How many calories do you eat in a day?

Crystalchaos72

2600+ exercise with a small deficit.......usually averages out to be 3000-3800 depending on the day.....

Holy smokes! Youre one of my hero's now too!! You look incredible by the way!!

Thanks!:blushing: :flowerforyou:

CookieCrumble

2500 a day. I suspect the OP isn't losing consistently or she wouldn't be asking the question in the first place.

It's like this...if you want your body to burn stored fat as efficiently as possible, it has to be consistently getting adequate nutrition to sustain its daily functions. I'll use my own numbers as an example...I had a metabolic assessment that measured my TDEE at 2150 calories. So if I eat 2150 every day, I'll maintain my weight.

To lose 1 lb per week, I need to create a deficit of 500 calories per day on average (2150-500 = 1650 net calorie target), so I could either:
1) eat 1650 daily with no exercise (sounds like a death sentence) OR
2) eat 2150 daily & burn 500 calories through exercise (YAY).
Both options bring me to the same target net of 1650.

If I wanted to lose 2 lbs per week, I could lower my net to 1200, but whenever I eat less than 1600 I am likely to kill people, so I would do extra exercise instead.

The problem here is that 2150 really isn't enough calories to fuel 1000 calories' worth of exercise every day. I've tried it, & it kinda sucks. My exercise is not very effective when my average net falls below 1650. Yes, that's just me, & perhaps I am a special little snowflake, but regardless of how small someone is, surviving on a net of zero or less - which is basically what you're doing if you eat 800 calories & exercise them all away - is not conducive to healthy fat loss. Any gravitational weight you lose will be both muscle mass & fat.

Your level of hunger has nothing to do with the amount of nutrition your body needs to function in a healthy way. "If you're not hungry, then don't eat" is a load of horse pucky when your metabolism has been damaged by too much time at a low net calorie level.

You have a couple of choices:
A. Keep eating too few calories & hope that you too are a special little snowflake with an ironclad metabolism that couldn't possibly be damaged by inadequate nutrition. Ignore all of the good advice that's been given here already.
B. Keep an open mind. Do some homework to find out what your TDEE really is, subtract 500 from that & use the result (or 1200, whichever is higher) as your net calorie target each day. Eat calorie dense foods like nuts, butter, olive oil, avocado, fattier cuts of meat &/or exercise less to meet that target. Give it at least 3-4 weeks for your body to recover from the lower calorie level & I'll bet you not only start dropping weight, but feel much better in general.

Look at all of the people here who have had success eating more calories. Give it a try, you've got nothing to lose but fat. If it doesn't work, go back to what you're doing now.

ETA: I average 2500 daily because my exercise tends to burn >500 calories per day. Plus 2500 is much yummier than 2150.

Love this, it made me laugh in places too. I'm trying to get back up to 1800 having been heatstroked and sunburned last week and not wanting to eat. My cals were at 500. Now just over 1000 and yesterday at 1400 so getting there.

I have a little sympathy with people whose hunger levels are affected by various things, it does happen. It's also very easy to sail past your TDEE when you're eating cakes, processed meats and snack foods - it's not quite so easy when you have healthful choices to make as the will to overeat them just isn't there for some people.

stubbysticks

I would LOVE to be satisfied on 800 cals a day!!!

Wow, really? That's a typical dinner for me.

ive lost 5 and half stones just over ive gone from uk size 22 to a tight size 12 jeans so how is my 800 cals detrimental to my loss. a doc said to me years ago people in the war never come out of prisoner of war camps fat, i actually eat quite well but healthy. maybe mines my age , old people eat less full stop, but to stuff ourselves just to get to a cal intake that isnt necessarily right for everyone is stupid.

Sure, many people lose weight on 800 cals, but is it healthy to do so? It doesn't sound to me like you understand what's really going on inside your body when you do this, nor do you care, since you're using antiquated medical advice to justify it.

