Weird Measurements? Waist-to-Hip. Please Help!!! PLEASE!!!

I've lost a good percentage of body fat since I started trying to lose weight. I've gone from 167 lbs to 140 lbs. What I don't understant are my body measurements.

I am 22 years old, 5'6". I'm a 36", 30", 36". According to the waist-to-hip ratio, I'm in bad condition. My goal is to whittle my waist down to 26" or 27". I was at a plateau in January, then gained 5 pounds, and have lost the 5 pounds. I was wondering if anyone knew any particular exercises that could help tone and slim the waist area.

I've only been eating 1200 to 1400 calories a day. I don't know if I should up them? I also just changed my workout regiment to include 3 HIITs of 20 minutes each per week, as well as 20 to 30 minutes on the eliptical about 3 times a week, and also weight training and toning 4 times a week. Does anyone have any suggestions to help get over that odd waist-to-hip ratio? I'm a size 6 and honestly am not overweight, just could stand to lose a little bit more. Any help would be GREATLY APPRECIATED! :)

Please, anybody? I swear I won't bite...I'm too busy watching what I eat. :)

you can't spot reduce sadly. I'm one of those who carries my weight on my waist too. like 31.5" waist 36" hips. :( Clean eating is said to help with weight around the waist line. Congrats on the weight loss so far! If you continue to lose, your body might start taking more from there. Generally it takes it off first from where it went on last, so if you gained on ur waist first, then it's the last place to come off of.

I was just looking at your stats though on http://www.phord.com/cc/ your BMR is about 1400 and you shouldn't eat under that amount. Your burning at least 2200 by the sounds of it. 1000 deficit is at the very high end. I wouldn't push that.  

k so one and a half years ago i was in the EXACT same boat as you....5'4 --- 36-30-36 140 pounds......

now i'm 32-25-31..... so hopefully i can be of help

it sounds like you don't eat enough....i eat over 2000 calories a day to maintain my weight (with excersise)...the minute you start eating normally again your weight is going to boom back or plateau....i would say that everyday you need to be shocking your system with different caloric intake (So important) some days eat 1300.....some days 2000....it will get your metabolism going.....(maybe eat low cal hit workout days)...make sure you are reallllly pushing yourself with your cardio too...i think upping your cardio an extra 25 minutes a day would really help....ALSO....make sure you are eating right (easier said than done right)....I don't eat any non-complex carbs after lunch.

just remember you plateau when your body adapts to your routine...so maybe if you can switch up your excersises (ppl tell me this all the time and i never actually do it...personally nothing does the trick for me like running). 

lastly...i've heard from a lot of ppl that ellipticals mark up calories...so you might want to try using a heart rate monitor

by the way if you are worried about losing your boobs you won't...i used to be a 36DD and now i'm a 32DD...proportionally still the same size.  My sports doctor said that your around measurement is a measurement of fat and your cup is your cup.... and generally when ppl lose weight they just looks inches...

you'll notice it helps with excersise...i love it...i used to have to wear 2 sports bras when i run! now i only have to wear one. 

oh and your weight loss so far is awesome! just remember that it's always harder to lose the last bit of weight than the first bit.  if you are determined you can do it so don't get discouraged!!! if your part of a gym you may even want to talk to a trainer and they can give you a few exercises to jump start your metabolism.

Thanks a lot for your advice. Oh wow, sorry, I was rereading my post and I completely mis-stated something. I'm not overweight, lol. 15 pounds away from that scary spot. Anyways, yeah, I think a lot of it had to do with me needing to change my routine. That's definitely why I started seeing the weight coming off I think when I began my HIITs. I definitely do watch what I eat, but I have been a little too lenient on myself. I think I need to cut out pretty much all of my sweets, as when I did that before I lost 7 lbs in a matter of weeks. As far weight lifting and strength training, I'm pretty good on that. I'm not scared to use heavier weights. I definitely do want to concentrate on building nice, toned muscle mass. And yeah, the eliptical, I'll rack up a bunch of calories on that. I pretty much stick to that to get my cals burned when I'm at the Y. I'll burn about 300 cals in 20 minutes or so on it. When I was overweight and at Curves, I would burn 500 to 600 calories in 30 minutes, and I dropped a lot of weight, but like you said, the last bit is hard to lose. I guess in an average week I am spending 1.5 hours on endurance aerobic activities (eliptical, etc.), 1 hour doing HIITs, 3 hours doing weights, and about 1 hour doing toning at home. So, I think I've needed to make that change in my workout, and I definitely need to up my calorie intake. Thanks for the advice on shocking my metabolism. You kind of get that fear when you've been going on a low calorie diet for so long that if you up it you'll gain a bunch of weight. But you're right, you need to eat the right things. I'm pretty good at doing that, but cutting complex carbs after noon sounds like a great idea. Thanks a bunch! It is nice to read as well that you have whittled away at your waist. I've come quite a long way, and know I have a few more inches I can go, but hearing from someone who has been there is REALLY ENCOURAGING. So, thanks so much again.

