Minimum Calories for Guys

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steve4580
steve4580 Posts: 32
in Health and Weight Loss
I have read in different places that men should not go under 1500 calories per day. Is this correct? I know the minimum for women is 1200. Right now I have my calorie goal set at exactly 1500 but some days I feel like I could get by with my intake in the 1300-1400 range. One time when I was playing with the goals setting on here I selected to lose at 2 pounds per week and it put my goal at well under 1500 per day. Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

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  • Schwiggity
    Schwiggity Posts: 1,449 Member
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    I've actually read that 1800 is the minimum for men.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    I have read in different places that men should not go under 1500 calories per day. Is this correct? I know the minimum for women is 1200. Right now I have my calorie goal set at exactly 1500 but some days I feel like I could get by with my intake in the 1300-1400 range. One time when I was playing with the goals setting on here I selected to lose at 2 pounds per week and it put my goal at well under 1500 per day. Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

    It depends on your size as well. If you are 5'3" 135lbs you could probably go under 1500 cals. What I would suggest, if you are unsure about what your intake should be, to look at the BMR that you will have at your goal weight, and not go under that.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    I've actually read that 1800 is the minimum for men.

    This depends. I have heard 1500 and 1600. My maintenance is only 1950, so if I want to lose a couple pounds I would have to go below 1800.
  • jeff261159
    jeff261159 Posts: 385
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    I'm 5'10" and am at present 98kg, I am down to around 1000 -1200 calories a day. I lead a very sedentary life apart from my jogging of an evening, 3 tiimes a week. I am losing steadily and dont often feel hungry.
  • NightOwl1
    NightOwl1 Posts: 881 Member
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    I've heard both 1500 and 1800. I would definitely stay about 1500, but you could probably do less than 1800 and be okay/
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    I'm 5'10" and am at present 98kg, I am down to around 1000 -1200 calories a day. I lead a very sedentary life apart from my jogging of an evening, 3 tiimes a week. I am losing steadily and dont often feel hungry.

    That is no where enough, you are probably not hungry as your brain stopped sending hunger cues as has gotten use to such a low intake. Jeff you should be careful, you are going to end up losing a pile of muscle (slow down your metabolism) at that level of intake and you may run into other issues as well

    With only 16 lbs to go your weekly loss goal should not be more than 1 lb/week, once you get down to the last 10-15 I would suggest 0.5 lbs/week, this will help you lose fat slowly without sacrificing muscles, as well as fuel your body for better workouts.
  • NightOwl1
    NightOwl1 Posts: 881 Member
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    I'm 5'10" and am at present 98kg, I am down to around 1000 -1200 calories a day. I lead a very sedentary life apart from my jogging of an evening, 3 tiimes a week. I am losing steadily and dont often feel hungry.

    Congratulations on your loss, but losing healthily is not the same thing as losing steadily. And eventually your body will rebel against this type of calorie intake.
  • Mindful_Trent
    Mindful_Trent Posts: 3,954 Member
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    I have read in different places that men should not go under 1500 calories per day. Is this correct? I know the minimum for women is 1200. Right now I have my calorie goal set at exactly 1500 but some days I feel like I could get by with my intake in the 1300-1400 range. One time when I was playing with the goals setting on here I selected to lose at 2 pounds per week and it put my goal at well under 1500 per day. Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

    It depends on your size as well. If you are 5'3" 135lbs you could probably go under 1500 cals. What I would suggest, if you are unsure about what your intake should be, to look at the BMR that you will have at your goal weight, and not go under that.

    This is an important point. I'm only 5' 3.5", 176 lbs with a fairly sedentary lifestyle outside of my scheduled exercise sessions, so my normaly daily calorie needs are going to be lower than the average guys'. My maintenance calories at the moment are only 1800-2000 cals/day (depending on the day), so I typically stick to 1300 cals/day plus a little extra for my workouts since I'm trying to lose another 35-45 pounds. 1500-1800 minimum may apply to most guys... but not to all.

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