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Waist measurement: how to reduce it

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This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
Northerner said:
I've always been very light, and weight tends to go on the torso - only started happening after I turned 40 so I guess a true 'middle-aged spread' 😱 However, since stopping drinking alcohol in January I have lost 6.5 inches off my waist and my BMI has fallen from 24.5 to 20.5. I'm still about 2 stone heavier than I was when I was 25 though! 😱
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That's impressive. The weight / inches loss, I mean, not the misspent youth!
 
Robin said:
That's impressive. The weight / inches loss, I mean, not the misspent youth!
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It's been a big surprise! I've clearly lost weight from everywhere, but I'm astonished that it was the alcohol in my diet that was adding about 25 pounds to my weight 😱 My waist is now the same as when I was 30, trouble is now that my trousers were all bought more recently! 😱 🙂
 
Northerner said:
I've always been very light, and weight tends to go on the torso - only started happening after I turned 40 so I guess a true 'middle-aged spread' 😱 However, since stopping drinking alcohol in January I have lost 6.5 inches off my waist and my BMI has fallen from 24.5 to 20.5. I'm still about 2 stone heavier than I was when I was 25 though! 😱
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So that'a a mineral water for you on Saturday Northerner. You're a cheap date. 🙂
 
Marsbartoastie said:
So that'a a mineral water for you on Saturday Northerner. You're a cheap date. 🙂
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One of the hardest things for me after a lifetime of choosing beer in pubs has been trying to find something else, especially something that's not loaded with sugar and that the bar steward is unlikely to mix up with a 'diet' version 🙄 So far this year, mineral water has been the prime selection! 🙂
 
I'm fascinated by the difference between the way these calculations work (or don't work) for Kooky and me ...

TheClockworkDodo said:
So although I'm a petite size 10-12 with a BMI of 20.28 my body fat level is only at an "acceptable" rather than fit level and my waist to hip ratio means my health risk is moderate rather than low.
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KookyCat said:
Currently I have a 27 inch waist, but that's because I don't really have a waist, I'm size 8 and have a BMI of 23, but when my body fat was measured it's still considered dangerously low. Before diagnosis my BMI was 26 I was a size 10 my waist was 28 inches and I was considered overweight, yet my body fat measurement was you've guessed it dangerously low.
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... ie my BMI is lower because I'm shorter, not because I'm thinner (my waist is about 29), and even though my BMI is lower, my fat level is on the high side of healthy and Kooky's is too low. Standard calculations really are a complete lot of nonsense, aren't they?!
 
I must say though, R has lost a lot of paunch since he's been doing a fast day every week - the weight loss has slowed down but he's obviously still losing fat, so fasting really does seem to work (for him, at least!).
 
I found out that my narrowest measurement isn't actually where I would place my waist: it's much higher, and an inch less. By this measure I am only one inch over the risk level!
 
Radders said:
I found out that my narrowest measurement isn't actually where I would place my waist: it's much higher, and an inch less. By this measure I am only one inch over the risk level!
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I was amused to read that most people can't accurately find their waist...oh how I tittered safe in the knowledge that at least I know where my waist is....until that is I found where my actual waist is 😳 that'll teach me!
 
KookyCat said:
I was amused to read that most people can't accurately find their waist...oh how I tittered safe in the knowledge that at least I know where my waist is....until that is I found where my actual waist is 😳 that'll teach me!
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Where's it actually meant to be?
The way I see it, the only logic for a high waist measurement to indicate visceral fat is the fact that in the gap between ribs and hips there isn't much bodywork so a lot of what's there must be fat. So I thought my waist would automatically be the narrowest bit between those two, no?
 
Radders said:
Where's it actually meant to be?
The way I see it, the only logic for a high waist measurement to indicate visceral fat is the fact that in the gap between ribs and hips there isn't much bodywork so a lot of what's there must be fat. So I thought my waist would automatically be the narrowest bit between those two, no?
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It's different for everyone (which is the bit I didn't know) apparently, but if you stand up straight then lean either to the left or right it's where your body creases (or basically where you bend). I'd always thought it was level with the belly button which apparently it is for some folk but my waist is much higher than belly button, in fact my belly button is apparently where my hips are (I'm pretty straight up and down so that's not as daft as I make it sound 🙄).
 
KookyCat said:
It's different for everyone (which is the bit I didn't know) apparently, but if you stand up straight then lean either to the left or right it's where your body creases (or basically where you bend). I'd always thought it was level with the belly button which apparently it is for some folk but my waist is much higher than belly button, in fact my belly button is apparently where my hips are (I'm pretty straight up and down so that's not as daft as I make it sound 🙄).
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Oh dear. I just tried that. I asked Mr Radders to point out where the crease was. "Which one?" He said. So I looked in the mirror and there is no crease - more of a bulge, really! As I thought: I have no waist!
 
