Petite support thread... continued

[BogRollBOGOF]

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.

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.

Monday again, any success?

I'm down a over half a kg. 61.1 last Monday 59.3 today. So happy with that.

Also stuck to the training plan if not the exercise plan. 3 x run, 3 x strength, good average steps plus a bonus kayak which was fun.

Thanks for telling us your method @Iloveleaveinconditioner I tried fasting a few years ago, but find I cant keep it up alongside exercise. I am envious of your staying power, I also tend to fall off the wagon quite frequently!

Have a good week all.

Morning all.

Check in today using my Happy Scale moving average is 8st13.8 and target weight is 8st. I’m going the wrong way (gaining not losing!).

Thank you for your detailed reply @Iloveleaveinconditioner I have a follow-up question…do you do much exercise? (No judgement - just helpful to know!)

I was eating similar calories to you last year (and was much lighter!), but I started to realise I wasn’t fuelling my body enough for exercise. I have slowly increased my calories over the last year. The outcome of that is that I currently weigh the heaviest I’ve ever weighed (when not pregnant) at 8st13, but/and I have made progress in my workouts, lifting slightly heavier dumbbells at home and I feel ‘better’ apart from really hating my tummy fat. It feels so hard to get the right amount of calories that are enough to fuel workouts/life but don’t cause this weight/fat gain?

Sorry, that was a long post!

@Hoolahoophop Well done on losing half a kg. It sounds like you’re also quite active (see my comments above)? Do you know how many calories you average per day? What’s your goal weight?

No, I have to say, I don’t do much exercise really

Well, having said that, I’m not sedentary, I do about 10,000 steps most days walking the dog and just general life. I ride (horse) and also run about with my daughter on a pony once or twice a week (though that tells me I’m definitely not running fit!) I seem to be able to manage that on the calories I’m eating (though some of that is over a weekend when I’m eating more calories anyway) but I would struggle if I wanted to lift weights etc, yes.

I do want to get into strength training soon (albeit only small weights, or body resistance bands type thing) so may have to rethink my calories but I do eat quite a lot of protein, which should hopefully help!

I know what you mean though, it’s so difficult isn’t it. Have you worked out what your TDEE is? The one I looked at gave you the amount of cals you can eat if you want to lose, maintain, gain and then if you adjusted your activity levels, it adjusted the calories accordingly. I guess it would be a bit of trial and error though.

Baaaaaad weekend for me, I think I ate/ drank about 3000 calories yesterday (genuinely) so will try and be better today and then get back on the wagon properly tomorrow for the rest of the week to hopefully lose some of what I’ve (inevitably) gained!

@CherryBlossom2025 I've looked up my last 4 weeks averages for you.

In that time
Starting weight:59.8kg
End weight: 58.1kg
Loss: 1.7kg or 0.42kg per week
Average calories per day for the whole period: 1,796
Average steps per day for the whole period: 12,246
Average calories from exercise (estimated by Garmin watch): 473
According to my weight and height (I'm about 4ft 11) my sedentary BMR is around 1,140 calories.

But on a four week average doing exercise 6 days a week (3 x run and 3 x strength) plus my daily walking to work and back and pottering giving me 12000 steps eating almost 1800 calories per day has given me a 1.7kg weight loss and eating 1800 calories on average a week feels sustainable. I usually eat a lot less during the week, and relax at the weekends a bit more.

I am aiming for maintenance between 48-52kg so have at least 6kg to loose, maybe I will reach target by next summer, if I managed to keep up current progress it would take me 6 months.

I hope that helps a bit.

I’m fed up. Upped gym. Eating much less. Am less wobbly and stronger but tyre round middle is bigger than ever been still.

@Iloveleaveinconditioner Thank you for your reply. Hope your week has started ok.

@Hoolahoophop Thank you so much for sharing all of that with me. It’s really helpful to compare your numbers with mine. I collect and analyse a lot of similar data from Nutracheck and from my Garmin.

I’ve also looked up my last 4 week averages.

Starting weight: 8st10.8
End weight: 8st12.5
Gained: 1.7 pounds
Average calories per day for the whole period: 1,529
Average steps per day for the whole period: 20,906
Average active calories (Garmin): 235

What I find most interesting is that my ‘active’ calories on Garmin are much lower than yours. I do Caroline Girvan weights workouts at home 4 or 5 days per week, a couple of Pilates sessions at home and average 20,000 steps per day. It’s interesting that you are shorter than me (I’m 5ft2) and you’re losing weight on 1800 calories, but I’m gaining on just over 1500 calories. The main difference in our activity seems to be that you run.

