I usally measure my waiste by the size of the pants i can fit in..

I tightly fit into a size 34 However if i were to measure right at or below my belly button it would be way larger.

what is the proper place to measure ?

I just bought two pairs size 34 Jeans myself. They fit...Higher up my size is 36,6 at the moment. I think that the size higher up is what you should look at if you are doing bodybuilding or loosing weight. At least that´s what they consider important when they are estimating BF- percentage. Don´t know if it´s very reliable. :D

Regards!

At least where I live, you can't use clothes for measuring your waist; the clothes companies inflate the sizes to make a fattening population feel less fat.

If you go to a tailor, they always measure your waist one or two sizes above retailed clothes.

I guess it all depends on what you're trying to figure out. I measure my midsection every Saturday morning. I measure at the navel so that I know that I'm measuring at the exact same place every week. I'm not trying to buy clothes with the measurement, I'm trying to see that I'm losing inches in the midsection.

Man, it's incredible how stubborn your waistline can be. Some weeks it just doesnt wanna shrink. When measuring, do you let your belly hang out in a "relaxed" state or do you flex?

around your bellybutton is your abdomen. I too use this as my main check becuase of consistancy. I always tence my muscles with out baring down or drawing up, again purely for consistancy, it's the easiest way to get it the same every time.

Your waist is actually half way between your hips and your abdomen, so above the hip bones, below the bellybutton. Basicly it's where your belt goes, which is why it's a smaller measurement than around your bellybutton.

Man, it's incredible how stubborn your waistline can be. Some weeks it just doesnt wanna shrink. When measuring, do you let your belly hang out in a "relaxed" state or do you flex?

It´s probably very different depending on genetics...It´s a bit slow for me too. ATM most parts of my body looks OK but there is still some fat at the waste. Not that much. It looks good with clothes on. But with clothes off I´m not that happy about it yet. But I think it´s a mistake to measure progress based on the waist only or mostley.

Regards!

Mr. Andersson, *sorry couldn't help it* :D

I just noticed your sig. Could you post your nutrition and exercise regime from your fat loss cycle? Or, have you done that? I can't seem to find it. 66 lbs in 3 months is damn impressive. Did you notice a lot of muscle loss?

Mr. Andersson, *sorry couldn't help it* :D

I just noticed your sig. Could you post your nutrition and exercise regime from your fat loss cycle? Or, have you done that? I can't seem to find it. 66 lbs in 3 months is damn impressive. Did you notice a lot of muscle loss?

I was eating mostley protein and some fat...About 80% protein and 20% fat. And only 1500 calories/day. I´m not sure if it would be a good idéa for other people to try it. I guess that depends on who you are and on your body. I was training bodybuilding in the 80:es and early 90:es. So I still had some muscle under the fat when I started. Also some people think that it´s less difficult to regain muscle you once had compared to building it for the first time. And because of all this I think other people could get much more serious problems with this diet. I didn´t loose very much muscle. Probably some. But not much.

But I wasn´t feeling very good with the diet anyway. The reason I continued was that I liked the fast weightloss. And thus I decided to endure almost anything. Because I wanted to stop being a fat indivídual as fast as possible. And if fast ment feeling bad and risk my health it made no difference at the time. I dont think I would do this again if I started now. And I guess I was lucky that I didn´t get sick or lost much more muscle.

Also I was training hard month 2 and 3. Weight training and cardio. Almost every day.

Regards! :gl:

I do several measurements every week.

a) beltline measurement
b) relaxed gut measurement at 1 inch below bellybutton
c) vacuum gut measurement at same place

Works well for me.

Chris

I usally measure my waiste by the size of the pants i can fit in..

I tightly fit into a size 34 However if i were to measure right at or below my belly button it would be way larger.

what is the proper place to measure ?

Good question. If it's for a BF (Body Fat) measurement, then it seems to be above your navel. This is what mybodycomp.com (http://www.mybodycomp.com) asks for, and whilst it's not where I think my waist is, I went along with what they said.

At least there is one thing that is easier for us women! (Us with a waist line anyway, no offence to the others.) my waist line is where I am the "slimmest", so there's where I measure. :D

SeeDerekNow, the best and most true way to measure, is when you are in a relaxed state. That shows your true body size.

I like the idea of measuring at the smallest point. that would be the real waiste line.

Your waist is ABOVE your belly button, almost level or just below your elbows if you have your arms relaxed and at your side.
Your abdominal measurement is around your belly button.

Your waist is ABOVE your belly button, almost level or just below your elbows if you have your arms relaxed and at your side.
Your abdominal measurement is around your belly button.

...and almost impossible to take :D

Seriously, does anybody else find that measuring yourself whilst trying to remain relaxed is really difficult? I always wonder how I'm supposed to hold the tape measure :p

As I have understood the Navy/DoD equations, men measure abdomen, which is the thickest part of your belly at around navel height. Women measure waist, which is the thinnest part of the belly, above the navel.

Both measurements should be taken relaxed after a normal exhalation to achieve the best accuracy from the equations.

For me, the hard thing to reproduce is how much to tighten the tape. Now I hold it very loosely and check that it doesn't slide when I do so.

I try to very relaxed. I look into the mirror while measuring, and NOT on the tape, that would make it easier to cheat. I hold the thumb on the inside of the tape to be SURE I don't do it too tight - close to the body - and when I have checked the result, I try again on the number I had last time, (if this was higher or lower). If I seem to be slimmer this time, I check if the measure tape feels very loose when on the number I had last week, and opposite. I'm the only one being cheated if I measure too tight, therefore I try to be as honest as I can.

As to the discussion about measuring while flexed or relaxed: It usually are the numbers in the relaxed state we are looking after, since it's in the relaxed state we most often want the results - or?? (Hope you understand what I'm trying to say) May be if you want, you can measure both relaxed and flexed, but that would be all wrong to me and my goals.

Your waist is ABOVE your belly button, almost level or just below your elbows if you have your arms relaxed and at your side.
Your abdominal measurement is around your belly button.
hmmm, i would have thought waist was just below the belly button, thats where my pants ly, so it makes sense to me