The fallacy of “tall-people envy” from short people trying to lose weight.

On this sub and other weight loss communities, I keep on seeing time and time again of short women with low TDEEs complaining that they cannot lose as quickly as tall people, nor are they allowed to eat as much as tall people. Today, I will explain, as a short woman myself, why this discrepancy is actually not unfair.

Firstly, there is little use comparing your weight loss numerically by the pounds lost. Since shorter people are, well, short, 1 pound has little place to go and takes up more width than 1 pound on a taller person. Likewise, the opposite is true. When a short person loses 1 pound, it looks like a bigger loss than a 1 pound loss on a taller person. This is why short people should have smaller deficits, and why shorter people become obese at smaller weights. It’s because every pound matters more.

Just look at r/progresspics. A 20 pound weight loss on a shorter woman would be visually equivalent to a 40 pound weight loss on a taller woman (who started out similarly visually). Similarly, the same numeric weight loss is more visible on thinner people than fatter people.

Likewise, it is not unfair that shorter people have lower TDEEs than taller people and therefore should eat less. It is important to remove any preconceived notions of food, such as it being a treat, and treat food as it actually is: fuel. Food is technically supposed to just be fuel for your body to survive and function. A shorter person needs less fuel to survive as a taller person at the same BMI because they technically have less overall mass. This also means shorter people are also supposed to feel fuller on less food because your body should signal that it’s all the fuel it needs. Likely, if you are on this sub, there’s a high chance that you are overweight and messed up this hunger signal. Therefore, it may be hard at first to adjust to the amount of calories you actually need.

In conclusion, the same amount of pounds looks different on a shorter person vs a larger person, and shorter people need less fuel (food) to survive compared to a taller person.

submitted by /u/benkyoushitakunai
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