300 kcals a day

[Notanightbird]

300 kcals extra a day is apparently all that is causing most people to be overweight. The weight goes on gradually and means a stone and a half or so of weight is gained over a year or two. Very sobering! It's so easy to eat 300 kcals extra, just a banana and large coffee on top of your daily calorie allowance pretty much, or a piece of toast and a piece of cheese etc. I found this a really helpful stat because it means that if you just don't give into temptation a couple of times a day and start jogging or having a 45 minute walk every day and also decrease portion sizes bringing your daily calories to 200-300 under the allowance instead you would probably lose a couple of stone over a year or so. I definitely underestimate what I eat in a day unless I log it. Hope that might be helpful to someone else too!

Yes, it's an eye opener!!

I know it varies a bit but my tracker and my treadmill both tell me my 5k run burns just under 300 Cals. That's 30-35 mins of running non stop

Definately easy to do; you can see how ppl gain without realising why.

I do think 2000 is a lot for a lot of women as well; it completely depends on your height and activity level but too many ppl take the 2000 thing as gospel.

I've known this for a while. The difference between me losing weight and sticking at my lumpen self was 1000 to lose and anything more than that means it remains the same. Have you read this elsewhere OP? I could do with some extra reading to drive the message home!

"I do think 2000 is a lot for a lot of women as well; it completely depends on your height and activity level but too many ppl take the 2000 thing as gospel."

Yes this. My Fitbit tells me I burn about 1700 calories a day on average. If I were counting calories and trying to keep to 2000 daily I'd be putting on weight.

I've been dieting for about 8 months now. It's sobering to know how few calories we actually need to function optimally.

2000 is way too much for me. I'm 5ft 4, 8st, and maintain on about 1400-1500 ish (I don't count religiously but have a good idea most of the time).

Agree tiptop, it was a shock to me too. I was eating way more than needed before I changed my habits.

I agree, the 2000 cals thing is pushed a lot & people need to be made more aware of individual requirements. For instance, I'm just under 5'3" with an office job, so I maintain a healthy weight at around 1300 cals - which is quite hard to stick to on 3 meals per day. Of course, I do try to do some exercise but it's hard as I have health issues.

Yes agree. Also the level of calories burnt are a lot less than people think. Plus you need to factor in the calories you would burn just sitting around when you do actually exercise.

For example I do a HIIT class and generally burn about 350-400 calories accoriding to my garmin. However if I was sitting on the sofa for that hour I would burn about 70 calories anyway, so the difference in calories is only 280-340. A lot of people "eat" their burned calories, however if they are eating 350-400 they would actually be eating more than they have burned!!

Most of the calorie counters over estimate calories burned by a long way so best not to ever eat exercise calories!

Just chiming in to agree with this. It's EXACTLY how I got three stone overweight (I've lost 2.5 of that in the past five months).

A little nibble here and there, an extra glass of wine, a take away, a lump of cheese, minesweeping the DCs plates after they've finished. It all adds up, and it adds up so quickly.

As other have said, I'm shocked at how little we actually need in order to function. At 5ft 6 and 11st 8lbs, I need around 1200 calories to maintain. Any more than that and the scales slowly creep up. Scary.

It's very easy to do. One of the easieat ways to consume that extra is having a cofee shop hot drink regularly.

It's how people are ending up overweight and being overweight it considered to be normal.

I've started the habit of eating not much but nuts until I have a late, small lunch . This gives me some leeway in the evening, when my willpower wanes, e.g. wine.

You've got to seize the part of the day where you're not tempted to eat and make it work for you. For me, this is the morning/early afternoon.

If I ate 2000 calories a day I'd pile the weight on very quickly.

That's bang on tiptop. The evening is my really difficult time. The eat a big breakfast, healthiest meal of the day thing, just doesn't work for me.

Yep, it does not take much.

Exercise is great for fitness and being more toned, but if I want to lose weight I have to watch what I eat - how much and what (I found reducing carbs has really worked for me).

2000 calories is what a manual labourer or someone working on a farm should be eating. Not someone with a desk job and a short commute.
I am pretty sure I don't burn more than 1200 per day and that is what I eat to remain the same size.

Interesting. Who ever came up with these statistics of 2500 for men and 2000 for women? They have a lot to answer for!

But it is an average, just that

At 6ft and fairly sporty/active, I can eat 2500 cals a day without gaining weight

It's true, and very sobering..it doesn't take much.

I think the reason we have a growing problem with obesity is down to this. We've lost sight of what a normal food intake for weight maintenance looks like. In our world of snacks, treats, huge syrupy coffees and cheeky proseccos, a weight maintenance diet for an average person can look like permanent self-denial.

But it is an average, just that

Definitely. I'm a SAHM, I'm 5ft 5 and 10.5 stone and I burn 2500 calories a day (according to my Fitbit) just chasing around after 2 pre schoolers. I'd lose weight on 2000 calories!

My mum is very careful to stay slim all the time as she is 6 foot tall and has very bad arthritis, unlike me who is short and fat.
She says the only way she can stay at goal weight is to weigh herself every morning, if she is more than 2 pounds overweight she will diet sensibly until she is back to goal.
That seems like a pretty good method to me as the weight gain never gets out of hand.

My TDEE is roughly only 1600 so to lose weight which I'm doing currently I can only eat 1100 a day which is actually a decent amount of food. Before I was eating a lot more and it was down to greed rather than hunger.

And you need to burn 3500 kcal to lose 1 lbs.

I know all these stats but I love my food so at 5'9 ins I weigh 10st 7lbs. I don't eat crap and I exercise a lot but consume 2000 kcal + a day.

When I had an office based job I excercised a bit less but ate far less and fasted twice a week. I was no lighter then. If I wanted to to be a size 8 I would have to more than half my food intake.

I would much rather make sure I move enough to be able to maintain my weight on 2000 cals than cut calories. I don't do any 'organised' exercise but am active enough day to day that my TDEE is 2500 cals.