My advice for short people who are having trouble losing weight…

xayles
xayles Posts: 32 Member
in Food and Nutrition

Skip a main meal.

Before everyone shouts at me, I am not telling anyone to starve themselves. If you are hungry, eat. Just make one meal (let’s say lunch) a healthy snack.

I am a particularly short (4ft10) woman currently weighing 172lbs(ish). I used to eat three meals a day and eat snacks as well. Totaling roughly 1400 Cal’s a day (MFP recommended 1200 but I found that far too hard with 3 meals). I have always struggled to keep within calories and never really lost more than a couple of pounds before gaining it back. I also used to do 45 mins of jogging on the spot every day but could never keep this up and I don’t think this ever used to really help.

I have also never been a particularly hungry person. Sometimes I felt like I was eating meals because I should have it. Because you’re supposed to eat three meals a day. Also, I used to snack because I was bored and wanted something to do. If I had a multipack of crisps I would sometimes go and have one and then go back and have another one. I wanted the crisps but didn’t necessarily need to have them. Same with chocolate. Yes, I also have no willpower.

Last month I fell ill. Nothing serious, just a cold. But I didn't leave my flat to go to the shops and I ran out of snacks after a couple of days. But I had enough food to last for a week. But I only ate when I was hungry so I went down to two meals a day and couldn't snack because I didn't have anything in the flat. But I wasn't hungry, so it didn't matter.

I lost two pounds without too much effort.

The next week I went back to work (in a supermarket). I decided that I was going to keep up with the two meals a day thing. I stopped eating breakfast before work and now take in porridge (hot or overnight oats) or toast (with marmite). And I started taking carrots and hummus or sometimes buying a packet of Popworks crisps or having some fruit for a snack to stop me from snacking on chocolate on my other break. Then I would go and have a nice dinner at home (or Mum’s). And sometimes in the evening, I have a nice hot chocolate (courtesy of my new Velvetiser but I make sure it isn’t too sugary). I still eat around 1200-1400 calories a day.

Snackwise I have banned crisps from my home (I buy the odd pack at work – if I had a bigger locker at work I would buy a multipack and keep it in there because that would be a lot cheaper). I store a few orange Yorkie bars in my locker and eat two squares if I really need a chocolate fix (once opened they go in a tub). But as they are in my locker I cannot gorge on chocolate.

My exercise regime now consists of two or three levels on my RingFit once or twice a week (when I feel like it). Part of me feels like I should do more but I’m not stressing about it while I’m losing weight but I’m going to try and make it something that I will keep up with.

I have been doing this for two months. This morning I weighed myself and I have lost a total of 8lbs.

Hoping the weight will continue to drop off.

Replies

  • sollyn23l2
    sollyn23l2 Posts: 1,767 Member
    edited November 2022
    I usually don't eat breakfast.... but.... I would hold off until you've lost a fair bit more weight before you feel sure that this way of eating works for you. And, adaptability is key... this may work for you for a while, but you may need to change things as time goes on and life changes. But I'm glad it's working for you right now.
  • nooshi713
    nooshi713 Posts: 4,877 Member
    I’m short and also find it hard to fit 3 full meals in especially if I have any kind of snack or want one meal to be heartier. Sometimes I do skip breakfast or have a late lunch and skip dinner, or skip lunch and have just breakfast and dinner. I do need a lot of caffeine to suppress my appetite though.
  • DebbsSeattle
    DebbsSeattle Posts: 125 Member
    I think a great move for anyone is to “shake it up”. If you were a meal skipper then try 5 mini meals a day. If you ate constantly then try to minimize to scheduled meals only. If skipping breakfast leads to overeating at lunch then eat breakfast. And a great move for everyone is eating more veg…plain and raw, unadulterated. Far fewer calories than chips or sweets. They can get a bulk eater through to the next meal time, they can satiate a snacker and they give your tummy something to do. Also, try drinking more water and add a green tea in a couple times a day. Do what works for you, but finding a complete nutritive whole food menu that fits your daily caloric requirements for weight loss is the key. The easiest way to do that is skipping the not so healthy higher calorie processed foods and adding in more bulk for fewer calories on healthy clean food choices. I have not found any correlation between weight loss failure and my lack of height. It has always been in direct correlation to the quantity of calories I input each day.
  • kaydensmom2009
    kaydensmom2009 Posts: 57 Member
    I’m short and lost 85lbs and have been maintaining (200lbs to 115lbs, a size 18 to a 0) by eating 2 meals a day. Everyone is different and it doesn’t work for everyone, but this is what has worked for me for 2 years now. I skip breakfast because I’m not hungry in the mornings and eat lunch and dinner with 1-2 snacks a day. Each meal is a protein, healthy carb, fruit, vegetable. My snacks are usually fats or a protein shake (because I love the taste of them). I added in more calories of the same in maintenance. Usually just another snack throughout the day. As a shortie that is thin now, my maintenance calories are only 1500 a day. I seen a dietician in the beginning and she had me eating more small meals more frequently throughout the day but I just wasn’t satisfied doing that and kept wanting to graze so then she had me do this and the large meals satisfy me.
  • roseym10
    roseym10 Posts: 107 Member
    kaydensmom2009 wrote: »
    I’m short and lost 85lbs and have been maintaining (200lbs to 115lbs, a size 18 to a 0) by eating 2 meals a day. Everyone is different and it doesn’t work for everyone, but this is what has worked for me for 2 years now. I skip breakfast because I’m not hungry in the mornings and eat lunch and dinner with 1-2 snacks a day. Each meal is a protein, healthy carb, fruit, vegetable. My snacks are usually fats or a protein shake (because I love the taste of them). I added in more calories of the same in maintenance. Usually just another snack throughout the day. As a shortie that is thin now, my maintenance calories are only 1500 a day. I seen a dietician in the beginning and she had me eating more small meals more frequently throughout the day but I just wasn’t satisfied doing that and kept wanting to graze so then she had me do this and the large meals satisfy me.

