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.

800-900 a day - doing Fast800 for another four weeks. Have lost 1st 3lbs in 8 weeks and am normal BMI now. 1000 calories a day is absolutely fine if you are eating the right things and doing it for a limited time- it not just about calories but eating protein and fat, and plenty of veg, and not too many carbs, so you have a good nutritional balance, and are making good long term diet changes too. My GP is delighted. Had a blood test and everything was normal.

Planning to not count calories unless I have to when I'm on maintenance and just eat a Mediterranean diet. I naturally eat about 1600 - 2000 a day depending on activity levels- that was fine for maintaining weight (before I did Fast800 I had difficulty eating little enough to lose weight.) That would mean adding breakfast if I feel like it (currently eat brunch and dinner only), perhaps doing 12:12 instead of 16:8, and adding a bit more at other meals. I am active but I sit down a lot in my job. I'm 45 years old, 5'7" and a half/171cm and 160 lbs - 11st 6lbs (72.5kg). Size 12 in clothes.

I'm 5'9, 9 stone 5 lb and BMI of 19. I monitor my intake reasonably closely as I like to maintain my current weight but am aware of how dropping a only a few pounds would put me in the underweight category, which I want to avoid.

I eat 1600-1700 calories on days I don't run and 2000-2200 on days I do, depending on what I'm doing and how far I run. I also do 16/8 or 15/9 daily, as I like to try and keep my insulin levels stable and give my body time to do other things than digestion.

My advice would be to figure out your BMR and go from there. Make sure for a while at least trust that equation and give it a good go. Weight loss is never linear and sometimes slow. When I want to lose weight I just eat my BMR and don't eat back exercise calories burned and that works out to a lb or two loss a week. Sure you might lose weight quicker with a bigger reduction but it's less likely to be sustainable as you'll be overly restricted and miserable. You can always go lower gradually as and when you need too, start with the smaller deficit first and see how you go, leaves you more room to manoeuvre if you require it down the line.

@ThatWouldBeEnough

I’ve read lots of the responses but not all.

Most of them are bollocks. If people aren’t tracking everything (and I mean everything) then they don’t know what they are consuming. This includes milk in tea, condiments with meals, even medicine has calories (probably not many but not zero).

You have had some good advice on here about finding your own maintaining weight, but in the meantime you really do have to track everything (even if you’ve fallen off the wagon) to make sure you have the right data to work with!

When I started trying to lose weight I tracked everything - from the milk in my tea, to the salad cream on the side of my plate! Now I am 8 weeks in I don't need to do that because I have more of an awareness about how many calories are in what, but I agree, it was eye opening. Especially when cooking, never realised for instance how many calories are in oil.

lots of the responses ...are bollocks. If people aren’t tracking everything...

I did track for 2-3 weeks, once, I used a heart-rate monitor (you can calculate calories from that with assumptions about vo2max, although my vo2max is pretty close to avg anyway), and the fitbit estimates (also relies on HR), and tracked all that went in my mouth.

The three methods were pretty darn close, like within 40-70 which was good enough for me (no systematic bias over or under each other).

So I trust the fitbit now -- when it says average 2100/day, I believe it.

@SomewhereInbetween1

1,000 is not enough, you'll be damaging your metabolism which will make weight loss harder.

I thought this was a myth that had been debunked?

Other peoples calorie expenditure are not going to match yours.

Best thing to do is got to James Smith Academy, work out what you need to be eating to lose weight and stick to it. Track everything religiously on MFP, this means weighing every slice of bread instead of relying on what the package says one slice weighs, weighing that tin of tuna/dollop of salad cream, dash of oil etc etc. It might sound obsessive but it gives you a true indication of what you are actually eating and often the weights on the packaging don't correlate to what is actually in the pot/slice/tin etc.

I eat what I like, stick to around 1800 calories a day and don't eat my exercise calories and I am losing about 1lb a week. I don't feel deprived because 1800 calories is a good amount for me to include a chocolate bar or an icecream, takeaway on a Friday etc.

If you stick to 1,000 calories a day long term, you may lose an initial stone but chances are you will feel deprived and end up eating/bingeing and putting it all back on again.

I'm 5.6, 15 stone 2lbs and have been sticking to around 1200 to 1400 calories a day to lose weight, I was 16 stone 10lbs when I started in January. Its slow going but I've finally got round to upping my exercise so hopefully my weight will drop more.

I'm not always hungry for breakfast but make a mushroom omelette in the morning for both my DP and I, if I'm hungry I eat if not, I usually have it for lunch with salad. Then I use the 800 fast diet recipe book as I can't be arsed counting calories myself so follow those for ease. Also cut out pointless snacking when bored (I still find this hard), drink lots of water.

Losing weight is really hard so good luck OP.

I eat 1700. I'm 5ft and 145lbs - aiming for around 125lbs. I aim for an average of 15000 steps a day over the week.

So far I've lost 25lbs over about 3 months. I drink 2 litres of water a day.

I need about 1800 to maintain. I’m losing so aim for 1200-1500.

A few years ago I lost 4stone in 3 months eating 1200 calories I went from 14 stone to 9stone 10 size 14 to a size 8-10 and I had the odd cheat day and except for walking and I’m not talking marathon no excersize my weights crept up a bit due to the lockdowns but small changes for me like cutting out red meat and dairy brings it back down quite easily.

@Hm2020

A few years ago I lost 4stone in 3 months eating 1200 calories I went from 14 stone to 9stone 10 size 14 to a size 8-10 and I had the odd cheat day and except for walking and I’m not talking marathon no excersize my weights crept up a bit due to the lockdowns but small changes for me like cutting out red meat and dairy brings it back down quite easily.

