Concerned about my waist size

shellfly
shellfly Posts: 186
in Fitness and Exercise
I completed my weight loss goal back in December and currently weigh ~115-116 lbs (I'm 5'5" and 42 years old). I managed the weight loss by a combination of eating healthy, reducing calories, and exercise, so I believe that I did it the proper way. My measurements all dropped a good bit, but my waist is still out of proportion, and even though I continue to work out, it isn't shrinking. I'm not sure why this is and what, if anything, can be done about it.

I don't know my exact starting measurements, but I think they were in relative proportion - probably something like 44, 35, 45. They are now 34, 28.5, 34. I have had two children and they were both via C-section, so I expected having trouble toning my abdomen, but I didn't think it would impact my waist, so I don't know if that's a factor or not. I know when I was in my 20's, I was much more in proportion with a waist measurement that was probably 24-25, so is this perhaps age related? My exercise throughout weight loss was cardio; I hadn't heard about the emphasis on weight training and have only recently gotten going with it (probably a month ago). Will lifting address the area at all?

Replies

  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    Out of proportion compared to what?
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
    Yes lifting should help tremendously. Tone the cardio way down, and turn the lifting up to 11 :)
  • stonel94
    stonel94 Posts: 550 Member
    that's probably just your body type now, having a 24 inch waist would be very small and 28 isn't bad at all, peoples bodies change after having kids, so your body shape might too, now you're just more of a squarer shape than a a perfect hourglass, but you still go in at the waist, and when you started your waist was bigger porportionally so i think it's your just body shape.
  • s07civic
    s07civic Posts: 50 Member
    It sounds to me like you may have a bit of body dysmorphia (BDD) going on. I looked at your photos and you look almost *too* skinny. I was like this back in high school--lost weight and didn't think it was good enough, started obsessing about different parts of my body (for me it was shoulders).

    Please don't take offense to this; I am saying this because I am concerned.

    More on BDD:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_dysmorphia

    Best of luck.
  • Ed98043
    Ed98043 Posts: 1,333 Member
    I don't think it's reasonable for a woman in her 40's to expect to have the same hourglass figure that she had in her 20's. There are many hormone shifts going on in perimenopausal women, most of them specifically cause a woman's waist to thicken.

    I agree with the other post - you look really skinny already. You don't want to end up looking like something out of a death camp because you're chasing that 24 inch waist.
  • Oishii
    Oishii Posts: 2,675 Member
    I never kept fat around my waist until after having my son either, although mine was even more obvious when I was bigger. Around goal weight I found push-ups did reduce it further and I like to imagine that if I get into lifting it would reduce as well. That said, I try not to worry too much about one measurement.
  • Lulzaroonie
    Lulzaroonie Posts: 222 Member
    I think you look great now, and the progress you've made is fantastic, but I too think it's probably a little bit unrealistic and unhealthy to want to slim down even more.
    Enjoy your body now, you've earned it!
  • Brandyboling26
    Brandyboling26 Posts: 2
    There are certain exercises you can do after children before you incorporate crunches and ab exercises bc it makes your pooch bigger if you don't tone the muscles first...please google diastasis recti
  • Brandyboling26
    Brandyboling26 Posts: 2
    Maybe try doing planks also..
  • jesz124
    jesz124 Posts: 1,004 Member
    This thread worries me. Further weight loss is NOT what you need. In any way shape or form (admittedly I am judging solely from your current profile picture)

    Weight training will help improve your body shape, make you look generally 'harder'. As you are already very slim I think lifting would be great for adding some definition and shape to your body.
  • mumof5
    mumof5 Posts: 328 Member
    i could have written that post. and yes LIFT!!!! lifting will help sculpt your body like you never thought possible!!!
  • Lyadeia
    Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
    I think I understand where the OP is coming from. My waist is also 28.5" in circumference, however, my chest and hips are both 37" and I weigh about 25 pounds more than she does. Her waist is proportionally larger when compared to her chest and hips, and I can imagine how buying clothes is a beast when your hips and chest fit into size 4 and your waist is a size 8. Actually, I know exactly what that's like...and it sucks...

    But I agree that losing more weight is NOT what you need to do.

