How many calories does everyone eat?
Replies
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WinoGelato wrote: »kathyloveslife wrote: »I'm lightly active looking to lose 2lbs per week.
I walk 30 mins each day and MFP gave me 1,220WinoGelato wrote: »kathyloveslife wrote: »Emmapatterson1729 wrote: »I'm 5'8" 45 years old. Started at around 230 lbs eating 1410 calories (give or take 100).
Current weight around 185, upped calories to 1689 (give or take 100), still losing.
Goal weight is around 165.
Thanks! Did if benefit you to up the calories? Do you think I could get away with losing at 1300? Or should it be higher
You have not provided enough information for anyone to make this determination. See my questions above.
2 lbs per week is generally only recommended for those with 75 or more pounds to lose.
You may be better off changing your goal to 1 or 1.5 lb/week which will give you extra calories to work with and also give you room to reduce if needed.
I lowered to 1.5 and it gave me more calories so that should be sustainable3 -
I'm a bit lighter than you and a lot older but my calorie goal today to maintain weight is 4,524 calories.
Which underlines @LyndaBSS post - don't worry about what other people have as their goal, my advice would be work out a sensible goal for yourself using this tool, log consistently, fully and as accurately as reasonably possible and then make adjustments after a month if you don't get the results you expect.
4,524? WOW, I assume 1524?
He's a very active man who is maintaining, so while I cannot assume 4,524 is accurate, I'm sure 1,524 would not be.
@sijomial ?3 -
so surprised to see such low numbers like 1200, my understanding is eventually your body will slow down its metabolism so you don't starve and it can survive on those numbers.
I have taken a similar approach to "gallicinvasion"
i eat 1900-2000 a day, i exercise 5 times a week for 1 hour, otherwise i'm on my bum in the library full time.
its been really slow weight loss i've lost 6 kg over 5 months but the flip side is if i have an intense month at uni and my diet and exercise slips i don't gain it back rapidly like on a diet.
the slow method has been really good for me being busy and feeling like i need fuel all the time, i would struggle to get through my life hungry.
i used to be a hardcore dieter eating around 1400 a day but my whole life revolved around meal times, i still think about food a lot ha but not as intensely. I weighed about 68 kilos before uni then shot up to 81 over two years of not dieting and only focusing on study, convinced i needed to have enough food to keep my studying all the time + STRESS . then when i confronted my weight gain i set my limit to 2000 and use exercise to compensate that number.
Id be cautious about going too low instead focus on whats in your food, are you eating more protein and less carbs, research the role of insulin in weight loss, its super informative.
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sarshadawn wrote: »so surprised to see such low numbers like 1200, my understanding is eventually your body will slow down its metabolism so you don't starve and it can survive on those numbers.
I have taken a similar approach to "gallicinvasion"
i eat 1900-2000 a day, i exercise 5 times a week for 1 hour, otherwise i'm on my bum in the library full time.
its been really slow weight loss i've lost 6 kg over 5 months but the flip side is if i have an intense month at uni and my diet and exercise slips i don't gain it back rapidly like on a diet.
the slow method has been really good for me being busy and feeling like i need fuel all the time, i would struggle to get through my life hungry.
i used to be a hardcore dieter eating around 1400 a day but my whole life revolved around meal times, i still think about food a lot ha but not as intensely. I weighed about 68 kilos before uni then shot up to 81 over two years of not dieting and only focusing on study, convinced i needed to have enough food to keep my studying all the time + STRESS . then when i confronted my weight gain i set my limit to 2000 and use exercise to compensate that number.
Id be cautious about going too low instead focus on whats in your food, are you eating more protein and less carbs, research the role of insulin in weight loss, its super informative.
Thanks for your insight! Ive been eating low calories for awhile and ithink my body stopped losing because it got so use to it so now im eating more! Hopefully i can lose again0 -
kathyloveslife wrote: »sarshadawn wrote: »so surprised to see such low numbers like 1200, my understanding is eventually your body will slow down its metabolism so you don't starve and it can survive on those numbers.
