5 feet tall ladies

I'm 5'1" and recently hit the 155 mark on the scale, which is the most I've ever weighed and not a number I'd like to see there for very long. In my teens and early 20s I could maintain 105 and be healthy, but now I think 115-120 is more realistic for long term so that's my goal. I know I'll be able to get the first 5-10 pounds off fairly easily, but after that I expect I'll plateau and probably be in here with setbacks asking for your advice. At this point, though, I'd consider fitting back into the jeans I wore when I was 135 to be a major accomplishment! (Ed: I'm past that point now, yay!)

Anyway, in the past when I've been successful at weight loss, it's never really stuck, mostly because the #1 way I shed pounds is when I travel. If I'm not at my desk job, but instead out sightseeing and walking and climbing and hiking and being active morning 'till night, I lose weight easily. But when I get back home, I tend to fall back into my old habits and gain it back. Not good.

So this is a bit more of a "don't do what I did" post than anything with helpful advice. But I'm trying it differently this time around. In addition to all the usual stuff -- logging, exercising, etc. I think there are a couple of tricks to doing this for women of our height/size:

1. Get comfortable with leaving food on your plate. I have to keep reminding myself that restaurant portions are like clothes and chairs -- they're made for average-sized *men* and therefore way too big for me. Restaurant portions have gotten so big lately, and even packaged portions at the grocery store are way out of whack. It took me a while to get socially comfortable enough to eat half of what's on my plate and simply send the rest back. Yes, I had enough. Yes, I'm full. No, I don't want a doggie bag, thanks very much.

2. Recognize that one size doesn't fit all when it comes to calculators. The estimates on calculators and tools -- especially free online ones -- tend to also be made for those aforementioned 5'9" men, and extrapolated from there. So at the smaller end of the height spectrum for us ladies, they could be wildly inaccurate. I use them as a starting point and then listen to my body.

3. Find a physical activity that suits your body type. I ski in the wintertime, for example; skiing is a sport that isn't height-dependent to succeed. I've tried spinning classes and been frustrated by spin bikes that don't adjust small enough for me to properly reach the pedals or the handlebars. A basketball league would be a terrible idea for someone my height (unless I were unusually talented) but a squash league might work. I think the key is not to fight our bodies, but to work with them.

4. Get some awesome tailored clothing that makes you feel great about yourself. Weight loss is *much* easier when we're not battling self-esteem issues. Unfortunately, body image gets all tied up in the media "ideal" of long, tall, leggy women with willowy limbs. We're never going to look like that no matter how thin we get. But that's okay. Buying some awesome petite-proportioned clothes -- or finding a great local tailor who can adjust them for me -- is one trick I use to feel svelte and sexy in whatever I'm wearing. After all, it's not my fault that the fashion industry would prefer to pretend that women under 5'10" don't exist. I know I'm awesome at any size.