For the gals - how do YOU measure your waist?

fitmom4lifemfp
fitmom4lifemfp Posts: 1,572 Member
edited November 17 in Getting Started
My waist is always my first place to store fat, so it's always my most annoying measurement.
I am about 10 (maybe 15 - we'll see) pounds over where I want to be. I have never, even at my lowest weight (about 136), had less than a 28 or 29" waist. (I am 5'7".) But since I started trying to lose these few pounds about 2 months ago, I started measuring every couple of weeks. And then realized something - I have a very high waist - I am short-waisted! I had no idea - guess I never really paid much attention to it. But it really makes a different in clothing size - I wear pants sizes larger than many other gals with my weight/height. And now I get why that is, and why I usually need the *tall* length pants.

http://www.parisciel.com/blog/en/how-to-determine-short-waisted-long-waisted-balanced/#.WOkcvmkrKUk

https://insideoutstyleblog.com/2009/06/how-to-tell-if-you-have-a-short-balanced-or-long-waist.html

http://gorgeousme.co/blog/styling-for-long-or-short-waisted-women/#.WOkdc2krKUk

http://abeautifulbodyshape.com/short-or-long-waist/short-or-long-waist-2/#iLightbox[postimages]/0

So my natural waist measurement is really not my pants size measurement. My natural waist right now is about 31 - but that measurement is about 3 inches or more, ABOVE my belly button. My belly button "feels" like my natural waist, but maybe that's just because I am accustomed to wearing pants that hit there, rather than up higher.

Sort of a not-important-at-all thread, but I just never noticed this before. :)

Replies

  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,961 Member
    edited April 2017
    I measure in the gap between my hips and my ribs. I have heard to measure at the belly button, but like you, I'm short waisted. If I were to measure at my belly button, I would be measuring my hips. I only have about 1 inch on my side of soft fleshy area between my ribs and hips. And for that same reason, I probably also won't have a very small waist (can't shrink bone after all!). I think I measured at my smallest around 28.5" and I am 5' 6".

    A friend of mine and I compared the gaps between our ribs and hips on the side of our bodies. Mine was about 1 or 1.5" and hers was more like 3 or 4". Big difference. For her, her belly button lands at her natural waist which is between the hips and ribs, at the narrowest point.
  • fitmom4lifemfp
    fitmom4lifemfp Posts: 1,572 Member
    DancingMoosie wrote: »
    Your natural waist is basically the narrowest point between your ribs and hips, wherever it happens to fall, but not usually at the belly button.

    Yes, that point was already made in the links I posted. But I personally have never measured that point, as MY waist measurement. It doesn't *feel" like my waist at all. Way too high. I don't wear any clothes that have a waistband that fits there. That was my point. :)
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    edited April 2017
    I measure both my true waist and at belly button.

    When I shop for clothes online, I use my true waist measurement to determine what size to order. So far I haven't had any problems with fit (even though none of the jeans, shorts, pants ect actually sit at my waist).
  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
    I measure the narrowest point. Which is above my bellybutton.
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,219 Member
    I measure the narrowest point and at my belly button.
  • bbell1985
    bbell1985 Posts: 4,571 Member
    I consider my "waist" measurement to be the narrowest point, or where the crease is when I bend to the side. I also take a measurement at my belly button because I can lose there sometimes without losing at the natural waist and it's actually a pretty drastic look in physique when that happens.

    I don't wear my pants down at my belly button.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    I measure at belly button just because there is less risk of error. I also measure the largest part of my waist just because that's where progress would be nice. It doesn't matter in the end, as long as whatever you're measuring is getting smaller (and your measuring tape has consistent placement) you should be fine.

    For what it's worth, though, to find your true waist bend to the side and see where it bends and has little to do with where your pants fit. I don't measure there because it comes at a sloped angle between my belly button and largest part of my waist, so measurement accuracy can be all over the place so I don't bother.
  • glassofroses
    glassofroses Posts: 653 Member
    I measure the narrowest part between my ribs and hips as my waist. However, if I'm buying clothes I go by my hip measurements (the widest part of me) because my 'waist' is so high; I am 5'10 with a long torso.