I have taken a similar approach to "gallicinvasion"
i eat 1900-2000 a day, i exercise 5 times a week for 1 hour, otherwise i'm on my bum in the library full time.
its been really slow weight loss i've lost 6 kg over 5 months but the flip side is if i have an intense month at uni and my diet and exercise slips i don't gain it back rapidly like on a diet.
the slow method has been really good for me being busy and feeling like i need fuel all the time, i would struggle to get through my life hungry.
i used to be a hardcore dieter eating around 1400 a day but my whole life revolved around meal times, i still think about food a lot ha but not as intensely. I weighed about 68 kilos before uni then shot up to 81 over two years of not dieting and only focusing on study, convinced i needed to have enough food to keep my studying all the time + STRESS . then when i confronted my weight gain i set my limit to 2000 and use exercise to compensate that number.
Id be cautious about going too low instead focus on whats in your food, are you eating more protein and less carbs, research the role of insulin in weight loss, its super informative.
Thanks for your insight! Ive been eating low calories for awhile and ithink my body stopped losing because it got so use to it so now im eating more! Hopefully i can lose again
If people stopped losing when they cut calories too low, how do you think people become malnourished or die from starvation?
It just doesn’t work like that.
One thing I haven’t seen mentioned in this thread yet is if you’re using a food scale for logging accuracy?14 -
WinoGelato wrote: »kathyloveslife wrote: »sarshadawn wrote: »so surprised to see such low numbers like 1200, my understanding is eventually your body will slow down its metabolism so you don't starve and it can survive on those numbers.
I have taken a similar approach to "gallicinvasion"
i eat 1900-2000 a day, i exercise 5 times a week for 1 hour, otherwise i'm on my bum in the library full time.
its been really slow weight loss i've lost 6 kg over 5 months but the flip side is if i have an intense month at uni and my diet and exercise slips i don't gain it back rapidly like on a diet.
the slow method has been really good for me being busy and feeling like i need fuel all the time, i would struggle to get through my life hungry.
i used to be a hardcore dieter eating around 1400 a day but my whole life revolved around meal times, i still think about food a lot ha but not as intensely. I weighed about 68 kilos before uni then shot up to 81 over two years of not dieting and only focusing on study, convinced i needed to have enough food to keep my studying all the time + STRESS . then when i confronted my weight gain i set my limit to 2000 and use exercise to compensate that number.
Id be cautious about going too low instead focus on whats in your food, are you eating more protein and less carbs, research the role of insulin in weight loss, its super informative.
Thanks for your insight! Ive been eating low calories for awhile and ithink my body stopped losing because it got so use to it so now im eating more! Hopefully i can lose again
If people stopped losing when they cut calories too low, how do you think people become malnourished or die from starvation?
It just doesn’t work like that.
One thing I haven’t seen mentioned in this thread yet is if you’re using a food scale for logging accuracy?
Yes I use a scale0 -
Hey Winogelato
What did you mean by this comment?
“
If people stopped losing when they cut calories too low, how do you think people become malnourished or die from starvation?
It just doesn’t work like that. “
I think some other important things to consider when selecting your limit is what is a sustainable number in the long term, and also if your number is too low it’s easy to systemically underestimate the calories you consume in order to maximise how many you can have, just be carfeful to be honest anout what you eat and a scale is an excellent idea because it provides an objective measure
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I’m female, 5’4”, 162lbs and 26 years old. I could never drop down to 1200 unless I was being a couch potato (I do have odd lazy days!). I’m losing weight on 1800 calories on exercise days. On my non-exercise days I would eat 1400. If I’m even more active, I would eat 2000 calories. This is not a race, more like a sprint. I’ve done starving my self, over feeding myself. Trying to find a happy medium here. I try to exercise 5 times a week: 3 days of full body weights circuits, 1 upper body workout, 1 cardio day, 2 sessions of power yoga/vinyasa flow. I also eat lower carb, around 100-120g a day. It’s NOT just about calories. Macros matter too. Eat sufficient protein so you don’t lose muscle mass and do resistance training. I started IIFYM a few months ago and it was the worst idea for me. Never again. Do what works for you. Me and my sister are doing a sugar free challenge (for health reasons) and its going well so far.4
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I've been eating 1,500 on sedentary days, and eating back my exercise calories. I've been losing weight a bit faster than I'd planned (~0.75kg a week, with a plan of 0.5kg), which sounds great, but I want to give my body a chance to adapt to the cycling I've started doing so have increased it to 1,700 from today.1
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sarshadawn wrote: »Hey Winogelato
What did you mean by this comment?
