Any other short women on here who need very little cals to lose weight?

[moneyinthebinthatsmrtim]

I am 26, and 5'2.

I maintain if I eat anything over 1300.

To lose a pound a week, I can go to 1200.

To lose 2lb, I need to eat a bit less than 1100.

I know this because I've seen it for myself and it's really shocked me. It isn't about to calories, is it! I tried upping calories and no, that doesn't work. I have to stick to very little

There's so little wiggle room.

My H can eat 2200 and not gain any weight at 6'3

I am exactly the same OP. 5 ft 4 and to lose 1 lb I would have to eat 1100 cals a day. To lose 2 lb it would be 900 cals . To maintain its 1400 cals and 10 k steps a day. Needless to say I’m overweight 😐

5 2. I had to go down to 600cals daily to lose weight, felt dreadful.

Very bad thyroid disorder here. The concern is that you’re not allowed enough calories to get decent nutrition. Lettuce ain’t a sustainable diet.

Absolutely this. I stepped away from calorie counting/ WW because I found I was avoiding a lot of good food and eating a lot of UPF rubbish
I would have 100kcal crisps in stead of 200kcal nuts
Would avoid oils, oily fish, avocado's and full fat yogurt
Would eat a lot of these low cal chemical snacks all to keep calories down to the detriment of health.

Same. It's bonkers little food when you think about it, no wonder I was obese. I'm 51 year old shortarse and have lost 35% of my body weight in a year (yes on that jab) and have had a massive wake up call about portion control and nutrition going forward. My new best friends are turkey, smoked salmons, prawns and tuna.
It's boring to constantly keep an eye on the intake, but worth it for me.

unfortunately it will get harder as you get older too, I'm 5'4" and at 42 I have to be on less than 1200 to lose weight.
Biggest tip is smaller plates to control portion sizes, eating a main meal at lunchtime not dinner time if you can and eat higher protein lower carb diet so you feel fuller longer for the same amount of calories.

Maybe we could all keep checking in here to encourage each other/share ideas? I've followed a couple of the threads on the 'weight loss' board but it can be hard to contribute as some people sometimes think it can't be right how few calories we need when we are short.

Yes 5.1" and mid 40s. I'm doing weights and running. It sucks

I'm 5ft and I put on weight at 1200 calories

To be in calorie deficit I have to eat 1000

Until I had surgery I was obviously starving all the time, I've no idea how I only put on 5 stone in 25 years because that still only represents an extra 150 calories a day!

I had so much willpower for so long to eat so little

Thank goodness I had the surgery

AND I'm really active. Never less than 10,000 a day. Always meet my activity thingys on my Oura ring

I’m just under 5’ and can’t eat much either. Most of my weight gain goes around my middle and the only way I’ve ever been able to lose it is by drastically reducing my sugar intake, including alcohol and refined carbs. I don’t really restrict my intake of complex carbs, though.

I was a smug size 6-8 until I was 23, despite eating whatever I wanted. I’m not sure what happened then, but it was like a switch flipped.

1100 to 1200 doesn't seem like a very big jump to have you losing that much more!

I'm short too, I have a couple of stone still to go but accept it'll be slow because I don't want to restrict that much. At the moment I'm going down the 5:2 route so all the deficit i am getting happens on 2 days and I'm finding that much easier.

1600 to lose weight very slowly and am very active powerlifting and running long distances. I have stopped bothering at the moment. I have a fair bit of muscle and pretty much all the extra weight is around my waist though which is obviously dangerous. I'm veggie and don't eat ultra processed foods or alcohol.

Evolution hasn’t written you off - it’s made it easier for you to survive.

I once read a very depressing non-fiction book about North Korea, which had a terrible famine in the 1990s. Apparently, short people were more likely to survive it than their taller peers. One man who was interviewed for the book in the early 2000s had lost contact with his brother in all the upheaval. He said he would like to find him, but added sadly, “he was 5’9”, so he wouldn’t have survived”. It made me think.

5 ft 5 is over average height so in no way short. With kindness, this is a thread for shorties struggling. You are likely to be not losing weight for other reasons, such as the previous poster saying you might not be getting enough protein.

Same as OP, 5ft 2, can lose on 1200 calories a day. I'm older though, 55.

The last time I successfully lost weight (20 pounds) was when I was 48. I had 1200 calories a day, low carb, walked an hour a day. I lost 1lb a week, sometimes 1.5lb.

I need to do it again, but I have a slow thyroid and low carb makes it worse so I'm scared to do it too low. Anything else other than low carb though and I just get too hungry to stick to 1200.

I’m not sure height makes a huge difference. I’m 6ft and need to stay below around 1300 to lose weight. My husband is 1 inch taller than me and can eat all around him.

Sigh ! Yes this is me. 5 ft 2, age 60 and have had to watch what I eat so closely for the last 5 years. I had been very steady for 15 years, started HRT and put a chunk on. Struggled to shift some of that though stopping HRT (for medical reasons) made that a bit easier. I walk 10 to 15k steps a day, Pilates, weights etc but it's very difficult.

Can I ask how do you calculate calories in vegetables….beetroot, tomatoes, cucumber etc?
I try to eat loads of veg but don’t know how many calories I’m consuming.

I am 5ft3. I had bariatric surgery at 27 stones and lost ten. I still weigh 17 and am still obese. I have a sleeve and yet still struggle to get under the 1,000 calories I need to lose weight. I have recently put on half a stone so need to really focus to lose it again.

My surgeon said I was the healthiest morbidly obese person he had ever met as they had reduced my pre op diet as I wasn't losing on it and yes I was honestly doing it. He said that some people just need fewer calories to survive and I am one of those. Just try telling my head that!

My TDEE is 1800kcals. So to lose 2lbs a week I have to eat 800kcals per day (deficit of 7000/3500) which seems so low and is also quite hard to get all my nutrients in, let alone enjoy what I'm eating! Aging sucks.

I've lost a LOT of weight- nearly 9 stone now. I'm 4'11" so very short too.
My sweet spot for losing 2lb per week is 800calories or less.
I just eat one meal a day and I have adapted to this really well. I think in general, we all need an awful lot less food than we think we do . It's worth looking at the dr Michael Mosley fast 800. It makes so much sense OP
Good luck on your journey !

I'm 4ft 11 ... age 58 ... daily gym, yoga and bike rides in the afternoon weather permitting. Hubby 6ft 2 eats like a horse. He looks amazing. I maintain my weight but watch my portion sizes for every meal, low carbs but high protein. It's a constant challenge in my life. Carry muscle due to strength training which helps. Constantly being harassed that I don't eat enough. Love to cook though it's a bummer being short

I'm not short but I am in my late 50s so to diet I have to do around 1200. That's slow dieting too. I'm really active as well 😭😭.

Just read the full thread and actually feel like I've found my people !
I thought I was super unlucky but I'm glad to see other shorties are in the same situation as me and that it's normal to have so few calories and remain healthy .
So glad I came on here to answer OP

@user8800 How old are you? I'm mid 40s and 5'5" and lose weight eating 1600 a day. I'm not particularly active. That sounds a low amount for your height.