    I would stop the cardio and do weight training. And I would ONLY do weight training. I would eat closer to your TDEE and possibly slightly over it. This will help you do 2 things, shed body fat and build muscle. You don't want to be eating at a deficit as though you're trying to lose more weight. You don't need that. At this point I would think that you should focus on bodybuilding, especially the shoulder girdle and rear end. Bodybuilding is all about aesthetics and creating an illusion...so I would put on some muscle and focus on those areas that you believe are proportionally smaller than your waist. By doing so, it creates the illusion of a smaller waist. By eating closer to your TDEE and weight lifting, you will also see your health improve upon what it already is which is a bonus on top of your current goal of looking better.
  • Lupercalia
    Lupercalia Posts: 1,857 Member
    I think I understand where the OP is coming from. My waist is also 28.5" in circumference, however, my chest and hips are both 37" and I weigh about 25 pounds more than she does. Her waist is proportionally larger when compared to her chest and hips, and I can imagine how buying clothes is a beast when your hips and chest fit into size 4 and your waist is a size 8. Actually, I know exactly what that's like...and it sucks...

    But I agree that losing more weight is NOT what you need to do.

    I would stop the cardio and do weight training. And I would ONLY do weight training. I would eat closer to your TDEE and possibly slightly over it. This will help you do 2 things, shed body fat and build muscle. You don't want to be eating at a deficit as though you're trying to lose more weight. You don't need that. At this point I would think that you should focus on bodybuilding, especially the shoulder girdle and rear end. Bodybuilding is all about aesthetics and creating an illusion...so I would put on some muscle and focus on those areas that you believe are proportionally smaller than your waist. By doing so, it creates the illusion of a smaller waist. By eating closer to your TDEE and weight lifting, you will also see your health improve upon what it already is which is a bonus on top of your current goal of looking better.

    ^^ I agree with this. Eat more food and lift weights to increase muscle.
  • WorkingonmeAliG
    WorkingonmeAliG Posts: 19 Member
    Do you know what vacuums are? Google abdominal vacuums. It is a great exercise to develop your transverse abdominus muslce which is basically your natural girdle. I am 50. Will never weigh under 130 or probably even under 140, but my waist is 30" right now and will get down to about 27/28 by the time I weigh about 140-145. Get that natural girdle firing. It will take time. Do not quit. Keep going! BTW. See you later, friend! :happy:
  • iorahkwano
    iorahkwano Posts: 709 Member
    34-28.5-34 is pretty good. There are different body types that are genetic and can only be manipulated by fitness so much. There's Hourglass (Very smal waist), ruler (straight), pear (Small upperbody & wide hips) & Apple (Larger waist). You sound like you have a "ruler" slender type body & that's nothing to moan over!

    I think as long as your waist is smaller than your hips & bust, I'd say your proportions are healthy :) You can work on it more if you want, but sometimes our body proportions don't allow for it. I am 37-30-38. The smallest my waist has been is 28", if I were to go smaller I would gave to starve & remove my lower ribs!
  • shellfly
    shellfly Posts: 186
    I really appreciate everyone's responses, and I will definitely be looking into the tips offered. Just wanted to clarify a couple of things:

    1) I'm in maintenance and am not trying to lose additional weight. I'm just trying to continue to tone and to work on strength.

    2) I don't have BDD. I probably shouldn't have used the word "concerned"; my waist size definitely doesn't keep me up at night or anything. It's just seems odd to me that it hasn't reduced in proportion with my other measurements and because I was an hourglass as a younger person. Just thought I'd draw on the wisdom of MFPers to clarify.
  • shellfly
    shellfly Posts: 186
    I do have a follow up question for Lyadeia. Why do you recommend stopping cardio altogether? Currently I'm alternating strength days and cardio days. I really enjoy cardio, and my understanding is it's a healthy type of exercise to do and works muscles in different ways. Why not do it off days?
  • Brad805
    Brad805 Posts: 289 Member
    I think 116lb is a little light for 5'5", but I get the magic behind that 120lb number so many women have. I suggest you eat above maintenance and lift. It will help build a little muscle. You will not get bulky. The cardio is great if you enjoy it, but I suspect you could ditch it all together too. I am guessing your endurance is very high and your heart rate recovers very quickly after intense exercise. My sister is a 50yr old cardio queen too and is having a heck of a time adjusting to a weight lifting regime and eating for it too. Its up to you to decide if you would like to look like a sprinter or a long distance runner.