    TBH, as long as you can find clothes that fit you then I don't really think it matters where your waist may or may not fall, y'know. Still, an interesting thing to think about.
  • GoldBikiniGoals
    GoldBikiniGoals Posts: 47 Member
    fitmom4lifemfp wrote: »
    My waist is always my first place to store fat, so it's always my most annoying measurement.
    I am about 10 (maybe 15 - we'll see) pounds over where I want to be. I have never, even at my lowest weight (about 136), had less than a 28 or 29" waist. (I am 5'7".) But since I started trying to lose these few pounds about 2 months ago, I started measuring every couple of weeks. And then realized something - I have a very high waist - I am short-waisted! I had no idea - guess I never really paid much attention to it. But it really makes a different in clothing size - I wear pants sizes larger than many other gals with my weight/height. And now I get why that is, and why I usually need the *tall* length pants.

    http://www.parisciel.com/blog/en/how-to-determine-short-waisted-long-waisted-balanced/#.WOkcvmkrKUk

    https://insideoutstyleblog.com/2009/06/how-to-tell-if-you-have-a-short-balanced-or-long-waist.html

    http://gorgeousme.co/blog/styling-for-long-or-short-waisted-women/#.WOkdc2krKUk

    http://abeautifulbodyshape.com/short-or-long-waist/short-or-long-waist-2/#iLightbox[postimages]/0

    So my natural waist measurement is really not my pants size measurement. My natural waist right now is about 31 - but that measurement is about 3 inches or more, ABOVE my belly button. My belly button "feels" like my natural waist, but maybe that's just because I am accustomed to wearing pants that hit there, rather than up higher.

    Sort of a not-important-at-all thread, but I just never noticed this before. :)

    Just throwing it out there, 28/29" waist -- at your smallest part I'm talking -- actually is not very big for someone of your height and shows already that you have a smaller frame. I'm not sure why you're worried about getting below that point or why you've chosen a specific measurement as your goal. Everyone's body is different, I just encourage you to focus on health. As someone of the same height, I'm pretty familiar with what BMI's healthy range for our height is and while I won't argue BMI is the be all end all, when you were 136 that put you into the lower end of normal. Some pretty important stuff get's housed in that area of your body (aka: your organs) and they need a little room ;) haha.
  • MoiAussi93
    MoiAussi93 Posts: 1,948 Member
    I measure both the narrowest part which is right below the ribs, and at the belly button.

    Neither seems to correlate with clothing sizes for me...I don't think the inches they label pants with are the real measurements of the clothes. I take a size smaller than any of my waist measurements.

    If you are tracking for health purposes, I believe the point near the belly button is most relevant. That is where you don't want to accumulate excess fat.
  • LisaTcan
    LisaTcan Posts: 410 Member
    I just realized according to those charts that I am short-waisted... I'd never really thought about it. I'm 5'6'' and at my smallest (134) prior to having a child my waist was 27.5 inches. I thought that was pretty small, but I guess it's all relative :)
  • bbell1985
    bbell1985 Posts: 4,571 Member
    GoldBikiniGoals wrote: »
    fitmom4lifemfp wrote: »
    My waist is always my first place to store fat, so it's always my most annoying measurement.
    I am about 10 (maybe 15 - we'll see) pounds over where I want to be. I have never, even at my lowest weight (about 136), had less than a 28 or 29" waist. (I am 5'7".) But since I started trying to lose these few pounds about 2 months ago, I started measuring every couple of weeks. And then realized something - I have a very high waist - I am short-waisted! I had no idea - guess I never really paid much attention to it. But it really makes a different in clothing size - I wear pants sizes larger than many other gals with my weight/height. And now I get why that is, and why I usually need the *tall* length pants.

    http://www.parisciel.com/blog/en/how-to-determine-short-waisted-long-waisted-balanced/#.WOkcvmkrKUk

    https://insideoutstyleblog.com/2009/06/how-to-tell-if-you-have-a-short-balanced-or-long-waist.html

    http://gorgeousme.co/blog/styling-for-long-or-short-waisted-women/#.WOkdc2krKUk

    http://abeautifulbodyshape.com/short-or-long-waist/short-or-long-waist-2/#iLightbox[postimages]/0

    So my natural waist measurement is really not my pants size measurement. My natural waist right now is about 31 - but that measurement is about 3 inches or more, ABOVE my belly button. My belly button "feels" like my natural waist, but maybe that's just because I am accustomed to wearing pants that hit there, rather than up higher.

