# Waist size bullshitters **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 8, 2013, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waist-size-bullshitters/665736 "2013-08-08T19:03:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2013, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waist-size-bullshitters/665736/41 "2013-09-24T14:05:42Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Nothing else can explain the piles of unsold pants in the stores which only could fit people who are 6’4" and weigh 150 pounds. Actually, when I was pants shopping a few weeks ago for a trip, I couldn’t find anything in the 32-33" waist range. Even the 34" selections were scarce and anatomically improbable (e.g., 34x27 & 34x37, nothing else). All of the piles of unsold pants were in the 40"+ waist range. I know the US is the land of the overinflated people\*, but I thought that only stocking 40"+ waists was a _bit_ too much. I eventually had to order online to get my size. - We had a taxi driver in China who wouldn’t believe we were American because we weren’t fat. He told the guy translating that we must be Australian. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2013, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waist-size-bullshitters/665736/42 "2013-09-24T15:59:05Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > But going back to weight loss: everyone wants to exaggerate their success. Ever notice how they\*\* flatten out their fat pants, but they’re wearing the thin ones? T\*\*ake two identical pairs of pants, and the flat ones will look 50% wider than the round ones. It’s basic math (circumference = pi_diameter, so flattened pants are pi_d/2 - or about 1.57_d wide, while pants being worn have a visual width of just 1_d)… Huh??? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2013, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waist-size-bullshitters/665736/43 "2013-09-24T16:13:11Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > Huh??? Look at almost any weight loss ad. The person holds up their old fat pants to show you how much smaller their waist is now. What **CanvasShoes** is saying is that the fat pants have been pulled into a two-dimensional shape, so you see half the waistband, while the pants the person is wearing are circular, and you only see 1/pi of the waistband. ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2013, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waist-size-bullshitters/665736/44 "2013-09-24T16:16:24Z")
> [@digs](#): > > I’ve got a student who’s a dietician and a weight loss coach. Her advice? Never weigh yourself, never measure yourself. It all varies too much and just sends your mood shooting off in one direction or the other. Apparently your student never heard of the concept of a 7-day moving average. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2013, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waist-size-bullshitters/665736/45 "2013-09-24T16:28:52Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > Huh??? You know, that obligatory shot of the person standing there in their “skinny” clothes and holding the “fat” clothes they used to wear up in front of them. To show how incredibly _wide_ you used to be. Except if you lay a piece of clothing out flat, it’s going to look wider than if it’s in a circular-ish shape around your body. That’s why if you hold a shirt up to you to get an idea if it fits, you can’t just hold it flat in front of you and say “Yep, wider than I am, it’ll fit.” _Aaand I see I’m beaten to the punch. Oh well._\* ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2013, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waist-size-bullshitters/665736/46 "2013-09-24T16:51:14Z")
> [@shiftless](#): > > Are you talking male or female? Some men (hangs head) let their pants ride down on their hips as they age and get fatter, so the waist size of our, errr, I mean their, pants stays the same even as their gut gets bigger and hangs over their belt. Not just older guys. The military had some strict guidelines for weight, body fat, etc. I had one troop who had a huge gut. When I told him he was going to have to go to medical and be put on a fat boy program, he protested, saying: “But Chief, I wear a size 34 pants!” Yeah, but you’ve got a 54" gut, Shamu. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waist-size-bullshitters/665736.md?page=2)