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 think one of the main issues is a lot of people just aren't used to feeling hungry, so eat at the first stomach rumblings. I think learning that actually it's not that bad to be hungry for a few hours is well worth it.

I had a burger the other day that was 6500 kJ I think around 1500 calories. It wasn’t big, fist size chicken patty bun smaller then a typical bread roll but had masses of calories in the mayos, relishes ect. If the calories weren’t listed most people wouldn’t think they were eating that much.

Size can be really misleading.

It was nice to have it listed though, because instead of having what I’d planned for dinner I adjusted my meal.

"I think one of the main issues is a lot of people just aren't used to feeling hungry, so eat at the first stomach rumblings. I think learning that actually it's not that bad to be hungry for a few hours is well worth it."

I don't mind my stomach rumbling, but other people seem to. It's treated as an embarrassing thing that you shouldn't do.

I don't know. I've seen young men in my work devour two currys on their lunch break. Another one have a full portion of macaroni cheese, a burger with chips and onion rings and maybe a side of chicken wings. I do think where do they put it??

They're not over weight. What they were eating was a lot of calories in one sitting. If I ate that on a regular basis I would put on weight quite rapidly. I am overweight myself, but I don't think, as far as I am aware eat as much as that. Even over the course of two days.

FWIW I used to count calories when I was younger and knew how many calories were in most things. And I was skinner then too.

Was that including chips etc Not? The highest calorie burger from McDs is about half of that (with bacon, cheese and sauces).

I wish more restaurants put the calories on the menu. Spoons do it and it’s so useful. My husband eats around 3000 calories a day, I eat around 1700 but we both work out a lot.

I don't think proplis comment is necessarily that far wrong.

I do have anorexia and comments like this:

I struggle with 1200 calories. Today I have had just over 860 calories and I cannot eat anymore. This was a good day and I've eaten 3 meals

either make no sense or ring huge alarm bells.

Eating 700 - 999 (couldn't possibly hit four figures of course [eyeroll] ) has landed me in hospital with a bmi under 15 three times. Eating 1000-1150 just about keeps me stable-ish with a bmi of 17. I'm also only 5ft 1 so practically all adults are bigger than me. I cannot fathom how it is possible to eat under 1000 calories consistently and e a) satisfied and b) healthy unless you have an eating disorder.

Eating below 1000 is just as worrisome as eating 3000+.

I agree that 2000 isn't a massive amount at all. And it's very normal. It's horrifying how abnormal the 'normal' diets listed on here are when compared to the guidelines given in hospitals and by nutritionists for weight maintenance diets.

I just don't understand it.

manic I agree. I’m a recovering from bulimia and its shocking what people think is a healthy diet on this forum.

@whatsthecomingoverthehill. It was a chain cafe type so real chicken breast, but crumbled and deep fried, siracha mayo plus another condiment. I think there was cheese and bacon and a few other bits and pieces and less then a handful of chips. It was nice though worth the calories

whatsthecomingoverthehill Including chips and sometimes having something later on. Not everyone does this, but it's just a general observation that I've noticed in my work. I don't know what their eating habits are outside of work, but what they have eaten at the time in my opinion has gone way over the 2,000 calorie mark by 2pm.

NotUmbongoUnchained

Haha you're allowed to judge. It's awful.

manicinsomniac

Thanks for highlighting that. If you eat consistently under your tdee even by a couple of hundred cals you will continue to lose. Most ppl don't become underweight because of eating over tdee on some days or the restriction kicking in leading to binging/relapsing the diet. But over months/years 1200 is low restriction.

If I have an eating disorder then it's unknown.
Today I ate
Breakfast 2 pieces of wholemeal toast with some butter
Lunch Beef and horseradish sandwich from coop
Dinner Homemade beef stew. Although more veg in than beef

Drink - water.

If I had gone Starbucks and had a coffee I could have added a couple of hundred more calories and gone over 1200.

The calories were counted for me on fitness tracker.

Tomorow I could easily have
Toast and the same sandwich and go spoons and have five bean chilli with rice and tortilla chips. Total is 914 calories. Which still allows for snacks and is high in carbs.

