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

[Croissantsfordinner]

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?

TDEE not BMR

I'm post menopausal. I do lots of exercise.
I don't think it's news that older, more sedentary people don't need to eat as much, but they can still have a light breakfast and lunch and a larger meal at dinner time.

The amount of calories needed to maintain one's weight depends on a number of variables: age, height, weight, gender and activity level..

Here is a good calculator to use

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/articles/how_many_calories_do_you_need

The tricky bit is assessing your activity level accurately, especially in the range of light to moderate levels of activity, where most of us place ourselves.

Monitoring food intake can also be tricky. Even pre-packaged food labelling allows for a margin of error, let alone home-made food where each ingredient needs to be weighed and logged separately.

To lose weight, you'd need to be in calorie deficit (e.g. -20-25% from your maintenance level) - not massive, so your body does not go into starvation mode and try to put every calorie in storage.

That works for me, female, age 53, moderate activity. Maintenance level of calories = 2034 (or thereabouts) and I lose weight slowly if I go down to about 1600 consistently. At this age losing muscle mass is a risk factor of weight loss, so stimulating your muscles is important. Weight training + sufficient amounts of protein would be the way to go alongside dieting.

I have a sedentary job. I also do a lot of exercise. How do you know what Sandra in accounts does before or after work?
And I don't think most people are having a croissant for breakfast and KFC for lunch.
A cup of tea and a boiled egg is not enough to keep a person full and well all day.

Yeh I'm 5 ft 2 and tbh the only time I've successfully lost any weight is by eating a depressing 500-800 calories a day and exercising a few times a week too. I reckon my actual metabolic rate is around 1200-1500. Even at times I've piled weight on I don't believe that I regularly exceed 2000 tbh

I assume the 2000 is an average, and as per pps have said, we are all different.

I don't calorie count and have always been thin and active. I have big portions in general at dinner and "eat what I like", but what I like is mostly home-cooked and healthy. I just did a rough calculation of what I expect to eat today and it came to about 1700 cal. Given the propensity to underestimate, I don't think 2000 sounds unreasonable.

It depends on what you do each day. According to my Fitbit I burn around 2700 calories average daily most weeks. When I was heavier, I compromised on aiming to eat a max of 2000 calories a day and I lost 1lb a week doing that. Any less and I don't think there would have been enough fuel in the tank to keep up energy levels.

I think you’re right. I’m mid 40s, 5’7, do 15k steps a day, go to the gym 5-6 times a week. I need 1600-1700 to maintain my weight.

It was fine for me when I was younger and less creaky and not far above what I consume now as a less active 5'4 50-something with a BMI of 22 that hasn't changed in 3 years.

This calculator correctly calculates my BMI, but tells me I need 2127 calories a day to maintain. Absolutely no chance. 1500 to maintain is more realistic.

I think we’re a lot more sedentary now than we were whenever those guidelines came into play. Most of us probably don’t need that many nowadays.

I need loads more!!! I'm always hungry!

I have a BMI of 22 and can’t go over 1650 on a regular basis or I gain weight. I don’t calorie count all the time but use an app to do it if my weight goes up, and that shows me where I am going wrong. 2000 would be lovely but we are all different, and the lower your weight goes the lower your TDEE goes too (as very big people burn more calories just when moving, as they are carrying all that weight around it takes energy to maintain it too)

I’d say it’s way too much for the average woman. I’m slim and run 3 times a week (5/10k) and I’d say I have around 1500 per day

WE’VE LOST SIGHT OF WHAT A HEALTHY BODY LOOKS LIKE.

90% of women are between 4ft11 and 5ft8 (apparently) with 5% below 4ft11 and 5% about 5ft8). That's a big range. A sedentary 4ft11 woman is going to require far fewer calories than an active (not an athlete) 5ft8 woman.

I'm 5ft7, I'm quite active and I probably need to eat about 2000 calories to maintain my weight. Given I am taller than average and lots of people will be more sedentary than me then I guess it follows that lots of people would put on weight eating 2000 calories.

I'm 5'6 (168 cm) with a BMI og 24-25. I do rock climbing three times a week for exercise, as well as the occasional long walk og run (desk job and car commute, though). I've tried calorie counting. I definitely need 2000 kcal to maintain my weight. At 1600 I'm starving and losing weight fast.

What's your activity level?

I always look at the sedentary one, and then add back anything "earned" though activity, rather than use the calculators estimates for activity levels as it obviously fluctuates. Mine is still horribly low though even adding back activity.

YANBU for many, but as an active women in my mid-40s, maintainance is around 2400 for me. I’m 5’8 and bmi of 19. On my recent skiing holiday I upped this to 3000 and still lost during the week.

Around 10 hours a week (a combination of weight training, hiking up hills wearing a weighted vest and running).

I just get it calculated properly at the gym.

I'd almost guarantee you're not maintaining on 1500cals with that activity level unless you're seriously small/running in a depleted state a lot? Do you recover quickly?

I reckon there could be some undercalculating of cals consumed somewhere?

2000 is about right for me. 5'7, 9 stone, late 20s. Get my 10,000 steps but otherwise not very active

People are so varied though. And diet culture has a lot to answer for in terms of messed up metabolisms!

The gyms are no different to calculators available online, they use the same equations to calculate if you know your body fat % to make them more accurate, and your activity levels still fluctuate daily. If you are tracking calories, it is always better to use the sedentary rate and add back calories from exercise daily.