Question for petite women dieters

kgb6days

I'm so glad to find this post - thanks for starting it. I'm 54, 5"3". I've always said that I can't eat as much as others and lose weight. When I was on WW if I ate all my points I'd gain instead of lose. Now I've eaten bad for so long I'm struggling to stay below 1200 calories but am right at the line. However, I haven't lost and I'm thinking I need to eat less. I havent' been starving myself - if I'm hungry I eat, but I try to watch what I eat. I'd be interested in seeing what you are all eating.

dzdame

So, I am 5' 1" and would be happy to weigh 115, which is on the middle/higher weight end for my height..I have struggled btwn 122-127lbs..I definitely lose weight if I manage to stay at 1200 net calories (I always eat back my calories, or most)..I lost 30 lbs...Problem is I have trouble relating to those of you who say that they "can't" eat the 1200 cals because they are not hungry!! I am really hungry when I try to stick to 1200 cals..I would rather exercise more so I can eat..I have always had a healthy appetite and love food...losing 30 lbs was a struggle, but I did it..I really want to lose the last 10-15 lbs, but not sure if I can eat 1200 cals or less a day to do so...Is there any other "petite" person out there who is hungry at 1200? Any suggestions on what to eat that will fill me up? I am going to be 50 in 6 months and want to achieve this goal before then!

dewpetals

Wow! I had no idea there were so many people like me 4'10 1/2" (u know that 1/2 in. is important).

I was wondering about eating back the exercise calories. I have been and haven't been hungry at all the couple of weeks I've been using MFP. In fact I really don't ever remember being hungry, ever. I'm a grazer and I suppose that's why I'm in the predicament I'm in.

So, now I'm going to take a cue from my gut. I will eat my 1200 calories and see if I get hungry. I wonder if I'll even recognize it? Its been a long time, LOL.

BTW, I NEED more friends. Oh, I hate to sound needy but I do enjoy having the support.

BeanieB21

oh how i wish i had this problem im around 5' and could easily eat asmuch as any 6' man :S

MoonIite

I'm 5'1" and weigh 115 lbs. I take in 1300-1450 calories (depending on the amount of calories I burn from my workout ) to get a daily deficit of 400-500 cals. This allows me to lose 0.7-0.8 lbs a week. When I take my rest days, I take in 1200 cals. Anything less leaves me hungry, and I end up overeating the next day.

TBH, it gets on my nerves when users on this site think that you must net 1200 cals and eat back all of your exercise cals. I did just that and gained 2 lbs. o-o

emmalene1984

Hi, I also don't go up to 1200, if i do, i just dont loose any weight, or i do but only about 0.5lb a week, which just isnt enough for my time frame and patience, lol. so i stick with a net calorie of between 1000-1100, not panicking if i am under or over by around 30 cals either way. thats, if i do no exercise i consume that amount, if i do exercise, i eat that plus most of what i burn off through exercise, otherwise i also don't loose weight. I am 5' 4" with a pretty small frame but a tendency to put weight on around my tummy making me look preggers when im not :-(


hope this helps?
x

Sway

Wonderful thank you!! I just reset my goals!!

inafit16177

BUMP

jagoochie

im 5ft3 and im wondering if i should eat my exercise calories back or just stick to 1200 calories eaten in total. im not seeing any weight loss.... its disheartening

emadigan

5'2'' here!

I only eat back exercise calories when I'm hungry. I just listen to my body. I talked to my doctor about weight loss, and she said that as long as I'm eating when I feel hungry, I should be fine. I'm not starving myself and my body lets me know when I'm hungry.

I did the math out myself and for me to lose 1lb. per week, I'd have to net 900 calories a day. Its not always possible, especially on days I don't exercise. So I've just accepted that these last few vanity pounds are going to take a while. I'm okay with that. I made this healthy switch as a lifestyle change, so it doesn't bother me to wait a little longer.

