Petite support for losing a few pounds/getting to our 'happy' size

[ACuppaAlwaysHelps]

Hi all. Following on from the thread that @SprayPaint started yesterday, a few of us (@Waiting9 @Horriblehistoree @FaceofSpades) seemed keen to have a thread to support each other in reaching our weight loss/body shape/fitness/health goals.

All petites are welcome on this thread, but it seemed like it would be particularly helpful to have a corner of Mumsnet for those of us who are petite/small framed and officially a 'healthy weight' but know we feel/look better a few pounds lighter (which would still be within a healthy weight/not underweight).

Maybe we can share goals, progress, struggles, things that are working, etc.? It would also be lovely to hear from any petites who are at a 'happy weight' and what you are doing to be successful.

Someone (maybe @FaceofSpades?) posted some helpful thoughts on the thread yesterday.

Please share how you all think this thread could be helpful.

Feel free to share as much or little as you like. Height, current weight, goal weight or other body measurements, nutrition, calories, exercise, NSV, etc.

Oh...interesting. So shall I remain content with my fitness age of 20, and my VO2 max of 44 and top 10% (snap!) or ask you to pretend to be me and tell me the truth?!
I can categorically tell you my body is not like that of a 20 year old, but performance wise (running) I'm pretty good for an old gal.

Definitely

The good bit about upgrading is that I did it in time for the battery life fading. DS has the old watch now and it struggles to get through a 5k parkrun now.
We had upgraded him... but within a month, he took it off in the swimming pool changing room never to be seen again so he's had to go back to the old one🤦‍♀️

I had hoped to do a nice "low aerobic" bike ride today, but the same child was sent home from school for falling and reinjuring himself after a PE injury last week that's already had two hospital visits. At least the splint took the brunt of it but jarring it has really hurt the poor lad.

I recently upgraded my dying Vivoactive 3 which gave me a fitness age of 20 to a Fenix and now I have a fitness age of 35! Sob!

I'm not in my 30s any more so I'll still take it.

My vo2 remained 44 though.

Fasting 18:6 is working miracles. Another pound off and I'm eating more in my eating window than my deficit was before, where I lost less and was starving and joyless. I haven't weighed this 'little' for well over a year.

I'm eating whatever I feel I'm needing, with abundance. No junk food though, nothing processed, no sugar, but I generally am quite mindful anyway. Lots of protein.

It's amazing to be free of food noise, and have lots of energy for my half marathon training & weight workouts.

My stomach is flat again, all clothes fit, I'm keeping this as a way of life!

I have managed to stay the same this week. I'll take that because some weeks are just so hard.

I plan to try and start toning when I get to goal. But for now I'm just so much happier in my clothes.
3lbs to go x

I need to read all this again for some tips and get back on it. I’m 56, 5ft and currently weigh 8st 12. I was 9.1 at the beginning of the year, lost 3lb three in January by Slim-fast (with zero sugar oat milk) but nothing really since, despite me sticking to the plan, probs a couple of days i didn’t stick to it in feb, march but mostly did, i’m a fussy eater and carb heavy, i’ve been shopping this morn and bought some chicken and veg to try and eat healthier and salad for lunch with poss tuna. I’d like to get to 8st 2 which is the weight i feel best as. I run 5k x3 a week for exercise, which i do early morn as i work full time and also care for my elderly mum at night so can’t really commit to classes. Any advice would be appreciated, particularly regarding artificial sweeteners in tea, and coke zero? Are they bad for you? The coke zero is in moderation but i have 3 sweeteners in a cup of tea and have approx 5 cups a day. Thanks xx

@Christine1998
Well done because you have still lost.

This week has been hard for me. I've felt hungry.
I have 1 sweeter in my coffees and I do drink diet coke but I've really cut back on this of late.
Not much advice to give you other than for me I know I have to really try and keep my carbs low. Like many of us on here I just can't lose it the same like I did in my 30s. I now have to have 4 great days because my son is 12 on Thursday and I've booked an American diner for dinner!.

