To think being short is mostly rubbish!

[SillySausageSandwich]

For context…. I’m 4ft 11. And it’s rubbish! Here is why -

• Food! I can only eat about 1500-1700 a day. I exercise a lot, I try to be healthy but a couple of biscuits and boom, I’m a fatty!
• Food no.2..eating out.. If I have a main meal then a pudding it can be more than my daily allowance.
• Gaining weight! One tiny bit of weight and I’m a fatty. And it’s far easier to gain then loose!
• Alcohol - I just can’t handle it. I’m a ‘cheap date’ but who wants to be drunk on one glass of wine!!
• Cloths - they just don’t fit! At 14 I got a sewing machine so I could take up all my jeans but often it’s not just the length. The curves and shape just doesn’t fit!
• Cloths no.2 - short person, little feet! I used to be a size 3, now most size 3 are too big! And 2.5 are less common.
• Respect.Im an adult, a full on grown up but I constantly feel younger than I am because often feel like people treat me that way. I’m sure there is a statistic about career success and hight/earnings (tall people do better)
• Running! A 5k for me is a LOT longer than a 5k for someone with longer legs!!
• Supermarkets - why put things so high up!!
• People thinking I’m ‘cute’ if I was me, but taller, I wouldn’t be cute.
• concerts - I can’t see. Any group of people and I’m stuck looking at people’s backs.
• nose in armpits on busy public transport.

Im sure there are more!!

I also suspect being taller than average is equally rubbish - public transport seats, cloths not long enough etc (but could eat soooo much food!!)

Being 5'4/5'6 is ideal as a woman.

My pet peeves are:

• I organise my home so everything is within reach (sometimes on tippy toes) then someone comes over my house and puts things out of reach high up on a shelf, or opens a top window wide so I can't reach the handle
• Other people pointing out how short I am and making a big deal about it

Has anyone found a solution to being a 'healthy' weight that doesn't require a tiny amount of calories? I'm 8st3, but I really need to be around 7 pounds lighter (every extra pound is on my stomach) but I'm not losing and can't see how I can cut my calories any more.

How many calories do any of you eat to be at a weight you are happy with? Any top tips?

Fellow 5 footer here so very much feel your pain!

It may have already been said as I haven't read the full thread but the height of showers! The last time I moved into a place the shower was set up for a 6 foot + person on a fixed holder so I couldn't move it. It's rubbish being so short. For me the worst things are not being able to reach the floor for most chairs and work desks being too high which causes arm and shoulder pain!

About the only thing that helped me was walking miles and miles every day. I don't have the time or the energy to do that at the moment and like you the weight just goes straight to my stomach.

I'm exactly 5 foot & I love it! Size 3 shoes too. There are no disadvantages to me at all!

I reduced the amount of carbs I was eating and increased the amount of protein and "good" fats (note I said reduced, not cut out carbs completely) and started lifting weights. Like you, any weight gain goes straight to my stomach.

4 10 here!
I'm fat and don't carry it well.
Shopping trolleys - I always feel as though I'm going to fall in while getting the last item from the bottom - and dont get me started on the huge ones in Costco!
Having a serious discussion with a work colleague while on a non adjustable chair. I felt as though I was a small child pretending to be grown up with my wee legs dangling.
Mirrors in pubs
High bar stools - I'm sure I look very comical
as I clamber up

4'11 here - it's really annoyed me to have some people feel that it's shallow to not like being short. As described by multiple PP the world is designed for taller people and it isn't shallow to find that difficult/irritating sometimes. Obviously there are things in life that are worse than being short but how is that relevant?!

I'm just shy of 6ft and don't feel tall and elegant. More like I'm taking up more space than allowed lol. However I have learned to love it even if I look like godzilla 😊

"High bar stools - I'm sure I look very comical
as I clamber up"

I long ago refused to sit on high bar stools. I'd feel like a budgie on a bloody perch!

Lol. Yes I have to use something to grab things too.

Omg me too. Hate climbing on them and legs tangle.
Got in a big taxi today and he had parked way off the kerb. It was so high. He had to put ramp down for me to get in.

Bathroom mirrors and cabinets.
I can just about see the top of my own head while my family insist they are bending to see their reflection 😶

I've found my tribe! Agree with everyone about clothes - why oh why are clothes made so long (not even for the average female height)? I know there are petite ranges but they are limited and some stores only sell their petite ranges online and I hate buying online as I really like to try on in a shop. When I was younger, people always thought I was younger than I was and treated me that way (I hated that). I could never buy a drink or get into a cinema without people querying my age. Also agree on the weight thing and the limit to the number of calories you can eat without putting on weight (although I do exercise a lot partly for this reason). I have walked out of supermarkets without buying what I really wanted as I couldn't reach it! I have watched many events from my seat through people's phones!

