Shrinking an expanding waistline is not only a matter of beauty. Excess belly fat can significantly up your risk of heart disease as well as other dangerous medical conditions.

We’re all familiar with subcutaneous fat by now. It’s the outside fat that you see in the mirror and makes it hard to zip up your jeans. But it’s the visceral fat which is the inner fat that resides deep inside your belly that is so dangerous. This compact fat, sometimes called “hidden” belly fat, builds up between and around your internal organs.

How can you measure your abdominal fat?

The most accurate method is to use computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to measure the amount of visceral fat. These imaging techniques are the best research tools for evaluating abdominal obesity, but because they’re expensive and require complex equipment, they are not suitable for research studies or patient care.

Well, I guess you and me are screwed then? Not so fast!

We can can still measure our abdominal fat with a seamstress measuring tape (not the stiff metal tape from Home Depot) that helps us determine our waist-to-hip ratio.

Here’s how it works:

With your abdomen relaxed, measure your waist at the navel. Next, measure your hips at their widest point. Finally, divide your waist size by your hip size:

Waist (in inches) divided by Hips (in inches) = Ratio

Great, my ratio is 0.88; what the hell does that mean?

This calculation can be translated into a general health risk. The chance of suffering a heart attack or stroke increases steadily as a man’s ratio rises above 0.95; for women, risk begins to rise above 0.85. This waist-to-hip ratio stuff is pretty cool, right? 

Measuring your waist to learn if you have abdominal obesity and excess visceral fat is easy but doing something about it is much harder.

Forget abdominal crunches and sit-ups. They are good for increasing muscle tone, which may improve your profile, but they won’t selectively burn up abdominal fat.

Gadgets that promise spot fat reduction are even worse; they’ll have you wasting time and money without reducing your waist.

Forget liposuction or those hollywood-mom tummy tucks.

Surgery can remove subcutaneous fat from your midsection but not visceral fat. Cosmetic surgery will improve your appearance and reduce your waist circumference, but it won’t do a thing for your metabolism or health.

Remember the basics!

The only way to reduce visceral fat is to lose weight—and the only way to do that is to burn up more calories with exercise than you take in from food. Sustained and successful weight loss requires both caloric restriction and increased exercise.

Mike Geary’s book The Truth About Six Pack Abs is currently the top selling abs program on the entire internet. But his nutrition guidelines and strategies is what sets him apart. Check out our review of this massive fat loss resource of eating habits, food choices, and so much more!