I'm new too

Growing up, I was one of "those" people that would "forge" to eat because I was busy/lazy/distracted/broke. My high school graduation weight was 85 lbs. Decidedly underweight, but you see what I mean. Even after having children, I lost the baby weight quickly, and was back at my pre-pregnancy weight of 105. I able to eat whatever I wanted, too. Granted, I enjoy healthy foods, but I also like the heavier, fatier, salty, crunchy, etc. foods. At around age 30 I started to gain weight fairly quickly, and at age 35 was diagnosed with Hashimotos Thyroid. I was up to a wopping 135 pounds by then, feeling like fat cow. I have been on medication since then, and somehow have managed to NOT lose any weight, but to pack on an additional 40. UGH! I am sure many others have similar stories.

I have dabbled in weight loss plans, firmly believing that with a proper, healthy diet, and moderate exercise I can get to at a healthy weight, and my goal is NOT my graduation weight, or even my pre/post-pregnancy weight, but a weight that is reasonable and attainable: 135-145. After a couple of years of reading articles from different web sites and magazines, and joining a health club, I have still not gotten it - it seems I am still "researching". While knowledge is power, actions do speak louder than words. Which is why I am here. I don't want fad - I want long term.

With all that being said, I have only one quesiton today: What part of my torso do I call the "waist" to measure? The part around my belly button or the part that curves in (where we wore our pants up to in the '80's)?