To think a 84cm / 34 inch waist is not "slim"

[apenny4]

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I'm very open to being told IABU, in fact I'd be quite relieved to be told I have a warped view. Right now though I don't think a 34 inch waist is slim. To me slim is no larger than a size 10 so around a 27 inch waist max.

Unless you are a much taller than the average woman (average being 5' 4"?) I think a healthy (in the general sense of the word) waist is less than 30 inches.

However I have a small frame and have felt overweight whenever I've needed to wear size 12 bottoms (and that's still not over a 30 inch waist).

The irony is that I still think I'm at high risk of developing diabetes because my father has it and whilst not overweight I have a diet quite high in sugar.

Genuinely interested in people's views on this and whether my own view is out of kilter with the norm.

Correction, that should be:
'How much can you bench / dead lift / squat and at what body weight?'

(A person with high levels of muscle mass will be strong relative to body weight)

Those gym machines are a joke
Anyone who knows their stuff will tell you they can't accurately measure body comp

Suzanne, I honestly say this with love - maybe your, what, 13% (?) body fat level is starting to affect your mind/perception? Of course 20% body fat on an adult woman is slim and healthy - maybe not 'ripped' but for the vast majority that isn't practical or desirable. And if you plotted female adults on body fat centiles as a population, I'm sure it would be pretty low on the chart, even going back a few decades.

YouGottaKeepEmSeperated If your periods have stopped then your body fat has gotten too low and you need to gain some weight. That isn't healthy.

Isn't there evidence that women's individual body shape changes over the years anyway? Height reduces a little. The menopause has a physiological impact on the shape of your body, how and where you store fat etc. My mum is a size 12 tall rake (with big boobs) whereas my dad is a short, borderline obese man. Guess whose cholesterol levels are too high? My mum's. She thinks it's very unfair.

I did say you were fat, I was curious about your lifts, since you said you have a LOT of muscle

It remains the case that those gym machines only inaccuratly infer body fat

(I don't have 13% body fat BTW)

She also treats her body as a temple, has never smoked or drank to excess, exercised regularly and eaten a very healthy and balanced diet. She's just been told she's diabetic.

34 inch waist is v big !

rose no wrinkles on a balloon eh? 14-16 is an average size of women in UK these days, 50 years ago it was probably 10-12. It doesn't make it ok just because people are eating too much!!!

I am one of those wth large calves and huge quads. I do lift a fair bit but had time off due to illness. Am not aiming for slim, I want healthy heart, lungs and to be strong and muscled

20% body fat is fine for most people.

The only women know who go anywhere near 13% body fat are body building competitors. And that's close to competition. Most of them do not maintain that body fat for longer than a few weeks leading up to comp and the reverse dieting out their comp diet.

No competitor I know would recommend a woman staying that low year round.

Fwiw I have a lot of muscle. My lifts are not that great. Squats are difficult due to a problem in my hips.

But put my in the ring with a body builder and I whip their arse every time. Because I am faster and fitter.

I have 22% body fat. Have just been diagnosed as PCOS and I find it hard to get anymore weight off. Hopefully now I know I have it, I will be able to shift more by changing things.

Katenka take a look at 'Woman Code' by Alyssa Vitti, you may find it useful. Also IME women with pcos are often v sensitive to sugar and dairy so if you haven't already tried it it might be an interesting experiment to cut one or both out for a few weeks.

I'm sure you can lift loads more than me I doubt it, I dont have a LOT of muscle, just some more than I'd have if I did no strength training

but anyway, what is the issue up for debate at this stage of the thread?

At the risk of pointing out the obvious surely the most important thing is health?

We can chew the cud for days about how clothes are getting bigger, what size we are, BMI, measuring body fat, definitions of 'slim' looking at pictures of luscious lovelies in the 40s..... but what's the point really?

Yes, being very overweight/ obese is bad for you but otherwise is the main driver health or appearance? 34 waist sounds largish but if you are apple shape you are .... My mum is not something she chose but however slim you are your waist will never be tiny if you are that shape. Shrugs, 34 is healthier than 38

20% body fat is fine for most people

I'd say it depends on the location of the fat, if predominantly in the viscera then that fat may well be pathological, if predominatly lower body then it's probably not having a net negative influence

fat in the abdominal cavity tends to become invaded by macrophages which turn 'rouge' and cause adipocytes to secrete cytokines which are harmful to other organs and tissues.

Subcutaneous fat tends not to behave like that

So what net negative influence does a normal amount of body fat have in anyone?

Sorry but you sound seriously bonkers and like you are taking psuedo science far too seriously

you think Im making up things about visceral fat??

I'd say it depends on the location of the fat,

Maybe but overall and body fat is taken as an overall measurement 20% is fine.

sleep thank you: I have very little dairy and have cut it out completely. I have cut down on added sugar massively to.

I will take a look at that, thank you.

Pathophysiology of Human Visceral Obesity: An Update

have a read Tobysmum, and try not to mistake the long words for 'psuedo science'