To think 2000 calories a day really isn't very much

[Drqedwa]

I was sat in a restaurant today and noticed almost all the dishes were around 500-800 calories for the salad and low calorie options. The normal dishes (pasta, grilled dishes) were around 1000 calories. This wasn't a greasy take away but a Greek restaurant which uses only fresh ingredients.

I eat healthily but I eat more than 2000 calories a day. I maintain a healthy weight which may be due to the fact I'm fairly active and the calories I eat are from healthy food.

I can easily see how do many people are overweight as it's very easy to go over the 2000 calories mark.

A bowl of porridge with fruit, rice salad, protein bar and banana and for dinner lamb roast dinner and I'm already over the 2000 mark. That's not factoring in the lattes I had or the flapjack after dinner!

I would be so hungry if I reduced how much I eat. How do people manage to routinely eat less than 2000 calories? For me to achieve that I would have to record everything I eat.

Obviously I'm a healthy weight so I'm doing just fine. But AIBU to think 2000 calories a day really isn't much and we've lost sight of what a normal days worth of food looks like?

I've always had a small appetite even as a kid. But 40 years ago no one really cared about calories unless dieting, and as long as you were eating and not loosing/gaining weight nothing got scrutinised. Oh and of course no hospitalisations, passing out etc.

I'm not a fan of nuts or dried food.
I sound picky but I'm not lol.
I eat most meat, some fish, some seafood, fresh fruits and veg.

Yes, I have eaten a banana today. But there will be some assumptions that I woke up at 7 this morning, as this also seems to be the norm. As anyone who wakes after 10 is lazy lol.

I honestly eat like this and yesterday every day. Like I said I have never had a big appetite. I eat when I am hungry and eat what I feel like eating at the time.
Oh and since the banana, I have had some toast.

Calcium, as I said I like veg. You don't have to have dairy to get calcium. If you did vegans would be calcium deficient. (i went vegan for about a month, but missed meat and fish)

And thanks for the kendal mint cake. Have got some coming from amazon with my next delivery. Although hope it isn't as sweet as the Scottish tablet, didn't like that.

Mary I don’t think that’s correct. Are you sure you are looking at TDEE and not BMR?

I’m 5ft3 and weigh 7st 9 and my TDEE is just over 1400 set on sedentary.

If I recalculate my figures based on a height of 5ft 2 it’s 1395.

Mary I’ve just calculated your TDEE on your stats. On sedentary your TDEE is 1622 and your BMR is 1352.

You don't have to have dairy to get calcium. If you did vegans would be calcium deficient.

Some of them are. Healthy vegans take care to consume fortified dairy substitutes, calcium rich veg, and calcium tablets.

Source: I am a vegan. I also chart what I eat using websites. I have never had a day when I consumed enough daily calcium from just vegetables alone. It always needs soya milk on top.

I'm sure my diet is nowhere near perfect when it comes to vitamins and minerals - now that I'm going through menopause I take supplements containing calcium, magnesium and zinc as I've no idea if I eat enough. Vitamin D and iron too. It's tricky, especially when you hate cooking and like quite boring plain food and it is all a bit of a minefield. I don't want to become obsessed with food and diet which is why I ditched the fitbit and food apps, and would prefer to continue having an imperfect diet but not thinking about it much.

I stand corrected on the calcium. I thought it would be enough with calcium rich veg. I will look more into ensuring I have enough.

I know it might be hard to believe probably in the same way I cannot believe people eating in excess of 2000 calories a day. But it’s how I eat.

To quote the NHS:

"Good sources of calcium for vegans include:
fortified, unsweetened soya, rice and oat drinks
calcium-set tofu
sesame seeds and tahini
pulses
brown and white bread (in the UK, calcium is added to white and brown flour by law)
dried fruit, such as raisins, prunes, figs and dried apricots"

www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Vegetarianhealth/Pages/Vegandiets.aspx

Actually, that means tahini would be doubly good for your situation- it's also calorie dense.

Do you know, I've been dieting, dieting for about 15 years. When i had a high, high pressure job in my 20s/30s I was thin. Rarely hungry.

Since Jan having climbed greasy pole again I have been working at full pelt, not thinking about food.

Put old jeans on today. Feel loose.

I know it might be hard to believe probably in the same way I cannot believe people eating in excess of 2000 calories a day

See this is where I struggle with what you're saying, you must know the overwhelming majority of people eat way more than you and 2000 calories is fairly normal.

