Is 38 in. waist bad?

Hello all,
New to the community! Have recently gained some weight and wanted some opinions/had some questions.

I am a 5’11” male. Last December I was a skinny 165 lb with a 32 inch waist. I have gained about 15 lb and am now 180 with a 38 inch waist. Seems like a lot of the weight I gained went to the belly. I also don’t feel like I’m fat and don’t feel like I really need to lose weight but a lot of body fat calculators say I’m “over fat” or “obese”.
Are these things accurate and do I really need to lose weight?

Replies

  • It depends on the fat distribution, and core strength. 38 isn't ideal, but it isn't necessarily terrible if and it's kind of likely if you have a beast core from heavy squats, deads, loaded carrys etc. Also is it hard, or is it squishy? Hard is likely a combination of visceral fat and core strength, squishy is subcutaneous. The good and the bad - subcutaneous looks worse but is less bad for your health. Visceral is fat surrounding your organs, and is actually somewhat dangerous to carry around.

    Also, for reference, what is your neck measurement just below the Adam's apple?
  • thelalamurph
    thelalamurph Posts: 5 Member
    It depends on the fat distribution, and core strength. 38 isn't ideal, but it isn't necessarily terrible if and it's kind of likely if you have a beast core from heavy squats, deads, loaded carrys etc. Also is it hard, or is it squishy? Hard is likely a combination of visceral fat and core strength, squishy is subcutaneous. The good and the bad - subcutaneous looks worse but is less bad for your health. Visceral is fat surrounding your organs, and is actually somewhat dangerous to carry around.

    Also, for reference, what is your neck measurement just below the Adam's apple?

    Hey thanks so much! I would say it’s hard. I definitely have a beer belly now. Round and protruding kind of. My neck measures about 14 inches.
  • Ok you definitely have some visceral fat and need to cut weight.

    For reference I'm 6'1 and 228ish and have a 39-40 inch waist with a 17.5 inch neck and I'm cutting- however most of mine is subcutaneous (about an inch all the way around, little more on the lovehandles) and I also do strongman training so my core is going to be slightly thicker than most but I could likely get to 36-37 easily and still have some fat.
  • Theoldguy1
    Theoldguy1 Posts: 2,427 Member
    Hello all,
    New to the community! Have recently gained some weight and wanted some opinions/had some questions.

    I am a 5’11” male. Last December I was a skinny 165 lb with a 32 inch waist. I have gained about 15 lb and am now 180 with a 38 inch waist. Seems like a lot of the weight I gained went to the belly. I also don’t feel like I’m fat and don’t feel like I really need to lose weight but a lot of body fat calculators say I’m “over fat” or “obese”.
    Are these things accurate and do I really need to lose weight?

    Are you looking at an actual measurement with a tape or size of pants?
  • GaleHawkins
    GaleHawkins Posts: 8,160 Member
    In general for best longevity odds guys need to be under 40 inches and gals 34 inches which is more or less where one may drop out of the obese category one can read. Personally I found dropping my weight loss thoughts and just focused on eating for better health markers is working well for me since dieting to lose inches never worked out long term. I found when my health improved the obese numbers just dropped without trying to lose weight. Perhaps that is due to the fact I have not gone hungry for even one day in over 5 years. Each just needs to find what works for them. Chasing numbers did not work out for me.
  • thelalamurph
    thelalamurph Posts: 5 Member
    Ok you definitely have some visceral fat and need to cut weight.

    For reference I'm 6'1 and 228ish and have a 39-40 inch waist with a 17.5 inch neck and I'm cutting- however most of mine is subcutaneous (about an inch all the way around, little more on the lovehandles) and I also do strongman training so my core is going to be slightly thicker than most but I could likely get to 36-37 easily and still have some fat.

    Okay yeah I suspect my waist being as big as yours but my weight being much less is probably not a good thing seeing as you sound to be pretty muscular. Some of these websites were saying a waist near 40 for a man is very unhealthy and I was shocked because while I did gain some weight I didn’t think I was overweight or fat?

  • thelalamurph
    thelalamurph Posts: 5 Member
    Theoldguy1 wrote: »
    Hello all,
    New to the community! Have recently gained some weight and wanted some opinions/had some questions.

