To ask how many calories you eat in a day to lose weight?

[talomon]

I was told by my PT to eat around 1000-1100 to lose weight. I find it almost impossible to function properly - I am losing weight very slowly, but always hungry and frankly quite miserable.

I am also told by a GP friend that this is ridiculously low.

But when I increase the calories to 1500 or so I gain weight.

I measure and weigh everything, eat healthy, lots of water and lean protein.

For reference I am 5 3' and 69kg.

5’7, 150lb and I lose weight if I stick to 1700 calories, as long as I am fairly active

I'm 60 now and cannot eat more than 1000 calories a day to lose weight and I have to do a daily walk of at least a mile as well.I don't feel at all ill on that, I also do intermittent fasting.
When I was in my 20's I could get away with 1400 calories and still lose weight quickly.
Unless my husband was a qualified nutritonist I'd be ignoring him and doing my own research.

I need 1450 calories just to breath, keep my organs going, keep hair and nails healthy etc. Any less than that and my hair starts falling down. I'd rather keep my weight loss very slow than lose my hair

I've just lost 15lb. I ate 1300 a day.

I did keto800, that’s 800 Cals a day which I realise may be difficult, but it worked for me. The things that were stopping me losing weight were sugar and carbs. Once I got hold of the sugar and carb addiction I started to see real results.

I can honestly say I didn’t feel hungry on it, and it was very achievable for me. I drunk a lot of water and reckon my hunger was often mistaken for thirst.

I lost two stone that I was able to sustain and everything improved; bloods, heart rate, cholesterol etc.

57kg at 5’4
I would need 1200 to lose noticeable weight but it’s still slow going, 1500 is maintenance at low activity levels

It’s surprising how only a couple hundred calories can make a difference, maybe try 1300 and see how that goes

Everyone is different and it is well recognized that our perceptions of portion sizes and calories burnt through exercise are usually not accurate.
The bottom line is , if you are eating more calories than your body is using you will gain weight, so yoou need to lower your calories to below this to lose.
I have never lost weight on anything over 1200 calories.

5 9" and 62kg. 1300 calories and around 18000 steps per day.

I read somewhere
3500 calories = one pound of fat.

So put yourself in that deficit a week.
You should only be aiming to lose 1-2 pounds a week anyway for it to be sustainable. You want a lifestyle not a quick fix.

Your PT is shit for suggesting 1100 calories and I would lose all faith in him.

Also what are your long term goals with a PT? Are you planning on getting stronger- do you weight lift or just cardio.
She/He shouldn't be telling you calories. They should be telling you protein. You cannot train and sustain on that low calories. You will feel horrendous and your body will hold on to every single bit of nutrition.
Start eating more- 1400-1500 and you will see a positive impact

Whatever your target weight is x 12

But you need probably to eat at least 1800 cals.

1500 cals to lose weight.

Change your PT. Yes 1100 will work, ie you'll lose weight, in the short term but it isn't healthy or sustainable. If you've got to the point that your daily energy experience means you can only lose weight by dropping under 1200 calories you need to do some foundation work first.

I used to only lose weight if I stuck to 1300 calories a day, maintenance was 1500. I was miserable. I was late thirties, 5ft2, around 58kg which isn't big, but I didn't carry it well (was all on my stomach)

I listened to a podcast called 'why women should bulk' by MindPump. I used to like doing weights at the gym so i got back to that, and ONLY that - I didn't try and eat 'healthy' (ie eat lower calories) at the same time.

My body started to change, the scales did not for a while, mentally it took some readjustment but I was happy with that as my clothes fitted better (arms a bit bigger, waist a lot smaller) I then started tracking my food out of curiosity just to see what I was taking in, and it averaged around 2200-2300 calories a day. I now lose weight if I eat 1900.

Honestly it has been a revelation for me. I am so much happier that I've got enough muscle on me to use up the food I take in, that I can eat full size meals and not worry about it. I'm approaching mid 40s and suspect it'll change a bit with menopause but it's a much better place than I was in a few years ago.

I would

Change your PT, or at any rate stop talking to them about your diet.

Use MyFitnessPal or something and experiment with 1450 a day - lots of protein and fibre to fill you up. Give it 3 weeks and if you have lost anything stick with that or otherwise drop to 1400, try again for 3 weeks.. repeat

I doubt you need to go too far under 1500, your PT is a mentalist, or at any rate not a dietician.

If you are totally foxed go see a dietitian. And then if they are foxed (unlikely) they can refer you to Gp for tests.