My grandson who is 5 thought we should take a long stick to the supermarket so that I could knock things I couldn’t reach off the shelf “like I do at home”

Also the 'jokey' things people say as though we've never heard them before. They are just not funny and there is no need to make such comments. Listen to Richard Osman on Diary of a CEO podcast to see what I mean.

Agree!
People usually have sympathy for very tall people who would have to bend down to prevent hitting their head on a foor frame or low ceiling, but there are lots of things equally frustrating if you're much shorter than average. In terms of practical things that are harder - reaching things, seeing over something, getting on a bar stool, what type of car you can have etc etc probably won't be (as much of) a problem for a short man because they'd likely be the height of an average woman. Admittedly that wouldn't help with clothes or dating!

And it's quite possible to feel sadness or anger about awful things happening around the world, or heartbroken about someone being gravely unwell at the same time as finding day to day things frustrating because lots is designed for people at least 5" taller.

Tbh part of what prompted my passionate irritation about my hight is gaining 7lb and having a tall colleague say she’s on a diet and has lost 12lb in a month…. I’d need to eat nothing to achieve that!

The one time I lost weight unintentionally… we got a rescue dog. She used to make snacking and eating a serious chore!! In hindsight, probably shouldn’t have trained her to ‘beg politely’!!

Mid 50's shortie here.

Everything you've said about food, alcohol and clothes is annoyingly true!

The rest doesn't bother me as much, even though I have been patted on the head at work by a 6" woman same age as me. I just thought what an asshole she's just made of herself.

For some reason, I have many female friends that are 6". The ones that are single really struggle to find dates because they don't want to date a shorter man. I am very happy with my 6.1" husband but I feel I wouldn't have that problem if I was ever back in the dating scene!

Yes, we're short - but on the tall side of short, judging by this thread! The great thing about 5'2 - 5'3 is that petite ranges are designed for our exact height. DD2 is 5' and nothing much fits - her figure is too womanly for kids' clothes, and at 15 years old she's not likely to grow much.

I do feel that lack of authority is an issue. I'm a teacher and most teenage pupils tower over me. Unruly teenage boys en masse can feel quite physically intimidating. My summer job in a museum is made harder too by lack of height: lifting iron bars up over the shutters at night, trying to look across a crowded room where I can only see people' s backs, etc.

On the plus side, I feel less unusual since moving to France, where about 10-20% of working age women are my height or shorter. In the UK I think I knew 2 people who were shorter than me!

I hear you OP, especially the discomfort of feet not reaching the floor. It's so uncomfortable.

Bought cropped jeans in Sainsbury's TU sale £5.40 bargain and perfect fit for my 4ft 11 & 3/4 height.

I've just lost 1st 9lbs using Nutracheck and weighing my food as previously my portion size was massive, I can eat a lot. I'm now on the cusp of healthy and overweight bmi and will loose a few more lbs to remain in healthy.

I only bemoan being short when supermarkets have high shelves and what I want is just out of reach and sometimes shoe shops tend to put the smaller sizes at the top. Other than that I love being me.

I agree OP
Im 5ft1
Food/calories isn't fair-like Garfield said I'm not overweight I'm undertall!
Extra pounds really show and I think needed calories per day are much lower-and I love food!

Clothes - this is a biggy even the limited petite ranges are aimed at people 5'4!
Being a size 14/16 doesnt help as as some petite ranges only go up to 14 and size 14 is usually cut longer than size 8. Often buy something just because it's fits rather than because I really like it.

Cars- a lot of seat belts cut across my neck. When driving I need seat so far forward I wonder how safe it would be if air bag went off as close to stearing wheel I think I've read some cars are dangerous for short people to drive if in serious accident. Parking-can't see bonnet just windscreen wipers so parking involves guess work! DH6'2 has none of these issues!

Sofas/chairs /seats I hurt my back recently and needed to sit "properly" I usually sit on sofa with feet tucked up to one side realised there is no a SINGLE chair in the house, other than hard kitchen chair, where I can sit with with my feet on the floor.

Reaching things in shelves - used to climb on bottom shelf to reach now I'm heavier it's not safe so now sometimes I resort to using a leak or cucumber in the supermarket to hook things to the front of the top shelf so I can just about reach it if on tiptoes!

Conerts etc. Usually spent looking at the back of someone's head. However sometimes I can nip through a gap but less often now in no longer a size 8.
Getting served at a bar often overlooked/ ignored.

Colleagues used to not take me seriously when younger, happens a bit less now.

Advantages - more leg room on flights and in theatre.
Think that's it!

Parking-can't see bonnet just windscreen wipers so parking involves guess work! DH6'2 has none of these issues!

Yes! I was mind blown when I realised most people (most blokes anyway) can actually see the end of the bonnet! They don't need a bedding in time while they internalise the size and shape of a new car/hire car's front, they can just see it!