Tall women & weight loss

I just want to holla out to other tall women in the forum (I'm 5'11). Sometimes it's hard to keep a healthy perspective on weight since what is healthy for us (my healthy range is more like a man's- 170-180 lbs) is higher that what is healthy for shorter women who may be healthy at 130 or 140.   I just wanted to see if there were any other tall women working on their weight out there who can commiserate with me? Especially given the fact that I'm in the LA area and with all the wanna be models/actresses running around, it's hard to not absorb the lower is better mentality.  Can I get some love from my fellow amazons?

I don't know if I qualify as tall, but I'm 5'9". I do hear ya though. There's all this pressure to be like 110lbs and that just won't do for my height! I would look like walking death.

LOL- yeah I think 5'9 is pretty tall. I think average height for women in the US is about 5'5".  Depends on where you live- tall people tend to group together, kinda like trees :) Yeah, if you weight 110, you definitely would look like walking death. My mom who is naturally very slight (very very slender bone structure) is 5'7" and 115-120 and SHE looks obnoxiously skinny. (She's active and a vegetarian for 30 years). I have to keep reminding myself that although she might be ok at that weight (though I think she really should gain a little)- if I was any where close to it, I would be skeletal!

I totally agree. After losing a lot of weight, I get people asking me how much I weigh, and I feel huge saying '153', even though I think I'm a fine size now, even a little skinny.... It's hard for shorter women to relate to how big 5'11'' really is! I've always had a lot of really short friends (5'2'' short!) and it's hard for me to remember how much shorter they are when we talk about numbers (sizes and weights).

I totally feel ya. Im 5'9 and shooting for about 170. I have a large frame so I think that will do me fine. I feel kinda weid when someone asks me my goal weight and I tell em 170. MOst women wanna be like 130. No prob there but on a tall woman it will look kinda yucky.

 

What kind of calories are you ladies shooting for?

When I was losing, I was eating about 1800. Now more like 2400 (or maybe should be more, I've been eating that much but I think I'm still slowly losing, which I don't want to do)

I feel you - I'm 6'0". The "plus" side is that most people don't believe I weigh as much as I do (295 as of today)... the down side is that because of that sometimes I can convince myself that oh, I look ok... when I don't, and I'm not healthy. It also seems to take a lot longer to see any sort of change. :(

 

So, yeah - amazon love ahoy!

Yeah,  my shorter friends all celebrate a 2 lb loss and say they can feel the difference. I SWEAR I can't feel anything unless I loose 10lbs! I'm currently 232lbs.  I was in the 250 range a couple years ago, lost about 50, gained back 30 (sigh- lots of emotional stuff, job changes, etc) and now I am bound and determined to get to 180 and stay there and healthy from now on.  I gained back that 30lbs because I stopped exercising regularly, stopped paying attention to diet and started drinking more socially. (and it's expensive as hell! cutting back on going out/buying beer will also help save my wallet!)

Now I want to get back into control and  I am gearing for between 1500-1600 calories daily with a work out schedule that alters between long walks (3 hrs) or moderate eliptical work for 1 hr.  According to all the counters these activities burn about 800-1,000 calories.  I'd like to be in the neighborhood of 180lbs  by my 30th bday in October, so I am trying to achieve 1.5-2lbs of weight loss a week.  Does this sound pretty reasonable?  Like indiwarrior I've been able to convince myself that I am not that unhealthy because it's harder to see on my frame, but my knees creak and I remember how I felt at 200, and it was MUCH better than this.  (which would make all my short friends FREAK out- healthy (ier, anyway) at 200lb?? siiiiigh.

5' 10 here and started at 212 now at 204. I hide my weight really well but the scale doesn[t lie. I am shooting for 165 but I can't imagine what I would look like at 130-150. I think anorexic.  So yes, I can relate...when I tell people I want to loose 35 pds I DO NOT tell them what I started at or what 35 pds would bring me too. 165 still sounds heavy but I think I will look great at it. Don't get discouraged, we are big boned and would look paper thin at 130-150. Anyone ever go from 200 at 5' 10 to 150? Would love to see a before and after.

Original Post by nazrafel:

Yeah, my shorter friends all celebrate a 2 lb loss and say they can feel the difference. I SWEAR I can't feel anything unless I loose 10lbs! I'm currently 232lbs. I was in the 250 range a couple years ago, lost about 50, gained back 30 (sigh- lots of emotional stuff, job changes, etc) and now I am bound and determined to get to 180 and stay there and healthy from now on. I gained back that 30lbs because I stopped exercising regularly, stopped paying attention to diet and started drinking more socially. (and it's expensive as hell! cutting back on going out/buying beer will also help save my wallet!)

Now I want to get back into control and I am gearing for between 1500-1600 calories daily with a work out schedule that alters between long walks (3 hrs) or moderate eliptical work for 1 hr. According to all the counters these activities burn about 800-1,000 calories. I'd like to be in the neighborhood of 180lbs by my 30th bday in October, so I am trying to achieve 1.5-2lbs of weight loss a week. Does this sound pretty reasonable? Like indiwarrior I've been able to convince myself that I am not that unhealthy because it's harder to see on my frame, but my knees creak and I remember how I felt at 200, and it was MUCH better than this. (which would make all my short friends FREAK out- healthy (ier, anyway) at 200lb?? siiiiigh.

Yes, from what I understand 1.5-2 lbs per week is a reasonable goal. :) Good luck!!!

