How Are You Measuring Up?

I'm down 12 pounds and three inches around my waist. Seems like I should be down more in weight, doesn't it? I do know the first place I gain and consequently, the first place I lose is in my waist. Remember when I talked about the health consequences of the waist-to-hip ratio? Did you measure?

Waist Time

In the subtitle of this blog, I indicated that I wanted to find my waist again. Vanity tells me I could buy cuter clothes and look cuter in them (well, at my age cute is not my goal, but I'd look better..), but my awareness of health issues has given me a real dedication to getting my numbers down.

Find a handy tool from the University of Maryland Medical System to calculate your waist to hip ratio HERE. According to this tool, my shape puts me at reduced risk of coronary heart disease, diabetes and stroke. I'm a 'pear' so I tend to keep fat off my midsection and more on my hips. I knew that, of course. The good news is that a body does not convert this lower body fat as readily as midsection fat, which keeps cholesterol down.

If you’re a woman, the waist-to-hip ratio should come out as no more than 0.8. A healthy waist-to-hip ratio for men is 0.95. If your belly has caught up to the size of your hips, you should start worrying about your heart, experts say.

Get that tape measurement out. What's your risk?