Short people: does excess weight look different on us?

[PresidentBarklett]

Aware that's a really stupid title, with a lot if variables, but genuinely struggled to word it. I know it's all about context but here is my query:

I'm 5'3 and I've lost nearly 5 stone on MJ, taking me down to 11 st 12 and a size 14/16, depending on the shop. I have about 3ish stone to go till my self imposed target (still haven't quite decided where that will be as its off the edge of the map - never been below 11 stone as an adult).

People have noticed my weight loss, which is nice. However, I'm still objectively fat - by BMI (29.8 at last count) and by eye - less so, but still very noticeably overweight. This is fine, happy to keep going.

However, it feels like my chance to look 'slim' is ticking away with every lb I lose. Its not my primary motivation (that would be my family history of heart disease) but I would hope to look slim after all this. However, gauging how my body has changed due to a 5st loss, I'm not sure how much more visible change I could expect with the 3st loss hopefully still to come. Googling what a 3 st loss looks like it... looks like a lot less than what I would hope to achieve.

I guess I'm just very much hoping that on shorter bodies a few lbs can make a bigger difference as I just don't see how 3st could effect the changes I would hope for. I'm not asking for the body of a 20 year old or a model. Im come from robust peasant stock amd thats fine. I cant think of a way to phrase this without sounding shallow but, yknow, I would like to look objectively slim.

Any experience of the visual difference 3 stone can make to a shorter body?

Um. I am same height as you and weigh around your target weight. I am not slim anymore because I am over 50 and carrying weight round my middle and on my arse. BMI says I am a healthy weight, dress size says I am 8-10, which most would call slim. But at 5'3", it isn't. I am slim at 8 stone, not closer to 9, which I currently am. I am not fat, just not slim.

Sorry.

No need to be sorry - I expected as much! Guess I'll just see when I get there. I think I'd just like to NOT be visibly fat anymore.

To be fair, the decreased chance of stroke and heart disease is the real draw.

These cans have the same amount of contents so will weight pretty much the same …. Visually one is much thinner than the other.

I’m 5’2 and at 72kg I’m BMI 29, I look round I’m size 12-14, I’ve been 55,60kg and I will say I looked a bit skinny and not so nice.

I actually think shorter looks better with a bit of weight on our bones. I think looking really slim is reserved for taller women.

I also know that to maintain those smaller sizes we can’t eat much more than 800 calories and we simply dont have the volume of muscle to burn it all off, unless we weight train. So it’s super hard staying slim and tiny when we are shorter.

Ha ha I will now forever be the stumpy can of coke 🤣🤣

I'm just under 5ft3. I'm 8 stone and look slim although not as slim/fit as when I was a teenager and was 7st10 (probably with lower body fat and more muscle). When I was 9 stone or so I looked noticeably chubby.

I'm your height and have always naturally sat at about 9st5, which made me a trim size 10.

I've been strength training and eating a high protein diet since the beginning of the year and am now 8st12 - so only a 7lb weight change on the scales (although I've lost fat and gained muscle) - and I've shrunk! I'm now a slim size 8 and have gone from a 34D to a 34C. I've had to buy all new clothes and underwear.

So yes, a small amount of weight makes a huge impact at our height, you'd be amazed. Likewise, I was once very briefly 10st4 and was quite chubby.

I think a few pounds does make a difference on shorter bodies and you will feel and look considerably slimmer losing one,two or three more stone.

For the record I am your height and have weighed between 7st12 and 9st 10 during my 25+ years as an adult (excluding pregnancy) My ideal weight, for me, is anywhere between about 8st7 and 9st4.

That's ridiculous, I eat perfectly normally, not 800 calories! Today I've had a croissant, burger in a bun with fried onions, slice of cake, lemonade, pasta bolognaise, strawberries and cream!

The stumpy can of coke is my spirit animal, I fear.

I think I'm just sort of hoping that all the images ive seen of a 3 stone loss are on very tall people and the same weight will make a bigger difference on my shorter frame.

Also I phrased it wrong I think - lots of 'slim' going on there when I think I basically meant 'not overweight'.

I mean, I'm realistic. I'm 43, I'll have loose skin and my neck increasingly looks like a hanging bollock and, you know, that's all OK. But it would be nice not to lose 8 stone in total and still look fat.

Having said that, who the hell knows. I'll see what it looks like when I get there and make a judgement.

My experience as a taller person has been that the lower your weight gets the smaller amount you need to lose to see a difference.

ive read it described as the kitchen roll effect. You take 1 sheet off a full roll and it’s unnoticeable, you take 1 sheet off a nearly empty roll and it’s very obvious.

My first 2 stone loss, I couldn’t see any difference, no one noticed and clothing size didn’t change. When I hit 3 stone loss, people started asking if I’d had my hair done, got new glasses and I went down a size. My 4th stone I lost another 2 sizes and people were noticing I was smaller. Now I’ve lost 5 stone, gone from size 22/24 to size 12 and people are doing double takes and checking it’s me 😂

That’s my experience, I have low movement due to health issues and I take medication so if I eat anything more than 800 calories I gain weight. I’ve found my whole life I can’t eat much more than 800 without gaining.