Original Post by mrdudek:

5' 10 here and started at 212 now at 204. I hide my weight really well but the scale doesn[t lie. I am shooting for 165 but I can't imagine what I would look like at 130-150. I think anorexic. So yes, I can relate...when I tell people I want to loose 35 pds I DO NOT tell them what I started at or what 35 pds would bring me too. 165 still sounds heavy but I think I will look great at it. Don't get discouraged, we are big boned and would look paper thin at 130-150. Anyone ever go from 200 at 5' 10 to 150? Would love to see a before and after.

For the record, I looked HOT at 200 and 6'0" and was in a size 14. My current goal is 170-180, but 150? No way. I would be skin and bones! Honestly, I may be happy once I reach 200, I was before. Or 195, because there's something so psychologically rewarding about that "1" in front of my number. :)

I'm 5'10" and currently weigh 220.  About a year ago I was down to 190.  Still felt way to big for my height.  Especially looking back at pictures. I weighed 150 out of high school and up until I had my first child.  I felt really good at that weight so that's what I'm shooting for.  I once dropped to 135 and everyone was constantly asking me what was wrong with me so that's obviously waaaay to thin!

Indi, me too! When i was 200, i went to a halloween party dressed as a vampire catholic school girl (don't ask :)) and I was beating guys off with a stick! It was AWESOME.  I was 180ish in high school and I thought i was SO fat back then- I was convinced i was just horribly obese and why bother with exercise/nutrition since i was just FAT. How sad is that?  I had no concept of BMI or body frame or what should be normal for my height, I thought all girls should be around 130ish. I remember in statistics class (happened to be all girls) we had to all enter our weights on the chart...there was this big cluster around 120-135 and then there was this lonely outlier waaaaay out near 200. THAT was a real confidence builder!)   Now I look at my pictures and realise that I was healthy, just bigger than the cheerleaders.  So I figure 180 is good place to land (after all, at 10 years out from graduation, most of those cheerleaders don't weigh what they did in high school anyhow. :) ) 

Mrdudek-I did have a friend who was about 5'10" and she went from 180 to 155 and she was SKINNY. I mean model skinny. I don't have a pic for you, but if your frame is slender, you would be healthy. If your frame is larger (i hear measuring your wrist is a good indicator, if the circumference is 6.5 inches or more you have a large frame- but check that) you might actually be TOO skinny.  check up on that.

hello there :)

im loving these tall people posts!

Im 5'9.6 and looking to get to 150lbs. It is strange to put things into perspective when the majority of people are on here saying "omg.. im 150, im HUUUUGE" lol.

Im currently 163, down from 219.

Hey I am an Amazon too. I know it does sound wierd when people say "I weigh 165 and I look ..." I wanna laugh but then I remember ... oh yeah I am like 6" taller than these people. Jef your before and after pics rock. I cant wait to post mine on this site.  My goal is 170, with 10 pound mini goals. I will hit 10 pounds before this month is up. Oh yeah. (2 to go) I really enjoyed this post and I want to add you guys to my buddy list...us amazonians need to stick together.

 

I'm loving this thread! I can totally relate! I was just thinking yesterday how odd it sounded for me to "want" to get to 175. There are so many people on here who are 175 and can't wait to be 125 or whatever. Today I am 239.5 at 5'9.8 and 175 sounds amazing!

this is a great forum!  i'm 5'10" and currently 234 pounds (lost 4 pounds this past week).  i'm aiming for "1"99!!  someone else mentioned my exact sentiments ... i want to see the "1" as the first number.  i was 195 8 years ago and wore the same size i did when i weighted 175 pounds (12/14) because i was exercising 5/6 days a week for 1.5/2.0 hours.  unfortunately, i've since moved to another state and commute 2 hours each way to get to work, so that type of workout just isn't possible for me anymore ... hence my weight gain (along with a lot of emotional eating that i'm getting a handle on).  its great to communicate with ladies who are in the same boat i'm in when it comes to self image, 'others' images of us, etc.   i want to encourage all of you to stay in tune with your bodies and be/do what is best for YOU ... not what anyone else thinks is best for you!

Nazrafel you are cracking me UP! We could be twins, lol.

 

I went through a goth phase (closer to "office-punk" now I guess) so I'm certainly not one to raise an eyebrow at vampire catholic schoolgirls. But yeah, I thought I was a WHALE when I was 165 in High School doing karate and semi-professional kickboxing four-five times a week. Now I look back and think what the heck was wrong with me?!

I am 5'9 1/2" and 213 lbs. i would love to lose 30 or 40 lbs. I've always been on the bigger side. am really starting to get tired of my husband saying he likes "chunky girls". when the heck did I get "chunky"? I think I'm in denial. my husband is 1/2 an inch taller and 10 lbs less than me....but I think he looks way good. and I look like a muffin....after two kids I have no clue where my body went and if I will ever see my abs again...

O Im sooo loving this thread.......lets keep it going ladies! I love meeting other TALL women!

I'm loving this thread too.  I'm 5'9" 236 lbs right now.  My goal is 170.  I was 150 in college, but was so skinny so I will be happy at 170.  That puts me in a size 8 and 10.   Most of my friends are under 5'5" so they look at me like I've lost my mind if I mention 170 as a goal; most of them are under 130 lbs and think they are fat.  I just tell them I'm trying to lose and leave the numbers out of it these days...