Wow, well done! I'd love to lose 4 stone in 3 months!

I'm tracking on MFP at the minute and I'm eating 1200 a day. I'm 5 5.

@Youdoyoutoday

I'm 5.6, 15 stone 2lbs and have been sticking to around 1200 to 1400 calories a day to lose weight, I was 16 stone 10lbs when I started in January. Its slow going but I've finally got round to upping my exercise so hopefully my weight will drop more.

I'm not always hungry for breakfast but make a mushroom omelette in the morning for both my DP and I, if I'm hungry I eat if not, I usually have it for lunch with salad. Then I use the 800 fast diet recipe book as I can't be arsed counting calories myself so follow those for ease. Also cut out pointless snacking when bored (I still find this hard), drink lots of water.

Losing weight is really hard so good luck OP.

Thank you! And well done on your loss so far. I also snack loads. I'm a sucker for junk food.

On a good day, 2000, I am quite active and this maintains my weight.

@Loubilou09

Other peoples calorie expenditure are not going to match yours.

Best thing to do is got to James Smith Academy, work out what you need to be eating to lose weight and stick to it. Track everything religiously on MFP, this means weighing every slice of bread instead of relying on what the package says one slice weighs, weighing that tin of tuna/dollop of salad cream, dash of oil etc etc. It might sound obsessive but it gives you a true indication of what you are actually eating and often the weights on the packaging don't correlate to what is actually in the pot/slice/tin etc.

I eat what I like, stick to around 1800 calories a day and don't eat my exercise calories and I am losing about 1lb a week. I don't feel deprived because 1800 calories is a good amount for me to include a chocolate bar or an icecream, takeaway on a Friday etc.

If you stick to 1,000 calories a day long term, you may lose an initial stone but chances are you will feel deprived and end up eating/bingeing and putting it all back on again.

Oh that's interesting. I weigh out stuff like butter, drinks, chicken, etc. But with stuff like bread, as it says on the bag what is in one slice, I don't bother to weigh.

I eat 1750 calories a day and have a day a week where I have a takeaway or something so have about 2500 on those days. I’m 5 foot 7 and weight 10 stone 10. I lost 3 stone by eating 1600 calories a day and working out- I’d by a starving ball of fury on 1000 calories a day.

My apologies if anybody has linked to this before but I think this youtube channel is a good way of knowing how many calories you need.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=KhhU_Ch65YQ

I think it is just as easy to underestimate how many calories you need as much as overestimate.

Track everything religiously on MFP, this means weighing every slice of bread instead of relying on what the package says one slice weighs, weighing that tin of tuna/dollop of salad cream, dash of oil etc etc. It might sound obsessive but it gives you a true indication of what you are actually eating and often the weights on the packaging don't correlate to what is actually in the pot/slice/tin etc.

How utterly joyless. The differences between the weight on the packet and an actual slice is going to be negligible.

You’d be surprised, in a lot of cases it’s not negligible and if goes both ways. Often there’s less in a packet than is stated on it.

It’s something I got from team RH and it’s helping me lose weight so not in the slightest joyless but necessary for what I want to achieve.

If you don’t want to do it, don’t. I wasn’t talking to you or advising you, I was talking to the OP who asked for help.

OP - tracking is key. When I don’t track and guess is when things go awry. It doesn’t take long on MFP once you’re in the swing of it and you enter all food types per gram.

Look up team RH, they can help more with it x

1,600-1,800 calories
5'10, 10 st 4
BMI 20.6

@Loubilou09 even if you weigh it, unless you do a proper scientific experiment on the product to check how many calories are in it (I.e. set fire to it and see how much heat it creates), it’s still only an estimate of its calorie content.

Nothing needs to be that exact, it’s only ever a rough estimate. If you are not losing weight at that roughly estimated number, then reduce. As long as you apply the same method to how you calculate consistently, it’s good enough.

No one truly knows how much energy they consume or expend, the same as hardly anyone knows how much they weigh, as bathroom scales are notoriously inaccurate. But as long as you use the same set and the number goes up or down, you can see what sort of progress you are making.

[quote BasinHaircut]@Loubilou09 even if you weigh it, unless you do a proper scientific experiment on the product to check how many calories are in it (I.e. set fire to it and see how much heat it creates), it’s still only an estimate of its calorie content.

Nothing needs to be that exact, it’s only ever a rough estimate. If you are not losing weight at that roughly estimated number, then reduce. As long as you apply the same method to how you calculate consistently, it’s good enough.

No one truly knows how much energy they consume or expend, the same as hardly anyone knows how much they weigh, as bathroom scales are notoriously inaccurate. But as long as you use the same set and the number goes up or down, you can see what sort of progress you are making.[/quote]
Out of interest why It is bothering you what I do for my weight loss?

I’m not sure I said anywhere that by weighing it would be gospel, just that the packaging guides could be quite out on what I unit might weigh.

Honestly please don’t concern yourself, there’s really no need

My basal metabolic rate per day is 1800 calories. I am mid 30s, 5ft8in and am on my feet most of the day and do 30 minutes of HIIT 5 days a week plus we don't own a car. To maintain, I need about 2400 calories a day and 2000 to lose about a pound a week. I THINK my body type is the standard used to calculate portion sizes and recommended daily calories, because most people I know would gain weight at that level.

I also am doing Joe Wicks Body Coach app, and I reckon that what I eat is about that because I have calorie counted before.

Just don't veg, fruit or water. Fill up on those, unprocessed starches, and beans, pulses and lentils and you will feel less hungry and have better digestion too!

Don't restrict that should be!

If you're significantly overweight you can eat a good number of calories and still lose weight. I weigh 16 stone and can lose 2 pounds a week on 1800 calories without doing much by way of exercise.