Petite People?

[junebugTN]

So many of you are saying exactly what I've felt for so long. I am 5 feet tall, and it seems like if you cut out enough calories to lose at a good rate, you wind up in starvation mode.

I am on medications that make me gain and severe asthma that gets worse when I exercise. I also had my thyroid completely destroyed by radioiodine treatments several years ago. This is when I went from underweight to a continual upward spiral...

I feel like I diet harder than anyone I know, and it's a win each week just to not GAIN anymore.

Two things have sorta worked for me:

1. The weight machines at most places are too big, but women-only gyms that use smaller machines do fit me so-o-o much better.

2. The hardest thing was to stop rushing myself and comparing my weight loss to everyone else's. I may only be losing 1/8 pound a week now, but I just have to keep reminding myself that the numbers are going in the right direction.

Hang in there to my fellow petite dieters. Let's never give up on ourselves!

 

[slk537]

Me too!

I'm 5'3" and I have no idea what my body weight should be...I do know that when I look at myself at my weight and someone taller at the same weight, I look "smaller" rotfl: HA! not usually a word I use to describe myself...!). The only thing I can figure is that my frame is so small that there is more room for the chub to rest? God, that makes no sense when I type it.... I have short legs, short arms, short everything...

I so desperately want to do the half marathon or the Tower of Terror walk/run, but I have the same leg length problem for speed and it drives me crazy too.

My plan is to keep losing weight and gradually build up to slow jog mixed in.

 

[JudyS]

I'm 4'11'' and losing weight is miserable!! I have been at the same weight for years now. I think I'm stuck!...NOTHING works anymore! .... It's just not fair!

Karynnix, I'm not sure what your exact situation is, but if you have lost weight and stayed there (been "stuck") for years, you should pat yourself on the back! Most people gain all the weight back.

I agree that weight loss is very unfair -- some people are naturally thin, and some can't get down to a normal weight no matter how hard they try. What's really unfair, though, is how society discriminates against and blames people who just don't fit the "tall & thin" mold. I think we should all remind ourselves that people just naturally come in all sorts of different shapes and sizes, just as they naturally have different hair types and skin colors, and that what society is doing when it criticizes people for being naturally short or heavy is just not fair.

I was really, really bummed out about my weight last week, but I feel better now. I have been checking my blood pressure and lately it has been very good -- it used to be a little high. My blood sugar and lipids (cholesterol & triglycerides) have been excellent lately, too. In fact, my blood sugar (hemoglobin A1C) is down 45% from a few years ago (from 10, which is uncontrolled Diabetes, to 5.5, which is perfectly normal), and my triglycerides are down more than 60%! Exercise and proper diet does wonders for your health, even if the scale doesn't move much. It helps me if I think about how I've improved my health, and keep my mind off the unfair treatment society dishes out to "short & thick" people like me. Heck, at this rate, I'll probably outlive many of those skinny people who eat junk all day -- especially if they're skinny because they smoke.

So many of you are saying exactly what I've felt for so long. I am 5 feet tall, and it seems like if you cut out enough calories to lose at a good rate, you wind up in starvation mode.

I am on medications that make me gain and severe asthma that gets worse when I exercise. I also had my thyroid completely destroyed by radioiodine treatments several years ago. This is when I went from underweight to a continual upward spiral... ...
Hang in there to my fellow petite dieters. Let's never give up on ourselves!

Junebug, thanks for posting. I really feel for you! If you are taking corticosteroids for your asthma, they definitely can cause major weight gain, especially in the face & trunk. Also, when people have hyperthyroidism and have the radioiodine treatment to cure it, they almost always end up with low thyroid levels instead. You should definitely tell your doctor(s) about your problems losing weight (if you haven't already) but they may just say that treating the asthma and avoiding high thyroid levels are too important to change your meds, and that there is nothing they can do about the weight gain. It's great that you are working out & watching what you eat -- that does wonderful things for your health even if your weight is still higher than you'd like.

I also have asthma and have found some things that helped me and didn't cause weight gain -- email me for details.

Me too!

I'm 5'3" and I have no idea what my body weight should be...I do know that when I look at myself at my weight and someone taller at the same weight, I look "smaller" rotfl: HA! not usually a word I use to describe myself...!). The only thing I can figure is that my frame is so small that there is more room for the chub to rest? God, that makes no sense when I type it.... I have short legs, short arms, short everything...

I so desperately want to do the half marathon or the Tower of Terror walk/run, but I have the same leg length problem for speed and it drives me crazy too.