I'd maybe try and see if you can reduce the sweetener to 1 and see how you go. I posted the other day and who would have ever thought a rich tea finger was going to be a highlight!!!! These are the times we are living in!!!
I have to laugh!

We've got this xx

Is anyone else a fan of apple and peanut butter? I find it the best snack ever for helping me avoid the biscuits (my big downfall).

I admire all the runners on here. Tried couch - 5k 3 times and never finished it. It's the 20 minutes running, I just can't manage it!

absolutely love apple and peanut butter. C25K keep trying, repeat the weeks as many times as needed and slow right down. Trust me the process really does work.

If I'd gone much slower, the snails would have been laughing at me, but I might look at it again.

@Bexstar82 thanks. I’ll try the reducing sweeteners. I’ll also try and cut down on the carbs. That will be the hard one for me, but i have to do something. Good luck for a good four days. I’m sure you will be fine. You sound very determined. X

@ObelixtheGaul how you doing?

Peanut butter ..... Omg my control would not be in full force with it!!! I must stay away!! Haha x

It’s moving faster than sitting on the settee, any run is a good run, if you use Facebook theres a fab supportive group. Worth a look for the inspiring stories. X

Sweeteners do not like me anyway, so I aim to have as few as possible and I do my best to avoid. I can taste them out easily and they taste like soap in my mouth for hours afterwards 🤢

Generally they have a very mixed consensus and the effects can be very individual. Some people find them helpful for managing calories and insulin response. Some people react negatively to them. Some people respond to them with a similar effect to metabolising sugar, and they can trigger sweet cravings and stimulate appetite.

3+ weeks into reducing refined sugar and starchy carbs, and my energy is more stable, appetite calmer and I'm showing positive trends of reducing fat and retaining muscle, and feeling comfortable to keep it going.

Another approach is to "Jeff" and keep run-walking intervals. There's no law to say that runners have to run everything. While I'll run-all up to half-marathon distance, when I did a marathon, all those long runs and the race itself were done with running 60 or 90 seconds and walking 30 seconds. By the last few miles as I approached 5 hours of it, I was powerwalking past exhausted runners struggling to keep plodding on and those who'd slowed to walking.

The great benefit of run-walking is that it keeps your heart-rate lower which is good for general cardiovascular benefits, and it uses a higher ratio of body fat to fuel it. General advice for experienced runners is to spend 80% of running time at easier efforts and 20% harder. For novice runners, that's hard because it all feels hard, but run-walking taps into those benefits more easily. A lot of novices and "slower" runners often find run-walking quicker because it reduces burn-out.

Bouncing up, but I'm expecting hormonal rises this week.

I’m back on it!

Focusing on one pound at a time! I have 14.5lb until my happy weight but will also be led by how I feel so if I get 8lb in and like it there I’ll stop there rather than focusing on the numbers.

Unfortunately not much movement at the moment due to illness but I’m working on that too.

I’m making healthier choices and feeling better because of it. I’m starting small(er) by doing 18:6.

Morning all. I got really behind on this thread (busy time!) and didn’t want to comment until I had caught up on all posts.

Welcome to the new people on this thread - it’s so lovely to have so many of us who understand the challenges.

I’ve not really lost any weight in months! I’m averaging around 8st5.

Has anyone had success with 5:2? I use Nutracheck to track my calories and some people on the forum suggest that 5:2 can be particularly helpful for those of us who need quite low daily calories? It feels a bit of a ‘leap’ as it suggests for me to have 1750 calories on non-fasting days, which feels such a lot! But there are lots of people on the forum who say it really works (something about the jumps in calories between fasting and non-fasting days helps).

I know 5:2 can be good for those with lots of weight to lose, but wondered if anyone here (with just a small amount to lose) has had success? I’d love to lose just around 5 pounds to get to around 8 stone (but would also be ok with not losing actual pounds if I could lose my tummy fat). I’m still doing Caroline Girvan weights workouts 5 days per week and walk lots.

Hi @ACuppaAlwaysHelps hope my two cents here helps..