I have to clarify to the lower-calorie people here that you don't have to binge-eat junk food to get your calories up. I mentioned a few higher-calorie healthy foods that can help (nuts, butter, olive oil, avocado, fattier cuts of meat). Dietary fat does not equal stored fat. If you're in a deficit, there's no reason to be afraid of it.

n2006 Good thinking making a dr appointment. It would be great if you could find this thread afterward & post an update with what he/she tells you, I'm sure many of us are curious. It also tells me that you are smart enough to consult a professional instead of operating exclusively on what you read on a forum post. Not that you can't get good advice on the boards, you just have to be able to determine what's valid & what's not. FYI, if someone tells you you're stupid for doing it differently from them or references prison camps when giving weight loss advice, they are probably not the most credible source of information.

PrincessNikkiBoo

I would LOVE to be satisfied on 800 cals a day!!!

Wow, really? That's a typical dinner for me.

ive lost 5 and half stones just over ive gone from uk size 22 to a tight size 12 jeans so how is my 800 cals detrimental to my loss. a doc said to me years ago people in the war never come out of prisoner of war camps fat, i actually eat quite well but healthy. maybe mines my age , old people eat less full stop, but to stuff ourselves just to get to a cal intake that isnt necessarily right for everyone is stupid.

Sure, many people lose weight on 800 cals, but is it healthy to do so? It doesn't sound to me like you understand what's really going on inside your body when you do this, nor do you care, since you're using antiquated medical advice to justify it.

I have to clarify to the lower-calorie people here that you don't have to binge-eat junk food to get your calories up. I mentioned a few higher-calorie healthy foods that can help (nuts, butter, olive oil, avocado, fattier cuts of meat). Dietary fat does not equal stored fat. If you're in a deficit, there's no reason to be afraid of it.

n2006 Good thinking making a dr appointment. It would be great if you could find this thread afterward & post an update with what he/she tells you, I'm sure many of us are curious. It also tells me that you are smart enough to consult a professional instead of operating exclusively on what you read on a forum post. Not that you can't get good advice on the boards, you just have to be able to determine what's valid & what's not. FYI, if someone tells you you're stupid for doing it differently from them or references prison camps when giving weight loss advice, they are probably not the most credible source of information.

Thanks, I'll keep you posted. I go in 2 weeks... until then I'm going to try slowly increase the calorie level that I am eating.

michellekicks

About 2600 calories/day to maintain and 2100 calories/day to lose.

Not to be rude, but it's impossible for you to have become overweight without the ability to eat more than 7-800 calories/day. That level of calorie intake signals a disordered eating pattern.

Sorry to disagree, but before I came here, I had only recently heard about needing a certain amount of caloric intake from my DR. (I don't do DR's unless I absolutely have to) I ate once a day and half the time didn't finish that. I have never had much of an appetite since I was about 12-13. I am 34 now 5'9" tall and at my heaviest was 280 lbs. Since I have learned about eating in a certain range I have gradually boosted my intake. It's taken me a month and a half to be able to reach 1200 1/2 of the time. Most days I'm stuffed and still struggle to fit in that last 200-300 calories, so don't be so quick to judge something you haven't experienced, please.

You don't have to be sorry about disagreeing. You're entitled to.

I'm shocked that you could get to 280 lbs eating under 1000 calories/day every day and (as the OP stated) without the ability to eat more than that. In fact, I would bet you ate under 1000 calories per day *most* days but then would go to a party or something and eat (like the rest of us) about 3-4000 calories that day and your body would set it all aside as fat because it was starving from all the other sub-1000 days. In fact, if you did that once a week you could easily get to 280 lbs before long. But not likely if you *always* ate under 1000/day.

Now back to the OP - she said it is not *possible* for her to eat over 700-800 calories per day. I said "That level of calorie intake signals a disordered eating pattern." I did not call her names or belittle her. I did not judge her with a mean heart. I suggested her eating is disordered. I didn't say she is willfully starving herself. I did not say she's anorexic. I did not say anything mean or judgmental.

From the Merriam-Webster Dictionary of medical terms:
Disordered: - 1: not functioning in a normal orderly healthy way <disordered bodily functions>
http://www.merriam-webster.com/medical/disordered

Or you could look up the definition of disordered under any of these other links:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/disordered
http://www.answers.com/topic/disordered
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/disordered

wahmx3

I am 5'4", weigh 145 and I eat 1400-1500 daily, some days more. I eat my BMR based on the Harris-Benedict formula and don't eat back my exerise calories as these are accounted for already.

