Isn't it time we stopped saying 200/2500 calories a day?

[hidinginthenightgarden]

This is what the NHS website says.
"Within a healthy, balanced diet, a man needs around 10,500kJ (2,500kcal) a day to maintain his weight. For a woman, that figure is around 8,400kJ (2,000kcal) a day.
These values can vary depending on age, metabolism and levels of physical activity, among other things."

People will look at that and think they can have 2000 calories a day, more if they exercise a lot. But that isn't the case.
Shouldn't it say around 1500 calories (for women) but varies with age, activity levels etc? That way people will eat up to 2000 calories when doing exercise not when sat on their arse?

2000/2500 is taught at a young age but the "this varies depending on exercise" bit isn't! I teach maths and one of the exam papers even has a task where you work out what 1 third of your 2000 calories is and pick meal from a fast food menu to "fit in with your recommended calories".

I just think it would help with the obesity levels to re-educate people and this is probably a good place to start.

I am 5'2", am middle aged, have a fairly sedentary job but do exercise every day. At 2000 calories I maintain my (healthy) weight. I suspect most people underestimate their food consumption. Either that or I move a lot more than I think I do.

Surely anyone keen enough on monitoring their food to count calories would notice weight creeping on and adjust accordingly, if the target were wrong for them.

I don't think the obesity crisis is caused by people following the NHS rough guideline of 2000 calories to the letter

Totally agree, I’m 5 ft 4.5 and am sedentary. If I ate 1200 cals per day I would probably lose half a lb a week. To definitely lose 1-2 lbs I would have to eat 800 cals per day. If I ate 2000 I would be very overweight in a very short time. The current guidelines need a complete overhaul .

Why? You are using them as intended - adjusting for your lifestyle (sedentary) and your knowledge of your personal metabolism. The 2000 is not an aim for everyone, it's a rough guide and clearly sedentary women need fewer calories.

Maybe the NHS should put the TDEE calculator on their website so everyone would then know their own particular calorie requirements and also educate people on portion control, one persons serving size can vary massively from what a serving size is on the packet.

I'm short and fairly active so can maintain on 1800-2000 depending on my exercise level. I can burn more than that but that's balanced by more sedentary days.

Someone who is unfit and sedentary will have the disadvantage of lower activity level and reduced muscle tone which requires more energy for sustainance.

Given the numbers of sedentary people, it probably would be worth reducing and giving a range. More active people are probably more in tune with their needs and intake anyway.

I don't think most people are counting calories and I think another part of the issue for NHS is that they need to consider not just the energy requirements in calories but nutritional needs. It's quite difficult to get all your nutritional needs met on 1200 (or lower which I commonly see recommended for some diets) with a good wide and varied diet as recommended.

Many people when they try to calorie count to lose weight or eat healthily typically don't calculate their basal metabolic rate or total daily energy expenditure or consider their baseline nutrition needs, they just take a chunk off of the standard or have one of the fitness sites calculate it, many of which don't consider nutritional needs but just calories. Maybe the range might be a better approach but if people cut down from 1500 like we currently see often done from 2000, there would be risks there as well and I would guess there is a mix of cost-benefit analysis going on with recommendations as they are and trying to find a balance which is difficult across a population with widely different needs.

I was going to say exactly what NoThisIsPatrick said. I think you are wildly overestimating the number of people who have any idea what calories they take on board each day.

I feel very sad that you say I am trying to teach my kids from a very young age and it is really hard. I get them to check sugar in sweets and consider what they have eaten already when they ask for snacks etc.. To my mind this is just setting up to have issues around food for their adult lives.
I have no idea what calories there are in any particular food, and have always managed to eat fairly healthily.

I agree with DryIce and others - that if you were worrying about your weight / food consumption to such an extent that you were going to the trouble of counting calories, then you would reduce the intake if you weren't losing weight, or were gaining weight on your original 'allowance'.

