AIBU to wonder if the recommended 2000 calories a day for women is too much?

[VenetiaLanyon]

I'm of an average build and height and exercise regularly, but would definitely put weight on if I ate this much every day. Anyone else?

I work out everyday. Lots of out put, not much input.
If I ate 2000 Calories a day I would put on weight.
I am 45, & have noticed the older I get the harder it is to maintain my weight.
I do think our bodies get used to how much/little we consume. So if you have never eastern a huge amount just a small change in food can make a big difference

Eaten not Eastern

According to this Basal Metabolic Rate calculator if I were in a coma I would burn nearly 1500 calories.

Erik you are mostly making sense, but as far as I know the rule is that you should not eat less than your BMR, rather than not eating less than an arbitrary number.

Apparently I burn around 1400 a day according to some fitness thing I did once. I should try and burn more but - you know........

Same fitness thing suggested I wasn't able to get optimal nutrition from just 1400 per day so I'm stuffed really.

Shirley had a thread

so now the penny's dropped as to how I gained 20lbs when eating 1700 cals a day

seriously though I'd rather be obese than live the miserable life of being on 1300 a day

I want to enjoy life!

BMR is very important when working out how many Calories a person should eat to: maintain weight; gain weight & of course lose weight.

A person's BMR is worked out on age, weight, exercise level & other factors entered into a formula; then the resulting BMR is matched to the ideal Calorie intake for that person.

I have heard that from NHS Dieticians; & well qualified Personal Trainers at the gym; & other sources.

I think that the Calorie Count of 2000 cals per day for a woman was based on women who did hard physical 40s-style housework all day; or worked in a manual job & walked everywhere.

The BMR is a good starting point & i'm finding it interesting to work out how to eat the most tasty, nutritious & filling food while not going over my BMR for the day... it's definitely a challenge

I think 1100 is used as a minimum because very small women might be tempted to seriously undereat, since their rate of loss will be pretty slow. It's not a magic number, it's a safety net I suppose. I don't think it's completely arbitrary but of course it's an average.

I worked out I need about 2200 a day to maintain my weight. (About 9 stone 10), but I walk miles a day and have no car.
There is not much point in counting calories if you want to lose weight though. Just eat large amounts of veggies, enough lean protein, and lay off the biscuits a bit. If your jeans are getting a bit tight, cut back a bit, rather than buying bigger jeans.

If I ate 1100 a day I would pass out!

I have a friend who is a bit overweight, her husband is very overweight, and her kids are getting that way.
Everyone in my very large family eats like a horse, and loves their grub, but are all fairly athletic and slim.
In her family food has always been an ishoo.
I really think that it is attitude to food that counts. You can love food, eat it, but not be obsessed by it, or you can count calories, think about it all the time, and end up fat.
Not that I think being a bit fat is bad-you can be quite fat and healthy, and health is what matters.
If you concentrate on eating well, and being healthy, you will not get fat.

I do think that this would be worthwhile starting a Mumsnet campaign to change the guidance, in a society which is suffering from an obesity problem - what do you think? MNHQ have said that they would consider it if the idea gains traction.

I'd be keen on that. Have been reading this with interest, as another smallish person who finds it hard to lose weight.

I think the problem is that a small amount of information can be worse than no information at all. This 2000 may be the guidelines for an average woman, but it makes no sense unless we know what that means. Do they mean average height? Average age? Average weight/size? (because that's quite high IIRC) Daily activity? Exercise levels?

It might actually be better to have the nutrition information on food packaging, but no mention of what the daily requirements are. "Please note that daily calorie requirements for individuals are highly variable" (or something) would be more accurate.

Carpe, I agree, but perhaps a range would be good? e.g. 1200 for small, older person, no exercise, up to 2000 for younger, bigger exercising person? Am clearly making numbers up...

Very surprised to read all the posts from people saying they'd be obese on 2000 calories a day. I'm 5'4", quite small boned and very lazy but my weight drops if I consume between 1800-2000 a day. I'm not slim though - am a topshop size 14 - so maybe my metabolism is higher because of that. Although having said that, I always lost weight on 2000 calories even when I was two stone lighter than I am now.

Am sure I can't be the only one.

I eat between 700-1000 calories a day.
No exercise (apart from carrying a chubby 10 month old) and no special diet- just no proper meals and little interest in food.

Dominodonkey, I hear you.

I can eat 2000 cals a day and not gain. I can eat a bit more than that actually and still maintain my weight. Thank the Lod I am tall. I would find it impossible to live longterm on 1200-1700 cals a day.

After reading the previously mentioned thread about eating your BMR (up there), I have done a small experiment. I had previously used MFP, it told me, as it tells most people, to eat 1200 cals a day, I did this, felt thoroughly miserable and deprived, as am greedy, and eventually came off the wagon and put it all back on. Have started again, and set MFP to 1500 (approx my BMR when I punch all my stats in). 3 weeks in and I have lost more or less exactly the same amount of weight as before, and feel really positive, as it allows for a bit more real life and pleasure. I'm not ready to give up either. I really think that your metabolism fights against going too low, I have thought for years, the less I eat the better it is, but its just not true..

Yes it might be too high unless you are very tall or very active.

But also you might want to maintain a weight towards the lower end of the healthy BMI but 2000 calories might be the amount to maintain a weight at the higher end of the healthy BMI.....

Just wondering if people who can quite the amount of calories they eat a day do a lot of cooking from scratch? If so, how do you deal with accounting for oil for frying an onion etc? Do you weigh all your veggies out? Doesn't that become really laborious?

Well done olivia :)

And you are not "greedy".

Bump - anyone else think that calorie guidance is potentially misleading, and should be changed?

What should the guidance ideally be in your opinion, SeventhEverything?