My plan is to keep losing weight and gradually build up to slow jog mixed in.

Tower of Terror 13K! Oh, how I want to do that! I don't think I can make the pace requirement this year, but maybe 2009.....

As for looking thinner than others your weight, maybe you have high bone density and a lot of muscle? Both of these (especially high bone density) can add weight while not making you look fat, and they are great, healthy things to have. If you've been doing weight-bearing exercising (like walking) or weight training, that adds muscle and makes bones more dense.

OK, glad I'm not alone in struggling with this! Thanks to those who posted!

 

[believe]

I am 5' 1/2". I am currently at maintenance stage, but it is tough being short. I agree with many of the things that have been mentioned. Weight machines are made for those 5' 3''. I do them once a week and then do the ab ball with free weight 1-2 times a week because I get frustrated with the machines.

For picking up your walking pace, shorter steps are the key. Many individuals think the longer the stride the faster, that isn't true. I tell my friends you have to get the 'waddle' down. I currently am training for the Disney Marathon, haven't completed one yet, but am doing interval (jog:walk). I started this when my walking pass increased to where my body naturally wanted to jog.

Sometimes I think individuals go to the extremes and cut way to much which puts their body in starvation mode. Then their body keeps all the calories it can, which causes toem to not lose. It is important that everyone get the minimum calories for the height and activity level.

 

[JudyS]

....
Sometimes I think individuals go to the extremes and cut way to much which puts their body in starvation mode. Then their body keeps all the calories it can, which causes toem to not lose. It is important that everyone get the minimum calories for the height and activity level.

While is it true that the body can go into "starvation mode", starvation mode seems to be based primarily on how much fat you have left, and not on how much you eat. If it were really true that people could prevent themselves from losing weight by "eating too little," then no one would ever die of famine.

Unfortunately, for some people, their bodies go into "starvation mode" even when they are still quite overweight -- in severe cases, hundreds of pounds overweight. In a very few cases, this can be fixed by giving more of the hormone (leptin) that tells your brain how much fat you have, but in most people with this problem, the problem is in their leptin receptors don't work properly, and there currently isn't a good fix for that. There is a really good book that discusses this called Rethinking Thin: The New Science of Weight Loss by Gina Kolata.

In my experience, if a person can't lose weight, other people in our society tend to blame them, no matter what the person is doing to lose weight. I've had people tell me the problem is that I'm eating too much, and at the same time have other people tell me (in the same thread and on the same day) that the problem is I am eating too little. Once, I even had the same person tell me that I must be eating too much, and then also say I must be eating too little -- in the very same post! (That was on another board, not here.)

Some people can not get down to a "normal" weight no matter what they do. I wish people would just accept that, and not insist that a person must be doing something "wrong" if they can't lose weight.

 

[believe]

In my experience, if a person can't lose weight, other people in our society tend to blame them, no matter what the person is doing to lose weight. I've had people tell me the problem is that I'm eating too much, and at the same time have other people tell me (in the same thread and on the same day) that the problem is I am eating too little. Once, I even had the same person tell me that I must be eating too much, and then also say I must be eating too little -- in the very same post! (That was on another board, not here.)

Some people can not get down to a "normal" weight no matter what they do. I wish people would just accept that, and not insist that a person must be doing something "wrong" if they can't lose weight.

My post was not intended to 'blame' anyone for being overweight. The point I wanted to make is that eating less calories than your body needs does not always mean you will lose weight. Some individals need that daily minimum to lose.

 

[JudyS]

My post was not intended to 'blame' anyone for being overweight. The point I wanted to make is that eating less calories than your body needs does not always mean you will lose weight. Some individals need that daily minimum to lose.

So, you are saying that some people would lose weight if they just ate more calories? I find that very, very implausible. I have read dozens of articles (maybe more like hundreds) in scientific journals concerning weight loss, and have certainly read a thousand or more abstracts of studies on weight loss, and have never come across anything like that. If you've seen a study where adding calories made people lose weight, I would very much like to know about it.

I really don't know what your intent was when you wrote your post. But, in my experience, many people in our society simply refuse to believe that some people are physiologically destined to be fat, and instead insist that those people could lose weight if only they would do things differently. As someone who is extremely motivated to lose weight and yet remains well into the obese range, that really does feel very much like being blamed. No matter what I do, someone is ready to say I should be doing it differently. Claiming that it is somehow possible to be fat because one eats too little means that no matter how many or how few calories I eat, people can say that I'm fat because I eat the wrong amount. People may disagree on whether I'm eating too much or too little, but they are united in agreeing that I'm doing the wrong thing to lose weight.

