Who is that "average woman" who needs to eat 2,000 cal?

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Replies

  • Achrya
    Achrya Posts: 16,913 Member
    Those 2000 calories are probably still from the good old days when people would do manual labour instead of alternating between sitting in front of a PC at work and a TV at home... ;)

    I don't know. I sit in front of the TV and Computer pretty much 7 days a week and my maintenance is still above 2000 calories. And I'm not a work out fiend: I lift 3 days a week and try to get an hour or two of cardio in (And usually fail.)
  • calibriintx
    calibriintx Posts: 1,741 Member


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  • PetulantOne
    PetulantOne Posts: 2,131 Member
    Those 2000 calories are probably still from the good old days when people would do manual labour instead of alternating between sitting in front of a PC at work and a TV at home... ;)

    I don't know. I sit in front of the TV and Computer pretty much 7 days a week and my maintenance is still above 2000 calories. And I'm not a work out fiend: I lift 3 days a week and try to get an hour or two of cardio in (And usually fail.)

    That's me as well.

    Desk job, plus school, plus T.V./reading at night. Outside of exercise, I'm a slug.
  • contingencyplan
    contingencyplan Posts: 3,639 Member
    On shows about weight, such as "supersized vs. superskinny" or "secret eaters" they keep repeating that an average woman needs to eat 2,000 calories a day and average man 2,500(that is so not fair, btw :o).

    But all online calculators tell me that my maintenance rate if I am not active is 1,300 calories. That sounds extremely depressing. (BTW, I've been losing eating 1,500 NET calories, so I think this might be inaccurate). Sure, I'm active, but since I eat back all of my workout calories, that should not matter for this calculation.

    Is the 2,000 calorie diet a myth, and women who eat that will be slowly gaining weight?
    WHO is that average woman that can eat 2,000?

    Your BMR is not your maintenance calories. You did not use these calculators right.
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
    On shows about weight, such as "supersized vs. superskinny" or "secret eaters" they keep repeating that an average woman needs to eat 2,000 calories a day and average man 2,500(that is so not fair, btw :o).

    But all online calculators tell me that my maintenance rate if I am not active is 1,300 calories. That sounds extremely depressing. (BTW, I've been losing eating 1,500 NET calories, so I think this might be inaccurate). Sure, I'm active, but since I eat back all of my workout calories, that should not matter for this calculation.

    Is the 2,000 calorie diet a myth, and women who eat that will be slowly gaining weight?
    WHO is that average woman that can eat 2,000?

    Your BMR is not your maintenance calories. You did not use these calculators right.

    This. ^^^
  • Ely82010
    Ely82010 Posts: 1,998 Member
    What is this I don't even...next people will be crying foul because we don't all actually have 2.2 kids and 1.5 cats.

    LEARN WHAT AVERAGE MEANS.

    And I ask this question to you too;

    PLEASE TELL US WHAT AVERAGE MEANS.. (weight, height, age, activities, what ever)

    average weight = sum of individual weights/number of individuals weighed
    average height = sum of individual heights/number of individuals measured
    average whatever = sum of individual whatevers/number of individuals whatevered

    You (and professorrat) haven't answer the question as related to this thread. Age of 'average woman," height of "average woman," "weight of average woman." Show me the numbers... or maybe we should use "whatevered."

    Averages in my opinion don't really exits, it is just a word with a definition that doesn't mean much and people give it different interpretation. Just like BMI.

    Any way, out I go, because this thread is not getting anywhere, and is not very educational either.
  • cavia
    cavia Posts: 457 Member
    I'm 5'7" and eating 2750calories/day. I'm trying to find my bulking calories and will probably be raising to 3000 next week (250 calorie surplus). I'm doing Starting Strength 3x week (since Sept 1st) and each session takes me about 80 minutes.
  • LiftAllThePizzas
    LiftAllThePizzas Posts: 17,857 Member
    I saw a lot of snarky comments. Be nice people, we're all here for the same reason. If you can't be a positive influence, keep your mouth shut.
    I'm here to make snarky comments. So, since we're all here for the same reason, I can rest assured that you are too, and that your comment was just sarcasm and what you really meant was "ha ha great job with all the snarky comments!"
  • What is this I don't even...next people will be crying foul because we don't all actually have 2.2 kids and 1.5 cats.

