How many calories do you eat?

[blaisealex]

How many calories a day do you eat?

How old are you and what is your height and weight?

I'm 25 with a BMI of 37 at 15st 7. I was consuming at a guess 3000+ a day.
Currently dieting with calorie counting and reducing intake.

I'm having around 1000 calories a day now but really, I'm wondering, once I get to a weight I'm happy with, how many calories I should then be having to maintain.

So it would be interesting to hear how many calories people have daily.

I’m late 30s 11 stone, 5’6, I use Myfitness pal and to lose weight I need to not eat more than 1270 calories. To maintain and not gain weight I aim to not go over 1,400-1,500.

You can't get an answer on here - it depends on a million factors. Your height, your weight, your body fat percentage, your body muscle percentage, how much you exercise, how much you sleep, how much fibre you consume, how much water you consume, the temperature of your house/office, how much you fidget, your thyroxine levels, etc etc etc. At a healthy weight, you could need anywhere from around 1400 to 3000 a day to maintain depending on all these factors.
1000 calories is far too low - you'll shed muscle (which reduces how many calories you're burning) and your body will stop thermogenesis so you'll get cold and won't burn as many calories. You'll lose weight faster on around 1500 calories.

Reading this with interest. I’m currently on an 800 calories a day meal replacement diet and am interested to know what I’m likely to be looking at for maintenance once I get to that point.

Your tdee is your maintenance calories. Reduce by 29% for weight loss calories but re calculate regularly as you reduce weight. After losing 3 stone my maintenance is 1680

tdeecalculator.net/

Not enough at the moment. I'm 39 with a bmi of 18.5. I need to eat over 2000 so I can put some weight on.

I don't like the bloke but James smith academy has a great calorie calculator
(I weigh 62kg and need 1300-1400 to maintain- this is on the basis that I don't move- obvs my day to day lifestyle means I can eat 1600 to maintain and more if I exercise)

www.jamessmithacademy.com/macro-calculator/

1200 to 1600 to maintain my weight.... depends whether at work or not....I’m BMI of 20.... if I ate more calories....my BMI would go up

On a low cal day (unintentionally)- around 1500-1600

On a high cal day- around 2100

Absolutely no idea but I'm 9st and 5ft3.

Today I ate two pieces of buttered toast with marmite and two boiled eggs, an apple, a banana, a bottle of mango kefir, and breaded chicken with tabbouleh, butternut squash and feta.

Pretty normal day for me. Didn't eat breakfast as wasn't hungry so just had brunch and made it a 2 meal day.

30, 5'5 and 140lbs ish BMI of around 24-25 (saw it at midwives appointment last week but can't remember). I'm a bit wobbly right now but in first trimester of pregnancy so have been eating like rubbish as it was all I could keep down.

I don't usually measure to be honest, I just try to have 3 healthy meals and minimal snacks. I like a drink (or several) at the weekend usually but we also exercise a lot.

I find if I start the day well with porridge or a smoothie (but one with oats and seeds) it's much easier to keep on track. If I skip or eat toast I'm starving by 10-11 and it's all downhill from there.

Also remember, the goal isn't to eat a little as you can. It's to eat as MUCH as you can whilst maintaining a calorie deficit (if you want to lose weight) too little calories and you'll feel awful and it's not sustainable

I am 37, 5ft 8in 28 BMI currently weight 183lb, was 233lb last August. I eat 1400 calories a day and lose 1-2 lb a week on that. When I started I was eating 1700 calories a day and losing 1-2lb a week but calorie requirements reduce as you lose weight.

Go to a TDEE calculator online, and fill in the details that will tell you how many calories you will maintain at, deduct 500 and that will give your daily target to lose around 1lb a week.

You also NEED to drink lots of water, I lose weight much more consistently if I drink a lot, if stops you feeling so hungry and the process your body goes through to break down fat cells needs water to work so it helps with that too.

