How many calories are you guys eating in a day?

birdieaz

My daily calories are set to my TDEE, that's 2000.
That way I know as long as I come in below that I'm good to lose . I aim for a deficit of 10-15%, that gives me plenty of calories even on workout days.

It's simple and it works.

MrDelts

I'm at 1800 right now.

Spartan_Maker

My BMR is 1,849. My TDEE is 3,190. To lose body fat without causing any metabolic damage, I eat between 2,000 and 2,500. If I was attempting to gain muscle without adding too much fat, I'd eat about 3,400.

toriaenator

i may rant...also this is pretty much based on what ive leared on this site so a doctor probably knows better or something ^^

1200 is rarely the right number for anyone, its just the lowest MFP can put; but usually its because people are too impatient, and put their goal as losing 2 lbs a week. the safest thing to do is to take your TDEE and cut 15-20% off of this if you're trying to lose weight and this will tell you the number of cals you need to eat!

If you eat too little and dont do any sort of strength training, you will lose weight but a lot of it will be muscle mass. This will end up making the number on the scale smaller but you wont feel great because your body fat percentage wont be going down.

On the other side if you take things slower, do a good strength program with light cardio making sure to eat enough cals then the number on the scale wont be as low, sure, but you will lose much more inches and look WAY better (muscle being more compact but weighing more than fat)

i learned all of this the hard way; ate stupidly low amounts while doing massive cardio sessions and no strength. ended up at a low weight but lost a huge amount of muscle that took forever to regain. dont make my mistake

eksproductions

1530.

heatherloveslifting

I just used the "In place of a road map" post (thanks for the link ) to calculate my target calories and apparently I should be eating 2000 calories/day to lose weight. Does this sound right...it seems very high to me. Lately I've been trying to eat 1500 cals/day and this week I worked out 5 days (mostly cardio) and haven't lost a single pound. I've been on a plateau for a long time now. I'm hoping maybe this increase in calories will help get me losing again?

Anyone been following the "20% below TDRR" method and exercising and losing weight? Side note: MFP says I will lose 0.4 lbs/week eating this many calories is MFP inaccurate or will I really only lose that much eating 20% below TDEE? Thanks .

I have been using these calculations for maybe 2 months, eating about 1530 (although lately I am also trying to never NET below 1200 so some days are a bit more). On average I'm very close to 0.5 lb per week, and that is *with* newly lifting, so I think it's pretty good. Obviously, an estimated 14 more weeks to goal seems like a long time, but I had completely stopped losing on 1240 for several weeks.

richie123098

I eat about 1500 a day when dieting, for breakfast and lunch I have a MaxiMilk Shake (from Maximuscle), they are full of protein and about 200cals each and even though I don't work out much they do keep me full most of the day then about 7 in the evening I have what ever I want, fish or something, as long as I stay below my goal. It works for me and I loose about 3pound a week doing that.

heatherloveslifting

Totally agree with this:

i may rant...also this is pretty much based on what ive leared on this site so a doctor probably knows better or something ^^

1200 is rarely the right number for anyone, its just the lowest MFP can put; but usually its because people are too impatient, and put their goal as losing 2 lbs a week. the safest thing to do is to take your TDEE and cut 15-20% off of this if you're trying to lose weight and this will tell you the number of cals you need to eat!

If you eat too little and dont do any sort of strength training, you will lose weight but a lot of it will be muscle mass. This will end up making the number on the scale smaller but you wont feel great because your body fat percentage wont be going down.

On the other side if you take things slower, do a good strength program with light cardio making sure to eat enough cals then the number on the scale wont be as low, sure, but you will lose much more inches and look WAY better (muscle being more compact but weighing more than fat)

i learned all of this the hard way; ate stupidly low amounts while doing massive cardio sessions and no strength. ended up at a low weight but lost a huge amount of muscle that took forever to regain. dont make my mistake

themaskedpixie

i'm large and have alot to loose i'm also breast feeding my daughter so i net about 1650 but eat 2300

zyxst

TDEE minus 10-20%
It's different for everyone based on their height, weight, age, etc.

Same here.

I eat 2,000 cals a day. I have MFP adjusted to my activity level, which is still lower than what my Fitbit tells me I burn. I don't bother trying to hit a net calorie, just eat about 500 less than I burn.

californiagirl2012

What are your opinions on how many calories you should be eating? A lot of people say not to eat under 1200. What are your opinions and experiences?

Oh, and feel free to add me for motivation and whatnot!

Everyone is different.

The 1200 calorie minimum is relative to your BMR. If you are a bigger person this is a low number, if you are small like me this is a large number, barely below my RMR. This 1200 may work okay for most people but for short females like me it's way too much. If you are like me, petite and short and you think you might fall into the same category then you need to seek approval of your doctor. I went lower and when I showed my doctor the research links for eating less in Brad Pilon’s Eat Stop Eat and the calorie guide for me in “The Venus Index Workout Manual” he said “Great. Do it!” So I did and it worked, but I think that is because I am short.

Taller people have more room in their calorie budget to go up or down. Shorter people like me have less room and get frustrated with "eat more" because that typically does not work for us. If you are confused about it don't just listen to the "eat more" bullies, do some research and get approval from your doctor, then tell the bullies who "call you on the pad for eating too low" that you are under a doctors care and to please leave you alone.