    LEARN WHAT AVERAGE MEANS.

    And I ask this question to you too;

    PLEASE TELL US WHAT AVERAGE MEANS.. (weight, height, age, activities, what ever)

    average weight = sum of individual weights/number of individuals weighed
    average height = sum of individual heights/number of individuals measured
    average whatever = sum of individual whatevers/number of individuals whatevered

    You (and professorrat) haven't answer the question as related to this thread. Age of 'average woman," height of "average woman," "weight of average woman." Show me the numbers... or maybe we should use "whatevered."

    Averages in my opinion don't really exits, it is just a word with a definition that doesn't mean much and people give it different interpretation. Just like BMI.

    Any way, out I go, because this thread is not getting anywhere, and is not very educational either.

    Of course they exist. Case in point:

    Age
    20
    25
    30
    35
    40

    AVERAGE AGE: 30

    Weight
    135
    140
    145
    150
    155

    AVERAGE WEIGHT: 145

    TDEE
    2200
    2100
    2000
    1900
    1800
    AVERAGE TDEE: 2000

    Now assume person X is 28 and 155 pounds...what is the best ROUGH estimate of her TDEE? It would be the average.
  • OMGeeeHorses
    OMGeeeHorses Posts: 732 Member
    Hmm...
  • vjohn04
    vjohn04 Posts: 2,276 Member
    I eat 2K or more....
    I'll be 32 next month, I am 5'8" and weigh in at 144 lbs as of this morning
  • BusyRaeNOTBusty
    BusyRaeNOTBusty Posts: 7,166 Member
    What is this I don't even...next people will be crying foul because we don't all actually have 2.2 kids and 1.5 cats.

    LEARN WHAT AVERAGE MEANS.

    And I ask this question to you too;

    PLEASE TELL US WHAT AVERAGE MEANS.. (weight, height, age, activities, what ever)

    average weight = sum of individual weights/number of individuals weighed
    average height = sum of individual heights/number of individuals measured
    average whatever = sum of individual whatevers/number of individuals whatevered

    You (and professorrat) haven't answer the question as related to this thread. Age of 'average woman," height of "average woman," "weight of average woman." Show me the numbers... or maybe we should use "whatevered."

    Averages in my opinion don't really exits, it is just a word with a definition that doesn't mean much and people give it different interpretation. Just like BMI.

    Any way, out I go, because this thread is not getting anywhere, and is not very educational either.

    Average is a statistic. Of course it exists. You must have missed my post with actual numbers. I used the word "mean" instead of "average" but it's the same thing.
    According to Wikipedia: The mean height of women in the United States over 20 (the height of all women over 20 / the number of women over 20) is 5'4.5". The mean weight is 165lbs.

    Plug those numbers into this calculator, with an age of 30:

    http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

    I get a TDEE of 2001 calories.

    Of course the default option is exercise 3 times a week. No exercise is 1746.
  • Achrya
    Achrya Posts: 16,913 Member
    What is this I don't even...next people will be crying foul because we don't all actually have 2.2 kids and 1.5 cats.

    LEARN WHAT AVERAGE MEANS.

    And I ask this question to you too;

    PLEASE TELL US WHAT AVERAGE MEANS.. (weight, height, age, activities, what ever)

    average weight = sum of individual weights/number of individuals weighed
    average height = sum of individual heights/number of individuals measured
    average whatever = sum of individual whatevers/number of individuals whatevered

    You (and professorrat) haven't answer the question as related to this thread. Age of 'average woman," height of "average woman," "weight of average woman." Show me the numbers... or maybe we should use "whatevered."