By the way, do you mind if I ask you about how long that took to accomplish?

So you're not an hourglass shape... if you get thin enough to have a 27 inch waist, your hips and bust will shrink as well and you'll probably still only have a six-inch difference between them - that's just the way your body is built. At 140lbs and a size 6 you are NOT an unhealthy weight and you have nothing whatsoever to worry about in regards to your health. The hip-to-waist ratio is a general indicator, not something that's the same for everyone.

I am actually more of an hourglass, as I was in high school. Just happened to gain more weight around the middle through a lot of stress which I'm trying to work off. After I lost about 10 lbs my bust went from 38 to 36" and it's been the same ever since. The same with my hips. They had been quite a bit bigger, but they have been at 36" for the longest time.They might go down one inch more, But, it's more a question of, I've lost a lot of fat, now the rest of it is mostly around my middle, any advice on getting that last part off. I really don't have much fat to lose elsewhere, just there, and then I'll be back at my normal shape.

What is the hip to waist ratio? Just wondering cause I'm also 140 lbs, around there and my measurements are 36", 29.5", 37". What do they say is normal? I did get this book called 'the flat belly' diet which is a specific diet that targets fat around your waist and belly. It basically says to eat one serving of monounsaturated fatty acids in each meal. I think it's worked for me so far, maybe you can look it up. I'm not following the diet perfectly but i try to. By the way you look great!

It's basically a calculation to tell you if you're at risk for heart problems because of abdominal fat or something of the sort. You would take your 29.5" measurement and divide it by your 37" measurement. Which would give you a Waist-to-Hip Ratio of .79. Supposedly, if your WTH ratio is .8 or above, you're at risk. I remeasured myself this morning (I seem to be a bit thinner in the morning) and I was at 29". Mine is .8, which means I'm at risk for heart problems? Though I am 15 pounds away from being categorized at overweight? And though my BMI is about 22%? I know I need to whittle it down a bit, but it just seems annoying. Ah, whatever though...I've just got that last leg to go, and then that little bit of a middle will be gone.

oh i see thanks! You and me both, I want to lose about 20 lbs. I'm working on it tho, i havent weighed myself in a week cause my scale is broken but i hope it is working!

Your waist-to-hip ratio tells you how much you have to be concerned about putting on extra weight.  Women who have low waist-to-hip ratios (<0.75) tend to put on extra weight on their hips and thighs so their risk of heart disease, etc. doesn't go up as fast when they put on weight.  Women who have high waist-to-hip ratios (>0.8) tend to put on extra weight around their middles, upping their risk of heart disease faster as they gain weight. 

Some women will never be able to get a waist-to-hip ratio below 0.8 simply because they have small hips.  That doesn't necessarily mean they're at risk for heart disease; it just means they need to watch their weight more closely than the pear-shaped women do and make sure they keep from packing too much fat around the middle.  I've read that, as long as your waist is below ~31" and you don't have other risk factors, you're generally considered low-risk.

Thanks susiecue. That cleared that up for me some. I started getting really confused about it all when I was looking up measurement charts for wedding dresses, and my bust would be a size 4 or 6, my waist would be an 8, and my hips would be a 2. I was very confused. I always thought I had big hips, but I guess I don't, so that explains a bunch. Thanks.

hey for me it was steady results over the course of a year...i was a 27 around 120 pounds? so from the sounds of it prbably similar to you....from 140-120 it took me about 5 of 6 months and i stayed this way for a long time......from marathon training i went from 120 - 110 it was slowly over another 6 months and i've plateaud (thankfully).  I wouldn't worry too much about the actual ratio as long as you are being healthy with eating and excersise the numbers may not really matter. 

I have the same thing, except I'm a 38,31,39.  How is that?  When I go to sizing charts on dept. store websites, it says I should be wearing a size 14 according to my 31" waist and a size 10 according to my 39" hips.  I have been wearing a size 11 for 15 years now.  Even with my weight fluctuating between 135-165.  How is that?  Size 11 is all that fits me.  Not a size 10 or size 12.  What is wrong?  I see women on tv who lost a ton of weight and look bigger than me, but somehow wear a size 8?  Hmmm... what do you think?

I don't know. It's really bizarre. I started off at a size 12/13. Now I wear usually a 4 or 6 in womens, and anywhere from a 5 to 7 in juniors. And yeah, sometimes if I order something online based on my measurements, the outfit ends up too big and I have to order something smaller? So, that is confusing as well. I never know what size I will wear until I've gotten the same brand a few times. I still don't understand all the variations.