Haha, this post is insane!
I'm 5'3 and 8st12 and would be famished on 800 calories a day. I eat 3 meals and 2 snacks a day and have an indian takeaway on a friday night, plus a few glasses on wine a week and a slice of cake here and there.
I'm a slim, size 8 hourglass, and I'm incredibly fit and strong.
I look great slim. I mean, Kylie Minogue objectively always looked pretty great and she's tiny!

isnt it crazy how everyone’s body shows weight loss differently. I’ve lost 22lbs and visibly can tell all over and in my face. My lovely Levi’s hang off me now 😭 and I’ve gone from 16 and some stuff I would say tight 16 to a comfortable 14 and my boobs have gone from 36DD to 34E. I’m aiming to be a 12 as I really love my curves and should get there with another stone loss.

Im not sure 5,3 is particularly 'short' so cant answer from that aspect but what I will say is that weight loss is quite deceptive, I have lost 10 stone and during that process there are lots of points where I had lost some weight and thought I looked slim. Now when I look at pictures of me having lost 5 or 6 or 7 stone, or even 8 stone, I can see I still looked quite chubby. I look different now even with that couple of stone difference

So another 3 stone, will make a huge difference to you. And I also find now that Im a normal weight, if I put on a few pounds after a holiday say, I can really see it in my face and feel it on my trousers, the smaller you are, the more significant any excess weight is.

Interestingly, I just googled it and you're right! The average height for a woman in the UK is apparently 5'3! I must just have had dickhead classmates at school and tall friends now.

I’m 5’3 and weigh 9 st 4 currently. I’m not as small as I’d like to be but I do not look fat. I wouldn’t describe myself as “slim” but I would describe myself as “not overweight”. Bits of me are slim, other bits less so. I think I give the impression of a small person with some chunky/wobbly bits, rather than a large or overweight person.

I would look completely different at 11 stone plus. The difference is definitely worth striving for yes.

It's also dependent on body shape as well. I am about the same height and will never look skinny, but I think I still look decent at about half a stone to a stone less than I am now because I am an hourglass, with curvy bum and boobs with a comparatively tiny waist. I also have toned legs that are long for my height, so really normal length on a short body, and I am doing body pump to get toned arms too. It's only been about 6-8 weeks but I am seeing a difference already.

Apples and pears will look different at the same weight. People who aren't toned/don't exercise will look different.

I'm 5'3 and 8 stone. It feels pretty much the right weight for me. People would say I look slim, so if you can lose another 3 stone it would be noticeable. The heaviest I've been is 9 1/2 stone and I didn't look great, I tended to wear clothes to hide my body shape. Now I feel I can wear clothes that show my body shape. The stone and a half less makes a huge difference to my appearance and the way I feel, even at age 55. I can't imagine being 11 stone, I would have definitely looked fat.

Absolutely my experience too! I’m 5’11” and after 4 stone weight loss people are finally noticing (mainly over the last stone). Took me 3 stone to go down one trouser size. Upside is I can gain weight without it showing much (but hoping that won’t be an issue anymore!)

At 5 foot 2, and old,I am also a stumpy can of coke OP. However your weight loss is amazing.

The last few stone make the biggest difference!
I’m tall and carry weight well but I look like big presence when I’m fat because of the height. Weight loss looks obvious which is a positive

Short people seem to look rounder when fat and extremities/face get chubby, but when they get slim they look petite (which I was always jealous of)

I think short people look better at a lower weight due to having a compressed silhouette compared to an average height person. There isn’t really much scope to evenly distribute weight before you start looking overweight. Whereas taller people have a wider weight range where they feel fine and generally look the same.

It sucks but to look slim, you likely will need to lose a bit more than you might first assume. It’s not about weight per se, but body composition. So your choices to reduce body fat are the hard ones - lose more fat or build more muscle.

I personally felt sloppy and chubby at a BMI of 24, even though it’s healthy. I had back rolls, chubby arms and legs, skin issues etc. My BMI is currently 20 and honestly losing that bit of extra weight made all the difference. My waist is more defined, I have oblique definition, my legs look more trim etc.

It's just about to get really good, OP. I'm your height and I've lost just over 3 stone, from where you are now to your goal. It's been utterly transformational.

First, I stopped looking uncomfortably bulky.

Then, I looked like a middle aged plump woman.
THEN, I looked, oh wonder of wonders, normal. Tucking in tops, waistband not folding over, fucking NORMAL.

And then my confidence skyrocketed, I hit the body conditioning and weights classes, and the final stone got me looking FIT.

OK, I'm in my 50s, so my skin hasn't shrunk along with the rest of me and I'll always have a bit of sag, but it's a big hell yes to looking, and feeling, objectively fucking great.

I've gone from the stumpy can of coke to a cocktail mixer. You will, too.

I think it totally depends on your build tbh. I'm not even five foot and I'm definitely carrying too much weight but it seems to go on my boobs and hips first so I think I get away with it a bit more? I've never been anywhere near eight stone but looked pretty slim at nine stone!