    Averages in my opinion don't really exits, it is just a word with a definition that doesn't mean much and people give it different interpretation. Just like BMI.

    Any way, out I go, because this thread is not getting anywhere, and is not very educational either.

    Did you just flounce because you're offended by the notion of Averages? Just when you thought you'd seen everything.


    And BusyLady gave the average height and weight: 5'4".5 and 165 pounds.


    Edit: Ohai there BusyLady. ^^^^
  • taiyola
    taiyola Posts: 964 Member
    I maintain on 1700-1800 being lightly active, and I don't think the "average woman" works out hard.

    From what I've seen with friends and myself etc - to maintain on 2000 calories a day, you have to workout a lot.

    Not many of my friends or the people I work with go to the gym regularly, unless it's a fad and they do it for a month!

    The "average" woman, isn't so average.
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
    On shows about weight, such as "supersized vs. superskinny" or "secret eaters" they keep repeating that an average woman needs to eat 2,000 calories a day and average man 2,500(that is so not fair, btw :o).

    But all online calculators tell me that my maintenance rate if I am not active is 1,300 calories. That sounds extremely depressing. (BTW, I've been losing eating 1,500 NET calories, so I think this might be inaccurate). Sure, I'm active, but since I eat back all of my workout calories, that should not matter for this calculation.

    Is the 2,000 calorie diet a myth, and women who eat that will be slowly gaining weight?
    WHO is that average woman that can eat 2,000?

    You are the average woman.

    You are eating 1,500 NET to lose weight, meaning you would probably maintain eating somewhere close to 2,000.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    But all online calculators tell me that my maintenance rate if I am not active is 1,300 calories.

    Are you tiny? Also, you probably put sedentary...most people really aren't sedentary even if they have a desk job or whatever. I have a desk job but I also have a couple kids and cook and clean, etc. My "light active" NEAT (without exercise) is around 2,400 calories...so, just getting off my *kitten* for a good 15 minute walk per day would put me in the normal range of 2,500 for a man.

    I'm thinking you have something jacked in your inputs or you are very tiny. My mom is 61 and about 5'5"...her TDEE with exercise is around 2300 calories. Seems to me that on average, most women maintain around 1800 - 2000 even if they don't exercise a ton...at least that seems to be the case with most women I know.
  • UsedToBeHusky
    UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,228 Member
    You (and professorrat) haven't answer the question as related to this thread. Age of 'average woman," height of "average woman," "weight of average woman." Show me the numbers... or maybe we should use "whatevered."

    Averages in my opinion don't really exits, it is just a word with a definition that doesn't mean much and people give it different interpretation. Just like BMI.

    Any way, out I go, because this thread is not getting anywhere, and is not very educational either.

    Averages are dependent upon the sample. That is the point that they are trying to get at.
  • Sovictorrious
    Sovictorrious Posts: 770 Member
    I eat 2000k
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
    On shows about weight, such as "supersized vs. superskinny" or "secret eaters" they keep repeating that an average woman needs to eat 2,000 calories a day and average man 2,500(that is so not fair, btw :o).

    But all online calculators tell me that my maintenance rate if I am not active is 1,300 calories. That sounds extremely depressing. (BTW, I've been losing eating 1,500 NET calories, so I think this might be inaccurate). Sure, I'm active, but since I eat back all of my workout calories, that should not matter for this calculation.

    Is the 2,000 calorie diet a myth, and women who eat that will be slowly gaining weight?
    WHO is that average woman that can eat 2,000?

    I am confused by your post greatly. You state that you are netting 1500 calories and losing weight. This means your maintenance probably around 2000 calories per day. Which means, the answer to your own question is yourself.
  • LiftAllThePizzas
    LiftAllThePizzas Posts: 17,857 Member
    According to Wikipedia: The mean height of women in the United States over 20 (the height of all women over 20 / the number of women over 20) is 5'4.5". The mean weight is 165lbs.

