What is best for petite girls (5'3" or less)?

deborahcda

I have been doing a little reading and I am finding that petite girls may have different needs when it comes to diet and exercise. Everyone seems to say that you should not go below 1200 calories max, however I have read in a few places that petite girls can safely stay in the 1000-1100 range and be fine.... Also, I have read that petite girls should focus more on weight training and a little less on cardio to lose weight.... Does anyone have some opinions on this?

tangal88

I personally do not buy into the belief that you need different diet or workout for different stature. Makes no sense.

Body is still functioning the same, bones,. tissues, systems are all the same. Just a bit less of you.

If anything, your cal needs may differ a bit - but then everyone needs to play with and tweak that. So thats not really "news"

I am 5'2" , 47 years old (so no faster 20 year old metabolism) and have lost 60 lbs total. I am almost at my goal weight now, so in the slow losing stage, as I try to lose a bit more body fat to increase muscle, and ab definition.

I find for me, I MUST lift heavy at least three days a week, AND have intense cardio, three days a week - or I stall, and even start to gain. I personally workout two hours a day, (cardio 45-60 min) - but for me, thats whats needed, at this point. I did not do that all the time to lose all my weight, but I always found a comb of both for best results.

If I cut out cardio, or lessen it, I gain weight.

I have lost weight on 1000-1100 cals a day , but quickly stalled, much like taller girls do.

I juggled cals, staggered cals, changed exercise, etc etc. Still stalled. Now I am at about 1600 cal or so a day, eating some exercise cals back (Olivia method) - BUT I am also at a point where I have little to lose, AND working out heavily daily, strength and cardio.

So I need the extra cals, to0 keep from stalling, or losing my progress in muscle gains. I also must have high protein or I stop losing fat.

So thats what works for me. When I was younger, I could get by with less cardio - not so much now though. I also stayed at the same weight for years, and did not gain, until after age 30.

You really are going to need to see what works for you.

I think being shorter, you have a "little" more room to drop cals to a little lower level, but can still reach a stall point just as easily as a taller person.