I'm eating so little but not losing weight!!

[SprayPaint]

For 2 weeks I've been eating around 750-900 calories a day. My bmr was 1350 and read you need to eat less than 500 calories less than this to lose weight. I have an app where I am recording my food intake and also have been weighing stuff out when at home. I have increased my protein slightly but apart from that I'm eating like normal. Not much sugar or anything.

I am currently 8.5 stones and 5ft2 and I haven't even lost 1lb. This is my first time I am ever trying to lose weight I am disappointed that I haven't lost any weight.

Where am I going wrong or is this normal?! Could there be something else at play

I’m 5’2, 8.5 stone, an 8-10 and slim looking. How do you carry your weight that you’d be a size 18 at 9 stone?!

Have you had to work this hard to maintain your weight throughout life?

I am 5'3 and I was 7.5 stone from 18-25. I think I was officially underweight whenever I had gym inductions but it was pretty much my natural weight. I ate normally.

By 30 it was more 8 stone and after a couple of kids it's closer to 9 than 8.

My fear of cutting out like you are is that you knacker your metabolism and gain more weight in the long term.

If I need to lose a bit I have slightly smaller portions or cut biscuits and up my exercise.

In an ideal world I'd be 8 stone but my experience of anyone that cuts to this extent is that once they go back to normal eating they gain it back and more. If you've never had to diet before, be careful you don't get stuck in a cycle that's worse in the long run.

They did not start a conversation about whether she is doing the right thing in trying to loose weight. Yet, disregarding her reasons, they pile in with ‘you don’t need too.’ Gaining weight is how people become overweight and it is not a healthy thing unless you are underweight. Maintaining your weight means you are not eating in a way that storing problems for the future. Not many people maintain their weight throughout their life for natural reasons and up to a stone over the course of time is acceptable.

BMi is a dangerous tool as it looks at the end result not the underlying reasons that a particular weight is achieved.

How much sleep are you getting? Not getting enough sleep can have a huge impact on failure to lose weight apparently. I can’t remember the science but the evidence is out there.

I understand OP, I’m a similar height and was a similar weight and looked better for it.

To be honest I don’t think you have posted in the right spot, you have people on here who are active on the weight loss injection threads for example - people who are clinically obese, so they’re obviously going to give you a biased perspective based on their own weight issues. They’re likely to not understand your perspective. You need to talk to people who are a similar height/weight to you - I’d recommend the petite fitness subreddit.

As a short person, exercise is crucial to help you lose weight and look leaner. If you have little muscle definition then you may still look chubby. I’m also trying to become lean in the new year and I know I won’t be able to achieve that without weight lifting.

You don’t need to lose weight. If you want to be more toned/feel more slender; surely better to have a good exercise plan with lots of strength work.

You’re slightly misinformed about eating 500 under your BMR. BMR is based on how many calories you burn just by being alive. If you sat still all day you would still burn that many. You need to look at how active your are too. The amount of calories you’re eating is far far too low and unsustainable. Can you list a typical day? There’s a chance you’re not actually in a deficit too?
I recommend following Bethany Dobson on Instagram - she’s brilliant and explains everything really well!

I don't have an answer, but just wanted to let you know that I completely relate to what you are saying.

I am actually exactly the same height and weight as you, but I know that I feel and look better around 7st10ish. (This sounds a low weight to some people, but it is still a healthy BMI for my height.) I have far too much tummy fat and my clothes just don't fit right/look ok.

I've been trying to lose weight for the last couple of months but not lost anything yet. I track every crumb of food on Nutracheck, don't drink alcohol and eat mainly whole foods, lots of fibre & protein etc.

@SprayPaint and others - I wonder if it could be helpful to start a separate thread for those of us on this thread who are at this similar height/weight (who understand that it is ok to need/want to lose weight even though other people don't understand!)? Maybe we could support each other and share tips with each other?

Are you 4ft tall? Because if you are above 5ft there is no way in hell you'd be wearing a size 18 at 9stone. Don't be absurd.

How old are you OP? You're probably finding a new set weight as you get older.

