Is 2000 calories a day too much?

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I’m once again trying to take control of my weight gain as I have been steadily getting bigger for the last 13 years.

I’m being honest on my fitness pal, and I come in at around 2300 calories every day.

without tracking calories I would have thought I was really healthy. I eat mainly whole foods, no upfs, and 3 balanced meals per day.

each meal is over 700 calories.

I’m wondering if I just pull it down slightly to 2000 calories per day would that be slow and steady way to live?

I’m around 75kg and 5’6.

im really active and run a lot. When I started running I slimmed down massively- it’s all piled back on though.

would love to get under 70kg.

I’m 5ft5” and will gain weight unless I have fewer than 1200 calories.

I'd say far to much. Put your statistics into a calorie calculator something like this.
https://tdeecalculator.net/
I suspect to loose weight youll need to be much lower (I'm 5ft 1 and need 1300 to maintain).

Wowser that’s hardly any food!!
I get the feeling I’m going to have to work quite hard at this!

I'm 59, 5'5" 54kg and lift 4 times a week
My maintenance is 1700

I'd go lower than 2000 and just get it over with rather than dragging out the whole process.
I think you could lose a decent amount before Christmas if you started now

Yes for some people. I need fewer as I get older. I’m 5ft 8, 61, exercising regularly now after a long break. I don’t think I’d gain weight on 2,000 but probably wouldn’t lose any.

Ate/drank probably 3,000 and stayed very slim until first child around 30.

That’s a good tool @Leavemealone1986its saying 1686 calories a day.

I would struggle to do that unless I made a massive effort. Which I should kind of think of to be honest

You should aim to be in a 500 calorie deficit each day to lose weight at a reasonable and sustainable pace. If you have been gaining weight, you are in calorie surplus so you need to reduce your eating by the amount you are in surplus and then a further 500 calories a day. At my current activity level I maintain my weight at about 2000 calories (I am 5ft 7 and 65 kgs) so unless I did more exercise I would need to eat 1500 to lose weight.

That's a lot of calories for just running I think. Take 500 off and see how you get on if you want to lose weight.

I'm 5'6" and 56kg, I run a lot too. My maintenance calories are about 2200 a day. If you are heavier than me you would burn more calories with activities so you might be spot on with 2000. You could give it a go for a few weeks and see, it should be apparent fairly quickly if it is enough. If you run a lot you don't want to go too low with your calories or you are just asking for an injury. Slow and steady with a slight deficit is the way.

We're all different. I'm very inactive ((disabled) but I am 5'9" and 87kg:. I am overweight. I am a size 16. I should be a 12: I need to lose at least 10kg.

I has a very cheap scales from Amazon. It tells me what my weight is and how much of that is fat, muscle, bone etc. It also gives my my BMR of 1537 calories. This is the amount. I need to run my bodily functions such as breathing, heart beating, brain functions, digestion etc. I try to eat just above this every day. Obviously as my weight goes down, this figure goes down .

If you're active, you'lll need to eat a bit more than just above your BMrR,

If you are definitely in a calorie deficit, however small, you will lose weight. I plugged your details into a TDEE calculator and depending on how often you run and how old you are your TDEE is something like 1900-2200. So if you are at the upper end of the activity scale and consistently able to stick to 2000 you will lose weight albeit pretty slowly, to lose 1lb a week you need roughly a 500 cal deficit, so you could lose maybe a couple of lbs a month, or a bit more if you're able to go down to say 1750. You absolutely don't need to go down to 1200 and indeed it would be counter-productive unless you find that sustainable long term.

The things many people fall down on with a smallish deficit and that leads to people saying you need these enormous deficits is usually some or all of:

-Not actually counting/accounting for your calories properly, not operating strict portion control all the time, little snacks/treats here and there, alcohol, other calorific drinks etc or being super strict all week then having extra food, treats, eating out etc at the weekend. It's perfectly normal to do this, no-one wants or should live such a rigidly restrictive life that they can never ever have these things and every single morsel that passes your lips must be calorie counted and logged. But if you're sticking to a strict 2000 cals which is already only a small deficit then having a few extras here and there that you aren't counting, it's easy to wipe out your deficit, then get sad and frustrated that despite being 'good' 95% of the time you still aren't losing weight. I prefer to set myself a slightly more challenging goal in terms of what I log and if I hit that most days of the week I can still lose weight even allowing for some treats elsewhere.

