The four body shapes that hold the key to a woman's weight loss, according to celebrity personal traine

You've eaten too many mince pies, drunk more than enough mulled wine and may have turned your thoughts towards working off the Christmas pounds.

But before signing up for a gym membership, perhaps you should decide which of these body shapes you are.

Because that is the key to successfully achieving your goals, according to celebrity personal trainer Matt Roberts.

Yesterday Mr Roberts, whose clients include David and Samantha Cameron, said women’s bodies fall into four categories – apple, pear, hourglass and tubular. 

Body shapes

And as he gave his New Year’s fitness tips, which include swearing off alcohol for at least a month and cutting out all dairy except for milk in tea, Mr Roberts said it was ‘crucial’ to work with your shape.

Hourglass shapes – embodied by Myleene Klass, Kate Winslet or Nigella Lawson – should focus on their abdominals and go for long jogs or bike rides to help make themselves appear leaner.

Tubular women, such as Cara Delevingne or Keira Knightley, are advised to cut out cardiovascular work, avoid losing weight and instead do strength-based work to build muscle.

Pear shapes such as Beyonce and Rihanna, meanwhile, should work on building arm muscle and try out high-intensity interval training such as hill sprints.

And if like Melanie Griffith you are an apple, you can reduce your waistline with core work, long-duration cardio and leg weights to even out your shape.

Mr Roberts suggested visualising how you would like your body to look. ‘Think, what’s the best version of you?’ he said. ‘What do you actually want to look like in a year’s time? And have that as your reference point.’

Pear shapes like Rihanna should work on building arm muscle, while Tubular women like Keira Knightley are advised to cut out cardiovascular work, avoid losing weight and instead do strength-based work to build muscle 

But he added: ‘You need to be realistic about what your shape can become. If you look at Kate Moss and say, “I want to look like her, she looks great”, well she does. But if you’re an hourglass shape you are an hourglass shape so choose the role model for your shape that’s appropriate.’

He added: ‘If you get that right you can aspire to be the person you want to look like.

‘Otherwise it is just never going to happen, even with the best will in the world. You’ve got to tweak around your edges, not someone else’s.’

Mr Roberts went on to give his January weight loss tips, which include giving up alcohol and limiting dairy and sugar intake for a few weeks.

‘There’s three things to do in January that would get you guaranteed results,’ Mr Roberts said. ‘Stop drinking for four weeks because alcohol is a suppressant and it means we need other things to pick us up again.

‘Also reduce your dairy levels down to being just milk in tea but nothing else. And then look at your sugar levels.’

He added: ‘It’s only a small amount of time – spend January and February looking after yourself and you can look great, feel great and build towards looking fantastic in the summer.’