“
If people stopped losing when they cut calories too low, how do you think people become malnourished or die from starvation?
It just doesn’t work like that. “
I think some other important things to consider when selecting your limit is what is a sustainable number in the long term, and also if your number is too low it’s easy to systemically underestimate the calories you consume in order to maximise how many you can have, just be carfeful to be honest anout what you eat and a scale is an excellent idea because it provides an objective measure
Oh believe me, I’m a huge proponent of eating the most calories one can while still losing weight. I am a petite woman mid 40s with a desk job but through concentrated efforts to raise my NEAT I was able to lose eating between 1600-1900 calories and maintenance at 2200-2300 at my most active. I think 1200 is too low for the vast majority of people and that a modest deficit is more sustainable long term.
I was responding because it seemed like OP might be thinking of a commonly misunderstood concept of starvation mode where people mistakenly believe that their body will stop losing or storing fat when they cut calories too low for prolonged periods of time.
Adaptive themogenesis is a thing, and refeeds/diet breaks can be very important especially in a long term weight loss plan. But without knowing more details of OPs approach its more likely that any issues with losing weight are due to inaccurate logging rather than calories are too low.
The advice I would give to OP is the same as what we give all new members or those struggling with losing weight.
Enter your stats and a reasonable rate of loss goal in MFP (OP still hasn’t provided height or what rate of loss she’s chosen to know if this is reasonable).
MFP will provide a NEAT calorie target.
Eat a variety of foods within that calorie goal focusing on those that provide nutrition, satiety and enjoyment.
Log everything you eat as accurately and honestly as possible ideally using a food scale.
If you exercise, log and eat back at least a portion of those calories.
Be patient and give this 4-6 weeks before making any adjustments
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I weigh 180lb (down from 250lb some years back), and am a 5'10" female aged 50. My BMR is around 1500. I add another 400 on to that for my TDEE prior to exercise and then add on my exercise calories which are measured according to a Myzone HR monitor. These figures come out to pretty much exactly the same as when they are calculated by other methods. I exercise 7 days a week, usually, and my total calorie expenditure is typically 2300. My intake may occasionally go as low as 1200 but that is rare. 1700 would be the average, I guess. Basically I aim for an average deficit of 500 (counting exercise calories) a day to give me the 3500 deficit per week to allow me to lose one pound. Over time it has worked according to plan. I follow the 16:8 fasting protocol, mostly because I am never hungry for breakfast and prefer working out in a fasted state, but calorie counting is the key for me.2
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I'm a bit lighter than you and a lot older but my calorie goal today to maintain weight is 4,524 calories.
Which underlines @LyndaBSS post - don't worry about what other people have as their goal, my advice would be work out a sensible goal for yourself using this tool, log consistently, fully and as accurately as reasonably possible and then make adjustments after a month if you don't get the results you expect.
I hope you don’t mind me asking but how much do you weigh and how tall are you?
I can’t even imagine eating 4500 calories but I’m 5,7 and I don’t have much muscle so I think I should start building some muscle
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3500ish depending how much I eat during a race/ride0
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I'm a bit lighter than you and a lot older but my calorie goal today to maintain weight is 4,524 calories.
Which underlines @LyndaBSS post - don't worry about what other people have as their goal, my advice would be work out a sensible goal for yourself using this tool, log consistently, fully and as accurately as reasonably possible and then make adjustments after a month if you don't get the results you expect.
I hope you don’t mind me asking but how much do you weigh and how tall are you?
I can’t even imagine eating 4500 calories but I’m 5,7 and I don’t have much muscle so I think I should start building some muscle
@igutt
I'm 5'9" and 165lbs but in reality if you burn that much (which for my sport of cycling is more a function of power produced over an extended period of time rather than your personal stats) you need to eat so you do. But cycling is unusual in that you can eat/drink significant amounts of calories while you exercise.
