What Is This Chart?

The chart above shows the average relative change in waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) for our most recent group of members.

Your WHtR is your waist divided by your height. It is an easy way to track your fat loss progress right at home.

You may be familiar with body mass index (BMI) as a way to track your fat loss progress. So why don’t we use BMI?

BMI is based on your weight and height. And your weight depends on both your fat mass and your lean mass.1

So BMI does not give you the context of your fat loss journey. It does not give you much information about your fat mass or body fat percentage.

Research suggests that WHtR is better than BMI at predicting your body fat percentage.2 And studies show that WHtR is better than BMI at predicting your health risks.3

Studies also point towards clear WHtR cut-off values for these health risks. You want a WHtR between 40%4 and 50%5 for the best overall health risk.6

We want to make sure our members are using the best tracking method on their fat loss journeys. That way they understand the context of their progress and set realistic goals.

So our goal is to help every member reach this WHtR ‘zone’ between 40% and 50%. Once a member reaches this zone, we ensure that they are able to maintain their progress on their own before they finish the program.

How Did We Make the Chart?

The chart shows data from our most recent members. This is because we recently upgraded our approach to the Keto, Fasting, and C8 MCT Lifestyles. So this helps set expectations for anyone joining our program. The chart shows the average fat loss journey in our program based on our current recommendations.

Our members track their waist measurements in the Ketosource App at least once per week. We use these to calculate their WHtR values.

Then we find each member’s relative WHtR change since they joined us. This shows us how much their WHtR has changed since we began helping them on their fat loss journeys.

We find this relative WHtR change for each member for each two-week period since they joined us. This is their ‘Days Since Start’ on the chart. Then we average those values together for all of our most recent members to see how everyone progressed during those two weeks of the program.

Though we don’t recommend it, some members track their waist multiple times per week. And for some weeks, members forget to add their waist measurements to the Ketosource App.

So two weeks gives each member an opportunity to have their waist measurement added to the average. And we only use the most recent waist measurement for each member that was taken within those two weeks.

You can see the number of members on the right side of the chart. This shows how many members’ measurements were used to find the average WHtR change for that two-week period.

We only calculate the average change in WHtR once we have measurements from at least 10 members. This way we can be confident in the results and know that it isn’t skewed by a few people.

Finally, we stop adding new measurements to the average for any member that progresses below the 50% WHtR cut-off. This is based on our assumption that WHtR changes slow down once someone crosses this cut-off value.

References

  1. Carbone, Salvatore, et al. “Obesity Paradox in Cardiovascular Disease: Where Do We Stand?” Vascular Health and Risk Management, no. 15, May 2019, pp. 89–100, doi:10.2147/VHRM.S168946.
  2. Swainson, Michelle G., et al. “Prediction of Whole-Body Fat Percentage and Visceral Adipose Tissue Mass from Five Anthropometric Variables.” PLOS ONE, vol. 12, no. 5, May 2017, p. e0177175, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0177175.
  3. Ashwell, M., et al. “Waist-to-Height Ratio Is a Better Screening Tool than Waist Circumference and BMI for Adult Cardiometabolic Risk Factors: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.” Obesity Reviews: An Official Journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity, vol. 13, no. 3, Mar. 2012, pp. 275–86, doi:10.1111/j.1467-789X.2011.00952.x.
  4. Peng, Yaguang, et al. “The Cut-Off Point and Boundary Values of Waist-to-Height Ratio as an Indicator for Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Chinese Adults from the PURE Study.” PLoS ONE, vol. 10, no. 12, Dec. 2015, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0144539.
  5. Jayedi, Ahmad, et al. “Central Fatness and Risk of All Cause Mortality: Systematic Review and Dose-Response Meta-Analysis of 72 Prospective Cohort Studies.” BMJ, vol. 370, Sept. 2020, doi:10.1136/bmj.m3324.
  6. Ashwell, Margaret. “Charts Based on Body Mass Index and Waist-to-Height Ratio to Assess the Health Risks of Obesity: A Review.” The Open Obesity Journal, vol. 3, no. 1, May 2011, https://benthamopen.com/ABSTRACT/TOOBESJ-3-78.