If you are a little person how does that affect you on gaining weight? What about the serving sizes on food labels?
I know this wonderful, sweet girl who is small in statue. In other words, she is short, even shorter than myself, and I am approximately 5’2 AND 3/4 of an inch! (I always add in the ¾ but honesty, I’m not sure about that. Not sure even where I got that. I guess from being measured somewhere, but I’m sure I was s-t-r-e-c-h-i-n-g for that one!) She is 4 foot something. She wears the cutest shoes that boost her up 2-3-4 inches, and I know what she is doing cuz I do it myself. That little boost makes us feel taller and when we are taller we feel leaner!
Anyway, she told me that to loose weight she has always had to work very hard exercising and had to cut her calories very low, somewhere between 500 to 800, For her to have such a low base for calories, you know she has a slow metabolism. My first training client years ago was a close friend and she also had an extremely slow metabolism. I remember working her out hard, watching her food intake, and it was about a month before we started seeing results.
When you look at food labels, it will give you the serving size and the amount of calories and nutrition. However, (and this amazes me) it never gives you who that serving size is for. Is it for a 200 pound muscle man? Is it for a 7 year old child? How about a bed ridden person? A marathon runner who trains hours a week? How in the world can we count on the label for the proper amount of a serving size? We can’t. However, we can use those serving sizes to determine how much calories we need as an individual to maintain, loose, or gain weight. Let’s say for one week you keep your activity the same as normal. You use the measurements on the food labels exactly by measuring out your food and writing down the calories you consume a day. By the end of the week you should get a pretty good idea of how much calories you need to loose, gain, or maintain. Now, just because we are little and have a slow metabolism, does this mean we have a smaller appetite? No! We can overeat and stretch our stomachs so that we could out eat our friend who never gains an ounce! This is where shrinking your stomach by cutting down portions comes into play.
The next time you sit down with a friend or loved one to a meal, and see that they can eat far more food than you and not gain an ounce, don’t get frustrated. Just learn to know and except your body. Food is pleasurable. Its main purpose is meant to give you energy to work and play. Remember, calories in must be calories burned to keep yourself feeling good at a healthy body weight.
Laurie Jones offers in home personal training. 530-370-8228
Lauriesimplyfit.com
