Unfortunately, it's pretty difficult to reduce only your waist. Specific waist and belly reducing exercises typically do little to shrink your visceral fat. For best results, you'll need to reduce your overall body fat percentage.
The only thing that really helps to shrink the waistline is reducing body fat, and the only way to do that is to create an “ongoing calorie deficit”, that is to say, consume fewer calories than your body uses. How? With healthy, low-calorie food and physical activity.
When you start to lose fat, it's proportionate throughout your body, whether it's your neck, waist, ankle circumference. You'll come out smaller but have the same body shape."
How quickly will you lose weight? The volunteers reduced their waist sizes by an average of 1 inch for every 4lb (1.81kg) they lost. So if you lose 1lb (0.45kg) a week you could hope to reduce your waistline by an inch after four weeks.
We cannot change our genetics or bone structure! However, there are some things we can do to try to reduce the weight around our abdomens and get a smaller waist. The first thing we can do is make sure our diet is as healthy as possible.
It depends. Some aspects of shape and size are more closely tied to genes than others, and the location of your fat makes a difference in your health.
A combination of things happens as we age. We tend to lose muscle mass, so our abdominal muscles aren't as tight as they once were, and the loss of elastin and collagen in our skin allows gravity to have its way so skin starts to sag. Both can cause the waistline to expand.
For your best health, your waist should be less than 40 inches around for men, and less than 35 inches for women, although it may vary depending on race or ethnicity. If it's larger than that, you may want to talk with your doctor about what your next steps are, including losing weight.
It's possible to gain muscle and reduce body fat without actually seeing a change in your weight. This happens when you lose body fat while gaining muscle. Your weight may stay the same, even as you lose inches, a sign that you're moving in the right direction.
Too many starchy carbohydrates and bad fats are a recipe for that midsection to expand. Instead, get plenty of veggies, choose lean proteins, and stay away from fats from red meats. Choose healthier fats in things like fish, nuts, and avocados. Even a moderate cutback on carbs (grains, pasta, sugars) can help, too.
A waist trainer can produce a temporary reduction in waist size or circumference, and a person will typically see immediate results. However, as soon as they take off the waist trainer, their waist will no longer look smaller. Also, waist trainers do not reduce a person's body fat.
The average waist circumference for women aged 18 and over in 2017–18 was 88 cm (ABS 2018). A high-risk waist circumference is more common in older women. In 2017–18 (ABS 2019): around 4 in 5 women aged 75 and over (84%) had a high risk waist circumference.
What should your waist measurement be? For men, a waist circumference below 94cm (37in) is 'low risk', 94–102cm (37-40in) is 'high risk' and more than 102cm (40in) is 'very high'. For women, below 80cm (31.5in) is low risk, 80–88cm (31.5-34.6in) is high risk and more than 88cm (34.6in) is very high.
Generally speaking, a 28-inch waist is on the small side and indicates low abdominal fat, a marker of good health. However, having a slim waist doesn't automatically make you healthy. And you must also consider other diet and lifestyle factors.
Ideally, your waist measurement should be less than half of your height. (So if you're 5 foot 6, or 66 inches, your waist circumference should be less than 33 inches.)
Waist Circumference
If most of your fat is around your waist rather than at your hips, you're at a higher risk for heart disease and type 2 diabetes. This risk goes up with a waist size that is greater than 35 inches for women or greater than 40 inches for men.
A thin waist is also shown to be a significant factor in attractiveness and intelligence, according to multiple studies, often regardless of weight.
There is currently no human evidence to suggest that girls inherit their mother's body shape and boys their dad's, or vice versa.
Waist circumference is the measurement taken around the abdomen at the level of the umbilicus (belly button).