Hence the struggle to reach 1200 calories.

whatsthecomingoverthehill Sorry just realised your question wasn't aimed at me. My point still stands though

Whenever I read these threads I wonder if everyone else is counting the cooking oil, etc. when they count their calories? Because I find it very hard to make a home-cooked meal for some of the calorie totals people are talking about. My food doesn't seem to be particularly greasy, but it makes me wonder whether I'm adding an unreasonable amount of oil? I actually do find that ready meals tend to be lower calorie than my home cooked versions (but obviously less healthy in other ways - sugar, salt, etc.) if I tot up all the calories, including oil as well as the main ingredients.

springtrolls

Could you please give your beef stew recipe?

It's interesting how much it varies form person to person. We should probably put less thought into calories consumed & more into ingredients consumed. Surely 2000 is an average - some people need less, some more, based on metabolism/height etc.

Technically 2000 seems like a lot but I eat more than that daily, every day & I'm a 5ft petite size 6/8. I don't know why I need that much food but honestly I do.

Margaret - you can use low calorie cooking oil or a good non-stick pan. I think it's also possible to put normal cooking oil in a spray bottle and use a brush to spread it around so you don't have to use as much.
(I know that Mumsnetters think the low calorie oil is 'rubbish', just letting you know it exists).
Actually, you could probably but a little bit directly on a brush and use less that way.

"Eating below 1000 is just as worrisome as eating 3000+"

Depends if it's every day or just some days. Many people eat low calorie during the week so that they can have cake and/or drinks over the weekend or have a big meal with friends.
The 5:2 involves eating a lot less than 1k some days and is not dangerous for people who are not anorexics.

Thanks gwenhwfar - I'm not really willing to try the low calorie spray, as I'm very suspicious of swapping what seems like 'real food' for highly processed low calorie stuff. The brush idea might work, though, so thank you for the suggestion. I don't know whether we end up using more because we're vegetarian so never have meat fat as part of our cooking - I think it takes more oil to make a lentil Bolognese (without everything sticking and burning) than a mince one, for instance.

I always find the calorie totals that people claim they eat on here mind-boggling - the people who claim they effortlessly come in under a 1000 a day and 'can't imagine' eating more. To be fair, I am 5'10 (and, right now, pregnant) so maybe that's why I find it hard to imagine eating so little. I do always wonder, perhaps very unfairly, if those people are really counting everything, though.

Gwen - oh, yes, if it's not regular then both very low and very high calorie days are fine.

But given that posters were saying they find it hard to reach 1000, let alone 2000, I was assuming that it wasn't a calorie cycling or a 'some days' thing but that that was their normal eating behaviour.

manic - there was a thing in a recent copy of Rosemary Connolly's magazine suggesiting 800 cals Monday to Friday and whatever you want on the weekends. It seemed like a diet that would suit my lifestyle if I could actually manage it. Reduced calories every day is very difficult if you like a glass or two of wine on the weekend.

Margaret - I love tea and can have 7-10 a day so that's a good chunk of calories in the milk. If I could cut that down I suppose I could come close to their totals some days.

100 gram beef casserole steak
Garlic.
Onion x 1
Leek x1
Carrots x 3
Sweet potato x 1
celery x 3
Parsnip x 1
tin of tomatoes
water
salt, pepper, mixed herbs, chilli flakes.

The veg is cut chunky. Everything in a pan with a spray of oil. I fry on a medium heat until i start to get a natural liquid from everything (does this make sense). Season. Add liquids. Bring to boil. Cover and chuck in the oven 160 fan for about 2 hours depending on how I want the veg.

Calories are a thing that fat people watch. You can get low calorie food that's highly processed shit. Eat a healthy, balanced diet and exercise.

I completely agree. The problem is, people don’t know what a healthy, balanced diet is anymore.

I have no idea how many calories I eat. If you eat mostly homemade food, how do you even go about accurately counting?? I really don’t get it.

I mean, I know you can look up rough calories if you’re eating, say, an apple plus a sandwich made with two pieces of sliced bread, one slice ham, one slice cheese and a tomato. But if you’re eating homemade salads or stir-fries or whatever...how?? Everyone puts different ingredients in, and eats different serving sizes. And sometimes I’ll eat a few spoonfuls of different leftovers, or whatever.