weight loss for the smaller person

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Annab412
Annab412 Posts: 12
in Motivation and Support
I am finding that I see all these success stories of people who need to lose 20-40 pounds and made that their weightloss goal. I am a smaller person with a much smaller goal and I find that I am still having a very hard time acheiving it after I lost the initial 5-8 pounds. Have I reached the dreaded plateau? Does anyone else find that it is very difficult to be a smaller person (5' 120lbs) and lose weight? why is this?

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  • Annab412
    Annab412 Posts: 12
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    I am finding that I see all these success stories of people who need to lose 20-40 pounds and made that their weightloss goal. I am a smaller person with a much smaller goal and I find that I am still having a very hard time acheiving it after I lost the initial 5-8 pounds. Have I reached the dreaded plateau? Does anyone else find that it is very difficult to be a smaller person (5' 120lbs) and lose weight? why is this?
  • banks1850
    banks1850 Posts: 3,475 Member
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    It's all relative. Sadly.

    If you are smaller, you must think in smaller increments. If you only have 15 lbs to loose, then your body is close to it's equillibrium. This means your body likes where it is, and will probably resist attempts to loose more. That doesn't mean you can't, but it means you have to be a little more shrewd about how you do it. My best advice would probably be WHEN to eat your food. Being younger, your metabolism probably runs at a higher clip then most, if you keep it fueled through out the day, or in other words, 5 or 6 small meals through the whole day. I bet you could consistantly loose 1/2 to 1 lb a week (assuming you already eat the right food and exercise and stay within calorie ranges). Could be a little less then that, but I imagine that is doable. It sounds tiny, I know, but considering where you are, it really is true, those last 10 lbs are the hardest!
  • lotusfromthemud
    lotusfromthemud Posts: 5,335 Member
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    The other thing is. . .

    make sure your goal weight is appropriate. Take into consideration your frame size and current body fat percentage.

    I had a goal weight picked out, and when I was frustrated that I couldn't reach it, I went to see a trainer/nutritionist. As it turns out, my body fat percentage is already very low, and I have an officially large frame (I'm actually "big boned":wink: ) I had picked out a number off of a chart based exclusively on my height, which didn't take these other things into consideration. The visit with that trainer was life-altering! I was trying to be clinically underweight as a goal.

    And, I wholeheartedly agree with all banks said above.

    Those last ten pounds are crazy hard.:flowerforyou:
  • songbyrdsweet
    songbyrdsweet Posts: 5,691 Member
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    I've been working on these last 6 for like, a year haha :laugh: It just happens..your body fat gets low, and your hormones change to make it harder to lose any more. It was a breeze getting down to 19% bodyfat...anything below that is an uphill battle for me! :explode:
  • banks1850
    banks1850 Posts: 3,475 Member
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    I've been working on these last 6 for like, a year haha :laugh: It just happens..your body fat gets low, and your hormones change to make it harder to lose any more. It was a breeze getting down to 19% bodyfat...anything below that is an uphill battle for me! :explode:

    song, I hear ya, and feel your pain. my wife's in the same boat, but if it makes you feel any better 19% body fat for a female is pretty good! Unfortunately for you girls, you hold higher fat % then us guys.
  • NurseBarb
    NurseBarb Posts: 183 Member
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    Think about it like this. I have 130 pounds to lose (roughly). For me to lose a pound is very easy because it's only like .36 of one percent of my weight. In real numbers that would be .0036.
    But for you it may be like 1 whole percent of your weight which is huge because for me to lose 1% I would have to lose 2.8 pounds. Plus my body knows that I have PLENTY of fat reserves so it doesn't worry about burning them. Your body on the other hand knows that you don't have hardly any so it doesn't want to let go of what you have left so easily.

    So for you to lose an ounce or two is about the equivalent of me losing a couple of pounds.
    Does that make sense? I hope so. That's one reason they do it in percentages on biggest loser. Because percentages are the only true way to see the big picture.

    :flowerforyou:
  • songbyrdsweet
    songbyrdsweet Posts: 5,691 Member
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    I've been working on these last 6 for like, a year haha :laugh: It just happens..your body fat gets low, and your hormones change to make it harder to lose any more. It was a breeze getting down to 19% bodyfat...anything below that is an uphill battle for me! :explode:

    song, I hear ya, and feel your pain. my wife's in the same boat, but if it makes you feel any better 19% body fat for a female is pretty good! Unfortunately for you girls, you hold higher fat % then us guys.

    Yea, it's not bad...but I thought I'd be happier upon reaching it, and I wasn't hehe :) I'm aiming for 15% now, and that takes a looooong time.
  • banks1850
    banks1850 Posts: 3,475 Member
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    I hope you get there song! I really do, that is where I am right now, I want to be at my college level of 9% (which I am pretty much resigned that I'll never reach considering how long it took me to get from 22% down to 15%), but I'm trying to anyway. i have no Idea how I'll get that low with the time I have to work out, but I wanna try, I'm not sure it's physically possible with my schedule. But it won't be for lack of effort!
  • songbyrdsweet
    songbyrdsweet Posts: 5,691 Member
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    I hope you get there song! I really do, that is where I am right now, I want to be at my college level of 9% (which I am pretty much resigned that I'll never reach considering how long it took me to get from 22% down to 15%), but I'm trying to anyway. i have no Idea how I'll get that low with the time I have to work out, but I wanna try, I'm not sure it's physically possible with my schedule. But it won't be for lack of effort!

