@hcmcity Again, recomposition and eating at maintaince can only build so much muscle, she'd have to do it for at least 5 years or more to build enough muscle to even make a slight difference in her caloric expenditure daily. Her best bet is probably lose fat and then bulk to create enough muscle faster and then be able to maintain her weight at a higher calorie intake.
I guess I’d better get used to barely eating anything 🙄
- Thread starter nuke11
- Start date
-
- Tags
- petite fitness rant
@dawn16 I respectfully disagree. When I started my journey, I had absolutely no muscle and carried all my weight in my midsection, arms, and face with chicken legs. Basically unhappy in my body and looked like Mike Wazowski from Monsters, Inc.
I really hate dieting and felt overwhelmed restricting myself food wise, so I started off exercising 3-5x a week with strength training and spin class. Doing so completely changed my body for the better, I lost inches on my waist and gained muscle in my arms/legs without looking "bulky." All of those changes were not from weight loss per se but body composition changes. i think it's a fantastic place to start for any beginners starting in their journey.
I only now am working on diet because I saw those initial body composition gains and realized the diet changes I need to make to lose aren't drastic/too restrictive.
I really hate dieting and felt overwhelmed restricting myself food wise, so I started off exercising 3-5x a week with strength training and spin class. Doing so completely changed my body for the better, I lost inches on my waist and gained muscle in my arms/legs without looking "bulky." All of those changes were not from weight loss per se but body composition changes. i think it's a fantastic place to start for any beginners starting in their journey.
I only now am working on diet because I saw those initial body composition gains and realized the diet changes I need to make to lose aren't drastic/too restrictive.
@nuke11 Exercise can help build in some flexibility once you hit maintenance. When I was actively trying to lose last year, I never ate back my exercise calories because I wanted to expedite the weight loss process. But I’ve been in maintenance for nine months now and while my maintenance calorie number is super low like yours, I’ve found that I can easily eat 300-400 additional calories a day than that to make up for the calories burned during exercise (I’m a runner) and have remained consistent on the scale at my target weight for all of these months. That allows me to add in a treat or two every day, which makes everything much better!
@pixelsage Huh okay that’s so true! I have only been eating back half my exercise calories, if any. Nice to look forward to eating all of them 
@nuke11 I'm glad you posted this, because I'm finding the replies to this post really encouraging as a shorter woman who used to think I'd just have to resign myself to maintaining on 1400 calories when I reach my goal! At least for me, a lot of weight loss rhetoric I saw when starting out leaned hard in the direction of "it's all about diet, exercise hardly makes a difference!", neglecting the fact that for those of us who are shorter, exercise and building muscle can create some much-needed wiggle room. I want to eat enough to fuel my workouts so I can get strong!
Still losing weight, but I'm looking forward to putting on some muscle when I reach that part of my journey
Still losing weight, but I'm looking forward to putting on some muscle when I reach that part of my journey
@mattstarr Yes, same!! I’m glad this helped you. It definitely helped me too! I seriously thought I was resigned to just eat 1400 calories forever.
icashoutapp
New member
@nuke11 It depends on your activity level. I workout 4x a week and make sure I get enough steps in. When I’m doing 15k steps a day, I lose on like 1600-1700 per day and my maintenance is about 2100. When I’m sedentary, 1600-1700 is my maintenance and my deficit is around 1400. Eating high volume veggie and protein based meals helps tremendously when in a deficit for me. I’ve hit my goal weight. I’m between 115-119 (depending on water weight during the month), so I’m doing fine maintaining on 1600-1700 per day because I’m currently sedentary.
Your maintenance won’t be that much smaller once you lose weight especially if you workout. Plenty of us short women eat a good amount of calories and maintain in 2000-2100 calories.
Your maintenance won’t be that much smaller once you lose weight especially if you workout. Plenty of us short women eat a good amount of calories and maintain in 2000-2100 calories.
@icashoutapp Bless you for commenting this because this sub makes me feel nuts being 5’3 and maintaining on 2-2300.
icashoutapp
New member
reevanraja
New member
@dawn16 Dear commenter, I hope you read through the other comments on this post to know that this doesn’t have to be your fate! Other people have explained it well here already, but you truly can eat higher calories even as a short person, if you add in daily movement and resistance training, and prioritize protein. I’m losing fat/excess weight eating 1900 calories right now and I’m 5’1”.
bettybooplolly25
New member
paulbassett
New member
@bettybooplolly25 If you have the 647 hotdog buns near you, give them a shot! They're only 80 calories and DELICIOUS. My boyfriend even eats them and he's not dieting.
@paulbassett Oooh thank you!