Let me approach this from a different angle. Some of the posters here feel that no matter what they do, it is impossible for them to lose weight. Certainly, I feel that there is no safe plan of diet and exercise that would get me even close to what the height/weight charts say would be a normal weight. Do you agree with the posters here (such as me) who believe they can't lose weight? Or, do you believe they could lose weight if they changed something about their behavior?

 

[pixiedust23]

I'm also 5'2 and I do at least an hour of cardio/day for at least 5 days a week. I also like to add in weight training, as well. Lot of reps at lower weights in order to increase tone without increasing size. I'm about 122 right now and would love to lose 5-10lbs. I'm glad I found people with a similar height!

So, you are saying that some people would lose weight if they just ate more calories? I find that very, very implausible. I have read dozens of articles (maybe more like hundreds) in scientific journals concerning weight loss, and have certainly read a thousand or more abstracts of studies on weight loss, and have never come across anything like that. If you've seen a study where adding calories made people lose weight, I would very much like to know about it.

Actually I am a scientist, and if you don't have enough calories in your diet, your body will go into starvation mode. It will save up any extra calories it can, when you eat, because your body is unsure of when it will get calories again. After a long period of this, your body will actually raise its set point. I know you are very frustrated, but people are just trying to be nice and give you suggestions.

 

[believe]

So, you are saying that some people would lose weight if they just ate more calories?

Let me approach this from a different angle. Some of the posters here feel that no matter what they do, it is impossible for them to lose weight. Certainly, I feel that there is no safe plan of diet and exercise that would get me even close to what the height/weight charts say would be a normal weight. Do you agree with the posters here (such as me) who believe they can't lose weight? Or, do you believe they could lose weight if they changed something about their behavior?

The point is to eat the calories in your range based on height, weight and activity level...not to necessarily eat more calories than is recommended. Also, most individuals get to a point were exercise is a must to continue weight loss.

I do believe that all individuals can lose weight if there is no medical reason holding them back. I was sure I could not lose my last lbs. I went to a nurtitionist, due to some health issues, who had me add carbs to my diet. I flat out told her if I gained weight I would not continue with the program. I followed her program to a T and the weight came off, to my surprise. I thought eating less carbs was what my body needed, when in the end it was what was keeping me from losing.

Like the previous poster, exercise is the key for me, plus watching my calorie intake. I do weights 1x wk, ab ball with free weights 1-2x wk, interval jog/walk 4 miles 1 day/wk, walk 4 miles 1 day/wk, interval jog/walk 8-11 miles 1 day/wk. I work out in some capacity 5 days a week.

I would encourage you to look into the podcast called Weightloss for the Mind, if you haven't already. They talk about how negativity can really impact your weight loss. If you go into weight loss already 'knowing' you aren't going to make the goal the chances of success are slim. It also talks about setting realist goes, not based off the charts.

In regards to studies on weight loss I have read many articles on this topic. Here is one from Sparkpeople.com. I don't think you will find many if any doctors who will tell you to eat less calories than your body needs for daily functioning.

http://www.sparkpeople.com/community/ask_the_experts.asp?q=58

 

[DizneyGurly]

When I attended WW if I only ate my regular points for the week lots of weeks I wouldn't lose any weight. But if I ate the extra flex points for the week I lost something every week so the eating a bit more calories thing did work for me.

 

[3DisneyKids]

Thanks, DznyDreams and Perfectmatch300. Yeah, I agree that no one was trying to make me feel bad, it's just so frustrating when it feels like everyone is having success except me.

Recently, I was trying to find advice to help me do C25K, and the first site that came up in Google was www.C25k.com. It's full of statements like, "C25K is a fantastic program that's been designed to get just about anyone from the couch to running 5 kilometers or 30 minutes in just 9 weeks....ANYBODY CAN DO IT!... All of you can finish C25K, I have no doubt whatsoever. I have never seen one person say 'this is too difficult, I'm stopping the program' Yes, you can do this!" I suppose this is meant to be motivational but I found it so discouraging, as if I were the only person in the world that can't do this. Gee, if "anybody" can do C25K and I can't, then I guess by definition that makes me nobody! But, DznyDreams, you are probably right that there are other people in the same boat. In fact, I'd bet that the www.C25k.com website is wrong and there are lots of other people who can't do C25K, but many of them are too embarrassed to speak up. I suspect that in general, people are much more likely to speak up if their running/weight loss/whatever plan is going well than if it isn't.

