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.

@HolidayBrochure I also have to weigh daily, log both in my Garmin app, then my spreadsheet daily for accountability or everything goes to pot!

Also low to no alcohol, I need to add some strength exercises I think, and I find summer so much easier to go lower carb than winter. Summer I love to fill up on salads. Winter I just want all the cheese, potato, pasta and rice.

I ignore macros and just eat what I want as long as I'm getting fibre in. I've got quite defined muscles in my arms and legs despite not eating much protein (DP is vegetarian/vegan depending on his mood so our diet is very heavy on veg). If I ate loads of meat or fish it would clog up my digestion. I can eat a lot of legumes, though.

I've been tracking my weight on my garmin scales for ten years. It's easy to see how external factors affect my weight - deaths, studying, etc. The weight gain usually corresponds with something going on in my life.

I gave up drinking when I turned forty so six years ago now. I am much more consistent in my exercise and diet since, and mood! I ate a lot more sugar when I gave up to get rid of the wine cravings (I drank wine most days) but thankfully I am over that stage now as it wasn't making my dentist very happy.

That’s amazing Fibrous, well done on giving up the wine. I used to drink much more but I keep it to the weekends now. I’m not sure I can give it up entirely!

@Hoolahoophop
i keep saying I’ll do strength exercises and I never do…don’t know why I can’t muster the energy, even to do a few squats. I do my 5km walk in 50-53 minutes which is a pretty fast pace so once I’ve done that I’m always like ‘well done HolidayBrochure, you’ve done your exercise for the day, now you can relax’

@HolidayBrochure when I manage any sort of strength or stretch type exercises I stick to a 10 min routine (have a Garmin watch and there are a few on there for me to follow) and if I haven't done it before my morning shower it doesn't get done! This time of year its just difficult getting out of bed even 10 mins earlier to get it done. Its cold, its dark and I want to hibernate!

I desperately need to get real and finally lose this weight. At 5’2 you just can’t carry weight well. After trying fasting, 1-2 meals a day etc and failing miserably I’m going to try 2 weeks of eating small/tiny meals but x 4 daily, broken down as follows:

7.30am, 11:30am, 3:30pm, 7:30pm

Also aiming to do 30 mins incline walk most days, plus strength training.

I’ll keep you all posted. Weighed in at 140 pounds today.

@thisist

if you don’t see any progress after two weeks don’t be disheartened, I find I need to be at a diet for 6 weeks before I start to lose

Thanks. I usually do lose, albeit slowly, as long as I’m consistent. I just want to try spacing the meals like that so I know I only have a short period of time before I can eat again. Whilst also cutting out UPF and obviously being in a calorie deficit. Maybe a few weeks like this will allow me to cut down to 3 meals at most from then on. I keep hearing that it’s the constant grazing that keeps insulin raised, which prevents fat loss.

I think part of the reason I've had a subtle maintainence loss since Sept is that work keeps my meal times spaced. I have something light for breakfast before 7:30, and lunch is 1:20 (school dinner so fairly consistent, moderate portions). Evenings are busy so we eat late often towards 9pm, so I normally have something after work to tide me over. I'm on my feet all day plus tend to do an active commute, so do burn a good amount of energy consistently (plus I'm a fidget!)

My food choices have been reasonably balanced but not a hard, optimal effort (easier in salad season when it's naturally warm!) and I think those gaps without eating are beneficial. I drink water or lemon/ green tea in the day, so nothing sneaking in there.

My win today is that it was too icy to do a 6am run. Instead, in the name of habit forming, I set my alarm for run o'clock but did a pre-chosen youtube workout instead. The heating hadn't gained momentum at that point and it was still 12⁰C in the lounge.

@BogRollBOGOF I take my hat off to you. I'd have gone back to sleep rather than facing a you tube video in a cold lounge.

Any tips for me to stop myself going on a tired and grumpy binge around 4pm that last night consisted of.....about 5 quality street chocolates. 3 Larger blocks of some kind of chocolate stuff (not even tasty) a mince pie, 4 cream crackers with brie squidged in between.