The idea that eating under 1000 calories ruins your metabolism has been debunked." No doubt, because it's just not true. The only source stating the opposite is the Daily Fail, which will print anything, frankly, for sales.

I do that regularly. 5'1, so if I eat too much, it shows. Mind, I prefer fruit and salad over cakes and biscuits, so that helps. I'm also walking every day, 4-5 miles, depending on how early I'm awake. 6.5 miles today, and all I did was walk the dog and do some gardening.

To maintain my weight I'm only allowed 1200. The recommended intakes are really outdated and were devised when people were a lot more active. I would put weight on if I were to eat 2000 a day like they say.

To lose I eat 800

I'm 5ft 3.5". Weigh 48.3kg. 1400 a day. All entered into mfp. Treat day once a week and eat more then. I exercise a lot too. Just don't need much to maintain my weight unfortunately

Forgot to say I'm 42. And got put into early menopause last year as that prob makes a difference

@Chesneyhawkes1 Isn't your BMI below 20 then? I would eat more and try to get it to at least 20. I'm 18.5 and trying to get to at least 20, preferably 21.

@SaltAndVinegarSandwiches yes it is. I run a lot and cycle too - so I'm happy to be at the weight I am 😄 wouldn't want to be any less. And if I do loose any, I'll up my food intake.

I basically eat when I'm hungry. So I don't starve myself

@cherrybonbons

Also remember, the goal isn't to eat a little as you can. It's to eat as MUCH as you can whilst maintaining a calorie deficit (if you want to lose weight) too little calories and you'll feel awful and it's not sustainable

This is one of the best statements I’ve ever read about weight management. I’m 58, 163cm, 54.5kg. I eat 1200 cals per day, moderate exercise (class or PT session 5x a week, including heavy weights). I’ve lost around 4kg of lockdown weight in around 8 weeks and my target is 53kg. I count calories and track macros on MFP and aim to eat 100g of protein per day.

@Chesneyhawkes1 Fair enough :) I guess I'm paranoid about health so always make sure my BMI is above 20 (although I'm failing at the moment and need to increase my weight). My doctor told me anything below 20 is while technically 'healthy' definitely too low to be inyour best health, especially if you exercise and have a decent amount of muscle.

@SaltAndVinegarSandwiches I'm a lot faster at 48kg than I was at 50kg. I eat a lot of protein and fibre. And carbs of course. Track my macros which have been set for me etc.

If I didn't have the energy for my training I'd definitely address it. I actually feel at my perfect "racing" weight

5”1 and 9 stone - I eat about 1600 a day, sometimes more, sometimes left but this is average over a week. I exercise 6 days a week though and maintain, if I run less than 5 miles a day I usually go swimming too or do weight training.

I’m slowly working on losing weight gained since leaving uni and sitting at a desk 40hrs per week. I aim to eat around 1400kcal per day, going up to 1600kcal on a cheat day. This isn’t for fast weight loss. I’ve been doing this since Jan 1st 2021 and I’ve lost around 8kg since then. Personally, I find 1400kcal to be plenty so I’ll just continue that even when I reach my desired weight. I’ve got another 15kg to go before I reach my target weight. I’m not in any rush though, as long as the weight is coming off each month and not going up again, that’s fine with me.

Started with a BMI of just under 40, now down to 35 after losing 18kg/39lbs since Mid January and I stick to about 1750 a day. Office role (currently WFH) and I don't exercise. Sometimes it's more, sometimes its less but that's the average. I make myself aware of my maintenance calories and try to make sure I don't go over that but I know I can eat to this limit and I won't gain weight, a deficit is a deficit no matter how small, it's all progress. Some days I have gone drastically over but those are days I draw a line under and move on from.

Good luck with your journey!

A longer term smaller deficit and exercise will do your body more good than a short sharp starvation time, especially before TTC.

Whatever you're doing, make sure you're lifting weights to keep muscle instead of losing that accidentally too.