is it more difficult for short people to lose weight?

geekyjock76

Total Daily Energy Expenditure. Think of it as the total amount of energy in calories your body needs to maintain current weight while engaging in all the various activities you do whether it be unplanned exercise and planned exercise. Basically, there are four components to one's energy expenditure:

Resting Metabolic Rate - amount of calories required to maintain primary physiological functions while at rest and awake. Accounts for 60-75% of your total energy expenditure.

Thermic Effect of Activity - amount of calories needed for planned exercise. This can add 10-20 percent above basal if completely sedentary and up to 100% if someone is extremely active. If engaging in 3-5 training sessions per week, it's typically between 30-50%.

Thermic Effect of Food - amount of calories needed to absorb food. This is often disregarded in equations so don't worry about it, though, it tends to account for about 10% of TDEE.

Non-exercise Activity - amount needed for daily activities such as brushing teeth, bathing, walking around the house, etc. It's too difficult to estimate so it's usually not included in calculations.

zaph0d

no

AllonsYtotheTardis

I'm 5'2". I don't really have a basis for comparison, as I've never been taller.:laugh:

Self-motivating was hard at first. But now that I'm seeing progress - it's been easier.


Tell ya one thing though - 10 lbs loss on a short body like mine - I really noticed it. That was awesome - so I'm called it a benefit to be this short.

NoFatChick2

I don't know the science and all, so will read thru this thread later when I have more time. I am short (5 ft), so I understand what you mean that you can't eat as much as those who are taller, BUT we NEED far less to start with. So my guess is, no it's not. It just feels that way.

yarwell

you don't see short people's portions so there is a societal issue with aiming the same amount of food at different sized targets.

NoFatChick2

you don't see short people's portions so there is a societal issue with aiming the same amount of food at different sized targets.

Makes me think of my Dad who used to serve up adult,men-sized portions of food to me and my siblings when we were just kids. No wonder we were all overweight.

LorinaLynn

I would imagine that percentage wise, it's the same. But pound for pound, it would be slower.

Slower shouldn't be confused with harder, though.

tehzephyrsong

I would say it's not necessarily more difficult, it just takes longer for folks like us to see real improvement. Being so short, the only place for excess fat to go is outward, so we look wider than our taller counterparts if we've got even a little extra somethin' somethin'. Women our size can hover around 100 pounds and even dip a bit below it without looking malnourished. I'm 5'2'' and my goal is 139, but I could safely lose another 20 or so pounds without dipping into an unhealthy BMI range again.

ASH0424

I don't think it's hard per say, because everyone genes are different, but less weight is to be on our bones (I am 5'1") and so any extra and you notice.
My husband is 6'1" and so it does get to me sometimes what he can eat and do, but he's also active with his job so I know that helps him....but doesn' mean it's less frusterating.

my bmi chart says 96-132 lbs. I will be happy at this point to just see the scale go down.....not up!

((HUGS))

PetulantOne

Don't look at "pounds" lost but actual % lost. Losing 1% of your body weight a week for someone who weighs 150lbs (1.5lbs) compared to someone who weighs 300lbs (3 lbs) looks deceiving, but percentage wise, the loss is the same.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Good point

rose313

I don't think it's harder to lose the actual weight, but it took me a lot of guesstimating and learning to figure out HOW to lose the weight. I had no idea my TDEE was so low, so I was eating at my TDEE for months and not losing, and wondering why. Most online calculators overestimated how many calories I could eat, even when putting in my height and stats accurately. There was only one calculator that got it right. Because of this it's been a whole year and I've only lost 10 pounds. (My ticker says 9 but I wait until I stay the same weight for a few days in a row before officially changing it.)

FitpetiteKP

It isn't necessarily harder to lose weight I think being shorter we compare ourselves to others and set this random weight loss goal in our mind. A better overall way to measure is to look at waist to height , waist to hip and waist to shoulder ratio's.