Happy New Year everyone!

I’m back home from a long Christmas/NY trip and weighed myself finally. I lost half a kilo - thanks to flu. Both me and the little one have been sick for the last week. I’m better now and really looking forward to enjoying meals again.

@Hoolahoophop Argh, that's annoying and I'd say you had it all eaten in less than 5 minutes 😭Are you letting yourself get too hungry? I do similar when I'm starving.

@BogRollBOGOF 6am run in itself is very impressive, particularly as it's still dark at that time. I also would've gone back to sleep.

Speaking of sleep, mine is all over the place lately. Terrible insomnia. We're going to London in a few weeks for a city break (I'm from the UK) and I kept looking up restaurants to visit...totally as a result of the low level hunger pangs in my tummy...sigh

Stayed on track yesterday with my exercise and diet and I've done my 5km walk this morning.

I should say, I'm not from the UK!

Well the scales are down 6 pounds in 2 days. Never had that before on a diet. I’ve not even cut out carbs - I’ve eaten a banana and homemade muffin both days. The human body is interesting. Clearly not fat loss but sure is good for the motivation. 134 pounds today. Role on 110 pounds!

Yeah I'm a week into sticking to 1350 cals per day and I'm down 1.5kg. I'm expecting it to slow now but hopefully still 0.5kg per week. Should be back to my pre december weight by the end of this month which will mean all the mince pies were worth it!!

That’s a really good loss for one week. Keep going!

Thanks @thisist - you too! Really fancied a curry this eve. Managed to resist ordering anything. Put some chickpeas on to soak so I can make one tomorrow instead.

I’m swerving scales for now but am managing the gym more often even if not hard core. I feel better so that’s a start..

I'm swerving the scales too, have been exercising and not eating a ridiculous amount, but I've recently discovered that after 20+ years I'm no longer gluten intolerant (long medical story) so it's opened up a world of food possibilities.

I'll settle on a new daily plan soon but for now it's jaffa cakes, crumpets, twixes etc in moderation till I overcome the novelty! Hoping not to gain as I have 9lbs to lose.

@thisist that's amazing! I’ve never seen a loss like that in one day…6lbs normally takes me about six months!

not doing too badly here, I gave myself 1300 on MFP and I’ve been doing 200cal of exercise a day with my walks. I’m continuing to weigh every day and I’m seeing the usual fluctuations, nothing of note yet.

I've also been diligently weighing my food and it’s eye opening to see the calorie count for my usual amount of rice 😳 I did pork belly last night and I nearly had a heart attack when I saw 100g is 257cals! I trimmed all the fat off and gave myself a very small portion…calories for it were still pretty high but I think I did decent damage control.

the weekend is really going to be a test of my mettle, that’s where everything goes pear shaped

Weighing food is hard work because not only is it tedious and time consuming, it also is painful to see how little a portion really is when sticking to a calorie budget. And it’s really hard when you’re not the one cooking or you’re eating out! I’m not weighing food at the moment but will get back to it once I stop breastfeeding.
Will weigh myself tomorrow to assess the Christmas damage!

Yeah weighing is so tedious. And yeah my usual serving of brown rice, which I eat quite a lot, takes up my entire dinner calorie allowance. So I’m having to scale that back drastically. My dogs are enjoying it as I keep forgetting when I put it on to cook. They love rice!

I find weighing and recording very tedious, but do use it sometimes for about a week to evaluate where I'm at and what needs tweaking.

57.0kg on the scales this morning, just edging me into the eight stone something mark. I’ve given up on non dairy milks and yoghurt for my coffee and breakfast, the alternatives aren’t nice and aren’t that healthy from what I can see. It’s easy enough to make tasty vegan lunches and dinners so that’s going well. Might try to keep that up beyond vegauary until the clocks change as it seems to be working for my waistline, my digestive tract, and my wallet. Eating primarily dried pulses and vegetables is cheap!

You’re all doing great, fingers crossed 🤞

My little one is still sick, she had over 40 degrees fever tonight. I’m like a zombie 🧟