Agree with Backforgood about giving your kids food issues! I cannot understand why we drum it into people to be so preoccupied with food in general.

666 is the number of the feast, OP.

I haven’t a clue how I would even go about calculating how many calories I eat in a day.

How do you do that?

I eat food, whatever food I fancy, less if I start to feel sluggish or like I’m putting on weight. I move as much as I can, pretty much. That’s it. 2000, 1500, means nothing to me.

I was going to say exactly what Chankly said.
If you’re tracking calories, you’re doing it for a purpose. I don’t think ‘most’ people track or have any idea what calories are in their food.
I know of my clothes are feeling tight I need to eat less and get off my arse more. Basic common sense really. All this calorie counting is fine and dandy if that’s what you’re in to but really, look at yourself naked in the mirror. If you’re fat, you need to eat less than you currently are.

Oh, and watch what you say to your dc about food. It’s not healthy for children to be worrying about calories. I’d go so far as to say they shouldn’t even know about calories. I cringe whenever anyone mentions diets/calories/burning off lbs etc around my teenage daughters.

My niece was round today and after eating her roast asked if we were going for a walk to burn off our dinner. Sad. But her mum is totally obsessed in a very unhealthy way about food and controlling every mouthful of food that goes into hers and her children’s mouths. My niece is 8

I don't know anyone who counts calories. Where do you even start? Do you weigh your food? Google every bite you eat to find out what the calorie content is? I honestly don't think it's very common.

Really? I think most women who have or are struggling with weight loss will have done this at some point.

Don't people just eat a bit less of everything, especially sugar, fat etc?

It feels like a challenge, not a limit when you say 2000. I think people subconsciously aim for 2000.

For many it's simply too much.

No, gameofscones.

The diet industry is worth billions, all based on how to effectively cut calories by counting them.

I mean, I know some people do calorie count, but I just think it's not really that common. Most people couldn't tell you how many calories that eat in a day.

Not most people most of the time, but I bet most women who have or are struggling with their weight will have done this at some point. Apps like MyFitnessPal exist to let you do this more quickly.

I also think that we’re not as sedentary as we think we are. I have a desk job and if I put “sedentary” into a TDEE calculator my TDEE would come up as about 1700 a day. The reality is that I burn about 2000 a day (according to Apple Watch) because I don’t sit on my bum all day. A PT once told me is that most of us who class ourselves as sedentary are actually lightly active and that affects your TDEE. So it may be that 2000 is actually about right for maintenance.

I also agree with other PPs that we hugely underestimate portion size and calorific value of food and the likes of slimming world and weight watchers don’t help with their convoluted points systems and concepts of “free” food. I have been calorie counting for several months now and understand that I have been over eating for years, even whilst I was doing slimming world. My weight is finally starting to come down.

I've been trying to get a definite statistic (my work). Seems like occupational activity might be about 30% of physical activity (UK).

Feels like OP is overestimating importance of NHS guidelines. I would bet money that if you polled 100 people only about 33% would be aware of the guidelines that NHS state (may having never seen the NHS statement, but heard the numbers elsewhere), and maybe 33% (not at all the same 33%) would have some idea what their own calorie intake is.

I think it's time people started using their common sense rather than relying on government type guidelines to run their lives.

Why would people be listening to the calories you can consume, but not the activity levels you need to do? The advice goes together, if you reduced the calories, but listened to the activity levels you'd eat too little.

Most people just completely ignore all the advice anyway.

2000 is maintenance for me. 1500 i would end up emaciated.

Ahhhhhhh if I eat 2000 calories of whole foods, fruit veg rice pasta and absolutely no meat and dairy I lose weight the exact same rate I lose eating 1200 calories of meat and dairy etc.
I always wondered why but there’s a doctor called DR Bernard and he says “the fat you eat is the fat you wear” and I think you can eat as much of the plant based foods as you like.
I’d rather eat less of stuff I do like though. So I ignore that.