To think that women don't actually need 2000kcal a day

I used to think I definitely needed 2000cals a day but given that I have a gallbladder full of stones and eating anything other than salad leaves and fruit makes me physically ill for 48hrs I am willing to concede that I was wrong. On the plus side, 16kg lost.

But if it says 'women leading an average lifestyle require 2000 calories a day' then many will require less, especially those who are less active and smaller than average.

If you're short, light and inactive, it's not hard to work out that you'll need less than someone who's taller and more active/trains, so the guidance doesn't need changing, people just need to read and understand what it says.

The TDEE calculator linked above tells me I need over 2200 calories to maintain my weight and that's as someone who's 52, moderately active (varied job, some office, some walking/carrying things), 5'7 and 12 stone so overweight. So if I could stick to as little as 2000 calories a day, I'd lose weight.

5”8, 9 stone, 27. If I were to eat 2000 calories a day I’d balloon.
I do have Pcos though so the weight creeps up easily (I used to be obese). I probably eat around 1400/500 to maintain. I walk a lot but no exercise. If I eat late or night or meals consisting of rice/pasta, I also gain.

If I was active all day like that I still don't think I would be able to eat that much and not gain weight. I'm the same height as you and walk 10,000 steps per day, plus my job involves a lot of running up and down flights of stairs all day. I am still overweight.

Exercise burns hardly any calories, height is the biggest advantage.

Given the average height is only 5'4', I think 2000 cals is wildly off.

My three year I don’t have to run after but my 20 month old is a different story, she is impressively fast and a very skilled climber. She require some running from me when she is on her bike on we are near open water.
That said I don’t really take not of calories just eat three meals a day and try to make them balanced and eat too much chocolate when running low on sleep. My BMI is around 20.

I log everything and count my cals properly. I'm loosing 1lbs a week on between 1500-1600 cals. I spend my calories wisely so not filling up on poor quality foods and I never eat low fat or diet foods.

I'm not very active at the moment due to injury but when I wear my watch I still do 6-10k steps daily.

Are you weighting and counting everything?

I’m an average height mid fifties with desk job.

TDDE calculator thinks I need 1,556 maintenance.

I work out nearly every day, mostly 30-40 minutes functional and strength with cardio at weekends. Plus a minimum walk of 3k per day.

My fitness trackers, averaged over a number of years tell me my actual maintenance calorie requirement is 1,211 calories. I burn another (averaged) of 421 calories.

An extra 400 calories per day and my weight would go up quite rapidly.

I disagree with the previous poster who said it didn’t matter what calories were made up from. We know that how foods affect our blood sugar will affect whether our body chooses to store excess as fat. It’s why low glycaemic load foodstuffs are always the better option when balancing our food /diet. Exercise and diet will also affect whether the body uses fat or lean muscle for fuel when eating in calorie deficit.

You are absolutely right - we only need to go to a vintage shop and try their dresses or coats on to realise we ate ourselves into totally different species, the ones you know, women's strappy sexy sandals, size 8 and 3XL blouses. All our doing, you are spot on.

I'm 6ft 2 and do need about that

It's been the recommendation for decades. Most of us need less because life has changed since this was calculated, but the amount each individual needs to maintain their weight depends upon so many variables. If I ate 2000 calories a day I would gain weight hand over fist and none of my clothes would fit me 14,000-16,000 is it for me . Wish it was more. .

I love an apt username

There’s a huge grey area though isn’t there

pre vs post menopausal
tall vs short
active vs inactive

Mine are all adults now! But I survived many such moments (as did they, but only just...)

My relative is late thirties. She has never been more than 8 stone as an adult. She eats things like burgers and cooked food from a deli almost every day, but she only eats once a day, bar the odd chocolate bar or biscuit or packet of crisps when she feels weak.
She doesn’t really exercise although she walks a fair bit. She smokes cigarettes and weed, and binge drinks. Occasionally does harder drugs.
She has thyroid problems, high blood pressure and last year she got a clot on her brain.
Technically she probably eats more or less the recommended calories per day and is a “healthy” weight.
That kind of advice is a rough guideline. You have to use common sense and see what works for you personally.

I always thought the 2000 calories is based on a less automated life. People having to hand wash laundry, use carpet sweepers instead of a vacuum, walking to shops, school etc. Similarly, the average of 2500 for men, when more people had manual labouring jobs.

As a 'teeny tiny' (5'2", and small framed), middle aged woman, with a desk based job, I can only fantasise about being able to eat that much.

When I exercised, I could eat what I liked really.

The people I know who restrict a lot and eat very little are underweight but they prefer it that way. I can eat 2000 cals but am in the "normal" category.

Also it depends on your current weight. If you are overweight then you are using more calories just existing than someone with a normal BMI.

Yes. This the bi-weekly competitive undereating martyrs.

Calories are calories. You could eat a regular diet of Big Macs for tea and so long as you were in a calorie deficit you would lose weight. If you ate lettuce all day every day and consumed 2500 calories - assuming that was in excess of the amount of calories burned then you would put weight on.

Most women should need that but the reality is that we just aren’t active enough anymore.

I definitely know some women who need to eat that and more because of their genetics or because they do a lot of exercise and need to fuel their bodies properly.

I probably did until my 40's now I need less. I feel full sooner and although my activity levels are similar I am probably have about 1800, bmi 23.6

Totally depends on the individual. I’ve barely done any exercise this week and my average daily calorie burn is 2003 calories per day. On a normal week I’d have run at least 20 miles, walked more and been to the gym more. My daily calorie burn usually averages at least 2300 over a week.