    Sort of a not-important-at-all thread, but I just never noticed this before. :)

    Just throwing it out there, 28/29" waist -- at your smallest part I'm talking -- actually is not very big for someone of your height and shows already that you have a smaller frame. I'm not sure why you're worried about getting below that point or why you've chosen a specific measurement as your goal. Everyone's body is different, I just encourage you to focus on health. As someone of the same height, I'm pretty familiar with what BMI's healthy range for our height is and while I won't argue BMI is the be all end all, when you were 136 that put you into the lower end of normal. Some pretty important stuff get's housed in that area of your body (aka: your organs) and they need a little room ;) haha.

    137 is not the lower end of normal for someone who is 5'7". I'm 5'4" and consider it just right under "normal".

    Nothing wrong with wanting a waist smaller than 28/29 inches if it's attainable for your body shape.

    Nothing wrong with 28 or 29 either but I would not be satisfied, personally.
  • fitmom4lifemfp
    fitmom4lifemfp Posts: 1,572 Member
    edited April 2017
    GoldBikiniGoals wrote: »
    fitmom4lifemfp wrote: »
    My waist is always my first place to store fat, so it's always my most annoying measurement.
    I am about 10 (maybe 15 - we'll see) pounds over where I want to be. I have never, even at my lowest weight (about 136), had less than a 28 or 29" waist. (I am 5'7".) But since I started trying to lose these few pounds about 2 months ago, I started measuring every couple of weeks. And then realized something - I have a very high waist - I am short-waisted! I had no idea - guess I never really paid much attention to it. But it really makes a different in clothing size - I wear pants sizes larger than many other gals with my weight/height. And now I get why that is, and why I usually need the *tall* length pants.

    http://www.parisciel.com/blog/en/how-to-determine-short-waisted-long-waisted-balanced/#.WOkcvmkrKUk

    https://insideoutstyleblog.com/2009/06/how-to-tell-if-you-have-a-short-balanced-or-long-waist.html

    http://gorgeousme.co/blog/styling-for-long-or-short-waisted-women/#.WOkdc2krKUk

    http://abeautifulbodyshape.com/short-or-long-waist/short-or-long-waist-2/#iLightbox[postimages]/0

    So my natural waist measurement is really not my pants size measurement. My natural waist right now is about 31 - but that measurement is about 3 inches or more, ABOVE my belly button. My belly button "feels" like my natural waist, but maybe that's just because I am accustomed to wearing pants that hit there, rather than up higher.

    Sort of a not-important-at-all thread, but I just never noticed this before. :)

    Just throwing it out there, 28/29" waist -- at your smallest part I'm talking -- actually is not very big for someone of your height and shows already that you have a smaller frame. I'm not sure why you're worried about getting below that point or why you've chosen a specific measurement as your goal. Everyone's body is different, I just encourage you to focus on health. As someone of the same height, I'm pretty familiar with what BMI's healthy range for our height is and while I won't argue BMI is the be all end all, when you were 136 that put you into the lower end of normal. Some pretty important stuff get's housed in that area of your body (aka: your organs) and they need a little room ;) haha.

    Never said I was "worried" about getting to any size. Not sure where you got that from? I will be perfectly happy to be back at my old size.

    FWIW, a BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 is considered healthy. At 136. my BMI was 21.3, which is quite in the middle of the range of a normal healthy BMI. You must be looking at the wrong numbers.

    Even at 10 pounds under that, I would still be at a healthy weight.