Height To Waist: take your current waist measurement and divide it by your height in inches. I've found the optimum ratio for females ranges between 38-42% waist to height in inches.

Ratio less than 35: Abnormally Slim to Underweight
• Ratio 35 to 42: Extremely Slim
• Ratio 42 to 49: Healthy
• Ratio 49 to 54: Overweight
• Ratio 54 to 58: Seriously Overweight
• Ratio over 58: Highly Obese

What the scale say and how someone looks aren't linear.

I wrote more about other proportions on myfitnesspal blog - Fit Petite


The reason most hit plateau’s (even while using TDEE) is because when you feed your body less it figures out how to use less. Your metabolism adjusts to the lower calories and now your only option is to keep going lower. Two important hormones are affected by this approach, leptin and ghrelin. When you put your body in a constant calorie deficit these hormones decrease and your appetite increases and your metabolism slows.

A better approach is calorie cycling. Eat more food on the days you workout and eat less food on the days you don’t.
There’s no rule that says you must be in a deficit of calories every single day. Think in terms of the entire week.



References
Denzer, CM; JC Young (2003 September). “The effect of resistance exercise on the thermic effect of food.”. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism 13 (3): 396–402. PMID 14669938. Retrieved 2010-08-10.
Christensen, Peter. “What is the thermic effect of food?”. Retrieved March 28, 2005.
Long-Term Persistence of Hormonal Adaptations to Weight Loss: Priya Sumithran, M.B., B.S.,

newmooon56

your height, assuming no metabolic issues, has no affect on weight gain or loss.

This ^

I love when I do 10 pushups and my husband does 10 and says its harder for him cuz he weights more then me- idiot.

Each person- each body- is different and you only lose weight on YOUR frame.

This question kinda reminds me of - which is heavier- a lb of feathers or lb of rocks.

newmooon56

@ white zombie -- i agree! i find that gaining 5 lbs is way more noticeable on a smaller frame!

Also true - but that doesnt mean the short person is going to have a harder time losing 5 lbs.

Taller ppl LOSE quicker? omg- durrr...

They just APPEAR to carry it better because theres more room to spread the 5 lbs out.

Why would height hasten weight loss?!

quirkytizzy

Sometimes I grumble about being short and losing weight. I'm 5'1 (barely!) and to lose even a pound a week I'd have to eat at 1200 calories. I can't do that and so eating at a higher goal, I sometimes worry that the weight loss will stall. I also sometimes great frustrated at how fantastic taller women look at my current weight (141) while I look much bigger.

The mechanics of weight loss, however, do stay the same, no matter your height. That's something to be grateful for.

FitpetiteKP

Your metabolic rate is tied very closely to your lean body mass. It is the activity of your internal organs and muscles that largely dictate how many calories you burn in a day.

AND, your lean body mass is most closely related to your height.

Bobby__Clerici

Don't look at "pounds" lost but actual % lost. Losing 1% of your body weight a week for someone who weighs 150lbs (1.5lbs) compared to someone who weighs 300lbs (3 lbs) looks deceiving, but percentage wise, the loss is the same.

^^^^^^^
THIS
Stop reading my mail!

geekyjock76

Fun fact of the day:

If you take two persons, each weighing the same with identical builds and activity levels, the shorter person will have a higher TDEE than the taller due to the fact he/she requires more energy to replace heat loss related to total surface area/mass.

So no. Just because you are short does not necessarily mean your energy needs are less than someone taller.

lynheff

Since I'm 5'1 I don't know if it would be easier to lose weight if I were taller---but I doubt it. I think weight loss is a challenge for all of us. I am amused by all of the magazine articles this time of year with the latest "super" food, miracle cure etc. "Cause the truth hurts--diet and exercise are the only real weight loss tools. If I ever find a magic lamp......good luck

FlaxMilk

I think it's definitely harder from a TDEE perspective, assuming the person is an average person activity level wise.