'How Much Should Tall Girls Eat?' | Busting Tall Girl Health Misconceptions ft. Registered Dietitian Denvyr

Good morning everybody. You are currently listening to a tall Girls podcast hosted by a tall girl named India. I hope everyone who is tuning in today is doing super fantastic. I am joined by a very very special guest with us today. Her name is Denver. Hi, Denver, Hello, thank you for having me. Of course, how are you doing today? We're good. We are in South Florida. It's sunny. I can't complain because I know it's winter for a majority of people. So we're having a good day. Yeah, I mean, while appear it's snowing, you're just living delights over there. But you know what, it's fine, It's okay, we'll get there one day. You're gonna have a white Christmas though, so little jealousy, I. Don't know, because the snow wasn't even sticking, so it's just like wet and soggy outside without any actual snow. So what it's supposed to be in the twenties next week, so we'll see how that goes. Yeah, the best. So please please just take a second to introduce yourself to the audio. Yes, so my name is Denver, like the city, and I'm a registered dietitian. I'm a sports nutritionist and a strength and conditioning specialist. So I'm also a former athlete, and a lot of my struggles came from that, which I'm sure we'll get into. But I'm five to eleven, and so recently I have been working more with tall women because a lot of my struggles came from that, and I just think a lot of tall women don't know that we have unique struggles when it comes to food and our bodies and fitness. So yeah, so that's a little bit about me. Yes, Oh my gosh. I love that. And I love the fact that you're like part of the short tall girl crew over here because it's like, I feel like a lot of times there are a lot of people in here that are, you know, over six feet. It's nice to have that representation of us five ten, five eleven girlies. You know. So you did mention that you were a tall girl five eleven. I want to hear about your experiences growing up as a tall girl, the good, the bad, the ugly. What was it like for you? Okay, So I was thinking about this, and the good part about being tall is I think it gave me an edge in volleyball. So I grew up playing volleyball, and so I was an outside hitter for anyone listening who knows volleyball, and so being tall at that age, you know, I could reach over the net. Uh. That was basically the main benefit. So that I liked how it gave me an edge because I chose to play volleyball, and so I liked that benefit. But some of the issues with being tall were that I felt a need to shrink myself from a really young age. So around thirteen fourteen is when it started, and I started. I started cutting calories. I started paying attention to, oh, to shrink myself, to make my body smaller, I need to reduce my food, right. And I think a lot of that pressure came from well diet culture, and that was super intense. In the early two thousands. I was watching shows like America's Next Top Model. Oh gosh, that's that issue, yes. And with Tyra Banks literally talking to these girls. They would come up and get critiqued and she's saying that they're too big, too big at one hundred and fifty pounds. And here I am, I'm like thirteen years old, already above that, and it just it. I had this It seemed like there was this universal message of okay, if you're tall, if you're tall and thin, you're admired and you're encouraged to model. But it's like, at what point are you too big where you're then considered kind of a monster to society. So that was always the fear in the back of my head, and it was easy for my brain to wrap around this idea of Okay, you're tall, so try to shrink yourself to be as small as possible and then you'll be okay. Right. So I had that idea in the back of my head, and like I said, I started cutting calories at thirteen, fourteen years old. The issue is that I was not eating enough, right. I was a growing teenager, plus I was an athlete, and so my cravings were out of control, Like was hungry twenty four to seven. But in my eyes, I thought that was a bad thing because I was like, okay, well, like I need to strict my shrink myself and cut calories. So I kept doing that, and what would happen is I would feel so hungry and ravenous by the end of the day that I would start binging on jars of peanut butter and cookie dough in the freezer, and it became this vicious cycle because then once I would overeat the next day, I would feel really guilty and be like, okay, now I need to you know, I need to burn all these calories off. I need to restrict my food again. And so it was really this vicious cycle. Plus all the all the pressures that athletes have to like look good in your uniform and volleyball flaers we wear these tiny shorts and it's you're really revealed. So it was just all this you know, a perfect storm of all these insecurities that made me try to shrink and restrict my restrict my food. So anyway, so I went. I went through that binge restrict cycle for until I was in college. And I played volleyball in college, so that just really it continued, and it really didn't. I didn't start to see the light and I didn't start to uh know, how to really fuel my tall body until I finished my volleyball career. So it was yeah, yeah, so not not that long ago. And of course that's when I became a registered dietitian and I learned, okay, this is how much fuel tall girls need, Like we do have these unique differences. So that's yeah, So that's a little bit about there. There are some good parts, but I think being tall, it's easy to get wrapped up in this idea that we need to shrink ourselves. Yeah, that is very true, and that was also pretty heavy. So I do want to thank you for sharing that with us because I know that that time well, I mean, I don't know wholeheartedly, but it wasn't easy to share with other people as what I'm trying to say, So I just wanted to thank you for that. And as you