  • macchiatto
    macchiatto Posts: 2,890 Member
    edited April 2017
    I'm 5'7", currently right around 131 lbs, and also short-waisted. I measure both my natural waist and belly button level. My belly button seemed to migrate lower after carrying twins to full-term so now it's closer to hip measurement anyway! :tongue: My natural waist also tends to get to 28-29" when I'm at my slimmest, e.g. now (goal range for maintenance is 128-133). Not sure if that will change when I recomp. I'm pretty happy with that, personally. (More happy with that than with my belly button level measurement!)
  • bbell1985
    bbell1985 Posts: 4,571 Member
    fitmom4lifemfp wrote: »
    GoldBikiniGoals wrote: »
    fitmom4lifemfp wrote: »
    My waist is always my first place to store fat, so it's always my most annoying measurement.
    I am about 10 (maybe 15 - we'll see) pounds over where I want to be. I have never, even at my lowest weight (about 136), had less than a 28 or 29" waist. (I am 5'7".) But since I started trying to lose these few pounds about 2 months ago, I started measuring every couple of weeks. And then realized something - I have a very high waist - I am short-waisted! I had no idea - guess I never really paid much attention to it. But it really makes a different in clothing size - I wear pants sizes larger than many other gals with my weight/height. And now I get why that is, and why I usually need the *tall* length pants.

    http://www.parisciel.com/blog/en/how-to-determine-short-waisted-long-waisted-balanced/#.WOkcvmkrKUk

    https://insideoutstyleblog.com/2009/06/how-to-tell-if-you-have-a-short-balanced-or-long-waist.html

    http://gorgeousme.co/blog/styling-for-long-or-short-waisted-women/#.WOkdc2krKUk

    http://abeautifulbodyshape.com/short-or-long-waist/short-or-long-waist-2/#iLightbox[postimages]/0

    So my natural waist measurement is really not my pants size measurement. My natural waist right now is about 31 - but that measurement is about 3 inches or more, ABOVE my belly button. My belly button "feels" like my natural waist, but maybe that's just because I am accustomed to wearing pants that hit there, rather than up higher.

    Sort of a not-important-at-all thread, but I just never noticed this before. :)

    Just throwing it out there, 28/29" waist -- at your smallest part I'm talking -- actually is not very big for someone of your height and shows already that you have a smaller frame. I'm not sure why you're worried about getting below that point or why you've chosen a specific measurement as your goal. Everyone's body is different, I just encourage you to focus on health. As someone of the same height, I'm pretty familiar with what BMI's healthy range for our height is and while I won't argue BMI is the be all end all, when you were 136 that put you into the lower end of normal. Some pretty important stuff get's housed in that area of your body (aka: your organs) and they need a little room ;) haha.

    Never said I was "worried" about getting to any size. Not sure where you got that from? I will be perfectly happy to be back at my old size.

    FWIW, a BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 is considered healthy. At 136. my BMI was 21.3, which is quite in the middle of the range of a normal healthy BMI. You must be looking at the wrong numbers.

    Even at 10 pounds under that, I would still be at a healthy weight.

    Yeah OP I hope you understand my response to this wasn't to make you feel bad. I just feel like there is nothing wrong with you goals :)
  • MaddMaestro
    MaddMaestro Posts: 405 Member
    Waist is the smallest part of your torso. Hips are..well, the widest part of your hips
  • fitmom4lifemfp
    fitmom4lifemfp Posts: 1,572 Member
    MaddMaestro wrote: »
    Waist is the smallest part of your torso. Hips are..well, the widest part of your hips

    Yes, but it's surprising how wide the difference in where the waist actually is on differennt women. Mine is at least THREE full inches ABOVE my belly button, but most of my pants sit right at my belly button. It's just sort of an interesting conundrum when I think about buying clothes that are sized by the waist measurement ( generally, jeans).
  • stationlouisa
    stationlouisa Posts: 150 Member
    Interesting post I've always known I was short wasted, am only 152cm tall but never thought about the distance between my hips and ribs being different to others. Have had comments about how little space there is between my waistband and my bra strap LOL barely 2 inches. I tend now to wear low wasted pants (easier once I've lost the stomach) eg they sit on my hip bones. I measure my waist just slighly above my belly button, but as others have said I think it is wherever your body tends to bend. I know in Australia there is a recommended maximum waist measurement it is 80cm for women, I have just hit this and am approx 2kg under my max recommended weight.
  • crazyycatlady1
    crazyycatlady1 Posts: 292 Member
    I go by what my doctor's office does and they measure at the belly button.
  • foxyglove6
    foxyglove6 Posts: 1 Member
    Anyone who sews or takes regular measurements of the human body knows that the actual waist is above the belly button. Another test is to bend sideways, reaching your arm down as if to touch the same foot. Where you have the deepest or first skin crease is your actual waist. Modern clothing sits mostly on the hips. What we now call high waisted clothing often sits on the actual waist.
  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,961 Member
    edited April 2017
    fitmom4lifemfp wrote: »
    DancingMoosie wrote: »
    Your natural waist is basically the narrowest point between your ribs and hips, wherever it happens to fall, but not usually at the belly button.

