Why is fat loss so hard for Petite Women?
As a petite woman you may be used to the feeling that losing weight or ‘toning up’ seems more challenging for you.
And there’s a good reason for this.
Larger bodies burn more calories at rest than smaller bodies. This is why men typically burn more calories than women, and taller women will burn more calories than smaller women.
This leaves petite, sedentary, women as the demographic burning the single lowest amount of calories per day.
But that’s not all…
A 5’2 woman is classed as ‘overweight’ at just 62kg. Meanwhile, a 5’6 woman at 62kg would be right in the middle of a healthy weight range.
So, not only will the taller woman’s calorie targets be higher due to her larger frame, but even higher still as she’ll only need to be eating to maintain weight, rather than trying to lose weight.
Being ‘overweight’ at ‘low body weights’ is uniquely an issue for petite women, which is why calorie calculators will so often come back with ridiculously low figures for weight loss.
This example shows how being sedentary magnifies this problem. The petite sedentary woman is maintaining weight eating less than 1500kcal per day.
In order to lose 0.5kg per week, calorie calculators would be recommending targets below 1000kcal per day (!)
These are the clients I am meeting regularly. Petite women exhausted by the impossible task of trying to lose weight on ridiculously low calorie intakes.
What to do about it?
This video takes you through the issues facing petite women and the methods I use to tackle these with my clients.
If you found this useful and want to know more, check out my online coaching page or drop me a message to arrange a discovery call.
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