    Plug those numbers into this calculator, with an age of 30:

    http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

    I get a TDEE of 2001 calories.
    Well you see now, the average is 2000, but impossibly you are 2001. Therefore math is broken and science doesn't work and we should throw it all out the window and go back to superstition.
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
    Taking an average means collecting specific info in order to make a generalisation.

    For example to find the average age of 2,000 people at a One Direction concert - you would find out the total age of the 'population' ie every single person there's age, add them all up and then divide by 2,000.

    Most populations have a Gaussian or bell shaped curved - very few at the extreme ends - ie at the 1D concert I'd predict there won't be many 3-month old babies or many 84-year-olds grooving to the sounds of Harry, Niall, Louis, Liam and Zayn.

    I'm down with the kids, me. :glasses:

    Given that they are horrid little pop boys band the distribution is likely not to be normal but bi-modal. Peaks at 13 year old girls and another peak at 40 odd mothers of such girls.

    Age in this sample is hardly independent (teen girls invite teen girls, mothers are chaperones). I'm also willing to bet that skew isn't 0. A basic requirement of ND.

    Carry on.
  • I think there is some confusion over what the basal metabolic rate (BMR) is. BMR actually refers to the number of Calories you will burn lying in bed all day. This is what it means to be truly sedentary. If your BMR is 1,300 Calories but the actual Calories burned by the average woman is estimated to be 2,000 because she tends to walk around, go to work, talk to people, walk the dog, etc.

    That being said, we can assume that all people have different BMRs and average levels of activity. Just find what works for you. For me, my BMR is about 1690 Calories per day. My normal activities I find that I lose weight as long as my total intake is 2,200 or less.

    Harris Benedict Formula
    To determine your total daily calorie needs, multiply your BMR by the appropriate activity factor, as follows:

    •If you are sedentary (little or no exercise) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2
    •If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375
    •If you are moderately active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55
    •If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725
    •If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9
  • taunto
    taunto Posts: 6,420 Member
    I don't like to mention names without their permission but yes, in my friends list there are at least 5 people who eat above 2,000 calories AND LOSE weight. I also have a 60+ years old female friend who eats 1700+ calories at maintenance + the calories she burns working out.
  • Fullsterkur_woman
    Fullsterkur_woman Posts: 2,712 Member
    The "average" woman, isn't so average.
    inigo_montoya.gif

    average =/= "typical"
  • TheStephil
    TheStephil Posts: 858 Member
    I eat 2100 calories a day in average. I'm 5'7
  • NerdyTXChick
    NerdyTXChick Posts: 155 Member
    It sounds like you may be mistaking BMR for maintenance calories. My BMR is 1424, but I average 1950-2000 calories a day for maintenance. I take a Pilates class once a week (on those days I eat about 2250), but I have a desk job and am pretty sedentary the rest of the time. I'm 43 years old, 5'6, and weigh 152lbs. I weighed 230 a year and a half ago. Hope this helps!
  • Hildy_J
    Hildy_J Posts: 1,050 Member
    Averages in my opinion don't really exits, it is just a word with a definition that doesn't mean much and people give it different interpretation. Just like BMI.

    We're veering into the realms of philosophy now... In a way she's right... averages don't exist in the way that trees and clouds exist... they don't take up 3-d space. They're just a theoretical construct with a set of rules that people accept and use. Like property ownership, marriage, capitalism, religion. None of which are 'real' in the physical sense.
  • I'm guessing my maintenence would be a bit above 2000. I had set my weight loss goal to 1 lb/week with net cals of about 1480, I was pretty good about eating back most of my exercise, and I had one high intake day a week but I lost 2 lbs a week instead of one. That's a deficit of about 7000 a week, so I'm guessing my TDEE would be somewhere between 2200-2500

    As a side note, I started to feel like crap, so I increased intake. Now I eat "maintenance"+ activity (which I still suspect is a deficit) 4 days of the week.

    Edit for not - so - smartphone typos

    EtA also: I must have been eating a crap load to gain the weight. :embarassed: