What Does a 50 Inch Waist Look Like on Men and Women?

A 50 inch waist is far from the ideal waist size for those seeking to enjoy their best health. This is because having a 50 inch belly is indicative of having dangerous visceral fat, which can increase your risk of metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, and certain types of cancers.

Of course, you can still be happy with your body while having a 50″ waist. Still, it’s accurate to say that having a 50 in waist is definitely unhealthy in the long term and may also cause daily discomforts (such as joint pain) and health problems in the short term too.

See How Your Waist Compares:

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What does a 50 inch waist look like?

A woman showing what a 50 inch waist looks like

What does a 50 inch waist look like exactly? In both men and women, a 50 inch waist will look big because it’s more than 10 inches larger than average for an American adult. Your stomach is likely to stick out and show through your clothing if you have a 50″ waist, which may make some people feel self-conscious.

Now, the taller that you are, the smaller that your 50 inch waistline will look. This is because when you’re tall, a given waist size is naturally more “stretched out” and elongated than when you’re short.

Additionally, a 50 inch belly will likely look marginally bigger on a woman than on a man (unless the woman is taller). This is because men tend to have more abdominal muscle mass and larger ribcages than women. Thus, a higher proportion of a male waist vs the female waist naturally consists of lean mass.

Of course, at a measurement of 50 inches, it’s virtually impossible to have a waist that’s predominately muscle. Anyone with a 50 inch stomach will have a lot of belly fat, which is commonly referred to in the scientific community as abdominal obesity.

Is a 50 inch waist too big for a woman to be healthy?

Close up of an obese woman's 50 inch waist

Is a 50 inch waist too big for a woman? While it’s possible to be positive about your body while being overweight and obese, a 50 inch waist size is far too big for a woman to live in her best health.

This is because having an excessively large waist (especially in relation to your height) can lead to health problems like high blood pressure. ^[1]

If you’re a female with a 50 in waist, then you’re very likely to be obese. Carrying this excess weight around all day could cause joint pain and make accomplishing everyday tasks that bit harder.

There are, of course, many examples now of women who previously had a 50″ waist and then slimmed their stomachs by following a sustainable exercise routine and making healthier food choices. This is to say that losing weight—even if you have a genetic predisposition to storing stomach fat—is totally possible for you.

Is a 50 inch belly too big for a man?

An overweight man trying to stretch the tape around his big 50 inch belly

Is a 50 inch belly too big for a man to be healthy? Yes, a 50 inch waist is too big for a man to enjoy peak health because such a measurement is 10 inches bigger than average for a male (and the average is already 3-5 inches too big).

Your waist measurement is especially good for assessing your body composition, ^[2] so make sure to measure your stomach accurately so that you can track your results.

Now, just because your 50 in waist is larger than normal doesn’t mean that it’s uncommon. If you go into any city, then you’re virtually guaranteed to see people of both genders with a 50″ waist.

As such, you shouldn’t feel alone. There are many men just like you, but unlike some of them, you’re clearly aware that you need to take action and slim your 50 inch belly if you want to regain your health.

Let’s see how you can get in better shape and improve your health!

How can you slim your 50 in waist?

A woman with a big 50 inch waist sat on the gym floor

First and foremost, you need to be in an energy deficit if you want to lose weight. ^[3] This usually comes down to consuming fewer calories than your body requires to maintain its current mass.

However, you can also create an energy deficit by increasing your activity level. Of course, you can’t completely out-train a bad diet. If you worked out every day and then gorged on junk food, you likely wouldn’t lose much weight at all.

So your best bet for slimming your 50 inch waistline is to exercise regularly at a moderate to high intensity and reduce your calorie intake.

While going to the gym to lift weights and take part in fitness classes can be a great way to combine exercise with socializing, there’s no need to go to a gym in order to slim your stomach. You can easily perform fat-blasting, cardio-taxing movements like burpees, jumping jacks, squats, and mountain climbers from the comfort of your own home.

Conclusion: How bad is it to have a 50 inch waistline?

A woman grabbing the fat on her 50 inch waist

While it’s totally possible to have a positive attitude toward your body while having a 50 inch waist—which will help you to stay motivated and on the path to weight loss—you simply can’t enjoy your best health while walking around with a 50″ waist.

By making healthier food choices and following a sustainable exercise routine, you’ll be well on your way to slimming your 50 inch belly and dramatically improving your health.

Just realize that more isn’t always better. Don’t do high-intensity workouts every day of the week; otherwise, you might burn out (both mentally and physically).

You’re much better off going for a daily walk and then layering a few weekly workouts on top of that foundation. Then, as you lose weight and get fitter, you can perhaps go from 3-5 weekly sessions, which will help you to keep progressing.

References

Ghosh JR, Bandyopadhyay AR. Comparative evaluation of obesity measures: relationship with blood pressures and hypertension. Singapore Medical Journal. 2007 Mar;48(3):232-235. PMID: 17342293.
Mueller, W. H., Wear, M. L., Hanis, C. L., Emerson, J. B., Barton, S. A., Hewett-Emmett, D., & Schull, W. J. (1991). Which Measure Of Body Fat Distribution is Best for Epidemiologic Research? American Journal of Epidemiology, 133(9), 858–869. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a115966
Cimons, M. (2017, August 12). Exercise does so much for you. Why won’t it make you lose weight? Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/exercise-does-so-much-for-you-why-wont-it-make-you-lose-weight/2017/08/11/618db370-77d7-11e7-8f39-eeb7d3a2d304_story.html