Perfectmatch300, congrats on sticking with it so long, and I definitely believe short stride plays a role! (I'm taller than you, too, so that makes your sticking with this even more impressive.) I guess we just have to hang in there. I do know that all this exercise has improved my health. (In particular, my "good" cholesterol has almost doubled, while my "bad" cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood sugar have all dropped. My resting heart has dropped, too.) Exercise is probably doing wonderful things for your health, as well. I guess we need to ignore these arbitrary goals (like 15 minutes per mile) that are designed mostly for taller people, and just focus on what we know helps our health.

I get asked that a lot, but my thyroid level has been tested by numerous endocrinologists and isn't low. It looks like I'm going to have to wait for medicine to progress before it figures out what's wrong with me. Unfortunately, even doctors seem to believe that being heavy is determined only by behavior, not physiology, so not many of them are doing research on this -- very frustrating. I appreciate the virtual hug, though!

A running coach sounds like a good idea; thanks! There is a very good running store near my house and they offer running classes, but I was afraid I wouldn't be able to keep up. (That has, unfortunately, been my previous experience with other sorts of exercise classes, even when I contacted the instructor beforehand and was told "It's not hard at all, don't worry.") The store doesn't mention offering individual coaching, but I've emailed them to ask about that and am waiting for a reply.

As for whether we are going through the same thing, though, my guess is that our experiences are pretty different. I would love to be struggling with 10 pounds to lose like you are; I can't seem to get anywhere near that. I really try -- I have been a vegetarian for several decades and have avoided almost all grains for 5 years in an attempt to lose weight, and I often eat so little that I am extremely hungry. I take ephedrine to lose weight (although I worry about its health risks) plus a bunch of other weight-loss supplements. I'm also on a drug (Byetta) that helps suppress appetite, but has to be injected multiple times a day (the needle going in isn't painful, but the drug itself sometimes burns like heck.)

Despite all this, I am currently still about 60 or 70 pounds heavier than what the height/weight charts say I should be, and I have been really struggling to stay there and not gain back what I've lost so far. And, it's not just my problems with weight loss and exercise. My body also is failing me in all sorts of other ways, including that I've tried pretty desperately to have children for 15 years now with no luck (and now it appears that it's never going to happen.) So, I really mean it when I say that my body just doesn't seem to work the way other people's bodies do.

I am certainly not a medical doctor, so please take my advice with that in mind, but....

Get off all of the drugs! Seriously, those are just creating havoc with your natural body chemistry. I am a huge believer that natural is better in almost every case.

Like you, I am a vegetarian. But I definitely eat my grains! WHOLE grains, only, of course. But those are so important. I do so in moderation, but it is neither healthy nor normal to cut out entire food groups.

And, as crazy as this may sound, it seems like you are being too restrictive with calories. For healthy weight loss, you want to be at 1200-1500 calories per day, given your height. Count calories...not carbs.

Also, don't worry about running pace. In fact, in terms of weight loss, you are far better off doing a combo of weight training with cardio. ANY cardio. Doesn't have to be running. What about the elliptical or the bike?

Eat less, move more. It really does work.

 

[ksoehrlein]

Hang in there, fellow height-challenged Judy! I don't have many words of wisdom for the weight-loss (think of all the money I could make if I had the answers for that!), but as a fairly new runner, here are my two cents about gradually working your way up to the Disney race pace.

I've been reading a lot about running lately, and one thing that's jumped out at me is that the rest periods are just as important to your training as the workouts. That's when the muscles rebuild and recover, and that's when they get stronger. The Couch to 5K program has you run/walking only 3 times a week, with one "off" day between runs and two days off at the end of each week. Those "off" days are great times to swim or do some light weight training if you don't want to rest altogether. I'm sure it seems counter-intuitive, but if you've been doing run/walk workouts every day, that might actually be hurting your progress.

Another thing that helped me to finish the C25K program was to not worry about the speed at first. If your pace switches from a walk to a run once the treadmill gets up to 3.5 MPH for example, then use that speed for your run intervals instead of trying to push it up past 4. It's still running as far as your body is concerned; it's only your brain that cares about the number on the display. The program is designed to get you running either 30 minutes at a time or running a full 5K each time. The two were mutually exclusive for me (and might always remain so), so I chose to focus on working up to the 30 minutes. It built my endurance enough so that now I can try to work on increasing my speed.

for not giving up despite your frustrations. It's great that your health has improved so much since adopting a healthier lifestyle. I truly admire you!

