Weight loss for people 5’3 and under

I am 5'1.5". When I first started on MFP I was making the same comments myself as seemed like so many people where on so many more calories than me. Over about 5 months I lost 18lbs using MFP - it was very slow, my calories were 1200 (ie. lowest MFP will go). I was exercising though - using Fitbit which gave me extra calories - I would eat some of the calories back because I just couldn't survive on only 1200 calories a day. I am in maintenance now and probably eat most of my exercise calories back so about 1600-1700 per day (that's total not just exercise calories!). I have been well over on the weekends lately though and that is starting to show on the scale - about 5lbs up - but winter here at the moment and because I'm keeping track of it I know what to do (before summer).

Hope you are successful too in your weight loss. I use a Fitbit which is great for tracking exercise calories - so I would recommend this. Also people did notice eventually when I lost weight but usually people at the gym (as I suppose more obvious in your active wear) - also I went from 123 to 105lbs and it wasn't really until I got to 105 that people would pass comment.

im 5'1 and have lost over 100 pounds.

yes, we get fewer calories. thank your parents.

Talan79 wrote: »

Story of my life lol. I’m 5”2 and I struggle to keep my weight down. I’m also a chronic dieter with some disordered eating issues since age 13, now 39. Currently working on a reverse diet bc my body was not responding to a calorie deficit. I track & use a digital scale so I know my portions.
I found a thread on here where women the same height & activity level are maintaining on 1800+.
Start with a modest deficit bc the body adapts and you don’t want to start with a large deficit & then not have much wiggle room to drop more.

Do you have the link to that thread? I would appreciate it if you do.

I started in January of this year on 1200. Once I was back in the normal weight range for my height (5'3"), I started increasing my calories by 100/day each month (1st month 1300/day, 2nd month 1400/day, etc.) until I reached 1800/day, August 1st!

I wear a Fitbit and use it to make sure I am burning those 1800 calories each day. I do not want to live on 1300 calories or less/day for the rest of my life as I have read some women my age and height are doing. I would feel so deprived and resentful. I understand if I had physical limitations that prevented it, but while I am healthy and fit, I plan to eat hearty.

I am 5’1”, over 50, and I have a sedentary desk job. I played with all the goals for my stat and MFP sets me at 1200 -1300 calories based in my per week loss goal. So I left it at 1200 and deliberately go over sometimes. I take the weekly view on calories and don’t stress about it too much. Most days I am close to the target. Other days I go over 300-600 calories for special events. I do eat exercise calories if I am hungry. I have lost 18 lbs in approximately 4 months.

@Talan79 I never had a spike in weight, well, not one that I noticed anyway. Due to my personality type, I only weigh once a month, so if a spike occurred with a calorie increase it was hidden in the overall monthly loss.

What I did notice was the slowly decreasing monthly losses, but I had been mentally preparing for that when I started increasing my calories. I am still working on a deficit for those last vanity pounds. (I want to be able to fit back into all the clothes I bought 3 years ago when I was at goal.)

I did it this way, this time because when I lost the weight before, I just went right back to my previous behavior within weeks, because I had no maintenance plan. This time around, I started "maintenance" prep before I lost all the weight I wanted to in the hope that I would have well established habits weighing foods, logging foods, meal prep, being active all day/every day, by the time I reached my ultimate goal weight.

ETA: Thanks so much for the links!
Also, I average over 30k steps per day during the week. I rarely sit down unless I am coloring with, playing with blocks, etc. or cuddling my grandkid.

I wanted to add:

I go by weekly CICO.
Currently, I am at 12,600 in and 16,100 out.

So, as long as my calories in are at or below, and my calories out are at or above by the end of the week, I am a happy camper.

pinuplove wrote: »

There's been discussion here before about whether or not being shorter and smaller translates into a smaller appetite that corresponds with your decreased calorie needs vs someone who is say, 6'4 and 200 pounds. Personally, I don't think it does. And socially, food is definitely not scaled for us! (At least not in the US, land of huge portions).

That said, we lose weight just like anyone else - via calorie deficit. Do I get jealous when I see someone who has a maintenance level of 3k calories because they're larger and more active than I am? Absolutely! But I deal with it.

My OH is a foot taller than me. He eats whole portions of restaurant entrees - I eat half. Once I got into my head to always only eat half, it was easy.

(If we're not going straight home afterwards, like when we go to a movie after dinner, we'll split an entree and salad and he will get popcorn at the theater, and I will just have a bite of that. I'm not really into eating during movies. If I was, we'd skip the dinner first.)

rayraynicole15 wrote: »

Angielosingitagain wrote: »

I'm barely 5'4" (idk if that counts) but I can relate! Unless it's water weight, everything is super noticable. Also, we burn less metabolically speaking and which can make weight gain easier if we aren't careful. It is still very possible to lose it. I have lost 80 pounds but unfortunately I gain some of it back due to stressful period and overeating. So don't lose hope cause of your height! (:

That is amazing you have lost 80 lbs! That is such an accomplishment!! Thank you for sharing that with me! It definitely discourages me seeing taller people who weigh the same as me who are so skinny! Idk if you know this but is it better to eat high protein and low carb? Cause that’s what I have been doing but I don’t wanna over do it with protein and gain weight

Eat however makes you feel the fullest on the fewest calories. For some that is indeed high protein/low carb. For others it is high fat/low carb. I also know plenty of healthy and fit vegans (high carb.)

It's not macros that make you gain weight - it's excess calories.

Candyspun wrote: »

I'm 5'1, and while every kilo we gain is more noticeable, it goes both ways. When I lose even the tiniest bit of weight, it's quickly noticeable.

This is so interesting, I actually thought that because I am short I look smaller than I am. Like, yes a taller person at my current weight would look smaller, but they ARE, like in terms of BMI. But a shorter person at a higher BMI looks smaller/is less heavy on the scale than a tall person. Like I was in the second class of obesity and on the cusp of plus/regular sizes. I shopped the first couple sizes in plus size stores, but many regular sized stores had my size in XL or XXL.