My resting heart rate is quite low (38-40) so I think that slightly impacts my calorie burn as I don’t get my heart rate very high very often.

It’s so tricky to know what to do. I think I’m probably in an in between place of maybe not eating enough calories to build muscle (even though my protein is high) but eating too much to lose fat. I think I probably need to commit to either slightly increasing my calories for a few months and focus on building muscle or reduce my calories to around 1200 to lose fat (but then I think I would have to reduce my exercise).

Sorry to hear you’re feeling fed up. But it’s good that you’re less wobbly and stronger.

May I join? Petite and getting fatter post menopause.

@CherryBlossom2025 that's tough stats. Your resting heart rate is really low. Mine is about 54 at the moment.

Yes most of my active calories are from the running and the longer the run the more burned. I did a 15 min legs workout with weight this morning Caroline given and I think it was about 60 calories burned. While my steps are lower than yours I practically run the commute as I'm always late! With a heavy backpack and uphill one way. So that may help. I can't imagine how you manage 20k average that's impressive! I did 20k one day last week. I ran 5k before breakfast, walked to work and back about 3k. Then walked into our local twin and back twice as well as gardening!

I may over estimate my calories as I tend to err on the side of caution but I doubt it would be by much. It's also quite random. So some days are very heavy calories and some light, maybe it triggers a fasting reaction?

I also drink a lot of water, not sure if that helps and eat pretty clean. I'm a keen home cook and on a low cholesterol diet.

@CherryBlossom2025 thing is I know I’m healthier for my gym attendance. I can cycle row etc for longer and harder. No way an Olympian but I started at a low level. But I feel like I have literally have a tyre round me. When I sit down I look huge. 5 foot give or take and around 54 kg and that’s not moving

@abracadabra1980 Welcome!

@Hoolahoophop Thank you. It really has helped to be able to compare my Nutracheck and Garmin stats with you. I also drink a lot of water and my diet is mainly made up of lots of veg, salad, protein, etc. I don’t drink alcohol (well, maybe a glass of wine every couple of months). It’s so helpful to have this thread to share experiences. Hope I’ve not annoyed you by asking so many questions! One more question - do you have your Nutracheck calories set at 1800 (even though you might be under or over on some days)? How do you have your macros split? I’m aiming for high fibre and high protein.

@eurotravel I completely relate, as you’ve probably noticed from my posts over the last week! I’m fitter, stronger (lifting slightly heavier dumbbells at home), at a ‘healthy’ weight/BMI but carry all extra body fat on my tummy (thin legs/arms). Are you doing any strength training along with cardio? Might be worth adding some in if not?

@CherryBlossom2025 I cant help with macros etc. I use the free my fitness pal linked to my Garmin to log calories and it is fairly basic, looking back, my protein looks to be generally 20% or less, by carbs 50 to 70% and fat the rest....i think i need to cut back some more of the carbs!

I actually aim for 1250 calories a day Monday to Thursday, 1450 Friday and 1500 a day at the weekend, so plan to only have 1350. i just miss and end up on 1800 averaged across the week. Normally more like 1300 week days and lots more Friday and Saturday. I do like a drink, normally 1 gin and tonic or 1-2 small glasses of wine Friday and Saturday.

If daily diet examples would help.

Today was 2 eggs with mushrooms and cherry tomato no fat for breakfast.
Lunch is a salad with new potato's and a weird mozzarella chili oil thing found in the yellow sticker section at M&S
For dinner I will have baked salmon with more new potato's (we dug them up!) and either Asian slaw or roasted med veg.

Yesterday was fruit (Plum, kiwi and blueberries) with mixed seeds and Greek yoghurt for breakfast - I also like overnight oats with chia, linseed, orange juice, yoghurt and blueberries.
Lunch was a ham roll but is often spicy tomato mackerel on brown toast, soup, or a salad with maybe quiche or ham, or a home made rice noodle broth with veg sometimes prawns.
Dinner i have kids so often pasta (Bolognese, meatballs etc.) or Rice (chili, curry, i like a risotto) Sausages are a favorite or fajitas, flatbread with grilled meat and salad bits, roast chicken and jacket. I try and mostly fail to add veg or salad to every meal and reduce the volume of carbs, but looking at my fitness pal it seems i could do better!

Happy to answer questions as looking at the detail of what everyone else does helps me a lot.