 

[lorasmom]

I'm also vertically challenged, 5'2", and would like to lose about 30 lbs. I'm training for the Disney half marathon in January, and am up to about a 15 minute mile, mixing jogging and walking .

For me, I can restrict what I eat and exercise my heart out, and not make a dent. The only thing I've found that REALLY works for me, is eating a healthy, well rounded diet - not counting calories, but really making sure I eat "clean" - and exercise.

DH, on the other hand, can cut out one of his many candybars a day and drop 5 lbs in a week.... Grr!!

 

[JudyS]

....

Hang in there, fellow height-challenged Judy! I don't have many words of wisdom for the weight-loss (think of all the money I could make if I had the answers for that!)...
for not giving up despite your frustrations. It's great that your health has improved so much since adopting a healthier lifestyle. I truly admire you!

Thanks very much, Ksoehrlein! It sounds like you are doing great in your fitness quest!

 

[JudyS]

Oh man. This is supposed to be a support board, but it seems that for people who are working and working at weight loss but can't get down to the normal range, many posters say things that are decidedly unsupportive.

There are many, many, many medical problems where people do "all the right things" and still don't get the outcome they wanted. In those cases, it is really not helpful to say, "You would have kept the cancer in remission if only you had done this; it worked great for me" or "You would be able to get pregnant if only you had a positive attitude." Such "advice" is especially unhelpful when the person requesting support specifically states that what they want is to hear from others having the same problem as them, and adds, "I have tried everything so please don't say that I must be doing something wrong", which is what I said before on this thread.

What is supportive is to say, "I'm sorry that things haven't worked out" and then add (if it fits the situation) "Keep up the good work trying!" Some of the posters here have done exactly that and for that, I am very grateful. To all the other people here who seem 100% convinced that I must be doing something wrong, let me tell you that I have already tried everything that you have suggested and it didn't work for me.

Actually I am a scientist, and if you don't have enough calories in your diet, your body will go into starvation mode. It will save up any extra calories it can, when you eat, because your body is unsure of when it will get calories again. After a long period of this, your body will actually raise its set point. I know you are very frustrated, but people are just trying to be nice and give you suggestions.

Oh, I agree 100% that sometimes the body will go into starvation mode, drop its body temperature, and conserve energy, making it impossible to lose weight. What I disagree with is the idea that eating more calories when you are in starvation mode will somehow take you out of starvation mode and enable you to lose weight. Instead, when people's bodies go into starvation mode (which is mostly triggered by how much weight a person has already lost, not by how many calories they are currently taking in) they simply can't lose any more weight without eating so little that they damage themselves, perhaps permanently.

When a person is in starvation mode and can't lose weight, adding more calories in makes them gain weight, not lose it. Basically, the existence of starvation mode means that people hit a plateau after a certain point; in many cases, this means the person can not safely lose any more weight through dieting even if they are still technically in the obese or overweight range.

I don't feel that telling me I need to change my diet constitutes being "trying to be nice to me", especially when I already said on this thread that I just wanted to hear from others who couldn't make Disney's pace requirement, and asked people not to suggest diet changes for me. I have tried many, many, many diets and what I am on now works great compared to all of the other approaches.

What I think would be nice is for people to accept the fact that some people are just naturally heavy and can not get down to a BMI of 25 or below, or even a BMI of 30 or below, through dieting and exercise. Even if you don't in fact believe this, I am asking you to consider, for just a minute, what it would be like if this were true: Suppose some people were just designed to be obese, no matter what diet or exercise plan they follow. If that were true, wouldn't it make life very difficult for those people if others refuse to accept that the obese person is in fact at the lowest reasonable weight for them, given their physiology? This is exactly what I believe our society does.

I am certainly not a medical doctor, so please take my advice with that in mind, but....

Get off all of the drugs! Seriously, those are just creating havoc with your natural body chemistry. I am a huge believer that natural is better in almost every case.

Like you, I am a vegetarian. But I definitely eat my grains! WHOLE grains, only, of course. But those are so important. I do so in moderation, but it is neither healthy nor normal to cut out entire food groups.

And, as crazy as this may sound, it seems like you are being too restrictive with calories. For healthy weight loss, you want to be at 1200-1500 calories per day, given your height. Count calories...not carbs.

Also, don't worry about running pace. In fact, in terms of weight loss, you are far better off doing a combo of weight training with cardio. ANY cardio. Doesn't have to be running. What about the elliptical or the bike?

