measuring waist accurately

jjs22

Hi, I'm brand new to this whole dieting thing and have never measured my waist before.

I'm male, with a pretty classic "spare tire" fat distribution. So I'm measuring my "waist" as they call it, but its really at the navel. I do it with my shirt off, and the tape wrapped around horizontally.

At first I thought I could just use a piece of string and compare that to a ruler. The results were horrible : repeat trials would vary by 2-3 inches !

Then I stopped by a sewing store and got a proper sewing measuring tape. Even with this, I was still getting a fair amount of variation, maybe +/- 0.5 inch.

One big issue is breathing. I saw online somewhere that you breathe in, and then just sort of breathe out and relax. Is this really consistent ?

The other big issue seems to be the tension in the tape. A lot of the terrain it has to cover is pretty soft and squishy. I can easily vary the measurement by an inch or two without the tape feeling unreasonably tight or loose. The technique that seems to work best so far is to get the tape into position with the tension a little on the tight side, and then let it loosen gradually to the point where it looks and feels like it's suddenly free to slide downwards. My only real doubt about this technique is that the tape has sort of a "sticky" plastic coating, and i wonder if changes in skin temperature, moisture, humidity of the air, etc, are going to influence the readings.

Anyways, no huge crisis here. I'm just a little surprised that it wasn't a dead simple measurement. It would be nice if I could look at a graph of smooth, steady decline rather than a jaggedy up and down caused by sloppy measurements.

Thanks for any tips or suggestions.

taso42_DELETED

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0017OE4MI/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1

TNAJackson

I don't have any suggestions for you, but I'm REALLY glad you asked this question! I've been wondering too!!

MikeBBerger

Personally I just hold the tape as loose as possible without it sliding or bunching (I err on the side of larger). I'd rather over estimate than under estimate so that I don't get too disappointed in a future measurement.

If you want a smoother graph measure less frequently and try to do it at the same day and time each measurement (e.g. once a week immediately after waking up on Sundays, or better yet every other week if the ups will stress you out). Same applies with weight. The end result is all that matters so try not to stress over ups and downs as they occur along the way.

mike_littlerock

When I started, I would use a small remote control plane and use it to fly around me with a string. I would have to make sure I topped off its tank, as I lost 3 planes that only had 3/4 of a tank. lol

ok. to be serious. I know there are some fancy tapes available, but I use a plain sewing tape. I have a spreadsheet that tracks the following:
neck
shoulders
chest
waist (largest)
waist(smallest)
hips
leg
calf
you will note that I have two measurements for "waist". I had a pretty good belly (was in a size 49 when i started) so i could have measured where i wore my belt (under my belly) or at the biggest circumference. I made the choice to measure both, as I thought that seeing the additional information might be interesting. i always measure on friday mornings, before breakfast, in front of the bathroom mirror. I hold the tape behind my back, and wrap to the front and the largest part of my belly (at the navel). I try to make sure i have exhaled and that the tape is conforming to my skin, but not pulling it to tighten. I get fairly consistent results in my measurements by trying to measure the same spot, same position, each time. Leg for example. I measure a fixed distance from my knee that corresponds with the mid point of my thigh, leg bent and on a chair.
for the measurement of the smallest waist point. I experimented with moving the tape and simply record the smallest circumference (under my belly), pretty much where I wore my belt. the numbers were pretty interesting and it has been cool to watch the two numbers converge. I wish i would have started the measurement process at the beginning of the year, but did not do it until April (about 4 months into the process). in april my largest waist was 49 inches, smallest was 45. my last measurement was 41.5 at largest, and 39 at smallest. it will be a happy day when I get my largest waist under 40.

I hope this helps.
Mike