat. These are the "pear-shaped" women.
Where the Fat Lies
Whether you''''re an endo, meso or ectomorph, you can change the amount of fat on your body by changing your exercise and eating habits. What you can''''t change are the areas where the fat is located.
Pear-shaped women, or mesomorphs, tend to carry whatever fat they have on their hips and thighs, rather than around their waists, or abdomen. Apple-shaped endomorphs, on the other hand, carry their extra fat around the middle.
Many women get upset because they''''re carrying fat at their hips and thighs, says Carol Kennedy, assistant director of fitness/wellness at Indiana University Bloomington. But in fact, that may be one of the better areas to accumulate fat if you''''re going to accumulate it at all. Extra fat in those areas is less of a health threat than if it''''s located around your middle, or abdomen.
"People who carry fat around their waists are at highest risk for certain health problems," says Wendy Kohrt, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Among those problems she includes heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure.
Why does abdominal fat increase your health risks?
The majority of fat is stored just under the skin. In the abdominal area, however, fat can be located deeper, surrounding the internal organs, says Dr. Kohrt. The by-products produced by this fat during the metabolic process (turning nutrients into energy) often spill into a vein that leads to the liver.
"The liver is command central for many metabolic processes," says Dr. Kohrt. So if a lot of the by-products of fat metabolism flood it, theoretically, that can cause a lot of changes that lead to health problems.
But the somatotype system is only one way to look at your body and judge health risks. More often medical professionals are using waist-to-hip ratio measurements and body fat measurements as a means of assessing health.
Your Body, Your Esteem
In addition to affecting your physical health, your body type can often play a significant role in how you feel about yourself.
Research indicates that there are a lot of women who are dissatisfied with their bodies. In a survey of 1,000 women between the ages of 18 and 60, conducted by two researchers at (continued on page 42) Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, a whopping 91 percent said they wanted to change their bodies.
| In Good Shape: How to Dress Your Best Karen Kaufman, president of Kaufman Professional Image Consultants in Philadelphia, has worked one-on-one with over 150 women a year and has addressed thousands of others over the past 16 years. In all that time, she has not found a woman who is completely happy with her body. Kaufman pays attention to the shape, color and texture of clothing. She also looks at how clothes are proportioned. The best clothing makes a woman''''s body look balanced, she points out. Here is Kaufman''''s advice. Long-waisted women should use wider belts rather than narrow ones, because wide belts will help a long waist look more in proportion to the rest of the body. Also, they should wear a different color above the waist than the color below the waist to break up the length of a long torso. Short-waisted women need to choose narrow belts and wear the same color on top as on bottom. Both strategies will help create the illusion of a longer waist. Women with broad hips should wear straight trousers or skirts, preferably in solid colors. They should go with flat fabrics such as wool, gabardine or wool crepe, because they won''''t add bulk. Another option: a flowing pants-skirt or dress. Women with narrow hips can go with pants and skirts that have gathers at the hip and waist, to bring their hips into proportion with their shoulders. Blouson jackets with elastic that ends at the hip can also add balance to the hip area. Hip belts are also a flattering option for this body type. Large-busted women should be sure to have bras that fit them well--and should steer away from blouses that have pockets on the chest area. They should avoid blouses that have a lot of gathers, tucks or large patterns at the bust. Small-busted women need well-fitting bras that add shape and shirts with pockets, gathers or tucks at the chest area that can help accent their chests. If you have a long neck, go with scarves, turtlenecks or necklaces that end at the collarbone. All these accessories will help fill in space. Women with broad shoulders can discard the shoulder pads from shirts and jackets. Also, they should shop for jackets with a notched collar: that vertical notch helps draw the eye vertically. Women with narrow shoulders should keep a variety of shoulder pads on hand in various sizes to add to shirts, sweaters and jackets as necessary. They can also leave already set-in shoulder pads in place. In addition, they can make their shoulders look broader by wearing a large decorative pin at the shoulder. |
Additional research conducted at Yale University shows that the things women wish they could alter are their faces, muscle tone, breast or chest size, overall appearance and weight.