Eat less, move more. It really does work.

You just gave me two contradictory pieces of advice in the same post! (See areas I highlighted in red.)

I'm not a medical doctor either, but I do have a PhD and am actively involved in obesity research. I have been published in the New England Journal of Medicine on the topic of obesity, in fact. I don't like to "toot my own horn" but since another person on this thread (not you, 3DisneyKids) states that s/he is a scientist, I guess I don't have much choice.

Back when I was doing things the natural way (including spending extended periods of time on both lacto-ovovegetarian and vegan diets with plenty of whole grains) I had terrible health problems. I had seriously out-of-control diabetes. I extremely tired all the time, sometimes sleeping for almost 24 hours straight. My cholesterol was high, even on the vegan diet, and my triglycerides were also elevated. Perhaps worst of all, my liver was seriously inflamed and my doctor was warning me that if things didn't change, I would need a liver transplant. This was even with a healthy lifestyle, following a natural diet of mostly vegetables, fruits, beans and whole grains, and exercising whenever my body could stand it.

Now, I feel better than I have in 25 years. Liver is fine, blood sugar is well-within normal values, cholesterol and triglycerides are great and I'm not on lipid-modifying drugs. So, I think that what I'm doing is in fact working, thanks, even if I'm still not thin.

As for the advice, "don't worry about running pace," my concern about my running pace has nothing to do with wanting to run faster to lose more weight. The problem is that I am a huge, huge Disney fan and feel really bad that I'm still not fast enough to run in the Disney events. I wanted to hear from other people who had the same problem. Instead, a lot of people insist on focusing on my weight and how they believe I could get it much lower.

.....I do believe that all individuals can lose weight if there is no medical reason holding them back. ....
I would encourage you to look into the podcast called Weightloss for the Mind, if you haven't already. They talk about how negativity can really impact your weight loss. If you go into weight loss already 'knowing' you aren't going to make the goal the chances of success are slim. It also talks about setting realist goes, not based off the charts.

Actually, most of the negativity I am feeling has to do with the unhelpful attitudes of many of the people who are supposed to be supporting me in this diet (both on this board at off), rather than from the diet itself. I was extremely optimistic when I started this diet 11 months ago. What has made me very frustrated and upset is primarily how other people's goals for me are unrealistic, although the hunger I have experienced doesn't help either.

I believe that I have, in fact, set an ambitious but realistic weight goal for myself: 40 pounds. I am currently only 2 pounds above this goal. (A few weeks ago, I did over 35 hours of exercise in a 16 day period and that seems to have put on some muscle, so I now need to lose a few more pounds to stay at lifetime in Weight Watchers.) But this still leaves me 60 pounds above what the height weight charts say I should be (I am 5'3", 198 pounds).

What I posted about on this thread was the fact that my height and weight has made it impossible for me to get my speed up to the minimum required for the Disney running events and said that I wanted to hear from people who are having the same problem, so I wouldn't feel like I was the only one. I did hear from some people having the same problem, which was great -- a huge "Thank you" to all of the other folks who posted about struggling to meet Disney's minimum speed! But, other people immediately assumed that if I would just do things differently, I would lose more weight and the problem would go away. They are the ones being unrealistic, not me.

As anyone can tell who looks at my clippie, I have lost at least 35 pounds. That is a lot of weight, far more than most people, even obese people, lose when dieting. In fact, in terms of "all individuals can lose weight if there is no medical reason holding them back", the research is that yes, most people can lose weight through diet and exercise (assuming that they aren't already eating right and exercising), but generally only 10% or so of their starting weight. Fortunately, losing 10% of one's starting weight and keeping it off causes dramatic improvements in health. Unfortunately, losing 10% of one's starting weight and keeping it off requires making a large and sustained effort in diet and exercise, which the vast majority of people either can't or won't do.

Perhaps even more unfortunately, when people do succeed at the difficult task of losing 10% of their starting weight, our society makes them believe that they are failures, unless they had only 10% to lose to begin with. Many people start off being far higher than that above the so-called "normal" weight level, so they still are technically overweight or obese even after successfully losing weight. When that happens, other people tell them they must be doing something wrong or must be not trying hard enough.

My personal belief is that it is this negativity from others that causes so many obese people give up dieting. Even when obese people work hard, lose around 10% of their starting weight and stay there and dramatically improve their health, people tell them they must be "doing it wrong" because otherwise they would be a size 6. So, even though the obese person is in fact very successful, and has lost as much weight as it is generally possible to lose and keep off, they become convinced that they need to try something else, give up on the techniques that have in fact worked for them, and gain the weight back.