    Would this be the same as intermittent fasting by skipping breakfast?
  • kaydensmom2009
    kaydensmom2009 Posts: 57 Member
    roseym10 wrote: »
    kaydensmom2009 wrote: »
    I’m short and lost 85lbs and have been maintaining (200lbs to 115lbs, a size 18 to a 0) by eating 2 meals a day. Everyone is different and it doesn’t work for everyone, but this is what has worked for me for 2 years now. I skip breakfast because I’m not hungry in the mornings and eat lunch and dinner with 1-2 snacks a day. Each meal is a protein, healthy carb, fruit, vegetable. My snacks are usually fats or a protein shake (because I love the taste of them). I added in more calories of the same in maintenance. Usually just another snack throughout the day. As a shortie that is thin now, my maintenance calories are only 1500 a day. I seen a dietician in the beginning and she had me eating more small meals more frequently throughout the day but I just wasn’t satisfied doing that and kept wanting to graze so then she had me do this and the large meals satisfy me.

    Would this be the same as intermittent fasting by skipping breakfast?

    Yes. I eat from noon-7 usually
  • Cinder333
    Cinder333 Posts: 39 Member
    kaydensmom2009 wrote: »
    I’m short and lost 85lbs and have been maintaining (200lbs to 115lbs, a size 18 to a 0) by eating 2 meals a day. Everyone is different and it doesn’t work for everyone, but this is what has worked for me for 2 years now. I skip breakfast because I’m not hungry in the mornings and eat lunch and dinner with 1-2 snacks a day. Each meal is a protein, healthy carb, fruit, vegetable. My snacks are usually fats or a protein shake (because I love the taste of them). I added in more calories of the same in maintenance. Usually just another snack throughout the day. As a shortie that is thin now, my maintenance calories are only 1500 a day. I seen a dietician in the beginning and she had me eating more small meals more frequently throughout the day but I just wasn’t satisfied doing that and kept wanting to graze so then she had me do this and the large meals satisfy me.

    How many calories a day did you do during your weight loss phase?
  • kaydensmom2009
    kaydensmom2009 Posts: 57 Member
    Cinder333 wrote: »
    kaydensmom2009 wrote: »
    I’m short and lost 85lbs and have been maintaining (200lbs to 115lbs, a size 18 to a 0) by eating 2 meals a day. Everyone is different and it doesn’t work for everyone, but this is what has worked for me for 2 years now. I skip breakfast because I’m not hungry in the mornings and eat lunch and dinner with 1-2 snacks a day. Each meal is a protein, healthy carb, fruit, vegetable. My snacks are usually fats or a protein shake (because I love the taste of them). I added in more calories of the same in maintenance. Usually just another snack throughout the day. As a shortie that is thin now, my maintenance calories are only 1500 a day. I seen a dietician in the beginning and she had me eating more small meals more frequently throughout the day but I just wasn’t satisfied doing that and kept wanting to graze so then she had me do this and the large meals satisfy me.

    How many calories a day did you do during your weight loss phase?

    Honestly I didn’t track calories here during the majority of my weight loss. I ate 2 meals a day including a protein, a fruit, a vegetable, a healthy carb and then 2 small snacks a day which was usually a protein shake and then a serving almonds. I tried to eat balanced and mainly Whole Foods. I started tracking here to learn maintenance.
  • AdahGreen2022
    AdahGreen2022 Posts: 264 Member
    I agree that this is a good way to eat for most short women. I think sometimes it's hard not to eat more when living with bigger people who like their 3 meals per day. I'm short and have always eaten one or two meals per day. If I have one meal mid-day, I'll eat a quick snack at night. I've never been more than 10- or 15-pounds overweight, and i usually eat whatever i want when I'm hungry.
  • AdahGreen2022
    AdahGreen2022 Posts: 264 Member
    Also, for me, this is a healthier way to eat mentally than trying to track every calorie!
  • raisinj83
    raisinj83 Posts: 4 Member
    edited November 2022
    I previously lost 30lbs this way, gained most of it back over the last couple of years though when my work routine changed, and now I'm returning to that with proper logging.

    I like big meals and feeling full, so I make whatever I want in a late afternoon meal at home to get that satiated feeling once I'm ready to wind down, and otherwise have three ~250 calorie snacks during a day that starts at 4am. It's the easiest way I've found and means less calorie calculating is required.

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