I have had success on fasting. I originally started on alternate day fasting, then 3 days a week, then now 2 days. I've lost about 6 kgs.

The key is to do a "clean" fast, which is don't eat anything that can raise insulin (no milky coffee etc). Bitter tastes like black coffee or tea is ok. If a full day fast is too much then have a 500 calorie meal but don't spread the calories throughout the day, have it in one meal.

Then on the "eating" day do make sure you are eating the full calories. This way your metabolism is not impacted.

I'd say if you are having a plateau then fasting is great for it- try 2 days a week and if no results then try 3 days?

I really like Gin Stephens for explaining how this all works!

I've dabbled with 5:2 before and it's good for giving a boost to a decent lifestyle.

Where I find it awkward is fitting it around energy levels for exercise. I need a busy day to distract me from it... but my busy days tend to be high energy.

But yes, it's well worth a go, and there's some good MN threads about it for support.

Down 5lb in two weeks on OMAD (one meal a day). I have worked up to this for four years of intermittent fasting. It has taken me four years of progressing IF to lose 2 stone. I am 5’2 and I hit 12 stone 8, gaining 2 stone in 5 months in 2020, which was frankly terrifying.

My story is not usual. I discovered very recently I have endometriosis which must have some relation to my weight issues. I began losing weight extremely slowly when I followed the Fast Feast Repeat podcasts and heard a woman talking about insulin resistance and how only OMAD worked for her.

I progressed to OMAD very naturally, fasting on any day only as much as my body told me I could after an initial phase of forcing a 12 hour fast. So just very recently OMAD has implemented itself.

I think this is my body finally for some reason being ready hormonally or metabolically to shed the excess weight. After incredibly slow progress for many years the process has ramped itself up just as my body taught me it wanted to do OMAD. I am not hungry until 5–6 pm ever. I eat a normal meal, no dessert, and I am satisfied. This is nice, tho I keep having to throw food out!

Weight loss is hard with endo but really helpful, so I am delighted this past couple of weeks.

I’m not recommending anything to anyone, just felt the urge to report progress. I’d be really interested to hear from anyone else with woman’s health issues who has been on a similar journey.

I have endometriosis too, so I can sympathise.

I've been fasting 16:8 or 18:6 for a few weeks now and it's been incredible so far; the few extra kilos have gone quickly, I have loads more energy and zero food noise. Cravings have gone.

I wonder if the fasting periods is helpful for hormones?

Congrats!

I wish I knew more about why fasting works for us. I guess it’s possible that fasting reduces inflammation which in turn promotes healthier metabolism?

There's quite a few scientists working on that theory.

It makes sense. Digestion uses up a lot of the body's resources so if you're constantly grazing, you never hit that more restful stage where the body can divert its energy elsewhere.

And historically humans weren't able to graze constantly. Even picking at fruits in passing is seasonal (and you'd want enough body mass built up to get you through winter and early spring. The fasting seasons of Lent and Advent occur in naturally lean phases and help manage food stores until spring crops are avaliable again)

The "eat snacks to keep your metabolism up" never seemed particularly logical to me when it was pushed in the 90s/ 00s.

Boredom snacking really hit me in 2020.

@Vallan OMAD really works for me too. I’ve also found that I don’t get hungry, I have more energy and I feel calmer.
I stopped when going away last year and never went back to it (and put on loads of weight, stopped feeling so zen, no energy etc).

one pound down since Monday, I’m so happy 😀. Re reading this thread and all your positive posts gave me the motivation to keep going, I’ve had salads for lunch and smaller portions for Tea, no snacking, and only 2 slices of bread 🙈 which is my downfall, and it’s the first loss i’ve had for a 6 weeks or so. Down from 8.11 to 8.10. I’d ideally like to get to 8.2 which is my happy weight, but i’ll happily assess at 8.4 ish. Saturday will be my usual weigh day, and i’ve made a conscious effort not to jump on the scales every morning, so as not to de moralise myself. Have a lovely weekend everyone. 💐.