I think I've exposed myself to enough negativity from others for the time being. Therefore, once I have finished posting today, I don't plan to post on this board, other than the exercise thread, until I hit the 1 year anniversary of my successful diet at the end of September. This is a shame, because I really love being able to share my expertise about metabolism, diabetes, and weight loss with other people, as I did recently on this thread: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1903828 I will still be willing to respond to PMs or emails from people who are also struggling with weight or diabetes.

 

[keenercam]

Well, I don't know if I have anything valuable to add but thought I'd share my very frustrating personal experience.
I am 5'1" and according to the charts should lose another 50 pounds, though I've already lost 70. My weight has been in a plateau for well over a year now, up and down within the same 5 pound range, which I am convinced is my body's perception of where it should be.

Here is my exercise plan:
Sunday -- rest except for 100-150 crunches & 125 pushups
Monday -- personal trainer session (1/2 hour weights) + 10 minutes core machines (ab, ab crunch & back extension); 100-150 crunches & 125 pushups
Tuesday-- run 2 miles; 100-150 crunches & 125 pushups
Wednesday -- personal trainer session (1/2 hour weights) + 10 minutes core machines (ab, ab crunch & back extension); 100-150 crunches & 125 pushups
Thursday -- run 2 miles; 100-150 crunches & 125 pushups
Friday -- rest except for 100-150 crunches & 125 pushups
Saturday -- run 3-4 miles (this will increase over the next couple of months as I train for my next half marathon); 100-150 crunches & 125 pushups

According to spark people (which I HIGHLY recommend, BTW), I was supposed to take in 1200-1550 calories a day. I stuck to that religiously and met every nutritional guideline for protein, carbs & fat intake, all without a single net pound lost in any given month (for over a year). Eventually, the website directed me to increase my calorie intake because I was burning a very high number of calories each week.

Have I mentioned I am doing weight watchers? I follow points religiously WHILE making sure the foods that made up those points met the sparkpeople guidelines. This past week I followed weight watchers core in the hopes that the high protein content might budge the scale -- I followed it to the "T". I lost .8 pounds at weigh in this morning, the same .8 I'd gained at last Thursday's weigh in. :

As you can imagine, my efforts to lose weight are frustrating beyond belief. My doctor, my personal trainer, my weight watchers leader AND the fitness director at my gym have all been at a complete loss as to why I am not losing. I journal every bite I eat. No exaggeration. I have a kitchen scale at home and have been seen weighing food on our postage scale at work.

I am convinced there is absolutely NO rhyme or reason to this game. In fact, my doctor told me last week I am one of his most fit patients. He said he wouldn't care if I never lost another pound as long as I stay as active and fit as I am now. BTW, my medical numbers -- BP, cholestrol, etc. were absolutely perfect last time they were checked. I had lab work done again last Friday and we are awaiting those results to make sure there is no physiological issue. As background, I was sick with a heart condition for almost 10 years and they used some drugs of "last resort", designed to provide some "quality of life" for my remaining, numbered days. After my cure with my 4th heart surgery in January 2005, I was able to go off every single drug and don't take anything anymore. But some of those drugs could cause long-term damage, so we still monitor certain body systems. None of that supposedly has anything to do at all with my weight loss efforts and lack of success.

All that being said. I'd really, really, really, desperately like to lose another 30 pounds. Why? Because of the way I perceive myself and the way I believe society perceives this short, round fat lady.

I share the struggles of so many here. I can only offer a hug and my empathy. My suggestion (and what I am TRYING to convince myself of)? Work to be fit. Not thin. We can't control what the numbers on the scale are, but we can work to improve our quality of life and our fitness levels.

Okay, sorry! Off my soapbox now. Thanks for making me understand I am not alone.

 

[DawnM]

I have just read through this thread and I am learning.

I am just under 5' tall and I have struggled most of my life. When I was at my thinnest was from some vigorous exercise daily and eating between 1000-1200 per day. I disagree with the higher calories for those of us who are shorter. I went up to 1500-1600 per day at the advice of some trainers (who were 5' 10") and I gained over 2 pounds per week. GRRR!!!

I am currently eating quite healty, cut out the sugar, flour, processed crud, and I am still not losing. It is very discouraging.