    I am a 5’11” male. Last December I was a skinny 165 lb with a 32 inch waist. I have gained about 15 lb and am now 180 with a 38 inch waist. Seems like a lot of the weight I gained went to the belly. I also don’t feel like I’m fat and don’t feel like I really need to lose weight but a lot of body fat calculators say I’m “over fat” or “obese”.
    Are these things accurate and do I really need to lose weight?

    Are you looking at an actual measurement with a tape or size of pants?

    I am talking about actually measuring with a tape measure
  • thelalamurph
    thelalamurph Posts: 5 Member
    In general for best longevity odds guys need to be under 40 inches and gals 34 inches which is more or less where one may drop out of the obese category one can read. Personally I found dropping my weight loss thoughts and just focused on eating for better health markers is working well for me since dieting to lose inches never worked out long term. I found when my health improved the obese numbers just dropped without trying to lose weight. Perhaps that is due to the fact I have not gone hungry for even one day in over 5 years. Each just needs to find what works for them. Chasing numbers did not work out for me.

    Yeah the weight gain is definitely the result of being lazy and eating unhealthily. I just feel like it’s not as serious as some of these websites make it seem. Like I have a belly now but I don’t feel huge. I was shocked seeing that my waist size was apparently bad now and that my body fat is so high.
  • Ok you definitely have some visceral fat and need to cut weight.

    For reference I'm 6'1 and 228ish and have a 39-40 inch waist with a 17.5 inch neck and I'm cutting- however most of mine is subcutaneous (about an inch all the way around, little more on the lovehandles) and I also do strongman training so my core is going to be slightly thicker than most but I could likely get to 36-37 easily and still have some fat.

    Okay yeah I suspect my waist being as big as yours but my weight being much less is probably not a good thing seeing as you sound to be pretty muscular. Some of these websites were saying a waist near 40 for a man is very unhealthy and I was shocked because while I did gain some weight I didn’t think I was overweight or fat?

    At 185 you would be in the overweight category for BMI at 5'11.
  • Chieflrg
    Chieflrg Posts: 9,097 Member
    BMI is very old(+100 year) screening tool with some revisions. It's not a very good one on a individual basis to predict premature disease or death.

    It doesn't take into account so many factors that would make it much more helpful. Simply things like the amount of muscle mass you're carrying, body fat distribution, current and past health history, etc...

    It's not very good as a stand alone indicator of how healthy you are at your particular weight.

    A decent example would be myself. At age 50/6'3"/240lb/35" waist with a lot of muscle, I might be considered near the top percentile for screening for my age. Though in actuality, I'm in poor health and have a lot of disease and high risk for death with my current health.

    That being said if you couple it with a proper waist measurement you can greater determine if you are at higher risk for disease or premature death.

    For a male that threshold would be 40" measured parallel to the floor about your belly button height. If you are Asian, 3" less(37") would be more appropriate.

    I usually implement more conditioning and begin to prepare a individual for eating in a deficit once they reach over 38".

    It might be reasonable to recommend to stable your body weight with caloric maintenance for 4-6 weeks(if you haven't already). Introduce more conditioning into your regime and bring your body fat percentage down by eating in a deficit.



  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,393 Member
    edited October 2019
    Google waist to hight ratio and pay attention to *where* and *how* you're supposed to be measuring your waist (midpoint between iliac crest and lowest rib, normal exhalation, tape parallel to floor)

    http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/44583/1/9789241501491_eng.pdf
  • Luke_rabbit
    Luke_rabbit Posts: 1,031 Member
    For reference. My husband is 54, 5'11", weighs about 210, with a 36" waist. When he gets his weight into the 180s, his waist is a 34". Under 180 he looks sickly even though that is still overweight on BMI.

    Have you had a checkup and blood work recently? That can tell you a lot about your health.

    My husband, BTW, has excellent blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides, blood glucose, liver enzymes, etc. In the past (~20 years ago) he weighed 300 lbs, 44" waist, and had metabolic syndrome. Moderate exercise and healthier food choices (nothing drastic) turned it all around.
  • geraldaltman
    geraldaltman Posts: 1,739 Member
    I guess that depends on your body and perspective. For me, a 38 waist would be my "Happy Place"!!! I have been in 40s for a lot of years!!