Northerner said:
and that the bar steward is unlikely to mix up with a 'diet' version
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That's a bit harsh int it. I mean we all make mistakes but there's no need to call him that. ......Oh, I see what you mean. 😉:D
 
Radders said:
Oh dear. I just tried that. I asked Mr Radders to point out where the crease was. "Which one?" He said. So I looked in the mirror and there is no crease - more of a bulge, really! As I thought: I have no waist!
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I tried it this morning, and had several creases to choose from! However if I chose the top one, which is just under my ribs, I was an inch less, so naturally I went for that one! It makes sense, that's where your liver, kidneys etc are.
( OH then saw me standing in front of the mirror and commented, 'Are you supposed to bulge over your knickers like that?' He may live, but it's touch and go)
 
Went for my flu jab this morning and the GP decided she needed to weigh me and take my blood pressure. I took off my denim jacket which I had just put back on after the jab, and she told me to keep it on. I insisted as it must weigh at least half a kilo, but I still had shoes on, quite chunky Keen walking sandals as well. I don't get why she would think this does not matter, given next time I might be wearing something totally different!
Anyway, even in with shoes on I was 69 kg and bp was 120 over 70 so very respectable. I can only assume they already know my height (5'9") and are assuming it hasn't changed, as they didn't measure anything else.
Waist measurement still stubbornly sitting in the high risk zone though.
 
Radders said:
Went for my flu jab this morning and the GP decided she needed to weigh me and take my blood pressure. I took off my denim jacket which I had just put back on after the jab, and she told me to keep it on. I insisted as it must weigh at least half a kilo, but I still had shoes on, quite chunky Keen walking sandals as well. I don't get why she would think this does not matter, given next time I might be wearing something totally different!
Anyway, even in with shoes on I was 69 kg and bp was 120 over 70 so very respectable. I can only assume they already know my height (5'9") and are assuming it hasn't changed, as they didn't measure anything else.
Waist measurement still stubbornly sitting in the high risk zone though.
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Oh we had that about three years ago at the flu jab clinic, they grabbed everyone who came in for the jab and weighed and BP'd them, even though I protested I'd only had it done at my annual review a couple of weeks earlier! Nurse muttered something about statistics, but they haven't done it at any jab clinics since!
 
I have the hideous apple shape and detest it, it runs in the family, all females in the family have skinny, bony chicken legs and massive guts and big shoulders. I had PCOS ( got no womb and ovaries now as i had cancer) I get distressed when there's people who are over 20 stone and don't have Diabetes and I am 2 stone over weight and diabetic, I never gain weight on the legs or bum, I know I shall nevr be a an hour glass or neat waisted type, I have a big rib cage and there's no room for a waist that dips in on me, I want to get my 36 inch waist to a healthy rate, I was 40 inches in the summer now 36 from cutting down on carbs mainly.
 
TheClockworkDodo said:
You might find this more helpful than just going by waist measurement alone, Radders - http://www.bmi-calculator.net/body-fat-calculator/

Have a look at the waist to hip calculator while you're there as well. Apparently women like me who are apple shaped as opposed to pear shaped (tendency to store fat around the middle rather than around the hips) are more at risk of health problems, as Jenny says. So although I'm a petite size 10-12 with a BMI of 20.28 my body fat level is only at an "acceptable" rather than fit level and my waist to hip ratio means my health risk is moderate rather than low.

I'm not sure what we're supposed to do about it though, without going underweight ... 🙄
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I am apple shape I hate it so much
 
It sounds to me like there's a goodly amount of genetic stuff probably going on in your family, @Chaobaby - NOT simply the weight. Also there can be ethnic tendencies going on, South Asian heritage or certain Afro-Caribbeans are more prone to it anyway than us pale individuals - and lots of people get diabetes of all types (well perhaps not MODY) when they aren't overweight, have never been overweight and there's never been even the slightest hint of it anywhere in their family background. It's not at all picky who it chooses to move in with !
 
my ancestory is Celt/Saxon like most Birts, but because i guess Diabetes is on both sides of the family is a big thing, my dad's dad controlled his with his diet and was avery active man, I alos had PCOS which has a problem re insulin resistance, the PCOS was not discoeverd til I was in my 30s after failure to concieve so I had spent a lot of my younger days eating too much in the way of carbs.
 
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