-Not sticking with it long term, it's natural to get frustrated if you aren't seeing quick results and want to flee to the welcoming arms of the crash diet where you can hit your goal in a month or whatever but the trouble is if you haven't built up good habits you'll put the weight right back on when reverting to normal. You have to adjust your mindset to it being a lifelong way of eating rather than a 'diet' with an endpoint.

-Mistaking random weight fluctuations due to hormones, water retention, poo etc to either massive success or total failure and sacking off the diet accordingly - you need to track consistently over a long period of time - see above about lifelong habits!

I'm a similar size to you, op and maintain on about 1400 cals (as a perimenopausal woman with treated hashimotos in my late 40s).

Online calculators are a good starting point but you also need a bit of trial and error. Maybe try cutting down to 1500 and seeing what happens, then decrease a bit more if you are not losing weight.

Im 5"5 and have gone from 19st 4lb to 12st 10lb since february this year. I walk alot (12-20k steps a day) plus youtube workouts 20-40mins a day 3 days a week and I eat 2000 cals a day and have been losing just fine. I weigh every 2 weeks to allow for fluctuations like increased water intake so I might weight more after upping water or just eating a heavy dinner the day before! In the last 2 weeks Ive lost 5lbs on my 2000 calories goal (might have 200 left at the end of the week according to my nutracheck app.

If you are an active person then you're daily calorie burn will be higher.

Wow, I'm 5'6", BMI of about 27 so a little overweight but a size 14. I have to keep to around 1400/500 to lose about 1lb pw but am pretty sedentary.

No alcohol, no refined carbs, plenty of fruit and veg. I love food, and wine, and it's soul destroying.

I’d go for a 500 calorie deficit. MFP tends to really overestimate calories burned through exercise, so I don’t count that in and register myself as sedentary even though I exercise 3/4 times a week.
So try 1800 for a couple weeks. If successful great, if not go down to 1700. you may have to play around a bit to get that steady loss without feeling too deprived happy place.
I am 5’ 10” and can lose weight on 1800, but at 2000 the loss would be far too slow and I’d get discouraged. Oh and you really must measure everything and log everything - from the milk in your tea to that bite tasting your food as you cook.

Really think carefully before cutting down, some of the numbers here are very low for a runner. If you run a lot like you say a large calorie deficit isn't good. It can prevent muscles, tendons, and ligaments from repairing damage from runs, increasing susceptibility to strains and tears. If you don't fuel properly it can lead to decreased strength and endurance which risks your form and increases injury risk. A prolonged deficit can weaken bones and make stress fractures likely. Then there is the risk of RED-S triggered by chronic low energy availability.

What sedentary people need and what runners need are very different.

I aimed for 1400 ( plus a few treats) and it held my weight increase but I didn't lose much.

I then found I had high cholesterol and was advised to cut out sat fat ( and most salt). So I have no butter/marg/baked goods/crisps but do have plenty of potatoes, toast, rice, veg, chicken, eggs and fish. I also cut out most alcohol. The weight fell off me and I am having far more than 1600 calories - but just don't count them anymore. What I do is to look at food packaging and aim for less than 5% sat fat, preferably 3%.

Hth

I lose if I stick strictly to 1700, but I’m quite tall. And agree ++ about the post above that it is normal to need more flexibility than that. Also agree that MFP is cheering but inaccurate about exercise calories- I can ‘eat’ about 10% of the exercise calories it allows me, so I tend to just ignore that.

What does really active and running a lot actually mean?

How many times a week do you run, how far, and at what pace?

What other exercise do you do?

How far do you walk each day?

This thread just goes to show how different everyone is.
I'm 5ft 11, and if I eat more than 1750 cals a day, I gain weight. I walk 15,000 steps a day, I run three times a week, and I weight train twice a week. But I cannot increase my calories.

I’m 5’3 and eating 1600 a day puts me at 70kg (which is still a stone overweight). 2000 would very rapidly add another stone.

For losing weight what matters is the amount of food going in. Not the amount of exercise.

im 5’3. I have to eat less than 1,300 calories a day to lose weight.

get on one of the TDEE calculators. You will soon find out the average woman needs a lot less than 2,000 calories to stay the same weight and a lot less than that to actually get into a deficit and lose weight

Same! I always shake my head when told “that’s not enough!” Especially on here. If I ate 2000 calories a day, I would probably put on half a stone a month.

I’m 5 ft 4 and weigh 8:4. Minimal exercise due to disability.

If I exceed 1300 calories I will gain.

I lost 21lbs in 3 months eating 2100 cals a day and doing 3 home workouts a week

Depends on a lot of factors, age, general activity levels (i hit 10k steps a day on a quiet day).