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"When I wrote about my grandma&amp;amp;#8217;s response to my weight loss last week, a Shape Up reader wrote back to say that you can&amp;amp;#8217;t really fight your natural body shape. Do you think that&amp;amp;#8217;s true? Not everyone can get a supermodel body. No matter how much you try to diet, you can&amp;#x27;t get a curvy figure. Some people are naturally endomorphs, and there&amp;#x27;s nothing wrong with that. - SuperficialFaith I spent a few hours web-surfing for info on body types. I didn&amp;amp;#8217;t find much, especially as it concerns women, though it does seem to be a popular topic in bodybuilding forums. Here&amp;amp;#8217;s the basic gist though: In the 1940s, a psychologist named W.H. Sheldon categorized the human physique into one of three types (somatotypes): Ectomorph: Delicate build, tall, long and lean muscles, often frail bones. Has difficulty gaining weight or muscle mass (Think Kate Moss, or any other supermodel.) Mesomorph: Medium to large build, broad-shouldered with a narrow waist, naturally athletic, tends to gain muscle easily (I read somewhere Demi Moore has this body type.) Endomorph: Big-boned, round figure. Has difficulty losing weight, tends to gain weight easily; can build muscle mass easily as well. (Any football player will do.) My immediate reaction when I read this was: Yep, I&amp;amp;#8217;m an endomorph, all the way. But not everyone fits neatly into one type. I took some quiz online (don&amp;amp;#8217;t really know how reliable it is) and apparently I&amp;amp;#8217;m also part-mesomorph. (I feel like I&amp;amp;#8217;m talking about some half-human, half-Power Ranger spawn instead of my body type here!) Some people take their body type as a serious consideration when choosing how to workout, but I don&amp;amp;#8217;t know how important that is to me. Maybe it&amp;amp;#8217;s because my main concern is shedding weight and being healthy. I asked my fabulous trainer, Taj Harris, of Crunch Fitness, what she thought about body type as a valid consideration when working out. She said: &amp;amp;#8220;It&amp;amp;#8217;s important for the person who is exploring their athletic abilities.&amp;amp;#8221; But for women looking to just lose weight, in addition to regular strength and cardio training, her recommendation is to be healthy in general. &amp;amp;#8220;Eat healthy foods that support the body&amp;amp;#8217;s growth and immune system,&amp;amp;#8221; she says. (Body by Glamour nutritionist, Rachel Beller, R.D. has A LOT to say about this.) And about trying to change your body type, Taj says: &amp;amp;#8220;People will do drastic things like starve, or eat a lot in an effort to gain weight, and yes, it will play a huge part on their body&amp;amp;#8217;s composition. But sometimes you just have to accept that you are who you are. Each body type has its own special gift.&amp;amp;#8221; I don&amp;amp;#8217;t think that means that you can&amp;amp;#8217;t change your body with exercise--I&amp;#x27;ve definitely experienced that firsthand with Body by Glamour and Taj&amp;amp;#8217;s help. What it means for me is that I should embrace my body type--endo/mesomorph/Power Ranger spawn, or whatever it is. I will never be a Kate Moss, and I don&amp;amp;#8217;t want to be her anyway! How about you? What&amp;amp;#8217;s your body type? Do you wish you could be some other body type, or are you content to just be who you are? Plus: Are you &amp;quot;skinny-soft&amp;quot;? Did you think these summer foods were healthy? Think again! And are you getting enough fiber? It has serious slimming power! Photo: iStock Get Glamour Wherever You Go! Follow us on Twitter. Friend us on Facebook. Add us to your Google homepage. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.glamour.com/health-fitness/blogs/shape-up/2009/07/whats-your-body-shape>