But that amount is pushing the limit of what I can (or want to) eat in a day.
On my longest rides (200km) I simply couldn't eat the full amount. How Tour de France riders eat 5,000 - 6,000 calories a day for 3 weeks astounds me.
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I'm a bit lighter than you and a lot older but my calorie goal today to maintain weight is 4,524 calories.
Which underlines @LyndaBSS post - don't worry about what other people have as their goal, my advice would be work out a sensible goal for yourself using this tool, log consistently, fully and as accurately as reasonably possible and then make adjustments after a month if you don't get the results you expect.
I hope you don’t mind me asking but how much do you weigh and how tall are you?
I can’t even imagine eating 4500 calories but I’m 5,7 and I don’t have much muscle so I think I should start building some muscle
@igutt
I'm 5'9" and 165lbs but in reality if you burn that much (which for my sport of cycling is more a function of power produced over an extended period of time rather than your personal stats) you need to eat so you do. But cycling is unusual in that you can eat/drink significant amounts of calories while you exercise.
But that amount is pushing the limit of what I can (or want to) eat in a day.
On my longest rides (200km) I simply couldn't eat the full amount. How Tour de France riders eat 5,000 - 6,000 calories a day for 3 weeks astounds me.
That sounds very cool now I understand why you consume so many calories1 -
gallicinvasion wrote: »I am 5’4”, 29, female, lightly active, and current weight is 130 lbs. I maintain on an average of 2200 calories a day.
I am so confused; how can two people disagree with my stats and calorie target 😂
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My suggested caloric intake at the moment is 1230 however, if I eat 1230 as sedentary as I am, I lose very very slowly. Like 0.5 lb weekly or less. I am obese so losing more isn’t a stretch for me, it’s necessary.
I eat around 1050-1100 cal, which isn’t typical or healthy for most people.
And honestly not exaggerated or underestimated. I measure and weigh all foods myself, I don’t just add every food from MFP -many of those are terribly incorrect.
I am currently 203lbs and only 5’ 1” tall. Starting weight was 217lbs July 23rd. So about 1.75 lbs per week loss is what I achieve eating about 1100 cal daily.
When I am working out, I can eat closer to 1500 a day and lose about 1lb per week. I just can’t push myself physically right now due to joint pain, so my caloric needs are much lower than normal.
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Today is day 1 of logging, but day 4 of being 'back on track' for me. I'm not terribly active, and my BMR is about 1400. I aim to eat between about 1300-1400. Yet I'll allow myself more on days I exercise. This will have me losing about .5-.75 pounds per week.
5'5", 44 years old, 147.9 pounds & female. Down from 152.6 on Monday but most of that is food mass (eating less now than I was up until Sunday) and water weight. Even so it is NICE to see it moving in the right direction.1 -
Today I had a mind to do a lot of exercise, so I did. That gave me a lot of exercise calories to eat. I'm at 2100 calories eaten today, have exceeded my protein macro and have over 500 remaining. I'm done.1
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gallicinvasion wrote: »gallicinvasion wrote: »I am 5’4”, 29, female, lightly active, and current weight is 130 lbs. I maintain on an average of 2200 calories a day.
I am so confused; how can two people disagree with my stats and calorie target 😂
I re-read your original post, thinking that perhaps someone read something different into it. I got nothing. Not a clue as to why anyone would disagree, let alone two people.1 -
gallicinvasion wrote: »gallicinvasion wrote: »I am 5’4”, 29, female, lightly active, and current weight is 130 lbs. I maintain on an average of 2200 calories a day.
I am so confused; how can two people disagree with my stats and calorie target 😂
I’ve had it before and I think it’s people assuming their own individual experience must be the same for everyone. So you eat well and maintain and I think people who have to eat less to maintain (maybe they’re less active) don’t believe others can eat more. I weigh 120 pounds, I’m 5’3 and I maintain on 2,100 per day - but only because I strength train. People have woo-ed me when I’ve said that!4 -
claireychn074 wrote: »gallicinvasion wrote: »gallicinvasion wrote: »I am 5’4”, 29, female, lightly active, and current weight is 130 lbs. I maintain on an average of 2200 calories a day.
