Healthy waist measurement

[Swimminguphill]

I just want a bit of a whinge really. I had a health check yesterday and it was all good - healthy bmi (24 so not ridic but still I am ok with that), good body fat - 25%, excellent heart, blood pressure, cholesterol etc but my waist was 83cm which apparently is a risk factor for all kinds of things. I don't want to obsess about it but it just seems a bit weird and annoying - I comfortably fit size 12 clothes, am 5'10" and do 5 high intensity workouts a week with lots of core/abs work in there. I never saw my tummy as a trouble zone, it's pretty flat tbh and I have had 2 kids so I was pleased with that. I am as thin if not thinner than I have ever been in my adult life. There are a few things that bother me about it: 1. Why the same measurement for all women?

1. How come I often have to take a 28 waist in jeans if my waist is over 30 inches?
   
2. Does this mean all size 12 women have waists that are too big?
   
3. Any tips for regaining a bit of fuck you confidence?
   

I felt kind of shit afterwards and I can only imagine how I would feel if I wasn't within healthy ranges on other things. I don't think they meant to make me feel bad but it's a bit like wtf do I have to do??!

[toomanyloos]

medically not mediacly!

[Swimminguphill]

It in interesting how the NHS website says 'regardless of height' you need to be under 80 cm. Back on MFP it is! I don't really want to be right on the edge of acceptable at my age because it's unlikely I'll get thinner after 40 is it?

[PhyllisWig]

I also found that link after I posted Jeez. I am incredibly short waisted so the mid point between rib and hip is pretty much my narrowest bit, just a tiny bit lower. Still ok with my lard nestling sweetly beneath. A bit like one of the cute little fat monsters they had on dr who.

[Djangor]

I've had another look at the into on the net & its actually waist divided by height - if you are under .5 then supposedly not too much to worry about (combined with BMI). In practice this equates to height divided by waist which for most people doesn't need a calculator.

[BitOutOfPractice]

That is my narrowest part though.

Swimming I'm about to turn 50 and I'm the slimmest I've been for 50 years. But I honestly think you're worrying for nothing

[BitOutOfPractice]

*15 years.

[Swimminguphill]

That is good news BitOutOfPractice!

[MovingtoParadise]

Makes literally no sense. My Bmi is 40 and my waist is 29 inches.

Ridiculous for anyone to say I'm less at risk of an early death than you.

[WicksEnd]

My BMI is 21 and my waist is 30". That's at the smallest bit too. Size 8/10.
It doesn't make sense to me either 😳

[Joffmognum]

tessiebear4 I've got a BMI of just under 21 and I've got a tummy due to having a baby. I used to have stronger stomach muscles and it was really nice - flat with slight muscle lines if I flexed my abs. Now my skin is looser and when I eat i don't have stomach muscles to hold it in so I look 4 months pregnant after a large meal. I was ill for a few days and it went flat again, because my insides were empty. For the first few months I could actually feel the diastasis recti gap where they'd split apart

But the average woman is overweight after having a baby so fat is a factor.

[BrexitSucks]

@MovingtoParadise, how tall are you?

[MovingtoParadise]

5ft 2

[BrexitSucks]

At 5'2", you weigh 219 lbs & have a waist of 29 inches?! Come on girl, post us a pic. I wanna see those curves.

[BurnTheBlackSuit]

Isn't average height for a woman 5'3? Which is 160cm. An ideal waist for a 5'3 woman is 80cm or less. Is this where the 80cm idea has come from??

I have very very little space between my ribs and my hips and so very little space for a waist as there is no room to go in and out that much :(

[Alexandra87]

I'm 169cm tall and my waist is 119cm 😱😱😱 if I needed something to motivate me to loose weight this thread was it.