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 am a bit different to some here, in that when I do weight loss I do eat my exercise calories. This means I can eat more, which is good for my staying-power and also my metabolism, and it encourages me to exercise more, which is good for me.

However, I am absolutely brutal about tracking everything I eat. And I used multiple online calculators for calories burnt per mile and I used the meanest estimate. I want to be sure I am definitely not overestimating calories burnt. I weigh 10 stone and I give myself 70 calories per mile I run. I use Strava to track distance but I amended my weight in Strava so that the calories burnt per mile comes out at 70, because Strava overestimates as well. I had to put my weight down to about 5 stone 🤣 Alternatively you could use Strava for distance, then multiply miles by 70 (or whatever your number is) and enter it manually on MFP.

Everyone is different. I’m 5ft 3”, around 9.5 stone and have a very sedentry job. I easily eat between 2000-2500 calories a day and don’t gain weight

One of my sisters is like this. She is a twitcher. She twitches and wriggles all day and even on the sofa in the evening. Just slightly, not in a weird way, but it all adds up. She burns it all off basically.

But you need carbs to give you energy; especially when you are active/working out a lot

Target weight in lbs x 12 = daily calorie target. That should give you a deficit.

700 calories per meal is a lot! Either you’re eating very fatty food, or huge portions, well above the recommended portion size.

Well I eat 3-4000 calories a day but I also rarely go below 20k steps in a day and I ain't porky (I'm also 44)

Can I ask those eating 1400/1500 kcals a day (or lower) - are you starving all the time?

I was weighed last week at the doctors and it was a few pounds heavier than the last time I was weighed. I have a pretty good awareness of calories, and have always eaten being mindful of higher calorie foods, but I've been properly tracking every morsel this week. Aiming for 1400 kcals a day, and I've been starving!

This is with eating 'good', whole foods, eating over 100 grams of protein and 30 grams of fibre each day.

Do you just get used to feeling hungry?

I’m 5’8.5 and I do loads of exercise. I only lose weight if I stick to 1000 calories or fewer. 2000 a day would see me gaining weight.

I’m old though (53) and I think that is definitely a factor.

I’m 5”8, 56kg, run, swim and lift. I’m probably menopausal (not had a period for 5 years but GP insists I’m too young). TDEE is about 2000, I maintain at 2200.
Agree with everyone saying you can’t drop too low if running. Make sure you concentrate on high protein and fibre, unprocessed carbs as fuel for runs.

What is loads in your view?

All of the different answers here don’t really help you - because it’s something that is unique to each person, and it’s not just how many calories you eat but what they are made up of which impacts how your body uses them (the information I’ve read from Dr Sarah Berry is interesting and referenced a bit here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/articles/food_matrix)

What might help you is to get an indication of your calorific requirements is if you can get as accurate a reading of your muscle mass as possible and put it into a TDEE calculator. Muscle uses more energy than fat so will affect your BMR.

I’m 5’4” and I’ve lost a lb a week on (very obsessively tracked) 2000 or more calories a day 15 years ago and more active. My muscle mass is just under 65% now and the fancy body composition scales at the gym tell me my BMR is 1646.

At least 5 days a week, 3 x 5km runs, at least 2 spinning classes and 2 body pump and/or attack classes. Plus yoga and barre or shapes class.

In addition to dog walking most days.

Noom tells me between 1200-1400 a day to lose weight and this has proved completely right. I'm sedentary except on holiday when I walk a lot and am always tempted to eat more because of it, but sadly that never appears to be a good weight loss strategy! It really is the calories, not the activity for me, dammit.

I could get loads in for 2000 cals
Porridge + banana 300 cals
Scrambled egg on toast or a tuna salad sandwich 400 - 500 cals
Chilli, chicken pasta, stir fry - if you put a decent whack of veg in i can do all of these for 600 - 700 cals
Then an extra bit of fruit or some other snack takes me to 1600. On weightlifting days I will add in some granola with my porridge, maybe a bit of extra fruit or something to go with the scrambled eggs and that will take it up a bit. What sort of thing are you eating?