MoonIite

Try eating back half of your exercise calories. I only eat mine if my cal deficit exceeds 500. I don't want to lose more than 1 lb a week, so I keep my deficit between the 400-500 range.

http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm

My sedentary burn is 1487. I roughly burn 400 calories in a 40 minute workout. My total calorie output (if I worked out that day) would become 1887 (1487 + 400). If I want to create a 500 cal deficit, I would subtract 500 from my calorie output. This would give me 1387 cals(my calorie intake for the day).

bluegirl10

I'm 5'2 and trying to lose at least 20 pounds and am having a hard time hitting 1200 calories too. Until now I thought I was totally doing something wrong if I can't even hit 1200 calories, but it's nice to know I'm not... Petite women don't NEED to have 1200 calories... It just all depends on the individual!...thanks so much for the insight!

srp2011

I'm 5'0" and I aim for around 1100 cals/day. On a heavy exercise day, I'll eat a little more, but I try to get in a 500 cal/day deficit between food and exercise combined. It's important to understand that there is no scientific data backing 1200 as the magic number where starvation mode sets in. Doctors and nutritionists need some sort of guidelines, so a group of experts got together and came up with their best estimate of a number that they though would be reasonable for most women. Keep in mind the average woman is around 5'4 or 5'5. By the same token, 1200 is too low for some of our extra-tall sisters. I get so disgusted when I see some folks on MFP throw around the number as if it were some sort of holy gospel. In fact, I saw someone tell another MFPer they were stupid for trying to reset their calorie below 1200. They knew nothing about the original poster, and whether she was short, or had a medical issue or what. Ignorance is not bliss.

BTW, is anyone else frustrated by how few calories we burn when we exercise? I see taller/bigger folks posting these incredible burns (like 1000 or above) for relatively short workouts - with a real high-intensity workout I'm lucky to burn 4-500 in an hour, and that is really sweating...

jenkaye

Hey all.

I'm 5'2 and agree 1200 is great but perhaps for 2 weeks only to kick start a diet, or if you have holiday weight to loose. I go to Rosemary Conley classes, and they have great menus you can follow in their magazines. The suggest 1200 caleries for first 2 weeks, then 1500 after that. They recommend after holiday eating 1000 for first 3 days after hols (a bit like weightwatchers wendy plan) then 1200 for 2 weeks, and 1500 for rest of time. Under eating causes your body to go into starvation mode and as your body does not know where the next food is going to come from it clings onto body fat as a reserve. I guess you all know your own bodies, but perhaps eating a variety of foods also helps as your body can get used to the same foods all the time, and I base my daily habits on 200cal for breakfast, 300 for lunch, 400 for dinner, and two 50 cal snacks, and 3/4 pint a milk/yoghurt a day to help with osteoporosis (I don't have it but is a risk in women so is important we look after our bones). If doing 1500 a day I then add 100 cal dessert/100 cal treat and 100cal of alcohol (I tend to have the extra dessert/snack instead). I don't eat anything above 5% fat per 100g of food, and try to keep sugar out as sugar makes your sugar levels rise and that's why you always reach for more as the sugar levels then sink back down making you reach for more cake/choc etc...

Have lost 4 stone with Rosemary Conley and Fitness Pal (but been a bit lapse recently and have out 7ib on over 6 months)..

Good luck all.

Jen x

ljbhill

I'm 5 foot 2 and I find that I don't lose when I am under calories. In fact in the past I have even gained! I find my best weight loss occurs when I am around the 1200-1300 mark. I did find that cutting carbs from my dinner meals 5 times a week, worked wonders

joaniegray

Oh how well I know this! Being short and just doing 1200 calories for me seems to be maintenance = BUT - exercise - that is what I lose the weight on. I can then eat up to1500 calories if I do my walking, cycling, Qi Gong and some swimming. No exercise - no weight loss. Sigh...

MoonIite

srp2011: I can totally relate. I have to work my *kitten* off to burn 400-500 calories, and even that amount seems a bit too generous. I'd be lucky to burn more than 400 cals in a 40 minute workout. Yet my taller friend, who's 5'4", can burn up to 600 cals going at the same intensity as me :sad:

Sway

srp2011: I can totally relate. I have to work my *kitten* off to burn 400-500 calories, and even that amount seems a bit too generous. I'd be lucky to burn more than 400 cals in a 40 minute workout. Yet my taller friend, who's 5'4", can burn up to 600 cals going at the same intensity as me :sad:

What exercise are you doing to burn 400 cals in 40 mins??

Yes it really stinks that we burn so little yet work so hard...

MoonIite

Turbo Jam!

