I came across an article recently that stated that you lose an inch of your waist with every 8 to 9 pounds of weight loss...but they didn't say if that's with or without exercise, simply the scales or pure fat, whether you lose more inches if you are heavier to begin with, etc.etc.
So I was curious about your experience, those of you like Angie and Melinda and Lee and anyone else, how many inches per how many pounds did you lose and were there fluctuations because of exercise or whatever?
(I'm a bit obsessed about my waistline... )

I'm thick-waisted, so I'm obsessed with the measurement, too. I know if I do more core exercises--especially twists like oblique crunches and wood choppers--that I get proper posture and my waist gets smaller.

The girlie dieting rule of thumb (that's when you count calories and do aerobics and don't really lift) say you lose a dress size for every 10 lbs. The difference between dress sizes is usually 2" at the waist. For sizes 0-2-4 or 6, the difference is 1.5". For sizes 10-12-14-16, the difference is 2.5", and for 16-18-20 it is 3". We didn't cover women's sizing in fashion design school, so I expect the difference just gets to be bigger and bigger as you get larger overall.

That said, I've noticed about a 1" difference for every 5 lbs. of fat loss.

I'd say I lost a jeans size every 10 lbs, that's a pretty good rule. However, once I got below an 8, it seemed like the jeans didn't last as long - maybe every 5-7 lbs.. after looking up the size charts I confirmed that there becomes less and less difference in sizes the smaller you go. Also, I've tracked my measurements obsessively over the last 10 years. It's amazing to see how one's body loses weight. For me, in the beginning, the majority of my weight loss was my waist belly, followed by hips a little more slowly (and thighs hardly budged at all!)... then the shift went to my upper body. Once my boobs shrank all the way down (sigh!), then I started losing it in my hips again, and then, FINALLY! my thighs. At this point, I know any additional weight loss comes from my hips and thighs. I have hardly any body fat whatsoever on my chest/back, just a smidge left around my belly button, a little more around my love handles, and the most still left on my butt! So that's where the fat is, and that's really the only place it can come from. Plus, old measurements with me 5 lbs lighter tell me where I give up inches.

I wish I would have kept up with it more.
It kind of went with every 10-15 lbs was about a size.

Honestly, I never felt like I was really changing that much so I didn't keep up with it as well as I wish I would have.


So yeah, the question?
I lost the most inches when I was serious about exercise. I also seemed to lose more (and steadier) when I had more to lose.
The last 3 months I've averaged about a 10 lb loss.
Inches? About 1 from my hips and .5 from my waist.
(I took measurements this monring) AND it seems like the biggest change came from my arms and legs.

That's considering I've been doing kettleworx 6 days a week for the last 2.5 weeks.

Thanks, Girls! Your comments give me hope.
Btw, Ruty, are woodcutters that exercise where you stand with legs spread wide and sweep your arms, touching the right foot with your left hand and vice versa? You can also do them sitting on the floor?

The last 3 months I've averaged about a 10 lb loss.
Inches? About 1 from my hips and .5 from my waist.

Isn't it PAINFULLY slow? hahaha I usually only measure myself about once a month to avoid frustration.

Angie, wasn't it you who mentioned the rule of LOFO? It works differently for everybody, but it's always the fat 'Last On' that gets 'First Off'.

For example, if the last place you get fat is your face, that will be the first place you lose.

With me, that's my legs. But my waist was greedy, the first place the fat appeared, so it will probably take a long time to shrink...

Yes, I've mentioned it before. It's just amazing how predictable it is. With my charts, I pretty much know what dimensions I will be at any given weight.

Yep, if the first place you gained was in your belly, it'll be the last to go.