What's up with measurements?

Nightporter

Nightporter

New member
Hello,

Truth me told I am a little 'in the dark' about measurements. Everyone has a goal weight that they can imagine themself being, but a goal measurement seems a little tougher to picture. I took my tape measure and measured an average 28 inch, 29 inch, and 30 inch waist. When I made it into a circle it seemed like an unbelievably small waist size for me, even though I hope someday it's possible.

The thing is, I'm not quite sure what to aim for, or what a good measurement for me would be. I would really appreciate it if someone shed some light on this for me. For the record, I'm 5 feet, 9 inches... 19, and a female. Here are my measurements:

Waist (smallest part--between chest and bellybutton): 39.5'

Waist (largest area--bellybutton & butt): 53' ...0_0

Neck: 14'

Upper Arm (largest part near top): 17'

Wrist: 6 1/8 '

Chest (largest part): 47'

Thigh (upper): 32'

Calf (largest area): 18'

I'm not sure how measurements corrilate with each other, or what to aim for. a 28 inch waist seems like a huge leap compared to the 53 inch one!!

Which leads me to ask...

Which waist measurement is my real measurement? The jeans I wear are a bit high and go above my bellybutton... But I heard the actual waist measurement is where the bellybutton is (where the staggering 53 mark is) instead of the 39.5 mark which makes more sense.

Please help me out with this stuff!

Thanks a ton,

-N-
 
Your waist is the smallest point below your ribs, IMHO - where the waist of your jeans hit, back in the olden days when jeans had enough rise to hit your waist. (I'm high-waisted, so need a taller-than-average rise, and the current trend for low-rise jeans drives me nuts.) There's a good illustration of where that is on different body types .

I'm 5'4, and started at 197. At that point, I had a 39" waist, 47" hips, and 28" thighs. At 126, I had a 28" waist, 37" hips, and 21" thighs. If 125 is a healthy weight for you (which at 5'9 it may not be), I'd anticipate you'd have a 28-30 inch waist, barring a genetic predisposition to carry weight there, once you hit that goal.

I never had a measurement goal. My body carries weight in the hips and thighs, and there's not much I can do about that.
 
heh im glad im not the only one. My upper half looks like a body builder, the lower looks like thunder thighs!
 
Aww great I have the worst of both worlds... A combination of the top half of the apple body and the bottom half of the pear body... Plus a super high-up waist. I still don't know where to measure because the widest part of my body is right where my butt is. (The only reason I think my bellybutton is there is because of my gut.) Here... It's kinda like this:

mybod.jpg

(The part where my waist goes in is even a tad higher than that even)

Is this a bad omen for when I lose weight? (like even if the small part of my waist is 28 the part where the pants fit will be like 40?)

Thanks,

-N-
 
are you sure you are using inches on your tape measure? or that you're really 5'9 and 245?

A lot of those measurements just seem high given your current weight and height?
 
Yep. I'm definitely using inches, And I'm a 5'9 Female that's around 242-243 pounds...

All of the measurements I took were at my widest areas of each body part. The scary 53 inch number was measured right at my bellybutton around the lower part of my waist. When I look in the mirror (And on the diagram) that is the widest area on me. The jeans I wear come halfway between the widest part and the slimmest part. I can squeeze into 18, fit a 20, but even though I don't own any, I bet I could wear a 22!

... Is there something very wrong with me? lol... Do I have unusually wide hips or something?

-N-

Also... I have my before pictures in the "before after" section of this forum... Do my numbers even look too big for them?
 
We sound like we are proportioned quite similarly. I am only 5'0", though. My measurements are completely skewed, so when I enter them into body fat percentage calculators they tell me that I am 33% body fat-- in the obese range... and I only weigh 115. My hips have always been horrendous. They used to be 45" now they are down to 36" and I am still fighting the good fight. I'm a pear, and my waist is ridiculously high.
 
Thunder thighs never killed anyone! You just want to watch your waist. This is from a book called "The 10-day GI diet" which I must have read about forty times, partly because it all seems so sensible and scientific.