    Awesome job by both you and your hubs by the way.

    marathon_sprinter_zpsc0159bf6.jpg
  • SJackson50
    SJackson50 Posts: 282 Member
    I don't think it's reasonable for a woman in her 40's to expect to have the same hourglass figure that she had in her 20's. There are many hormone shifts going on in perimenopausal women, most of them specifically cause a woman's waist to thicken.

    I agree with the other post - you look really skinny already. You don't want to end up looking like something out of a death camp because you're chasing that 24 inch waist.

    I don't believe this is necessarily true...I will be 50 next year and I am smaller and in better shape than when I got out of the military in 1989 :-)
  • Lyadeia
    Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
    I do have a follow up question for Lyadeia. Why do you recommend stopping cardio altogether? Currently I'm alternating strength days and cardio days. I really enjoy cardio, and my understanding is it's a healthy type of exercise to do and works muscles in different ways. Why not do it off days?

    I personally recommend stopping cardio because most people use cardio to increase the calorie deficit when trying to lose weight.

    However, since you said that you are eating at maintenance, then you probably don't have to stop cardio. It just sounded from your first post that you were trying to lose weight which is what you don't need to be doing. Just be sure to eat at maintenance and you can still get the benefits from the cardio without dropping more pounds.
  • sofielein
    sofielein Posts: 539 Member
    It is not the birth that widens that area but the pregnancy itself - as it takes 9 months to prepare for birth. The fact that you did not give vaginal birth does not matter because the hip-waist widening already happened by that time the babies were born.

    Looking at your pic your waist is much smaller than your hips so you do have the womanly feature, nothing to worry to about. But your upper body looks totally emaciated - sorry to think this but the first thing that comes to mind looking at you is "is she starving herself"?

    Now you want to be skinny, right, but you don't actually want people to think that dieting and skinniness is all you think about and that "she must have an eating disorder" right? That is not a good image. Gain 5 lbs and leave the whole measuring thing.
  • PDXContessa
    PDXContessa Posts: 49 Member
    I completed my weight loss goal back in December and currently weigh ~115-116 lbs (I'm 5'5" and 42 years old). I managed the weight loss by a combination of eating healthy, reducing calories, and exercise, so I believe that I did it the proper way. My measurements all dropped a good bit, but my waist is still out of proportion, and even though I continue to work out, it isn't shrinking. I'm not sure why this is and what, if anything, can be done about it.

    I don't know my exact starting measurements, but I think they were in relative proportion - probably something like 44, 35, 45. They are now 34, 28.5, 34. I have had two children and they were both via C-section, so I expected having trouble toning my abdomen, but I didn't think it would impact my waist, so I don't know if that's a factor or not. I know when I was in my 20's, I was much more in proportion with a waist measurement that was probably 24-25, so is this perhaps age related? My exercise throughout weight loss was cardio; I hadn't heard about the emphasis on weight training and have only recently gotten going with it (probably a month ago). Will lifting address the area at all?

    First off - congratulations on your weight loss. Well done. Next - I would agree with the other person who mentioned that you look slightly underweight. Definitely do not lose any more weight.

    As far as your waist to hip ratio, where are you getting the idea that a 28.5 inch waist is too big? If your measurements are 34 - 28.5 - 34, then you have a nice hourglass shape. I don't think this is due to aging. It may be more related to genetics. There's nothing wrong with adding in some strength training, but I don't think you should be stressing about trying to make your waist smaller.

    You look GREAT!
  • altinker
    altinker Posts: 173
    I've lost an inch and a half in my waist doing bar exercises. Maybe doing some toning? I like Bar Method Change Your Body as a good beginner workout.
  • dontcallmecass
    dontcallmecass Posts: 10
    I don't think your waist is too big...

    My stats are 32 - 28 - 35, so similar to you. I am 5'0 and barely 100 pounds. Some people are just built differently...I will never have a small waist because that's just not how I am built.

    I think people get hung up on waist lines because of sizing charts. By a size chart I should wear a 6/8 pants but I'm only 98 pounds so I wear a 1/2. I definitely do not think you need to lose any weight. You are very slim as is.

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