To think that women don't actually need 2000kcal a day

306 replies

Croissantsfordinner · 07/04/2025 08:57

I am barely losing weight eating 1600kcal a day and most of the people I know who are slim and fit definitely do not eat 2000kcal (I am referring to family, friends, colleagues, what I read here on MN and also celebrities diet, lol). So where does this guideline come from?
Unless you are almost an athlete, I don't think all those calories are actually needed, AIBU?

OP posts:

Teateaandmoretea · 08/04/2025 21:55

Rosti1981 · 08/04/2025 10:44

I don't think calorie counting generally is very helpful tbh, as not all calories are created equal in terms of nutrition.
I don't calorie count so I honestly have no idea how many calories I eat a day, but I'm fairly sure it varies quite a lot for me day to day depending on activity levels and hunger levels. My Fitbit reckons I need 2300 ish on active days (particularly running) but no idea if that's true or not (and on days I'm fairly inactive it floats just under 2000 instead). My BMI is in the middle of the healthy range and I feel good, so eating to appetite works for me (at the moment anyway, 44 and perimenopausal so just waiting for the fall off the cliff on the weight front along with everything else that seems to be collapsing!).

I disagree, I think it helps with portion control and balance.

MyLimeGuide · 11/04/2025 22:23

Teateaandmoretea · 08/04/2025 08:26

I literally have never come across anyone either in real life or mumsnet that behaves like that.

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That's because NO ONE has that belief, ever has or ever will!!

MyLimeGuide · 11/04/2025 22:25

Teateaandmoretea · 08/04/2025 21:55

I disagree, I think it helps with portion control and balance.

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Yes it does. Like a general rough guide

PoppyTheGuineaPig · 11/04/2025 22:41

MidnightPatrol · 07/04/2025 09:00

I think it depends how sedentary your lifestyle is, and of course other factors like height, metabolism etc.

I wonder if these these guidelines around calories date back to when people were less sedentary. More labouring jobs, fewer office positions etc

rosemarble · 11/04/2025 23:57

PoppyTheGuineaPig · 11/04/2025 22:41

I wonder if these these guidelines around calories date back to when people were less sedentary. More labouring jobs, fewer office positions etc

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Google says "The 2,000 calorie diet is based off of loosely averaged, self-reported data from men and women surveyed back in 1990"

So, while as a population we are more sedentary than we were in the 90s, I don't think it's wildly different.

PoppyTheGuineaPig · 12/04/2025 01:38

That's interesting . I assumed it was some 19th centUry thing like the BMI.

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