Hi everyone. Long time reader, first time poster here. I found this thread through googling “weight loss” and “petite”!
Height: 4”11
Starting Weight: 9st 8lbs
Current Weight: 7st 11lbs
I’ve lost over 2st...in 13 weeks.
Here’s how:
Vitamins: I take Agnus Castus for my cycle and a multivitamin. The first week I took them, my appetite reduced by about two thirds. Before I felt deep hunger and cravings that I couldn’t resist through willpower alone. With the tablets, they disappeared. My body really needed these vitamins and it made a HUGE difference.
Diet: calories in, calories out. MFP. My TDEE is 1337 calories, so for a 500 calorie deficit I can only eat 837. That is NOT too few. The key is protein.
A typical days diet:
Breakfast:
50g mixed berries & 50g mango
2 Heck Chicken Sausages
Snack:
50g edamame beans
Lunch:
Miso soup
2 fish fingers
Dinner:
1/2 poached skinless chicken breast
1/2 red pepper
1/4 cucumber
No added sugar yoghurt
Total: 509 calories
I did not feel hungry with this diet most days. If I did, then it was simple...I ate something. The second half of the chicken breast, another 50g edamame. I was still under my calories for the day.
So that my body didn’t get too used to a super low cal diet, I aimed for maintenance Sat & Sun. A few typical treat dinners for me at a weekend...
1/4 pepperoni pizza
A big salad
1 Mars bar ice cream (only 140 something cals! Who knew?)
Or
Spice tailor spicy Goan curry
Madhur Jaffrey’s Mustard Seed Cabbage
And on a weekend I’d typically have mid afternoon cake and hot chocolate too.
I did this every weekend and still lost 2lbs almost every week (more at the start).
Attitude: I have a few mantras that help me. When I see someone eating something I want but can’t have, I say to myself: “that’s chocolate cake. You know what it tastes like. You’ve had it before. You’ll have it again in the future. Just not now.” Also, I tried to separate “food” and “pleasure” in my mind. For example, I had a plan to watch a movie with a friend overseas via zoom. I was going to have a yoghurt as I watched the movie then I realised: I had the pleasure of her company, the movie that I’d wanted to see for ages...why did I need a third pleasure on top of that?
I heard someone on here say that you have to resign yourself to eating “toddler food” for awhile. I totally agree.
Finally, there’s a quote from The West Wing that I’ve found applicable to my diet- Leo: “presidential debates are lost on 1 square foot of real estate”gestures to head
I was gaining weight and overweight for years. I tried to lose it and couldn’t. It wasn’t until this year, with the lockdown, that I had the mental space to actually do it. Self denial, self control all require a lot of mental and emotional energy for me. If I didn’t have enough to spare, then forget the diet.
Exercise: 10k steps a day. That’s it.
This is so long, sorry! If anyone’s still reading, to sum up...I’ve heard it said on here that 2lbs a week loss is not realistic for shorties. That may well be true for some, but I’m living proof that it’s not universally true for short people. My view is, I’d rather exert a lot of willpower for a short time and achieve a big result, than exert a little willpower over a long period and achieve gradual results. If you prefer to lose a pound or so a month, and be working to reduce your weight for a considerable time period, then I’m happy you’re doing what’s right for you. But if you’d rather lose the weight and get back to feeling like yourself again in a relatively short time, just know it’s possible, even for shorties. It is truly amazing how few calories you can thrive on, if they come from the right things.
So thank you everyone, for your encouragement! You really have helped me. Thank you and best of wishes to you all.