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Outcomes · Progress reports

[2026 update] Waist circumference technique and its repeatability

RZ
r.zielinskiTL225 Mar 2026#1

Posting this under the heading it deserves: Waist circumference technique and its repeatability Everything below is what sits behind that.

An honest uncertainty about Waist circumference technique rather than a disguised assertion.

I do not know the answer and I have not been able to find one. What I have is the shape of the question, which may be worth more than my guess at the answer.

18 likes 4mo
ZA
z.adeyemiTL24 Apr 2026#2

Worth separating two things that the opening post runs together.

On Waist circumference technique I would separate what is worth knowing from what is worth acting on. The first list is long and the second is short, and conflating them is how threads get heated.

21 likes 4mo
CN
cohort_notesTL2Member11 Apr 2026#3
z.adeyemi, post #2: Worth separating two things that the opening post runs together. On Waist circumference technique I would separate what is worth knowing from what is worth acting on. The first list is long and the second is short, and conflating them is how threads get heated. Go to post

That is a fair summary of where the discussion has got to.

0 likes in reply to #2 4mo
SK
s.kravchenkoTL217 Apr 2026#4

Menstrual cycle: for people who menstruate, weight can shift by several pounds across the cycle due to fluid retention and other factors. Noting cycle phase when weighing reduces apparent noise.

Worth saying I have only my own numbers here, and n is small.

2 likes 3mo
G
GEldridgeTL3Regular22 Apr 2026#5

Post #4 answers the question as asked. The question underneath it is different.

Summarising the Waist circumference technique thread so far, since it is long and the answer is buried: the first reply has the method, the fourth has the correction to it, and the rest is people agreeing at length.

14 likes 3mo
HJ
h.jansenTL228 Apr 2026#6

Self-reported intake is optimistic in a consistent direction, and saying so in your own report is more credible than not.

I have seen it go both ways, which is why I hedge.

29 likes 3mo
EF
erratum_fileTL3Regular3 May 2026#7
r.zielinski, post #1: Posting this under the heading it deserves: Waist circumference technique and its repeatability Everything below is what sits behind that. An honest uncertainty about Waist circumference technique rather than a disguised assertion. I do not know the answer and I have not been able to find one. What I have is the shape of the question,… Go to post

I would call the community position on Waist circumference technique likely rather than established, and I would be comfortable defending that hedge.

0 likes in reply to #1 3mo
AK
an.kirchnerTL27 May 2026#8
z.adeyemi, post #2: Worth separating two things that the opening post runs together. On Waist circumference technique I would separate what is worth knowing from what is worth acting on. The first list is long and the second is short, and conflating them is how threads get heated. Go to post

Clear enough that I do not think I have a follow-up, which is unusual.

5 likes in reply to #2 3mo
KB
k.brandl_deTL312 May 2026#9
AN
a.nascimentoTL217 May 2026 · edited#10
s.kravchenko, post #4: Menstrual cycle: for people who menstruate, weight can shift by several pounds across the cycle due to fluid retention and other factors. Noting cycle phase when weighing reduces apparent noise. Worth saying I have only my own numbers here, and n is small. Go to post

Circumference measurements at marked sites are cheap, reproducible within a person, and more informative than they get credit for.

0 likes in reply to #4 2mo
AV
a.villalobosTL221 May 2026#11

Posting my Waist circumference technique numbers with the method attached so they can be discounted properly. Uncontrolled, unblinded, and collected by someone who wanted a particular answer.

12 likes 2mo
TF
taper_fileTL3Regular26 May 2026 · edited#12

Adding a note of thanks rather than an opinion. I did not know most of that.

4 likes 2mo
JL
j.lokkenTL230 May 2026#13
D
DKwiatkowskiTL3Regular3 Jun 2026#14
z.adeyemi, post #2: Worth separating two things that the opening post runs together. On Waist circumference technique I would separate what is worth knowing from what is worth acting on. The first list is long and the second is short, and conflating them is how threads get heated. Go to post

Maintenance series are the ones this subcategory needs most and receives least. The interesting questions all change once loss stops.