Researchers attribute this dissatisfaction to the cultural messages that are sent to women about appearance. Part of that message comes from the media. Open a glossy magazine or switch on the television, and you''''re bombarded with images of women who are tall and thin --in other words, with images of ectomorphs. By constantly showing these images--and often only these images--the media send the message that the ectomorph body type is the ideal one to have; that it''''s the body type our society sees as acceptable, worthwhile and desirable. And it seems that some women really take that message to heart.
In a study of 75 women between the ages of 19 and 27 at Stanford University, Debbie Then, Ph.D., social psychologist and lecturer at the Health Improvement Program at Stanford University, found that self-esteem plummeted in two-thirds of the participants after they read through a bunch of glamour modelpacked women''''s magazines.
"What happens is they compare themselves with the photos of models, and then they look in the mirror and say, ''''I''''m never going to look like this,''''" says Dr. Then. "So they feel depressed and worse about themselves."
Even in the world of women''''s magazines, there are some editors who hope we''''ll someday see more diverse representation of women''''s bodies in the media. "My dream would be that we would see a mixture of various women in all of our magazines, including a broader range of body shapes and various ethnicities," says Barbara Harris, editor-in-chief of Shape magazine. She notes that Shape purposely chooses to photograph women who are more toned than the average woman, but some of the models have wider hips, while others don''''t. "Well-developed bodies span a range of body types, and that is one message we are trying to convey."
Not all magazines are likely to change their policies soon. As long as the media present you with a long line of glamorous professional-model ectomorphs, you''''re unlikely to find a flattering view of the real you in ads or articles.
Nice Lines
Your best guide to body shaping really is you. You may be perfectly happy with how you feel and how you look. Or you may decide, whatever your body type, that there are a few areas where you''''d like to see some improvement. Whether you decide on change or the status quo, here''''s what experts recommend.
Believe in your own beauty. "It''''s important for a woman to own her own body and accept her body and work from there," says Karen Kaufman, president of Kaufman Professional Image Consultants in Philadelphia. "It''''s all about working from the inside out."
"It''''s not about what you look like; it''''s about what you feel like," agrees Harris. "We have so much potential to be perceived as beautiful people, if we first believe that ourselves. If we were supposed to be and look alike, we would. There is a reason why we differ from each other. All of us have unique strengths, and we should focus on developing and experiencing them."
Take a look around. To feel better about your body, one thing you can do is take a look around at some real women, says Dr. Then. Next time you go to the mall or the movies, "do some people watching for about an hour." Chances are you will see very few women who look the way professional models look, and that can help you feel better.
Dump the mags that nag. A number of women in Dr. Then''''s study chose not to read the women''''s magazines that made them feel bad about themselves. So if particular magazines make you feel worse about yourself after you read them, consider doing away with them, says Dr. Then. Go for the ones that motivate you to improve yourself but don''''t make you feel like pulling the covers over your head.
Tone up to feel fine. Both aerobic and strengthening exercises can help us tone our bodies and keep us feeling fit and good about our bodies. If you want to exercise to tone up and feel better about your body, it''''s often a good idea to start on an exercise program slowly, says Kennedy. One way to do that is to start with a basic walking program, she says.
Find the right gym. If you decide to join a gym to work out, pick one where you are comfortable, says Kennedy. At one gym women may wear spandex and thongs, while at another gym, shorts may be the attire of the day. Research indicates that overweight women tend to drop out of exercise class, not because they aren''''t having fun, but because they are worried about how they look. So it''''s important to go to a gym where you feel comfortable with the "dress code."
Give yourself a lift. Strength training can have a positive impact on body image, says Kennedy. When we increase our muscle mass, we feel better and function better. If you haven''''t done any weight lifting before, start by lifting your own weight with exercises like push-ups, leg lifts and abdominal curl-ups. Once you''''ve started with a basic range of exercises, you may want to start lifting leg weights or arm weights. Or start in with a circuit training program at a gym or fitness club. Be sure to get instruction from a qualified individual--someone who has a certificate in strength training or a degree in exercise physiology, athletic training or physical therapy, Kennedy advises.
Focus on doing. Concentrate on the experience of activities you enjoy, rather than on what you look like, says Harris. Tune in to your working muscles and what they feel like.
See also Skeletal System