Seek advice from your doctor. Myself or anyone else on here can’t tell you how much to eat, or to go up or down. If you have a lot of body fat reserves you would be surprised at how little you can eat (unless you have emotional eating issues or disorders). The leaner you get the less your body has to draw from and then you have to taper up your calories. There is no such thing as starvation mode for woman over 12% body fat or men over 6% body fat. I pretty much proved that for myself by staying strong and building muscle and doing what I did. I'm the leanest, most muscular, and most fit that I have ever been in my life at almost 52 years old. My doctor looked at my blood work throughout my journey and it remained fine even with “taking breaks from eating” for periods of time and eating less. Even now at less than 12% body fat everything is A-OKAY. I am healthy, active, and vibrant, muscular not skinny. I have never had eating disorders nor do I now. If you have eating disorders you should not be on a diet unless you are under a doctor’s care and/or get those issues resolved first. I do not advocate unhealthy eating or promote eating disorders.

While there is no one size fits all I listed the things that worked for me here --> http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/740340-i-lost-60-lbs-at-age-51-anyone-can-any-workout

I found the following quotes helpful for sorting through all the myths plastered all over the place.

What is the exact number of calories for you?

We’ve been trying to figure out an exact NUMBER of calories that everyone should be eating, without recognizing that everyone is slightly different. In truth, the calories aren’t the end game. Your body is. So the EXACT amount of Calories that are right for you is the EXACT amount that will allow you to maintain your ideal bodyweight no matter what some calculator or chart says.

In other words, an online calculator might tell you that you need to eat 2,500 calories
per day to maintain your ideal bodyweight. But the only way to know for sure if this is
the right amount for you is to test it out. If you gain weight or can’t lose weight eating
that much, then you know you need to eat less to lose weight no matter how many
calculators and text books say otherwise.

This doesn’t mean your metabolism is broken, it just means the estimate of your needs
was just a bit off.

-John Barban (The Body Centric Calorie Guide from the Venus Index and Adonis Index Manuals)

The Theory of Fat Availability:
•There is a set amount of fat that can be released from a fat cell.
•The more fat you have, the more fat can be used as a fuel when dieting.
•The less fat you have, the less fat can be used as a fuel when dieting.
•Towards the end of a transformation, when body fat is extremely low you
may not have enough fat to handle a large caloric deficit anymore.

At the extreme low end, when your body fat cannot ‘keep up’ with the energy deficit
you've imposed on your body, the energy MUST come from SOMEWHERE. This is
when you are at risk of losing lean body mass during dieting (commonly referred to
as ‘starvation mode’). This happens at extremely low levels of body fat, under 6% in
men and 12% in women [Friedl K.E. J Appl Phsiol, 1994].

-Brad Pilon and John Barban (from The Reverse Taper Diet in The Adonis Index and Venus Index manuals)

Kristhin

I've been eating 1200 if I don't exercise and 1300-1400 if I do.

postrockandcats

I eat 1900 on average, which is about 20-25% under my TDEE.

TheEffort

Average a little over 1900 calories per day.


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nkyjennifer

You've got lots of good advice here about finding your TDEE and doing some math. That is the way to get long term, sustainable results. It's slower than being super-restrictive, but it's healthier and you will likely feel better.

I'm 5' 5" and eat 1800-1900 calories a day. I don't exclude any food category, I just measure/weigh everything and count it. I eat back almost all of my exercise calories.

TheEffort

I did the 1200 calories per day for a while at the start of my journey...I now do a lot of strength training and cardio so 1200 calories is insufficient for me.


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tigerlinly

a friend of mine is a nutritionist and she says no one should eat less then 1200 calories under any circumstance

hoffma25

MFP tells me to eat over 2000, but I eat around 1800-1900 a day. You should try using a BMR calculator for further guidance. Just google and several links will pop-up. But of course, it's all based on how you feel. If you start feeling light-headed, sweaty, faint, fatigued, and/or cranky, I would suggest increasing your caloric intake, since these are signs of hypoglycemia, which has the potential to become fatal.

Just some of my opinions/thoughts! )

hazelovesfood

Well, I'm slightly anorexic... I mean... I don't eat much during the day. I try and MyFitnessPal has been helping me do that. I put inn my data, 325lbs-goal 110lbs- sedetary exercise- 5'3- 18 y\o- goal to loose 2 lbs a week, and it says I can eat 1780 calories, which is very surprising to me. I don't doubt that MyFitnessPal is incorrect, my anorexic mind just can't concieve how much that is! lol. Well, yesterday was my first offical day of using the app and I seriously tried to eat so much; I was SO full at the end of the day. I ended up eating a total of 777 calories - 184 exercise = 593 calories. And the app was STILL telling me that I wasn't eating enough! Oh well. Maybe I'll end up loosing more than I expected? Check out my food diary and give me some tips if I really am not eating enough, please!

If you really want to consume more calories (which is definitely recommended), but can't stomach more food at the moment, try eating more calorie-dense foods such as seeds, nuts, nut butters, oils (cook with or add to salads), avocados, cheese etc. Stop eating reduced calories and reduced fat food, switch to full fat dairy for example. You can also drink your calories in milk, nut milks, protein shakes, smoothies etc.

If you really think you have an eating disorder, my main "tip" would be to seek treatment for it now. :flowerforyou:

what the hell are you eating for 777 in one day, that is absolute starvation.You cant be eating much food for that, unless its all veg and salad

mcouturezz

Teambeachbody tells me to eat 1700 per my exercise plan etc.
MFP tells me 1280 + exercise cals so what I did is I calculated the total cals burned with exercise / week and added it to 1280 / day that gives me 1590.

So.. I avg between 1600 and 1700 cals.. the days of heavier workouts I go up to 1800.
Btw I'm 5'8'' and do ChaLean Extreme + Zumba 45 mins 3 X / Wk