Here's my workout log:
*compare my calorie burn from now to before, notice any difference?*

Mon, Jun 06 2011
Mins Cals
Punch, Kick, and Jam 43 400

Tue, Jun 07 2011
Mins Cals
Turbo Sculpt 39 350


Wed, Jun 08 2011
Mins Cals
Fat Blaster (2x) 40 400


Thu, Jun 09 2011
Mins Cals
Turbo Sculpt 39 300
20 Minute 20 100


Fri, Jun 10 2011
Mins Cals
Cardio Party Mix 2 50 468

Mon, Jun 13 2011
Mins Cals
Cardio Party Mix 3 50 500


Tue, Jun 14 2011
Mins Cals
Turbo Sculpt 30 300
Fat Blaster 20 100

Thu, Jun 16 2011
Mins Cals
Cardio Party Mix 2 43 460

Fri, Jun 17 2011
Mins Cals
Cardio Party Mix 1 43 530

Tue, Jun 21 2011
Mins Cals
Cardio Party 1 43 500

Thu, Jun 23 2011
Mins Cals
Cardio Party Mix 2 38 490

Fri, Jun 24 2011
Mins Cals
Cardio Party Mix 3 40 440


Sat, Jun 25 2011
Mins Cals
Punch, Kick, and Jam 40 414

Sun, Jun 26 2011
Mins Cals
Turbo Sculpt 37 293
20 minutes 10 99
Fat Blaster 8 82

Wed, Jun 29 2011
Mins Cals
Cardio Party 1 39 470

Sat, Jul 02 2011
Mins Cals
Cardio Party 1 38 467

Sun, Jul 03 2011
Mins Cals
Turbo Sculpt 37 297


Thu, Jul 07 2011
Mins Cals
Cardio Party Mix 3 37 458

Mon, Jul 11 2011
Mins Cals
Cardio Party 1 39 470
Total Calories Burned 470

Tue, Jul 12 2011
Mins Cals
Cardio Party Mix 3 41 300


Fri, Jul 15 2011
Mins Cals
Cardio Party Mix 2 38 460


Mon, Jul 18 2011
Mins Cals
Cardio Party 1 38 440


Tue, Jul 19 2011
Mins Cals
Punch, Kick, and Jam 40 496


Thu, Jul 21 2011
Mins Cals
Cardio Party Mix 3 40 356


Fri, Jul 22 2011
Mins Cals
Cardio Party 2 36 430


Mon, Jul 25 2011
Mins Cals
Cardio Party 1 38 421

*hrm does not include bmr, so I end up subtracting it from my calorie burn*

srp2011

srp2011: I can totally relate. I have to work my *kitten* off to burn 400-500 calories, and even that amount seems a bit too generous. I'd be lucky to burn more than 400 cals in a 40 minute workout. Yet my taller friend, who's 5'4", can burn up to 600 cals going at the same intensity as me :sad:

What exercise are you doing to burn 400 cals in 40 mins??

Yes it really stinks that we burn so little yet work so hard...

I can burn 400 or close to it in 40 min if I either swim laps or run at a10 min/mile pace... I'm going to have to try some of those Turbo-Jam-like workout DVDs... or go back to the classes at my gym, but I'm terribly uncoordinated...

amoffatt

I am 4'11 and sometimes I find myself still hungry under 1200 calories (depends on what I eat) but I have a huge issue loosing weight as well if I go over 1200, amd 1 pound looks like 50 on me...:laugh:

sweetsapphire85

If I eat my exercise calories I definitely gain, at 1200 I maintain for the most part without exercise. So I've gotten into hitting the gym almost every day recently because I have the time. I think it's funny because now since i started this diet a month ago my appetite has decreased and am full so much quicker so eating up to the 1200 MFP has given me is hard to meat. I tend to eat as clean as i can during the day and being hypoglycemic (low blood sugar) they said to eat protein more often as does more to maintain my sugar levels for a longer period of time. But it fills me up so much quicker and I don't have to urge to eat for hours after.

I figure my body will ask for what it needs, even doing this I'm only losing 1/2 pound up to 1 pound a week which isn't that much when i'm 30 pounds over weight.

Thank you for posting this thread, I feel so much better it's not just me!

audram420

I haven't read all the replies...but when I lost 40lbs prior to having my baby I was comfortable eating 800-1000 a day with my exercise...I did eat bad on the weekends, but I believe you can find a good daily caloric intake under 1200 if your comfortable doing so! Currently, I'm still doing about 1000-1100 now because I'm always 100-200 or even more under what MFP says I should be!

lannashelley

I agree with everyone else. I would gain weight eating 1200 calories not loose it. Before I went on the diet I am on now, I tracked my calories for 3 months out of pure curiosity because my sister who was on a diet at the time was always counting hers. I was eating between 700-850 calories a day none of which were from low fat diet foods and I weighed in at around 200lbs, which is the same as I had weighed for around 7 years. Then when I was made redundant from my job in April 2011 I continued to eat the same 700-850 calories a day and I actually gained almost 20lbs.

maroon98

I am so glad you brought this up! Ditto to what many have said here, those formulas to calculate recommended caloric intake are not geared towards petite individuals! It stinks!