    Yes, that point was already made in the links I posted. But I personally have never measured that point, as MY waist measurement. It doesn't *feel" like my waist at all. Way too high. I don't wear any clothes that have a waistband that fits there. That was my point. :)

    No, pants don't usually fall AT the waist. But they are still measured there, then virtually cropped to where they should start. So I also use my natural waist when ordering pants, even if the pants fall many inches below. Say I order a 29" waisted pant (my waist at the narrowest point), if you actually measure the "waist" of the pants, it'll be bigger than that (as it's actually hip).

    That's why a 29" waist pant is the same 29" whether it is high waisted or super low waisted. They're all based off an assumed placement for a natural waist.

    Of course it also depends if that brand uses vanity sizing... because they don't only play with the "size 8 size 10 etc" sizes, but also the inch measurement sometimes.
  • iamangrydoug
    iamangrydoug Posts: 1,020 Member
    DancingMoosie wrote: »
    Your natural waist is basically the narrowest point between your ribs and hips, wherever it happens to fall, but not usually at the belly button.

    This. And I always track two separate measurements as I tend to carry some fat in my lower stomach. I measure my waist and at my belly button as well.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    At the tiniest/smallest part of my mid section - just above the belly button.
  • bizgirl26
    bizgirl26 Posts: 1,795 Member
    edited April 2017
    I am long waisted with booty . my pants tend to sit at belly button . I measure the smallest part and at belly button for sizing . My narrow part is several inches about that . Its frustrating, I always have a gap in my waist band
  • H_Ock12
    H_Ock12 Posts: 1,152 Member
    I measure where my doctor did...the narrowest point, slightly above my belly button. I wear my pants hanging on my pelvic bones, so my waist measurement and my pants aren't super relevant to each other.
  • fitmom4lifemfp
    fitmom4lifemfp Posts: 1,572 Member
    foxyglove6 wrote: »
    Anyone who sews or takes regular measurements of the human body knows that the actual waist is above the belly button. Another test is to bend sideways, reaching your arm down as if to touch the same foot. Where you have the deepest or first skin crease is your actual waist. Modern clothing sits mostly on the hips. What we now call high waisted clothing often sits on the actual waist.

    Exactly. I had not thought of it that way, but that is absolutely the case.
  • fitmom4lifemfp
    fitmom4lifemfp Posts: 1,572 Member
    edited May 2017
    VeryKatie wrote: »
    fitmom4lifemfp wrote: »
    DancingMoosie wrote: »
    Your natural waist is basically the narrowest point between your ribs and hips, wherever it happens to fall, but not usually at the belly button.

    Yes, that point was already made in the links I posted. But I personally have never measured that point, as MY waist measurement. It doesn't *feel" like my waist at all. Way too high. I don't wear any clothes that have a waistband that fits there. That was my point. :)

    No, pants don't usually fall AT the waist. But they are still measured there, then virtually cropped to where they should start. So I also use my natural waist when ordering pants, even if the pants fall many inches below. Say I order a 29" waisted pant (my waist at the narrowest point), if you actually measure the "waist" of the pants, it'll be bigger than that (as it's actually hip).

    That's why a 29" waist pant is the same 29" whether it is high waisted or super low waisted. They're all based off an assumed placement for a natural waist.

    That makes perfect sense. But if I use my natural waist size, the pants are definitely too big. So that may work for some, but it does not for me. I guess it just depends on our individual shape.
  • Debmal77
    Debmal77 Posts: 4,770 Member
    I always measure right at the belly button. It is usually in the same place all the time, right?
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