You’ve missed the point. OP wasn’t asking whether people thought she needed to lose weight yet many are saying she doesn’t need to. She is saying she is having a problem with losing weight when she has put weight on, and it’s never been an issue for her before.

Like several others on here, she is probably naturally petite. BMI is such a huge range and just as it is not a good indication if somebody is particularly muscly, it is not a good indication if somebody is petite.

@LostittoBostik some don't get what it's like for us shorties. I'm 9 st and in the overweight category for bmi at 5 ft 2. Weight goes on us little folk differently doesn't it

Yes but you aren't a size 18 are you?! I'm only 2 inches taller than you and only hit size 18 when I reached 15 stone! That poster is exaggerating wildly.

@GuestFeatu no I'm not but maybe all her weight goes to her hips. I've a friend like that who is tiny and really hourglass so has to wear an 18 in some things to get her hips in. Everyone is different. Massively so

Yes please, I’d love a thread for this

8st is NOT tiny at that height. 8st is fine but far from tiny.
I'm 5ft and still curvy at 7st even when fairly strong and training. I've been down at 6st 7lb and only then did I start to look skinny!
9st and I'm obese and rolling around.

Tall people have no idea how hard it it to stay in shape when smaller. We need far less calories to begin with and then burn less when we work out. 4lbs on me is the same as a stone on my taller friends. If you have a petite frame you carry weight really differently.

me too

This is rubbish. I’m petite and at 9 stone I am either a size 10 or 12, depending on the shop and cut/design of the clothes.

Threads like this never go well unfortunately, they’re just too much like catnip for posters with disordered eating, or full blown eating disorders.

And it’s really easy to get a distorted perspective reading them - when there’s eg five posts in a row from people claiming that their natural weight is 7.5 stone and they feel overweight and have rolls of fat when they weigh 8 stone - it’s easy to forget that these posters are outliers, and that some of them likely have disordered eating to some degree.

@LostittoBostik I'm 5 ft2 and 15 stone. I'm a size 16.

9st I was a size 10
8.5 size 10
8 stone size 8.

8.5 stone at 5 ft 2 is not tiny..when you are short you can weigh much less than someone taller and it not be unhealthy!

Overweight in BMI at 5ft2 is 136-158. That is not 9 stone.

I'm 5ft1 by the way. But I don't have disordered eating.

Short people can look overweight at a lower BMI, and especially at the top range of healthy BMI. The smaller you are, the less fat can hide - it’s more visible when you gain even small amounts of weight. Some may be shocked to discover that at 50kg, I had rolls of back fat, and chubby shoulders/arms. I didn’t look great in any nice tops/dresses that showed these areas. My body could easily function if I continued to lose weight at that point. BMI is skewed if you’re on any sort of extreme, including height, and therefore isn’t as accurate as a tool as those with a median height.

Have you changed/upped your excercise regime? I hold so much water weight when I start exercising more after a period on not being as active. It normalises after a couple weeks but maybe it’s that?

How old are you? Have you had children? Do you have young kids? I was like you and now I have 3 kids and am about 9stone at 5ft 3.

Maybe it's my age,40, which definitely isn't helping but over the last few years since I had my last baby and then getting a hybrid job meant the pounds slowly crept on.

Someone mentioned sleep and I think that is a major factor as I have sleep issues which has been investigated but unfortunately not really anything the docs can help me with. I am still trying to sort that out but wonder how much of an impact it has had on my weight gain.

I am eating I think fairly healthily, but nothing extreme. I like cooking and I like food so I have cut down on my portion sizes and I have cut down on junk with the off small piece of choc etc. I have also been intermittent fasting which I sort of already did as usually skip breakfast anyway but have changed my eating window earlier.

I appreciate ppl telling me that I don't need to lose weight. And when I look in the mirror, I don't see an overweight body but I see a body that is so different to what it was and I see so much more fat. Yes my waist probably won't be as xinxhed in prekids but that's not what I'm aiming for. It's all the rolls of fat aroujd my hips and thighs id love to get rid of . Half my clothes I can't wear and don't fit and it might be weird to say but my clothes are a big part of my personality and how I express myself. Now I'm just stuck with a few pairs of clothes that I rewear everyday that isn't really me. I hate it.