Being short sucks for dieting

I think the problem is not your height, there are thousands of petite people (including me) on this site who have succeeded in losing weight and are now within the normal BMI range, but accepting that you have to eat less than you are use to. This is applicable to nearly everyone on this site, not just petite women.

Sometimes it is easier to start with just .5 lbs as your goal and slowly decrease your calories to your appropriate goal especially if you have over 75lbs to lose and are aiming for 2lbs a week.

You can also just set yourself a higher calorie goal and lose a little slower if that is more satisfying for you.

As you start to increase your exercise remember that MFP is set so that you log it and eat back those calories, (your deficit is in your base calories) it is part of staying healthy as you lose. However MFP, and most cardio machines, tend to overestimate calories burnt through exercise, eating back 50-75% is usually enough.

Cheers, h.

I think your personal history with food can affect your perspective. In my case, I really wasn't eating that much more while I was putting the weight on than I need to for maintenance now, so it's not been a drastic change for me volume of food-wise (I'm the same height, and I lose on 1650, maintain at over 2000, and all I've really done while losing is increase my walking). The worst bits about being short for me is that every extra lb looks like more.

thorsmom01 wrote: »

middlehaitch wrote: »

I think the problem is not your height, there are thousands of petite people (including me) on this site who have succeeded in losing weight and are now within the normal BMI range, but accepting that you have to eat less than you are use to. This is applicable to nearly everyone on this site, not just petite women.

Sometimes it is easier to start with just .5 lbs as your goal and slowly decrease your calories to your appropriate goal especially if you have over 75lbs to lose and are aiming for 2lbs a week.

You can also just set yourself a higher calorie goal and lose a little slower if that is more satisfying for you.

As you start to increase your exercise remember that MFP is set so that you log it and eat back those calories, (your deficit is in your base calories) it is part of staying healthy as you lose. However MFP, and most cardio machines, tend to overestimate calories burnt through exercise, eating back 50-75% is usually enough.

Cheers, h.

This 100%

+1
Us shorties don't need as many calories. Our needs will be less than someone much taller.

samgamgee wrote: »

For me (5 ft 4) the problems start when I try to eat as much as my 6 ft tall partner, haha! Now that has been a recipe for disaster xD

Truth! I followed a similar recipe for ten years and 60lbs before I woke up to it...

kommodevaran wrote: »

That doesn't even make any sense. We shorties can't eat very large amounts of food without getting fat, but we get full on smaller amounts. Tall people eat more because they need more.

Tell that to my stomach! Height has nothing to do with how quickly you get full. Which is why there are obese short people.

I agree with the original sentiment it sucks being short. I need more calories! lol

I'm assuming my stomach will get used to having less in it and shrink appropriately. Please let this be soon!

I'm 5ft 2" and been maintaining my weight loss for 3+ years, its doable at any height and not easy for anyone, it takes being consistent /accurate with counting calories, patience and exercise helps too.

Losing weight is hard at any height. I feel like a lot of posts in this thread insinuate that it's so much easier to maintain a healthy weight when you're tall, but as a taller person I don't feel that way at all. I'm glad I can eat more but like others said, whether or not eating is also a pleasurable experience, our bodies require and feel fuller or fewer or higher calories based on height, weight, sex, etc.

There are positives and negatives of any height, and you've presumably been that height for your entire adult life. It does not seem like a valid thing to blame for weight struggles.

I would look at it from another perspective: I'm 5'3", if I lose 5 lbs it makes a big difference in my appearance. One of my siblings is 5'9" he needs to tell people he lost 5 lbs because nobody notices it...

Using height as an excuse that weight loss is more difficult, isn't really valid.

localgrr wrote: »

Hi there I'm only 5'3 / 1.5m - and even after I reach my goal I'd still be 10kg within the healthy weight for my height - I can't even imagine eating any less that I am right now, I can't believe anyone my height can be skinny!!

I really envy tall people who can seem to eat so much more. I realise I could do a lot more exercise but that's something I'm working on.

localgrr wrote: »

Hi there I'm only 5'3 / 1.5m - and even after I reach my goal I'd still be 10kg within the healthy weight for my height - I can't even imagine eating any less that I am right now, I can't believe anyone my height can be skinny!!

I really envy tall people who can seem to eat so much more. I realise I could do a lot more exercise but that's something I'm working on.

You put the weight on, and you gotta lose it. It's doesn't make any difference if you are short, medium or tall.

Hi I feel your pain too being 5'1, but I read an interesting article on how the BMI ratio calculation is out dated, they showed 6 women all the same weight, some appeared to be over weight, anyway the point of the article was that because we are so different we should calculate our waist measurement to get a more accurate assumption of if we are unhealthy or not. I thought this was a more positive way of keeping track of my health.

294Rich wrote: »

You put the weight on, and you gotta lose it. It's doesn't make any difference if you are short, medium or tall.

and the prize for stating the bleeding obvious goes to........