mentioned before, like as a former, as both a former athlete and a dietician, how do you can you like speak a little bit about how being tall can affect a woman's fitness and nutritional needs compared to others. Yeah, of course, so being tall, we are bigger women, and it's not it's not a bad thing like we kind of view from society. And so, for one, our nutrition needs are different when you are a bigger person because of our height, we require more food. And so if we are constantly comparing ourselves to these little fitness influencers on Instagram and TikTok and all of these, what I eat in a day videos. If we're constantly comparing ourselves to that and thinking, oh, if I eat like her, I'm going to look like her, it's not gonna work out. We're going to keep getting these crazy cravings and we're not going to feel our best. We're going to feel slow, we're going to feel unenergized, and ultimately we're just we're not going to be at the best place where we want to be with our bodies. So we need more food. What I can say is, if you're over five to eight, your basil metabolic grade, which is the bare minimum amount of calorie someone needs, even if you were to just lay in bed all day, Like even if you are just sleeping all day, you still need food. You still need energy, and that's called your BMR. So if you're over five eight, which I mean most of your listeners are probably taller than that, but I would say, like that's the bare minimum of tall you need at least fifteen hundred calories at least. And that's the bare minimum, right, that's not even considering if you wake up and you go brush your teeth, and you make breakfast, and you go for a walk and you get in the car, and you're going to work and you're doing all these things and exercising, like all of that needs even more energy. So really we're talking about probably over even over two thousand calories, and for a lot of athletes out there, over three thousand calories is normal, is normal. And I know for myself, I never believed that. It was really hard to trust that I needed that much food because I was constantly comparing myself and I was like, there's no way, right, there's no way. I'm looking at these people who I want, who I admire and that I want to look like, and they're eating like seventeen hundred calories eighteen hundred calories, and so in my eyes, I thought I needed to eat that much when really I needed a lot lot more. So our nutrition needs are different. I would also say, because we need more food, we need to be more strategic with the types of foods that we eat, or else will be hungry all day long. So a lot of tall girls, they I feel like, some tall girls think that oh I can just get away with eating whatever I want because for a lot of tall women, they can maintain like a lower weight or thinner body pretty easily. But just because you can eat whatever you want and you're in a thin body doesn't mean that you're you're optimally healthy, and it doesn't mean that you're gonna feel your best because if we're just eating like snack foods all day long, you're gonna feel energy crash is your mood is going to fluctuate, and that doesn't make you feel so good. So paying attention to the right foods, things like protein really important to have at each meal, Things like fiber. So fiber is a carbohydrate, but it isn't digested. So fiber is in your like whole grains, it's in your vegetables, it's in your fruits, it's in seeds, nuts, a lot of plant foods, so including lots of those, and including healthy fats things like avocado and dairy and you know all these things. So really being intentional about not just eating enough calories overall, but the types of calories that you're eating so that you're not hungry all day long. Like there's nothing worse than just thinking about food all day and it's and it comes that comes from not eating enough of the right foods. So there's that I would say also on the fitness side of things we have long limbs. We all have long limbs, and yeah, and that means that exercises can look a lot different for us. So if we're comparing again ourselves to smaller fitness people and you know videos that we're seeing, we can get the wrong idea and thinking that, oh there's something wrong with my squat or oh there's something wrong with my deadlift, when really we just have longer limbs and it's okay for it to look a little bit different. So those things are are different for tall women. Also, sometimes feeling the right muscle can be challenging because our limbs are so long. So for example, if I'm doing a bicep curl it like sometimes I'll try to shorten the range of motion to feel that muscle because so like our levers right getting into some of this are longer, and so if we shorten some of the movements, we're able to engage the muscle better, Versus if you're shorter, that naturally just happens because you have shorter limbs. So there's certain things that we can do to feel the muscles better. And if you're feeling your muscles and engaging your muscles better, then you're going to build muscle more effectively. So building muscle can be harder for us because it's harder to feel the right muscles, it's harder to eat enough protein, it's harder to do all of these things. One other thing that so I was doing an exercise this week. I was on the floor doing these leg raises for my abska and it just got me thinking, I'm like it, this is so much harder for us because our legs are so long and heavy, yes and heavy, Oh my gosh, so we really, yeah, we really have to uh try. And so I was thinking, Okay, what would I tell, you know, a fellow tall girl who is struggling to feel this exercise? And you really have to like learn to use your glutes to like anchor you down. You really have to learn to like tighten your core almost like a zipper, uh so that you can you're able to move your legs because they are they're they're heavy, and they're you know, it's it's a big part of your body. So yeah, there's