I am so confused; how can two people disagree with my stats and calorie target 😂
I’ve had it before and I think it’s people assuming their own individual experience must be the same for everyone. So you eat well and maintain and I think people who have to eat less to maintain (maybe they’re less active) don’t believe others can eat more. I weigh 120 pounds, I’m 5’3 and I maintain on 2,100 per day - but only because I strength train. People have woo-ed me when I’ve said that!
Think the 2 same disagreable people(!) clicked on my first post too.
Without asking anything about me or how I calculated what was an unusually high calorie day.
Oh well - makes a change from people in real life saying "you're lucky you can eat so much" or "how come you can eat THAT and stay slim?".
It's the decisions I make around staying active and exercising a lot that mean I can eat a lot. Luck isn't involved.2 -
gallicinvasion wrote: »gallicinvasion wrote: »I am 5’4”, 29, female, lightly active, and current weight is 130 lbs. I maintain on an average of 2200 calories a day.
I am so confused; how can two people disagree with my stats and calorie target 😂
I have accidentally 'diagreed' with someone by catching it with my thumb as I scroll down. Maybe others have too without realising?3 -
I'm 5'11, just under 160lbs, 40 years old and eat anywhere between 1200 - 1600/day. Depends on what I'm getting into. Today, we plan to doing a Happy Hour, so I'll be using all my calories. Yesterday was about 1300, the day before I barely got 1250. My goal is 150 by mid-December. Toward the end I may increase the calories slowly if I get to my goal quicker than I expect. I've been doing MFP on an off since 2011. It works if you follow what it says, weigh (not measure) your food, and don't go over your calorie limit. Slow and steady wins the race every time, don't expect huge results. You'll get there. I just won't be as quick as you want it.
All of this will depend on you. How much you have to lose, how tall you are, how old you are, how active you are, etc. Someone else's results won't be your own.0 -
5'4", female, age 60. I eat 1,425 calories per day and am losing an average of 1.35 pounds per week.3
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claireychn074 wrote: »gallicinvasion wrote: »gallicinvasion wrote: »I am 5’4”, 29, female, lightly active, and current weight is 130 lbs. I maintain on an average of 2200 calories a day.
I am so confused; how can two people disagree with my stats and calorie target 😂
I’ve had it before and I think it’s people assuming their own individual experience must be the same for everyone. So you eat well and maintain and I think people who have to eat less to maintain (maybe they’re less active) don’t believe others can eat more. I weigh 120 pounds, I’m 5’3 and I maintain on 2,100 per day - but only because I strength train. People have woo-ed me when I’ve said that!
Think the 2 same disagreable people(!) clicked on my first post too.
Without asking anything about me or how I calculated what was an unusually high calorie day.
Oh well - makes a change from people in real life saying "you're lucky you can eat so much" or "how come you can eat THAT and stay slim?".
It's the decisions I make around staying active and exercising a lot that mean I can eat a lot. Luck isn't involved.
The only thing I can think of is people disagreeing with your phrasing maybe? Your first post made it sound like you maintain on 4,500+ a day, and they might have been "disagreeing" that there is no way that is true. But, I feel like your follow-up posts made it pretty clear that that was only when you added in exercise calories. So, *shrug*.0 -
claireychn074 wrote: »gallicinvasion wrote: »gallicinvasion wrote: »I am 5’4”, 29, female, lightly active, and current weight is 130 lbs. I maintain on an average of 2200 calories a day.
I am so confused; how can two people disagree with my stats and calorie target 😂
I’ve had it before and I think it’s people assuming their own individual experience must be the same for everyone. So you eat well and maintain and I think people who have to eat less to maintain (maybe they’re less active) don’t believe others can eat more. I weigh 120 pounds, I’m 5’3 and I maintain on 2,100 per day - but only because I strength train. People have woo-ed me when I’ve said that!
Yup. I’m about your height and weight, and thanks to running and lifting, maintain at just about 2100. It’s amazing how many people think that’s impossible, or that someone who is 5’4” surely can’t eat that much.1 -
1200 when Im not working out (had to take a 2 week break due to a non exercise related injury) otherwise 1400+ depending on what I did that day.0
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