Thread: BMI says Im ok...waist measurement/height ratio says Im still high risk for diabetes

I just measured my waist - 84.5 cm , My height is 5ft 4

My weight this morning is 10 stone 1

I fit size 14 Jeans with an overhang of loose skin! (yuk)

Anyway...on the NHS site they do a Diabetes assessment and anyone with a waist that is more than half their height in cm is at risk of diabetes.

They also said everyone should aim to have a waist under 80cm..so how much more weight do you think I will have to lose to reach that target?

My legs are painfully thin, as is my face and arms...I am starting to get lollipop head syndrome but I have a wobbly tummy and DD boobs! So I am hoping to lose another 7-10 pounds from my stomach and boobs..

Can anyone recomend an exercise to reduce the waist?

Why your body shape matters

this mentions apple/pear shapes etc

It's true that abdominal fat puts you at a higher risk of a number of conditions, apparently. But if you're fighting a natural apple shape, it's tough to shift. You can't spot reduce with exercise, unfortunately, but is it possible you're bloated and this is adding to your waist measurement? What's your fibre intake like? Without getting into too much nitty gritty, a good regular digestive cycle can really help with bloating - if you're not eating enough fruit and veggies and you're frequently bunged up, it can have a big impact on your measurements and your energy levels. It's possible you could have a food intolerance or sensitivity that leads to you feeling swollen and gassy. Maybe try cutting down on beige foods, starchy refined carbs, white bread, that sort of thing, for a few days, and upping the fibre intake, just to see if that helps.

Could the measurement be deceptive because it includes a bit of loose skin? I think that another two inch loss from your waist would roughly equate to 7-10lbs. Everyone's different, though, and at the end of the day I'd go by how you feel, rather than a bunch of rather arbitrary figures. If you're eating a healthy diet low in saturated fat and high in nutrients, getting your oily fish in and your 5 a day, I really wouldn't fret the waist measurement too much.

You could try ilipo, it's non-invasive and painless, they laser the fat cells through your skin and force them to release their energy. You have to exercise afterwards to burn off the energy so that it's not re-stored, but that can't be a bad thing. I would love to try it as it allows you to target specific areas which neither diet nor exercise are able to do, but I will wait until I have been going to the gym for a few more months and see how I feel then. You could try exercise to tone up, it is ALWAYS worth exercising, but one thing you cannot do is 'spot reduce' with diet and exercise, the body makes up its own mind where the fat will go from.

oops forgot to say that I am in the same boat, my BMI is in the ok range now (although I would like it nearer 20 ideally!) but my waist measurement is large. Like about 34 inches held in. :blush: which is much larger than the recommended 'safe' measurement.

Wow Iris, I just wanna say. Wow. Your weight loss is just tremendous!

I also have a large waist, it really depends on people.
I have for examplelarge calves, even if i was 10 stones i know they wouuld be large, i have seen some very overweight women who had small calves compared to me.It just depends on the genetic. My daughter who has a normal weight has large calves just like my mum!!

If you want to lose midriff/waist fat you have to go low carb for the best chance of losing it there. There are sound scientific reasons why low carbing will shift that weight due to the way insulin works on fat storage. If you are at risk of diabetes your body will store fat around your middle and more importantly will store visceral fat.

Its not the waist measurment thats the key thing, but its an indicator of visceral fat. Subcutaneous fat, ie the fat under your skin that you are aware of, does not on its own put you at risk of diabetes. Its the fat that is stored internally around your organs that is the high risk factor and waist measurement is an indicator of how much visceral fat you are storing.

If you get your waist measurement down to 30inches or less then the amount of visceral fat you have is going to be considerably less. Even otherwise thin people in a normal BMI range with a slightly thicker waist than they should have are at risk of type 2 diabetes. Visceral fat sends enzymes to the liver that affect the way our bodies react to insulin, and can cause insulin resistance which leads to type 2 diabetes.

There are scales that measure visceral fat, Amazon do Tanita BC543 scales for £66 that will give you a measurement for visceral fat although the only sure way to see it is to have a scan.

A low carb diet will help to stop your body converting glucose into this internal fat, so if you really want to target your waist area this is probably your best shot. I never had a waist before, but now my waist is less than 30inches since losing on a low carb diet. Unfortuantely ive already done the damage as I was diagnosed type 2 diabetic some 7 years ago, but low carbing is the best way for me to keep my blood sugars stable and keep the weight off.