just there's so many things. And that was just one example that I came up with because I you know, I struggled with it the other day. But there's also just certain exercises that work better for tall girls, and so just having that awareness is really helpful too. Yeah, that was honestly very important. Thank you so much for that, because I don't know, like I just like going on the point of you said, like these fitness influencers and so forth, because when you're looking at a phone screen, looking at a computer, looking at an iPad, it's kind of hard to judge how tall these people are. And it's like you see so many of them, you think that that's just the standard, and I mean, I guess you could say it is the standard, but it's the standard for the standard height. We're not part of that standard height. And that kind of just stresses the importance of having to follow people who are similar to you, who have similar body types to you, even similar heights to you, and then even something as simple as you know, the exercises, because that was also brought up in another episode with the pilates instructor Debbie. Oh my gosh, this is like the second time this and another upside that I brought her up. But she was also even talking about how she was doing CrossFit and one of the trainers is telling her that she needs to get lower, but because she was following the same form as the other people who are shorter than her, it felt like it was impossible, but she had to widen her stance in order to squat down lower. So, you know, it really just shows the importance that, you know, we have to like educate ourselves on things specifically for our body and not rely on others who are shorter who have different body types in us, or even somebody who we don't know fully know their physical situation. That sounds so weird, but. You know, I get what you mean. Yeah. The other thing too is our posture. Yeah, tall girls listening, like like check your posture. When you hear this, you're gonna be like, okay, let me stand them sit up straighter. That's an issue too. That so I've been posting a little bit on my Instagram like the tall girl protocol. Oh yeah, I recall that before this recording on your story. Yeah, because we're always like I know, for myself, I have a desk job, so I'm always kind of hunched over, and I also know that when I'm around shorter people or just in like you know, a social setting, I have to watch myself because I'll tend to be like a little hunched over to try to you know, it's it's harder to hear shorter people or like, you know, what'd you say? So, yeah, so even the posture thing is is different for tall girls too. Yeah, that's very, very true. And I know you spoke about this a little bit in the previous question, but are you able to just like share I would say, to two ish two or three ish common misconceptions about like fitness and nutrition for tall women. And that kind of leads into the next question of like tips to navigate that and honestly just staying healthy overall and staying energized. And I think that something that we can also potentially address is the way situation as you were talking about earlier. So I did this in another episode about how tall girls just overall way more than somebody who would have a similar body type to them around the same age and so forth. So yeah, let's just start out with two or three common misconceptions about you know, fitness, health nutrition for tall girls, and like some tips to navigate that. Yes, perfect, So I mean right away, starting off with the thing that you just said, the weight for tall girls, that that is such a It's such a big thing and takes takes some mental work to wrap your head around and really accept that, Okay, weight doesn't define me. It's okay. If my weight is heavier than other people around me, it's okay. If I weigh just as much as my boyfriend or brother or other men like that, that is a huge thing. And I know myself, even when I was in college and I was like, I would say more accepting of the fact that, Okay, I'm tall, I have muscle. That means that I'm gonna be heavier than you know, shorter people and my I don't know how this came up, but for some reason, my neighbor, who was baseball player, found out what my weight was, and so he I don't I can't remember. I can't remember. I think it was because we had a project or something we were both studying, and so I think that's maybe how it came up. But so he announced it to everyone who was in my living room at the time, which I think were other athletes and whatever. So he was like, wow, he's like you a I think I we like one hundred and sixty five at the time, which now I weigh more. But regardless so he's like, wow, you weigh one hundred and sixty five pounds. He's like, you weigh as much as me. And I was bortified. I was like, what, why would you say that? And it was it was so embarrassing to. Get that so out of pocket. So yeah, so I was I was really I was really embarrassed. But now I would say to my past self, you know, it's it's okay. Weight really doesn't mean a whole lot. I say this to my own clients. We a lot of the times won't even track weight. Even if I have a client who is working on losing some body fat or some body composition goals. A lot of times I'm like, hey, let's just put the scale away because it can mess with their heads so much. And it doesn't matter because as long as you are doing the habits that you're supposed to. So, for example, with my clients, we focus on strength training trying to put on muscle. Like putting on muscle is such a valuable thing. It sets us up for health for the rest of our lives. And so if we're focused on that and we're building muscle, you could very much like be building muscle losing body fat at the same time and stay the same weight, and that is a good thing, Like that is an amazing thing. So weight really doesn't mean all that much, especially for tall girls, because we tend to shy away from muscle. I feel like