"Putting weight on around the tummy ('central obesity') is said to be associated with resistance to the hormone insulin, which in turn has been shown to make you more prone to certain medical conditions... If you can lower the amount of fat that has settled around your middle, you are more likely to be able to stabilise your insulin levels and reduce your risks of these conditions. You could be within the healthy range in terms of weight and BMI, yet if you're carrying excess fat around your middle, you could actually be quite unhealthy... You're in the watch-out category if you're a women whose waiste measures more then 80cm (32 in)..."

"Take the tape measure test. Take a green permanent marker and colour in an old measuring tape from about 24 to 32 inches. This is your target waist range and, if you are within this section you are considered to have a desirable shape and should not need to loose weight. Now take an orange marker and colour in from 32 to 35 inches. Within this range, you have an increased health risk. If you want to, you can complete the traffic light by colouring in 35 inches upwards with a red marker. The red is often a sign of danger and represents a higher health risk, and it is important that you start to take action."

Hope that helps!
 
Pancake Batter said:
"Putting weight on around the tummy ('central obesity') is said to be associated with resistance to the hormone insulin, which in turn has been shown to make you more prone to certain medical conditions...
Click to expand...
:( Thats why I've decided that today is the day to really start trying to lose weight. My entire family has "central obesity" and a history of Diabetes (both type one and type two).

I'm going off of weight for now until I get a good tape. Then I'm going to switch over.

edit:

and more in line with the thread topic - I have no idea what a 36 or smaller inch waist would look like on a person my height/build (6'5, big ribcage, wide shoulders).
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the info, Pancake batter!

It's weird... I don't know whether to count the 39 inches as my waist or the 53 inches. ... Or would that be my hips??

-N-
 
I always measure at the narrowest point :)

I should have mentioned up above that the watch-out measurement I gave above was for the ladies: for me, it's 94 cm/37 in, and for men of South Asian origin it's 90 cm/36 in.

The book says this: "the British Dietetic Association recommends that to measure your waist, you first find the bottom of your ribs and the top of your hips. Then measure your waist at a point half way between these two, which for many people is the belly button."

The book also says that eating low GI is the best way to reduce central obesity -- but then it would, wouldn't it?
 
Nightporter said:
Thanks for the info, Pancake batter!

It's weird... I don't know whether to count the 39 inches as my waist or the 53 inches. ... Or would that be my hips??

-N-
Click to expand...

I beleve that you should be using the narrowest part of your waist no matter where that falls on you. Everyone is built different and that most narrow place will be different. For me personally, its two inches above my belly button and three inches below my bra (i'm short so there isn't a lot of space between there). I measure my hips at the very widest of everything, including my butt. I'm not sure if that is how people do it but its how I prefer to do it since my hips AND my butt are changing. Currently I have a 31" waist and 45" hips...which is the same ratio as you.
 
Thanks for the info LandonsBaby & Pancake Batter!

I feel a lot more relieved knowing I have a 39 inch waist (even if it's only 3 inches below my chest!) It's also about 8 inches above my bellybutton... But maybe that will change when I lose the fat on my gut!

Thanks again to you both!

-N-
 
I didn't know where to start with that either. I just took the classic standard 36-24-36 and started from there. It really all depends on what kind of body type you have. I'm more hourglass, so I've always had a more proportionate body. I started out with a 36" inch waist, 41" inch bust, and 44 1/4" inch hips. As of last Sunday, I have a 25" inch waist, 31" inch bust, and 34 1/2" inch hips.
 
Wow you sound like you have the perfect hourglass shape, Peach!

Do you have before and after pictures on this forum?

-N-
 
I am quite happy with my general shape... got to get into those 36 inch (hipster :p) jeans though!!!

Original Measurements:

Bust - 44 inch
Waist - 35 inch
Hips - 44 inch

Current Measurements:

Bust - 39 inch
Waist - 31 inch
Hips - 39 inch

Here are my before and after "widest part of my body" butt measurements:

Before - 48 inch
Current - 44 inch

Exercise has paid off too!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top