You must eat with other people, at work, family, friends? So why do you not believe people eat more than 2000 a day? Unless you live a totally isolated life, it would be obvious to you, are you totally isolated?

oh, i like tahini and I do eat pulses.
Just looked at another favourite meal of mine. 210 calories ffs. Its a vegetarian minestrone soup. I thought that would be more because of the pasta.
I'm going to stop looking its depressing. Not because I have an ED or something, because meals I like that I thought had more have nothing calorie wise in them.

Springtrolls - apologies if you've already said this upthread (or of course if you don't want to say!) but - are you underweight?

I believe you when you say that you don't think you have an eating disorder but, even though your mindset and motivation in eating isn't disordered, your intake is not dissimilar to what many anorectics eat on a daily basis. If you never eat more than this, I just find it hard to get my head round the fact that you can be healthy.

And (I know this is my issue) - it makes me feel justified in eating under 1200. In fact, to be totally honest, it makes me feel greedy. If healthy people live well and maintain their weight on the same as I eat to maintain a very underweight bmi then it starts making me feel I need to restrict further (which is of course wrong because I lose more weight and end up in hospital).

Everyone online is responsible only for themselves of course. And, if you are healthy and normal weight, then you're totally entitled to post your diet as an example of normal. But, if you're actually underweight yourself, then I don't think it's really on to pass it off as healthy and say 2000 is unreasonable.

manic If it helps cancel it out, at BMI 24-26, I eat 1500-1750 to lose further weight.

it makes me feel justified in eating under 1200. In fact, to be totally honest, it makes me feel greedy

This is my worry, that posting that eating 1200 calories a day is just too much food and not achievable and eating 2000 is simply unbelievable is like something you would expect to see posted on a pro ana board.

Yy.

i'm finding 1200 okay and it's what i need to lose the weight I want to. I wouldn't consider it sustainable in the very long term though. I need about 1700 plus for maintenance, I am looking forward to being able to be a bit less rigid. I'm 5 weeks in on 1200 and it does become a bit tedious and there are things I am starting to miss. I have about a stone and a half to go to be just above mid healthy bmi and my holidays to look forward to so I will persevere.

kitty
1600 is a decent amount for anyone.
BOLLOCKS
Everybody has a different TDEE
each person should eat the right amount FOR THEM

According to fitbit I burn between 2000-3500 per day (obviously depending on how active I've been)

Quite sure I eat more than 2000 calories per day but haven't recorded what I eat on mfp for a while. When I wanted to lose weight it recommended I eat 1650 cals, I did find it hard and found myself hungry all the time.

Who must be massive?

Some worrying posts on here.

Funnily enough I have been thinking about this recently. We use gusto and their meals are frequently 800-900 calories. So that’s dinner- it doesn’t leave much for other meals. The thing is it’s fairly standard food, so I do wonder if others eat dinners of a similar calorie content and don’t realise? (Gusto publish the calories on each recipe card)

According to fitbit I burn between 2000-3500 per day
Highly unlikely unless you are an athlete in training

Calories definitely aren’t all the same. If you eat 3000 calories a day of foods high in saturated fats and sugar, you will almost definitely become overweight. However if you eat 3000 calories of healthy food, you will most likely maintain a healthy weight. Your body breaks down fruit sugars (unrefined) differently to refined chemical sugar from chocolate and cake. Exercise also plays a major part because you could eat more than 2000 calories a day and burn, say, 500 of those a day through exercise and still maintain a healthy weight.

People aren’t overweight because they’re eating 2000 calories a day of fruit, vegetables and salmon. They’re overweight because they don’t exercise and eat over 2000 calories a day of junk food (or a combo of healthy and junk).

However if you eat 3000 calories of healthy food, you will most likely maintain a healthy weight.
BOLLOCKS
If you eat more than your body needs
you will get FAT

However if you eat 3000 calories of healthy food, you will most likely maintain a healthy weight.

Utter rubbish.

If I ate 2000 calories a day I would gain weight, guaranteed. That’s despite being 5’7 and average build, active lifestyle and regular exercise. My TDEE is about 1900.
My Fitbit claims I use 2500 to 3000 calories a day.

2000 calories of junk food is ridiculously easy to eat, especially if like me you have a sweet tooth. I currently do a low carb/high fat diet and the high fat foods certainly stack up the calories- the difference is that i find it’s harder to eat 2000 calories of high fat foods, which helps to curb how much I eat!