because we're scared to be bigger than we already are. And so I feel like for a lot of tall women, their automatic goal is, oh, I need to be thinner, like I need to lose weight. But if we would just drop the weight and what that means to us, if we start training intentionally strength training, trying to invest in muscle, and we start eating enough of the right foods, you're going to for one, be healthier and two you're gonna like the way that you look even more because people say, oh, I want to be like toned and athletic and whatnot. And it's like, okay, that comes from building muscle, Like you need muscle, and so that's such a positive goal to have. So all in all, it's like, let's let's shy away from weight. Weight doesn't mean anything, even according to BMI, right, you can you can be so healthy, you can be so athletic, you can you can be an overweight BMI and and still be a tremendous like tall girl and whatever you know in your body. It just weight doesn't correlate with health exactly. So that's what I would say about weight. It's okay if you weigh over one hundred and fifty pounds, it's okay if it's like many tall girls weigh over two hundred pounds and are still very healthy. So it's just it's so individual. And I think that even like working with someone to try to get some of these kinks out about the leaves of our weight in our bodies can be really helpful, So I would say that. I would also say that, so I kind of touched on this, but there's this misconception that strength training will make us bulky uh or will just make us feel too big and too much like a monster uh or not feminine, right, And that's a big misconception because, like I said, you need muscle. If the goal is to build your best body, which means like just being healthy, it's okay to also like build a body that you like the way that it looks, and also realizing that your habits need to be healthy too. So yeah, so lifting heavy weights are not going to make you like build tons and tons of muscle, right, It's it's hard for tall girls already to build muscle. So by focusing on lifting heavier, you'll actually, like you, you will gain so much confidence from that, and you'll also get all these all these amazing benefits. So it's not something that we have to shy away from. I mean, we can get into this whole other conversation about like why we fear being bulky and just all of the all of those like words that we use. But that's what I would say for now. It's don't be scared to get bulky. You're not going to even like get bulky if you think that's a bad thing. Uh, And lifting weights can be a really really positive thing for your confidence, I would say, in your health. Of course. That was really insightful. Honestly, especially with the whole thing about weight. I think it's very important to remind ourselves that weighing more is actually like we're supposed to weigh more to exist. Thank you for that. And you know you did touch on the and the last part a little bit about confidence, So that kind of brings us to our last question. What is one piece of advice that you want to get to the tall girls listening right now who are struggling with their self esteem because of their height. Yes, so I like to say that being tall and the fact that the fact that we do take up space is a superpower. And the reason that I say that is because if we are more noticeable and if we are getting attention like that allows us to make so much more impact in the world. So for you, for example, you're tall, you're more noticed when you're out in public, and because of that, that can spark up more conversations and then you're then able to share the word about your podcast and the things that you're doing your life and the impact that you want to leave. So I've really retrained my brain to think that way too, because just like you, I'm on a mission too to not only help the tall girls feel amazing and build their best bodies and confidence, but also all women too. So I think if we can lean into the fact that standing standing out is a really positive thing, and if you have a mission, I mean we all have missions, but it just we have to find what that is, it can it can be such a positive thing if we lean into that. That was so nice, Thank you so much for that. So basically all in all, don't just take up space, take up more space exactly. Yes, thank you so much for that, Denver. This was honestly a great episode, very insightful. I feel like I learned a lot. I learned more than I ever did in my one semester of nutrition. Yeah. Good good, maybe because it was tailored more so towards me and my body. But please, exactly where where can we find you on the interweb? Like socials, website anything like where can we find you? Okay, the interweb? So I'm on Instagram, Tall Girl Nutritionist, I'm on TikTok. I'm also on YouTube, so I have a lot of long form videos. If you like the type of content that I shared here, you can dive into that. And yeah, if you want to work with me, you can just send me a DM on Instagram and I'll be happy to chat with you. Yeah. Of course everything is going to be linked in the description, so it's super easy for you guys to check it out. And of course I'll take this time to plug myself out a Tall Girls podcast. Search that everywhere, like you could put me in and Google. Google knows me by now, so I should come up first results Harriet, but yeah, all of my stuff is going to be linked in the disc And thank you again so so much, Denver for you know, coming onto this podcast and sharing your knowledge and expertise in the nutrition and fitness world, especially for tall women. Oh my gosh, anytime India. Thank you so much for having me yay. And of course, if you guys have any other questions or promis for Denver, please hit her up. Please don't hit me up. I know absolutely nothing about this. I graduate a business degree. Let's keep that in mind and until then, I will catch you guys in the next one. Good night and goodbye.