I need to step up the exercise.....it is hard with 3 kids around all the time and a DH who works very long hours. People say, "Oh, just do things with the kids, take a walk, play soccer in the backyard, etc...." That doesn't make it enough! I DO that already.

Some people just really struggle.

Dawn

 

[pixiedust23]

Oh man. This is supposed to be a support board, but it seems that for people who are working and working at weight loss but can't get down to the normal range, many posters say things that are decidedly unsupportive.



Oh, I agree 100% that sometimes the body will go into starvation mode, drop its body temperature, and conserve energy, making it impossible to lose weight. What I disagree with is the idea that eating more calories when you are in starvation mode will somehow take you out of starvation mode and enable you to lose weight. Instead, when people's bodies go into starvation mode (which is mostly triggered by how much weight a person has already lost, not by how many calories they are currently taking in) they simply can't lose any more weight without eating so little that they damage themselves, perhaps permanently.

When a person is in starvation mode and can't lose weight, adding more calories in makes them gain weight, not lose it. Basically, the existence of starvation mode means that people hit a plateau after a certain point; in many cases, this means the person can not safely lose any more weight through dieting even if they are still technically in the obese or overweight range.

As for your starvation mode beliefs, you are slightly mis-educated. If the body isn't getting in calories, it's not going to burn off the fat reserves that it has. Regardless of how much fat happens to be in that reserve, if the body can avoid it. So YES, you can LOSE weight by eating MORE if your calorie count is too low.

And as for you saying you want people to be supportive, many people are trying to help you as best they can, and you just seem to be very argumentative back. This thread is for petite people, who are looking for ways to help them lose weight. This is not a thread specifically designed to help individuals meet the pace requirement for a given race. Therefore, you should be expecting people to try to help you lose weight on this thread.

 

[anniet]

Yayyyy!!!! I'm soooo thrilled that I am not alone!!!

I recently saw a picture of myself at a wedding and I wanted to cry. I was with a group of gals that I work with and I was the shortest, widest one there. I'd love to start a weekly thread on Monday - I'm going away for the weekend and I have a lot to do before I leave tomorrow....but I'd love for us to have a Petite Support Group.

Maybe we could all list our heights and how much we want to lose and then support each other through it. I hear you my sisters on the ellipticals!!!!! I feel like my shoulders are in my ears when I hold onto the bars!

We can do this! When we all give and take support from each other nothing is impossible....

 

[3DisneyKids]

You just gave me two contradictory pieces of advice in the same post! (See areas I highlighted in red.)

I'm not a medical doctor either, but I do have a PhD and am actively involved in obesity research. I have been published in the New England Journal of Medicine on the topic of obesity, in fact. I don't like to "toot my own horn" but since another person on this thread (not you, 3DisneyKids) states that s/he is a scientist, I guess I don't have much choice.


As for the advice, "don't worry about running pace," my concern about my running pace has nothing to do with wanting to run faster to lose more weight. The problem is that I am a huge, huge Disney fan and feel really bad that I'm still not fast enough to run in the Disney events. I wanted to hear from other people who had the same problem. Instead, a lot of people insist on focusing on my weight and how they believe I could get it much lower.

You are right...when you look at it that way, I gave contradictory advice. My point in the post was just to throw some ideas out there that might be helpful. You stated that you have tried all of that and it didn't work. I apologize for contradicting myself, but I really was trying to be supportive.

You did not state what your Ph.D. is in; mine is in Behavioral Science. And I have some thoughts as to why you may not be having success, but I will only post those if you wish.

As for your running pace (which is why you started this thread, if I am correct)...well, there are lots of reasons people can run at a certain pace (whether that pace be super fast or slow) and length of inseam is really only a small part of the equation. I have many friends my in my height range and with a similar inseam (I am 5'2" with a 28.5-ish inseam)...and some of these women can RUN. I am talking sub-7s! And others are much slower. And everything in between.

Other factors can include...the angle from one's hip to knee, the angle from the knee to ankle, the width of your hips, structure of foot, etc. Lots of physiological factors. These are things you are born with. As for things that you CAN control...it could have to do with foot strike and/or gait.

Have you had a gait analysis done? That is where I would start. Do you have a running coach? When I started running, I contacted our local running shoe store and found that there was personal coaching available (and it was VERY reasonably priced) and this turned out to be a God-send for me! I was brand new to running, had a million questions, didn't know how to go about starting and setting myself up to succeed and not quit, etc. And he has answered all of my questions, made training schedules for me, given me lots of reading materials, etc.

Good luck and let us know how you make out.