SweetTeaBlossom

So, I am 5' 1" and would be happy to weigh 115, which is on the middle/higher weight end for my height..I have struggled btwn 122-127lbs..I definitely lose weight if I manage to stay at 1200 net calories (I always eat back my calories, or most)..I lost 30 lbs...Problem is I have trouble relating to those of you who say that they "can't" eat the 1200 cals because they are not hungry!! I am really hungry when I try to stick to 1200 cals..I would rather exercise more so I can eat..I have always had a healthy appetite and love food...losing 30 lbs was a struggle, but I did it..I really want to lose the last 10-15 lbs, but not sure if I can eat 1200 cals or less a day to do so...Is there any other "petite" person out there who is hungry at 1200? Any suggestions on what to eat that will fill me up? I am going to be 50 in 6 months and want to achieve this goal before then!

I'm petite, 40 and have a big appetite as well. I always have even when I was slender. I would fail if I tried to stay at 1200 every day. It leaves me feeling weak. Some days through exercise my net ends up being 1200 and it doesn't leave me starving, but I don't do that all the time.

I agree with exercising more so you can eat more. Also, you can try to have a more conservative weight loss goal per week (1/2 pound, 1 pound) so you can get more cals to eat there as well (on non-exercise days too). It might be slower, but you will lose the weight eventually and it's better than going hungry. This is a lifestyle change for me so I'm in no rush. I just want nice, steady progress.

I follow the calorie calculator at:

http://www.healthyweightforum.org/eng/calculators/calories-required/

Playing around with it let me know my goal of wanting to lose 8 pounds a month was unrealistic for my appetite so I had to reduce the monthly goal and it's been working. I just put my mother on this with a conservative goal of 3 pounds per month (for 5 months).

I like to eat big salads and fill it up with lots of goodies (avocado, chicken, green beans, kidney beans, raisins, light laughing cow cheese etc.) that helped me a lot when I was first starting. Also, fish is low and filling.


Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Calorie Counter

kymmixxx

4'10 126Lbs at present. losing at least a pound a week eating no more than 1200cal and god forbid what would happen if i ate back my exercise calories..i also agree about how frustrating it is that i can work out for around a hour and feel like ive barely burned any calories! so good to hear its the same for others!

dzdame

So glad to hear that I am not the only one with a good sized appetite...now compared to what I observe others eating, not so big, but I definitely need more than 1200 cals/day to feel full...and so I workout. But the lbs have crept back on because I stopped logging..trying hard to get back into doing it faithfully..because a few lbs on petite women is like 10 on taller women..and the logging in really makes me aware of just how much I am eating..and tells me when to stop!

I am going back to eating more salads when hungry..I like that suggestion because when I was losing regularly, I ate a lot of salads..
Trying to remember to drink more water and eat as clean as possible..Vacation is coming up, so I am going to cut out the alcohol and cut back on sweets (icecream and dessert on weekends) before vacation to see if that helps get the extra lbs off, so I can cheat a bit on vacation..Fortunately, we are very active on our vacations (hike/bike/walk), so that helps..but what is vacation without a glass of wine with dinner or an icecream cone or two?

I guess we travel size women just have a bit more of a challenge on this journey...

superflashphoto

I'm 5'3 and I rarely break 1200 calories in a day, especially when I factor in exercise.
I know everyone says you should eat your exercise calories, but I would feel completely bloated if I ate that way. I generally tend to only eat when I'm hungry, and I have mostly healthful snacks / meals on hand, so it can be a challenge to break 1200 calories!

lynn1982

I'm 5'. When I first joined MFP, I followed their guidelines and my weight loss slowed to a crawl. I re-set my goals to 1000 calories a day. On most days I find that difficult to follow so I also work out at least once a day (usually twice a day) just to give myself some extra calories available to eat. Some days I eat some, but rarely all, of my exercise calories, and some days I don't. This seems to be working for now.