Important information for shorties (5'3

Some background information before I go into the important part, but BEAR with me, because what I'm going to tell you is IMPORTANT: I'm 5'1", started at 227 lbs., had Open proximal RNY on 7/7/03, and have lost close to 80 lbs. (ok, it's 78 lbs., but 80 sounds so much better!). My weight loss has been pretty darn slow, and I have been told by some post-ops that it's because I didn't "embrace" exercise fully or consistently, and if I had been "walking" the whole time or doing other consistent exercise, I would have been at my goal by now. Meanwhile, I've read umpteen posts about others who have lost over 100 lbs. with NO exercise at all much quicker than I have, and have been wondering WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME? WHAT AM I DOING WRONG? WHAT COULD I DO DIFFERENTLY? <b>Do these questions sound familiar to you at all? If so, read on!</b><br> <br> Don't get me wrong - I'm properly grateful that I have lost the weight I have, but the past 15 - 20 lbs. have been a LOT of work on my part, and not much to do with the surgery (since I don't dump). Suffice it to say that for the past 6 weeks, I have WORKED MY A$$ OFF at the gym with both intense weight lifting (4X per week), vigorous aerobics (elliptical trainer w/resistance 5-7X per week), and volleyball (once per week), and have lost just <b><u>3 lbs. for my herculean effort.</b></u> <br> <br> Being somewhat despondent at my slow weight loss, I finally made an appointment with my doctor's nutritionist to talk about my diet, get my body fat percentage measured (using a bioelectric impedience machine), and get my Resting Metabolic Rate ("RMR") tested. I figured since the scale wasn't really moving, I could at least find out if all the time at the gym had really done anything for me. I was happy to find out that my body fat percentage is actually within the "normal" range, even though I'm still 3 points above the normal range with regards to my BMI! Me - normal?! This made me happy. Then I got my RMR measured. RMR is the amount of calories your body needs just to maintain life, without getting out of bed or doing any exercise. They measure it by having you breath into a machine for 10 minutes, and the machine takes readings of your oxygen output, etc, then plugs the data into an equation, which yields a measurement. While you can plug your vital statistics into calculators online, nothing else will give you a TRUE measurement of <b>your</b> unique RMR then this device. When the test was over, we found my RMR was incredibly low - only 1200 calories a day. This means that if I eat over 1200 cals a day, I will not lose weight. She said she'd only seen one other woman who tested lower then me, and she was 4'11". <b><u>She further confirmed my suspicion that height <i>does</i> make a big difference in terms of weight loss (i.e., shorter women have a lower caloric intake for their bodily needs/processes).</b></u> Most people 5'2" and up can take in upwards of 1600-1700 per day and still lose weight. She said the meausurement seemed really low, especially since I'd been working out as much as i had (as documented by the body-fat measurement), but when I told her that i'm hypothyroid, she said that low thyroid function definitely could make a difference, but the fact that I take medication *should* offset that. <b>She said there was also a possiblity I hadn't been eating enough calories on a daily basis, and my body had become much more efficient with the decreased calories, much the way people who exist in a state of chronic calorie-restriction (i.e. third world countries) are able to subsist.</b><br> <br> All of this information meant to me the following: I either a) need to have my thyroid medication dosage increased, b) eat more calories, or c) a combination of both. However, the good news is one's RMR <b>can</b> change with (in my case) an increase in calories (for others, maybe by decreasing their calories), an increase in lean muscle mass (which I will continue to increase), and by proper regulation of thyroid hormone. Sorry for the long post, but I really thought this important information should be shared, and <b>I strongly suggest you get your RMR tested if you're having trouble losing weight or seem to plateau a lot.</b> Many health clubs offer this service, and it averages around $30 - $40 per session. Good luck to everyone! (Open PROXIMAL Rny, 7/7/03, 227/149/127)

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