PrincessNikkiBoo

About 2600 calories/day to maintain and 2100 calories/day to lose.

Not to be rude, but it's impossible for you to have become overweight without the ability to eat more than 7-800 calories/day. That level of calorie intake signals a disordered eating pattern.

Sorry to disagree, but before I came here, I had only recently heard about needing a certain amount of caloric intake from my DR. (I don't do DR's unless I absolutely have to) I ate once a day and half the time didn't finish that. I have never had much of an appetite since I was about 12-13. I am 34 now 5'9" tall and at my heaviest was 280 lbs. Since I have learned about eating in a certain range I have gradually boosted my intake. It's taken me a month and a half to be able to reach 1200 1/2 of the time. Most days I'm stuffed and still struggle to fit in that last 200-300 calories, so don't be so quick to judge something you haven't experienced, please.

You don't have to be sorry about disagreeing. You're entitled to.

I'm shocked that you could get to 280 lbs eating under 1000 calories/day every day and (as the OP stated) without the ability to eat more than that. In fact, I would bet you ate under 1000 calories per day *most* days but then would go to a party or something and eat (like the rest of us) about 3-4000 calories that day and your body would set it all aside as fat because it was starving from all the other sub-1000 days. In fact, if you did that once a week you could easily get to 280 lbs before long. But not likely if you *always* ate under 1000/day.

Now back to the OP - she said it is not *possible* for her to eat over 700-800 calories per day. I said "That level of calorie intake signals a disordered eating pattern." I did not call her names or belittle her. I did not judge her with a mean heart. I suggested her eating is disordered. I didn't say she is willfully starving herself. I did not say she's anorexic. I did not say anything mean or judgmental.

From the Merriam-Webster Dictionary of medical terms:
Disordered: - 1: not functioning in a normal orderly healthy way <disordered bodily functions>
http://www.merriam-webster.com/medical/disordered

Or you could look up the definition of disordered under any of these other links:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/disordered
http://www.answers.com/topic/disordered
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/disordered

I didn't actually say not *possible* I simply didn't want to give personal information about a medical codition on a forum... Pm is different. Anyway... Never mind

michellekicks

I didn't actually say not *possible* I simply didn't want to give personal information about a medical codition on a forum... Pm is different. Anyway... Never mind

My error. Sorry about that. Since you said the gain was from a medical condition that cleared things up for me. My frustration was with the other poster who said I was being judgmental for what I said. That was not my intention. I was just noticing that if you can't bring yourself to eat more than that, there is something not quite right. Not to say there's anything strange about you... I'm just saying it can signal something going on with your body or mind to cause it (i.e. disordered eating patterns). As I said before... I think you should ask your doctor and if they say go on a diet you should see another doctor.

SunburNDA

I aim for around 1500 calories per day. My daily goal is a little bit lower than what it should be, but I do that on purpose to offset miscounted calories. I tend to underestimate the number of calories in the food that I eat.

Anna800

Depending on how much I exercise I eat 1800-2100 a day.

Brianabomb

bump

ebaymommy

I'm a 34 year old female, 5'5" and 120lbs and eating 2200-2500 a day. Dang, I love to eat! I work out quite a bit as well, just ran a marathon last weekend so taking it a bit easier this week. I've been eating at this level since January and have come down from 125 to 120lbs. I. Love. Food.

samntha14

Just worked out my BMR is 1623 and my TDEE is 1948. How much should I be aiming for? MFP settings say 1310...

This is so confusing.

If your TDEE is 1948, MFP is setting your intake for 1310 so that you have a deficit of 638 calories (1948 - 638 = 1310), which means that you would lose just over a pound per week if you were to eat this many calories and do no exercise.
If you are doing exercise during the day, this creates an even larger deficit. For example, if you burn 300 calories, this is added onto the 1310 calorie goal that MFP sets, meaning that on days you work out you can eat more and still lose a little over a pound per week.

Right now I understand. Thanks for clearing it up. I need to start eating more then... I'll work my way up to 1200 and then to 1310 and see how things go. I didn't realise my body was burning so much without actually doing anything.

I've got a doctors appointment too in two weeks to clarify it

GREAT!

Chrisplayer136

I eat anywhere from 1300-1500 calories before my workout.