You have to be patient though, you aren’t very overweight, it’s going to take a while. Aim for a sustainable couple of pounds a month.

Age is a big factor. Metabolism slow down is a bastid.

I'm 5' 4" 8 stone 10 and 53. I only need 1600 to maintain my weight. If I put a little on I lose it by dropping to 1300 and taking long brisk walks, as I find it really hard to take in all the nutrition I need on any less.

It will vary dependant on height, current weight, how fast you want to lose it, age. Best is to check TDEE - they will give you an idea how many to eat. For me I don’t lose it I eat more than 1100 as I’m very short and don’t have much to lose. I did lose 24lbs in lockdown 1, I ensured I did 15k steps a day minimum, often well over 20k. I still do around 15k a day. It’s a real effort but I gain easily due to my height

I'm the same as you and if I eat circa 1400 with food exercise three times a week I lose weight.
I can quite happily get by on 1000 calories and not be hungry. I use the Pinch of Nom books for recipes for tea, plus two boiled eggs for breakfast and soup for lunch at around 200kcals. If I run 5-8km three times a week I'm fine with 1400-1600 a day and if I add in walks in between those days 1600-1800.
Age is a big factor.

I’m 5’2 and 52kg - do bootcamp, run and strength (so quite good muscle mass). I need fewer than 1100 if I wanted to lose weight. However, I prefer to build muscle than slim down

I'm losing 1-2lbs a week on 1200 a day. I'm 5'6" and 80kg. I've pretty much stopped eating bread, no snacks or biscuits, but I allow one day a week of I have whatever I fancy (don't count calories those days) I also do a daily (short -7 minute) workout first thing in the morning. The weight is coming off at a rate that pleases me and I'm down a dress size already.

I used to try eating low calorie with no results but then I joined TeamRH because at 5"4 and 17 stone I needed help.

It turns out I needed to eat more! Your body needs the extra fuel to burn, I now have to eat 2400 calories, 120g protein & 35g fibre and do 10,000 steps a day and I'm losing around 2lb per week now 😍

2000 cals dates from the 50s where we had very different lifestyles and really means nothing. Far too high for most women.

1200 to lose, 1700 to maintain.

I’m on Tier 3 of the NHS weight loss system. I have online appointments once or twice a month with my very large local hospital’s obesity service.

My targets are 1200kcal and 60g of protein each day. In the first fortnight I lost a cheering amount of weight, but the dietitian I spoke to wasn’t pleased because I was only eating 800 - 1000kcal. I increased it to 1000 - 1200, usually about 1150, and started putting weight on, but am gradually starting to lose it again. I do my daily calculations in the evening, and eat more then if necessary.

My weight and blood pressure are monitored quite closely, with occasional blood tests. Apparently that’s because the targets are quite low ones.

I’m eating a lot of Skyr, which has 63 kcal and 10.6g of protein in 100g. I also enjoy it.

(I am vegetarian and have multiple food intolerances, which made making most diet plans impossible)

Do a few online tdee calculators. I’m 1750 to lose, 5ft 8 late 40s.

Lots of tdee calculators overestimate massively. Absolutely don't believe them.

I'm 34, 5'8 and weight 69kg. The calculators tell me I need 1700ish calories. I do not. My maintenance is 1300 and to lose I have to drop below 1000. I currently fast and eat one largish meal a day. I only drink water, herbal tea and black coffee. I do yoga every day for between 20 minutes and an hour. I am extremely trim, I have visible muscles everywhere, abs legs even the ones on my groin/hip.

Most people massively over estimate what they need in a day. 1000 is fine so long as you aren't wasting your few calories on high cal foods. Skip anything with sugar in it. Don't bother with fruit at all, make non starchy vegetables the base for every single meal. Weigh out all your portions because a portion is usually far less than you think. Eggs are a cheap and versatile source of protein I eat them at least 4 days a week usually with whatever else im having in the evening.

If you're getting hungry try fasting. If I eat breakfast I spend the rest of the day starving and miserable, if I skip it then I don't actually get hungry until about 5pm. I then have a healthy dinner and if I've got spare calories of worked out particularly hard, possibly a treat.

One of the hardest parts of dieting is that traditionally you have yo plan a diet, which means you have to think about food all the time. Which actually makes it harder. For ease choose 3 or 4 meals that you enjoy and fit your diet plan and just cycle them. So long as they are healthy and well balanced it will not do you any harm. Then only deviate from them occasionally if you really fancy something else. Thinking about good less will make things way easier for you.

Hope this helps.