Hi, my name's Gabbi. I'm 23 years old, 5'1 and I'm a competitive triathlete. I train anywhere from 10-20 hours a week including activities such as cycling (100-200 miles a week), running, track workouts, swimming, and weights. My dietician wants me to eat 2,600 calories a day, but I feel like that's too much... I continue to eat following the MFP recommendations (it usually recommends anywhere from 1300-3000 depending on what activity I put in for exercise that day) but I almost always go under that as well (Ill usually eat around 1200-2000 on rare occasions). It's just really hard for me to eat that much... I'm just not usually hungry, sometimes I feel like I need to force myself to eat so I don't get too deficient in calories. However, my weight still continues to either stay constant or creep up. I'm at 114 now. Last year I was 108 for my racing weight, and a couple years before that I was 103. My body fat % used to be at 16% but it's at 24% now, pretty high for an athlete... Just 3 years ago I was running college cross country and track weighing in the 90lbs range. Since then, my training has increased so I'm really frustrated why my weight keeps creeping up. I have not had kids, and my diet hasn't really changed much, and I know the weight is from fat because I can see it and the body fat machine says my fat% increased. At least my performance hasn't suffered though, I continue to get faster times (faster than when I was 90something lbs) even with the added weight, but I can definitely see and feel that it's there, especially on my frame... I feel like I could be so much faster if I wasn't carrying an extra 10-15 lbs too... I'm scared if I follow the dietician's advice and try to eat more, I'll gain even more weight and make things worse, but if I further restrict my calories, I might risk sacrificing my performance. Don't know what to do, Ugh... Short athlete problems....

Hi, my name's Gabbi. I'm 23 years old, 5'1 and I'm a competitive triathlete. I train anywhere from 10-20 hours a week including activities such as cycling (100-200 miles a week), running, track workouts, swimming, and weights. My dietician wants me to eat 2,600 calories a day, but I feel like that's too much... I continue to eat following the MFP recommendations (it usually recommends anywhere from 1300-3000 depending on what activity I put in for exercise that day) but I almost always go under that as well (Ill usually eat around 1200-2000 on rare occasions). It's just really hard for me to eat that much... I'm just not usually hungry, sometimes I feel like I need to force myself to eat so I don't get too deficient in calories. However, my weight still continues to either stay constant or creep up. I'm at 114 now. Last year I was 108 for my racing weight, and a couple years before that I was 103. My body fat % used to be at 16% but it's at 24% now, pretty high for an athlete... Just 3 years ago I was running college cross country and track weighing in the 90lbs range. Since then, my training has increased so I'm really frustrated why my weight keeps creeping up. I have not had kids, and my diet hasn't really changed much, and I know the weight is from fat because I can see it and the body fat machine says my fat% increased. At least my performance hasn't suffered though, I continue to get faster times (faster than when I was 90something lbs) even with the added weight, but I can definitely see and feel that it's there, especially on my frame... I feel like I could be so much faster if I wasn't carrying an extra 10-15 lbs too... I'm scared if I follow the dietician's advice and try to eat more, I'll gain even more weight and make things worse, but if I further restrict my calories, I might risk sacrificing my performance. Don't know what to do, Ugh... Short athlete problems....

You don't have garden-variety issues. You work out a lot and need a certain amount of calories to maintain your performance yet you want to lose fat. You should seek out dietitians or trainers who have experience with short women doing triathlete sports. You may need someone who has a solid background but is willing to help you healthily experiment.

I know I'm not being very helpful, but I think you need a specialized program tailored to your needs by a professional.

Thanks. Guess, I could try what the dietician is wanting me to do... Still think it's a lot of calories though for my height...

Monitor your weight, muscle mass, energy and strength levels and decide whether it's working. Some dietitians are not up to date or not qualified to advise people with specific needs, such as training for a demanding sport.

I am 5' 1/2" and am going to be 50 this summer. Gaining weight has always been easy for me to do, loosing it......not so much. People (even in my own family) just don't get how hard it is to stay slim when 5lbs means your jeans are to tight. I recently left weight watchers because I have been at my goal weight for 2 years. I was very successful on their program, I lost 40lbs and am maintaining well. I was just tired of paying a monthly membership fee so am now trying MFP. Switching to counting calories is tough. MFP has me at 1270 to maintain. I gained 4 lbs the first week. I have gotten most of that back off so I feel I am getting a grip on calories vs points.

To the triathlete - one thing to keep in mind is even though you are extremely active your body can go into starvation mode without enough calories. The thing to look at is the quality of your calories. Also, unfortunately, as we get a little older our bodies process some food differently than in the past. I used to never have to watch my starchy carbs. I now do. If I eat a lot of pasta or breads even if I stay under the calorie (or points) recommended. If my carbs come from more fruits I am fine.

Looking forward to chatting with my fellow beautiful shorties.

I am in my late 40's, I am 5'2.5 and a little over 200 lbs. It had not occurred to me that because I am short I would have to eat less than the normal person. It is really hard for me to eat less than 1600 calories a day. I would be hungry all the time. I am desperate to lose weight. Is there no other way than to feel hungry all the time and drop down to 1300 calories or less? Bummer.

I am in my late 40's, I am 5'2.5 and a little over 200 lbs. It had not occurred to me that because I am short I would have to eat less than the normal person. It is really hard for me to eat less than 1600 calories a day. I would be hungry all the time. I am desperate to lose weight. Is there no other way than to feel hungry all the time and drop down to 1300 calories or less? Bummer.

Drinking water helps with feeling hungry. The other thing I have found to work is drinking a glass of fat free milk. At our age (I am 49) we need the calcium anyway.

If I should not be using the iphone steps as part of my food allowance, I would guess I'm currently eating at closer to maintenance which wouldn't lead to weight loss I'm guessing. It would be good to know if I should really be going for 1280 regardless of how many steps I do. I think I would find it a bit of a shock to the system if I did though!

I know this isn't a very active thread but I just popped in to say it's not fair being short!