I would put this at better than even and not much better.

33 likes in reply to #2 2mo
DA
d.achebeTL27 Jun 2026#15

Coming back to post #14, because the follow-up matters more than the original answer.

Waist circumference technique is a good example of a question where the honest answer is boring and the interesting answers are unsupported. I would go with boring.

17 likes 2mo
GD
glossary_deskTL3Regular12 Jun 2026#16

Picking up post #14: that is the part I would want checked first.

I have been on both sides of the Waist circumference technique argument in this category within eighteen months, which should tell you how strong the evidence for either side is.

7 likes 2mo
FP
f.piresTL216 Jun 2026#17
an.kirchner, post #8: Clear enough that I do not think I have a follow-up, which is unusual. Go to post

Nothing here is medical advice and a progress report is a description of what happened to one person under uncontrolled conditions.

That is the version I would defend. It is not the version I started with.

1 like in reply to #8 1mo
N
NicolaidesTL3Regular20 Jun 2026#18

Adding a small correction to the Waist circumference technique summary above rather than a disagreement with it. The substance holds; one of the figures is out by a factor that matters.

0 likes 1mo
RM
ra.mensaTL223 Jun 2026#19

Whatever the answer on Waist circumference technique turns out to be, the method for getting there is the same: state the assumption, do the arithmetic in public, invite the correction.

24 likes 1mo
CW
cohort_watchTL2Member27 Jun 2026#20

A single scale used throughout beats a more accurate scale introduced halfway through. Consistency beats accuracy for a trend.

11 likes 1mo
AF
a.friskTL21 Jul 2026#21
DKwiatkowski, post #14: Maintenance series are the ones this subcategory needs most and receives least. The interesting questions all change once loss stops. I would put this at better than even and not much better. Go to post

The claim about Waist circumference technique upthread is stronger than its source supports. I have read the source. The source says "associated with" and the post says "causes".

3 likes in reply to #14 27d
EL
e.lokkenTL25 Jul 2026#22
cohort_watch, post #20: A single scale used throughout beats a more accurate scale introduced halfway through. Consistency beats accuracy for a trend. Go to post

My understanding of Waist circumference technique is a few years old and may have been superseded. If it has been, I would genuinely like to know rather than keep repeating it.

10 likes in reply to #20 23d
TD
t.demirTL29 Jul 2026#23
TN
t.ndiayeTL212 Jul 2026#24

Useful. I have added it to my own notes with the date on it.

0 likes 15d
CB
c.bakkerTL216 Jul 2026#25

Reframing Waist circumference technique slightly, because I think the disagreement is about the question rather than the answer. If the question is "does it happen", yes. If it is "how often", nobody here knows.

5 likes 12d
MB
m.brobergTL220 Jul 2026 · edited#26
r.zielinski, post #1: Posting this under the heading it deserves: Waist circumference technique and its repeatability Everything below is what sits behind that. An honest uncertainty about Waist circumference technique rather than a disguised assertion. I do not know the answer and I have not been able to find one. What I have is the shape of the question,… Go to post

Coming back to post #25, because the follow-up matters more than the original answer.

The documentation on Waist circumference technique is better than this thread and I say that as someone who has posted in the thread.

15 likes in reply to #1 8d
CR
c.rasmussenTL223 Jul 2026#27

Post #26 answers the question as asked. The question underneath it is different.

The best progress reports here read as records rather than as arguments, and that difference is visible within a sentence.

0 likes 4d
JN
j.nascimentoTL227 Jul 2026#28

Non-scale victories: muscle gain or maintenance, clothing fit, energy level, and capability (like climbing stairs without breathlessness) are measurements that scale-based weight misses.

Old habit: I write down the expected answer before I calculate it.

1 like 21h

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