Hey, girl! So you’ve got some extra love happening around the hips and thighs. Maybe it’s a little pooch that’s below your belly button? Don’t worry about it. I’ve got the best foods for a pear-shaped body - and they’re all for you.

I personally believe that no matter what our body shape is, we should embrace it. Apples and Pears, Hourglasses and Inverted Pyramids - your body is your body and it got you to where you are, right? Still, when you start looking a little too curvy, it’s time to do something about it.

First things first, my pear-shaped friend, I’m like you. Until I got my arms around what worked for my body and what didn’t, I was eating all the wrong things.

The 5 BEST foods for a pear-shaped body

I truly believe things started spiraling out of control for me when I started dieting (as opposed to eating a healthy diet), which included obsessively counting calories, drinking lots of diet soda and buying just about anything the words “diet” or “low fat” on them.

For a long, long time, I was totally committed to a purely low-fat diet without any guidance of nutrition. I actually tried to eat the least amount of fat possible for years, but little pockets of fat kept accumulating.

Then I shifted to a high protein diet, but I was hungry all the time. Still, I stuck with it because that’s what everyone else was doing.

I also flirted with very high-fat diets, cutting out most vegetable and all fruits. This only made things worse.

I was thoroughly frustrated and really felt like my body was the problem - not the foods I was eating. I thought there was no hope.

Boy, was I wrong.

Eating the right foods for your body type

Finally, I made the decision to dig deeper and learn more about nutrition, which ultimately put me on a path for a master’s degree in nutrition education.

What I discovered changed everything. Each of our bodies is unique - that’s no surprise. And each of our bodies has hormones constantly at play. Think of hormones as little chemical messengers that tell our body to warm up, cool down, eat more, eat less, store fat...you get the picture

But in addition to telling our body to store fat, hormones tell our body where to store fat.

All of this depends on which hormones have a louder voice.

Estrogen and the pear-shaped body

In the case of the pear-shaped body, one of the hormones that uses its voice the loudest is estrogen. And estrogen tells our body to store fat through our hips, thighs, and lower belly.

Estrogen is a good thing. We all need it - women and men alike. But when we make too much estrogen relative to the amount of another hormone, called, progesterone, we end up estrogen dominant.

Estrogen dominance often results in greater fat storage through the hips, thighs, and sometimes below the belly button.

One way to bring estrogen back into balance is to eat the right foods that help to eliminate excessive amounts while avoiding the foods that make it accumulate.

Diets and the pear-shaped body

Eat lots of these foods. Eat them often. They are your new best friend.

1) High Fiber Vegetables - BEST

High fiber vegetables are one of the best groups of foods for a pear-shaped body because fiber acts like a magnet for estrogen and other toxins, grabbing them and ridding them from your body through elimination. The more excess estrogen you can get rid of, the less likely you'll store added fat through the hips, thighs and lower belly.

The next time you’re at the store, shop for these veggies:

Carrots
Celery
Leafy Greens
Brussels Sprouts
Cauliflower
Broccoli

Veggies are good. All of them. But higher carbohydrate, starchier vegetables, like potatoes, sweet or otherwise, should only make it on your plate once or twice a week. Focus on the nutrients in the vegetables that handcuff toxins and drag them out of your body.

2) High Fiber, Low Sugar Fruits - BEST

Too much sugar can be a trigger for storing excess estrogen, leading to additional fat storage through the hips and thighs. High sugar fruit is no exception. These are the fruits you should aim for as they’re high in healthy fiber, and lower in sugar. Research has shown that high fiber foods, like berries, help to remove excessive amounts of estrogen.

Raspberries
Blueberries
Blackberries
Strawberries
Green Apples
Prunes

I love fruit. But those of us with pear-shaped bodies need low sugar, high fiber fruits. Berries, green apples, and prunes are at the tippy top of the list. Add these to a smoothie, a big bowl of old fashioned oatmeal or on their own - and your body will love you for it.

Higher sugar fruits are far, far, far better than a pint of ice cream or a bag of candy, but if you want to watch your hips and thighs come back to the healthy shape they should be, then keep fruit sugar low, fiber high and all refined sugar to a bare minimum.

3) Healthy Non-Dairy Fats - BEST

Fat is essential for everyone’s diet, but in differing amounts. While Pear-shaped bodies should follow a lower-fat diet, they still need fat. Dairy is not necessarily unhealthy, but too much doesn’t do a Pear Shape Body any favors, so it’s off the list. Here are the best fats for your body.

Olive Oil
Avocado
Coconut Oil
Chia Seeds
Almonds
Eggs

Creamy sauces on pasta and a big slice of cheese in a sandwich need to hit the high road. Stick with a smaller amount of the best fats your body can use. The fats above are largely saturated and monounsaturated fats.

There should be zero...I mean ZERO refined vegetable oils in your diet. I’m talking corn, soybean or canola oil. They’ve all been incredibly refined and don’t do anything good for your body other than promoting inflammation, which in turn, increases fat storage.

4) Lower Fat Protein Choices - BEST

Of course, every healthy body needs protein...but it doesn’t need to fill an entire plate. Following the path of a healthy, high fiber and low-fat diet, the choice of protein for your body has some variety in it! Legumes make the list, which is great if you’re vegan or vegetarian. Here are the best types of protein for the pear shape body.

Chicken or turkey breast (organic)
Cod or halibut (baked or steamed)
Lentils (any color)
Chickpeas
Black Beans
Navy Beans

You won’t find high-fat protein sources on this list, like beef burgers or steaks. More importantly, you shouldn’t follow a high protein diet anyway. It just doesn’t work best for your body type. A reasonable amount of protein is A-okay, but a diet that follows more of a paleo or Atkins regime is not your jam.

5) Body Benefitting Drinks - BEST

Needless to say, everything we eat can’t be broken down into four neat little groups. There are several other foods you should have in your arsenal of the best foods for pear-shaped bodies. They help bring variety and nutrition to your diet while helping to get rid of excess estrogen that could be affecting you.

Green Tea
Warm Lemon Water
Dandelion Root Tea
Real Pomegranate Juice (no sugar added)
Belly Burn Broth (for those of you who don’t want sweet)

Did you notice coffee is not on this list? Coffee is often associated with an increase in estrogen. Try cutting out coffee for a few weeks. You might be surprised.

Alcohol, naturally, is also off the list. Alcohol will always give estrogen a boost, so try to limit your consumption. And when you pair alcohol with sugar, such as in a margarita or super duper foo foo drink, it’s a doubly whammy.

The 5 Best Foods for a Pear Shaped Body