    Thank you, and I'm rootin for you as well! :) I'm sure you can get there, it will just take time, cardio, and nutrient manipulation. One day I plan on getting that low as well...I'm considering a BB competition in October, but for a female 9% can cause problems with thinking lol...dunno if I want that while I'm studying for anatomy exams!
  • Paeonia
    Paeonia Posts: 161
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    I have 20 lbs to lose and find it very slow going as well (I'm 5'1", fyi). I am consistently losing .5 - l lb / week which is less than what I had hoped for when I started this (2.5 lbs / week XD, yeah right), but slow and steady wins the race I guess. As long as the number is going down, I can live with it. But yeah, when you're not that far off from where you want to be, your body seems much more reluctant to let it go.
  • banks1850
    banks1850 Posts: 3,475 Member
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    verdant, 1/2 a lb isn't a bad loss, especially if you only need to drop 20. I'd say that's pretty much what you can hope for if you work out like most people, I.E. 3 to 5 times a week for an hour or so. 2.5 lbs a week is probably a bit unreasonable. I hit that for 2 weeks I think, but I was also 40 lbs overweight at the time and I went from dead stop to running 6 times a week and completely changed my eating habits (plus I was a 230 lb guy so it's not as remarkable as someone 1/2 my size doing it). You may be able to up it to 1 lb a week with a little tweaking. Anyway, think of it long term, if it takes you longer to get there, then that is more time to get into the habit and your chances for staying there go up. :bigsmile:
  • PixieDust2828
    PixieDust2828 Posts: 30
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    I'm having the same problem. I'm 5'3 and am trying to lose that last ten pounds and my weight keeps fluctuating, either that or it just stays the same. It's really frustrating!!!
  • megan0313
    megan0313 Posts: 394
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    I am finding that I see all these success stories of people who need to lose 20-40 pounds and made that their weightloss goal. I am a smaller person with a much smaller goal and I find that I am still having a very hard time acheiving it after I lost the initial 5-8 pounds. Have I reached the dreaded plateau? Does anyone else find that it is very difficult to be a smaller person (5' 120lbs) and lose weight? why is this?

    Yep, I'm in the same boat (5'3", 120). On those weight charts I'm in the healthy range, but I'm also very small boned and about 15 - 17 lbs over the weight that feels healthy to me. I workout almost every day (30 mins to 1 hr of cardio, plus pilates and yoga). I also strictly follow my nutritional profile...well, mostly :ohwell: Since I've joined this site a few weeks ago, my weight has fluctuated between 120 and 115 and I just can't seem to get past it. I'm not sure why this is either, but I know that for me, this has only become a problem in the past couple years since I turned 40. It's really frustrating since I've always been 105 lbs from the time I was about 16 until I hit the dreaded 4-0
    :grumble:
    Megan
  • banks1850
    banks1850 Posts: 3,475 Member
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    Well, Meghan, I'm not sure but it could be that you have put on more muscle which weighs more then fat for the same size. So I guess all I could tell you would be to try to do some body fat percentages and maybe measurements. It's hard to tell you exactly what is going on, but it could be simply that you are in better shape.
  • peacefulwarrior
    peacefulwarrior Posts: 64
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    Try to add some strength training in with your diet too add lean muscle to your physique. Being the lil bit that you are at 5', too cute, adding lean muscle with increase your metabolism.
  • Annab412
    Annab412 Posts: 12
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    Thanks for all the advice and info!
  • maureenstasz
    maureenstasz Posts: 8
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    Yup - I have a small amount of weight to loose but it is tough. Acvtually I am at a healthy weight and not overweight at all. But a big part of my problem is drinking red wine at night. I work out and watch all day long but it is the wine t hat is probably prohibiting me from burning the calories. Also, its almost like your body wants to hold onto the excess weight,. I also tend to like the super thin look which probably is not a good idea for a woman my age (51) already on fosamax for bone loss. Make sure you take care of your bones.
    Good luck
    Stasz
  • dulceluva
    dulceluva Posts: 728 Member
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    Well... I am 4'10 and 170 lbs (well, 165 now). And it is also taking me a while to lose even 1 lb. I find it lose like 1 lb per 2 weeks.

    I am sure you will reach your goals. It just might take longer. Don't do what I did. I got discouraged when I only needed to lose 15 lbs from the 50 I had already lost. Then eventually it all crept back. What I should have told myself that is a loss is a loss and its not the end of the world if it takes me another year to lose 10-15 lbs because look where I am now.

    *sigh*

    Now I am back to trying to lose 50 lbs (if not more because of my 4'10 frame).

    good luck. I know you can achieve anything you put your mind too.
  • cadycat
    cadycat Posts: 1
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    Same boat here. I'm 5'2 and weigh 128. All my weight is pretty much in two places, my butt and my chest (measurements are currently 37 27 38). I'm a solid size 6 but am much happier at a 4, which translates to weighing about 118. Just ten pounds, but ten pounds on a petite, small boned woman is a lot. The chest is nice, but really, I look better smaller. Luckily, my stomach is flat as a board, though not as toned as I'd like.

    Its like pulling teeth to lose those 10 pounds. I got down to 115 two years ago but Hello, I was training for a marathon! I don't have time to do that now, so I'm just going to have to go slow and steady, I guess.

    At the end of June, in one weekend, I'm maid of honor in a wedding and then attending my 20 year reunion the next day. I'm determined to lose these 10 pounds by then!

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