Yes. Your body adjusts. For me it takes about two weeks. I eat three good meals and then when I'm dieting I ditch all snacks so I'm only eating three times a day, and after two weeks my stomach doesn't rumble at snack time any more!

Wow really helpful responses- thanks everyone!

I’m sure I had heard that 2000 calories per day was normal for women. But that does seem like far more than most of you have.

Yes in regards to my large meals- I thought it was a good strategy as I don’t snack, and I’m generally finished eating by around 6.30pm, so have an over 12 hour’fast’ until breakfast.

but yes my meals are large and filling. I tried to have large breakfast and lunch (600-700 cals) then light homemade soup for dinner (bone broth).

the challenge is that needs a lot of prep- but it’s not impossible.

And to reply to the pp who asked how active am I and how much running do I actually do. Well not that active compared to some on here! I run 2-8k 2 or 3 times a week. Do yoga and Pilates and have four children. But work full time in a sedentary job and drive to work.

it’s been really good being on mfp and being honest for once. As I feel I can see the full picture now.

im late 40s and deep in perimenopause and putting weight on so easily.

I’m going to keep logging through December, try to get some soup on the go, and see if I can start heading in the right direction.

I’m lucky not to have a target date or event to get slim by, I just want to be going in the right direction.

So you often do nothing two days a week?

I am three kilos heavier than you and one inch taller!

I run three times a week (at the moment 10-12k easy, 10-11k tempo and one half an hour run with sprints). They are burning somewhere between 300 to 600 calories. I do one or two sessions of cross-training and two one-hour weight sessions a week.

But I am really, really sedentary otherwise. Desk job and car commute. I don't have time to take a walk a lunch (or a lunch break). On days I don't run, I barely do 3,000 steps. Even at the weekends I'm pretty lazy. I think over a week I must burn a lot less than someone who is always up and down, running around after kids, walking as commute or even just a really fidgety person.

I am tracking what I eat - but as one other PP said, I do add roughly calories burned on days I run (I try to underestimate what my sports watch says I've burned by about 20 per cent, to make up for any inaccuracies). I can't stick to it otherwise. I set the app to say I wanted to lose weight relatively slowly as I don't want to get injured or lose muscle.

The app says on non-exercise days I'd eat 1,545 calories. It's really not a lot, but I've been following it and the approach above and I have gradually been losing weight - slowly, sadly, but consistently.

I was eating pretty healthy and not much of a snacker, but I definitely wasn't eating enough protein and that was making me feel hungry. When I keep an eye on that, I can stick to the number of calories suggested.

It is a bit rubbish and does kind of suck, but the truth is I've been overeating for years and really need to adjust to eating less, even if it will take a while!

Thanks @Mincepietastic- yes I feel I’ve been over-eating for years too- and what I thought was normal definitely isn’t!

No. I take a small dose of Mounjaro so I don’t feel hungry and am able to keep to the 1300 calories limit to maintain a healthy weight.

Without the medication I would (and have) find it impossible not to become overweight.

2000 calories is normal for young, active women. I eat around 2500 calories to maintain my weight. 5'11 and around 65kg.

Running 2-8k 2-3 times a week is very good for you, but won't burn much.
On average that's 5k 2.5 times per week = 12.5k. That's 7.8 miles a week. At your weight a very rough guess is that you burn around 80 cals per mile (varies by terrain etc). So your runs burn approx 624 calories per week, or 89 cals per day.

That's a very rough calc obviously, but shows you how little exercise actually burns. But it's really good for you so good on you 😊

I'm similar in height & weight (170cm, currently around 68kg).

My maintenance calories is around 175, I'm sedentary.

2000 on a daily basis would lead to slow weight gain for me.

I'm aiming for 1,600-1,800 on a daily basis with 2 very low calorie (600) days a week and trying to add in some exercise.

10 years ago I went from nearly 12 stone to just over 9 stone doing this, now at 53 I'm finding it much harder - hence adding the exercise in.

Edit: I rarely feel hungry, even on low calorie days, my downfall is sweet things.

There is no normal for women. It depends on your age, height, weight and activity level. Your total daily energy expenditure is unique to you. Find that out and you'll know how much you need to reduce it by to lose weight.