4'11 and Overweight

I honestly need to lose weight. I am under 5' and 127 lbs (for someone my height, that is a lot). Please do any big "losers" have any tips or tricks for me? ...I'm desperate. I want my constant ridicule to cease.

Eat healthy, count your intake, don't have too low deficit, excercise. Focus on complex carbs, good fats, protein. Mind your fibre, drink lots of water.

Simple. Perhaps not easy, but simple.

bella, I am 4'11, and so have the same height impaired problem you have.

I'm also 59 years old, so have gained some experience with this whole dieting dilemma. 

I suggest you choose your goal weight -- I chose 109 -- and then calculate what your calories can be to maintain the goal weight, and so so for the sedentary and light activity levels. 

For example, at the goal weight of 109, and my age of 59, my range is 1350-1550 calories per day.  I have adopted that as my calorie intake. 

Yours will be slightly higher, depending how young you are, because our metabolisms slow a bit as we age.  And if you are a teenager, it might be quite a bit higher, because teens have more caloric needs.  You can go to this site http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/  to calculate your BMR.  Then take that BMR times 1.2 to get your sedentary value, and take the BMR times 1.375 to get the light activity value.

What will happen is that you will lose at a slower rate, but in the meantime you will be creating the lifestyle of eating habits that you will need to maintain that ideal weight the rest of your life.

Also, it will give your body a chance to choose its set point, instead of fixing an arbitrary point.

Another in the meantime -- if you are currently sedentary, get some light activity into your life.  Dr. Oz preaches that walking 10,000 steps a day and doing 30 minutes of aerobics a week, and doing 30 minutes of strength training a week, is sufficient for good health.  I agree.  

The other thing I suggest is that, in planning what you will have for your calorie range, that you visit mypyramid.gov to see what is in the food pyramid, and you can plug in your stats and it will tell you how much of each food group you need, and give you a list of foods and how much of that food is a serving.  Then you can plan healthy, nutritious meals that you enjoy.  Enjoying the food we eat is a big part of the success of any plan.

Good luck with whatever plan you decide to follow . . .

I am 4'11 also but I feel great at my weight of 128. I do want to get to 125 or maybe a pound of two lighter but nothing under 120. I think it is the way that you are built. I need to tone up and as I do that I may weigh less or I might even gain because of the muscle weight dont fret because you can do it. Dont be deperate because you can do it. I know you can. You CAN DO IT huggers for us short ladies but cute aren't we...giggles

Hm, I'm 5"2 so not quite as petite as you but I was 154 pounds at one point which is a LOT for my height and I'm now 137 so I guess we're kinda in the same situation if we put the different heights into comparison.

Well green tea is a natural apetitte suppresant and it spikes your metabolism. I swear by it and drink 3-4 cups a day. Water also, is an apetitte supressant and do you know that sometimes you think that you're hungry when you're actually thirsty? A lot of people have that problem.

If you feel 'hungry' have something to drink and then if you still feel the same eat something.

Eat when you're hungry and stop when you're full - listen to your tummy. Sometimes, especially in restaurants and infront of family, we feel obliged to eat everything which is on our plates. Don't feel obliged - just stop when you're full.

Eat healthy foods - a healthy balance of fruit, vegetables, complex carbs and protein and also exercise. On average we need about 30 minutes of cardio a day - join that with some muscle and toning and exercises and you will burn fat.

Simple maths really ... you have to burn more than what you eat to lose weight. So if you go down lets say, 250 calories a day and burn 250 calories more, you will lose weight steadily.  

I'm 4'11 and 119.8.  I originally had a weight goal of 115 but have adjusted it to 112.  I agree with you that it seems really hard to lose weight being under 5'.  I was 117.8 last week and now due to TTOM, I am back up to 119.8.  Aarrgh.   

Anyway, I've been trying to add in more cardio; I think exercise at least 5 days per week is key for weight loss.  Strength training is helpful too.

When I was in my 20's, I was more active and weighed 95-98 pounds.  This was a healthy weight for me because I have a small frame.  Now that I'm 36, I just want to get to a healthy weight that will be reasonable for me to maintain by losing 8 pounds of fat without losing muscle mass.

Also try watching your calorie count.  You will probably have to stay near 1200 in order to lose.  Good luck!