How Many Calories Do You Consume Daily?

[PACOX]

700-1500 a day, i honestly dont see how people can manage more.

How are you alive?

[Sylvre]

Ya... the people who say they eat < 1500 calories are just kididng themselves. Or starving themselves.

[Maruka]

Id say on a regular day im around 2k mostly. If i decide to buy a case of beer (once a week or less) it probably doubles, if i decide to eat fastfood(rarely) it probably doubles aswell.

[Jasyn]

My 'ideal' amount to maintain current weight would be ~3500 (220 + daily exercise). I don't intend to maintain my weight, so I eat 1800-2200 most days, with one splurge day per week probably closer to 3k.

I've read that varying the amount you eat every day helps prevent your body from being inefficient with its food usage.

[Brianjosel]

Ya... the people who say they eat < 1500 calories are just kididng themselves. Or starving themselves.

I would say that many of the people saying no more than 2k a day are also kidding themselves. These boards are full of younger people (sub 30). A young 200lb male, doing nothing but sitting around all day, is going to have a base metabolic rate of 2400-2500 calories a day, roughly. A 150lb male is probably in the 1800-2000lb. Women are obviously less, but still, I think some people are underplaying how much they eat.

Having a physical job, I can easily go through 3k calories a day. Easily. And I am not some fat ass. I ran 5 miles outside yesterday, which is hardly some miracle, but 3.5 out of those 5 miles were uphill. I could probably have gone over 4k calories yesterday and seen no weight fluctuation.

700 is ridiculously low.

I honestly wouldn't be surprised if some of the guys with extremely physical jobs (something like the crab fisherman on Deadliest Catch) could eclipse 7000 calories and not see a weight change. I remember reading a few years ago, that a typical SEAL candidate eats over 5000 calories a day during Hell Week, and still loses weight. Obviously those are extreme circumstances, But it is certainly not at all difficult to create a scenario in a healthy adult to see a dietary need for 4k calories worth of energy expenditure.


People are just way too sedentary in developed countries, and eat way more than 3k calories while doing nothing to spend that energy surplus.

[Deadraline]

I usually feel good with 1100 on a less active day...but on my active days I eat around 1550. I am a female and trying to lose weight atm. But I never eat less than 1000 in a day...and do my very best not to go over 1700 in a day. Usually if I do go over my limit I am making sure I do it with only healthy foods. Calories are important, but eating empty calories, no matter how few, is just a waste. Sweet potatoes, while high in calories, are also so full of nutrients that if I happen to go over my limit because I chose a sweet potato over carrots for the day, I don't feel bad because sweet potatoes offer way more nutrients than carrots...and when working out on a daily basis those nutrients are much needed.

It's quality over quantity. I am only 5'2'' also. And I eat around 5 times a day, all my main meals plus 2 snacks in a day. And most of those days I can hit right on with my 1550 calorie diet and not go over my limit. And I am never hungry, weak feeling, or anything like that. Most times I find myself having more energy really. Some of that goes to exercise, but a lot of it goes to my new healthy eating life style.

[kenn9530]

if you want to lose weight you should eat more along with resistance training, eating more but smaller amounts keeps the metabolism burning longer which helps burn more fat, so try to eat 6 times a day around 3 hours apart but something small and not exceeding your daily limit.

if you dont eat regulary you can put more weight on as when you do eat the body then stores the energy straight to fat as it doesnt know when it will next get supplied, breakfast is one of the most important meals of the day as this starts your metabolism off. If you dont eat properly you will most likely put weight on even if your only consuming half your daily intake.

[badaku]

1000-1500 from beer and at least 2000 from food. 189cm 100kg / 6'2" 220lbs. I havent gained any weight in years.

[Deleted]

I aim at 1600 - usually it's 2000 I got my calorie burn measured year ago and it was 2200 per day during normal activity (walking to work, working, playing WoW )

[N-7]

I don't really count how many Calories I eat (mostly because I don't care).

[starlord]

anywhere between 1400 & 2000

my weight tends to fluctuate wildly within about a 10 pound range...

[Kuhnta]

Really depends.
If I am out and a bout hanging out with friends, probably about 800ish. Obviously not a very good thing to take in so little, but I'm distracted and don't really notice that I might be hungry till I get home.
If I am bored and chilling at home, probably about 2200. Granted 70% of that is probably from juice/chocolate milk/energy drinks more then actual food.

[Deleted]

If I'm hungry, I eat. Can't put a number on that but I'm quite sure it's significantly higher than this 'Guideline daily amount' that seems to dominate peoples lives oh so. I've got the perfect BMI for my age group, also.

[Draqson]

I never counted my kcal...
but i guess its very very varying...

[Deleted]

I would never recommend any thing lower than 1600/day. Lower than that, then your hurting your self. You will not be able to provide your body w/ the proper nutrition. If a person is working out then never go under 2000, unless your body wt is under 100lbs.

Caloric intake depends on your body wt, ht, body composition and exercise. When i was 205 lbs working out about 3x w/ wts and cadio, my intake was about 5k per day. Cutting phase was around 3k per day.

I ate about 1600 / day when I weighed 45 kg. Eating 2000-2500 now.. still have a hard time gaining any weight though, gained some but can't really gain more it seems.

[Melilithia]

I don't really count, but I'm guessing around 1000...

[Panquake]

Don't know never counted and never cared tbh.

[Slummish]

For breakfast, I had a Bloody Mary and eggs Benedict. For lunch, I had two Fat Tires and a Reuben with chips. For dinner, I'm having a porterhouse smothered in bleu cheese the size of a toddler's head with a loaded baked potato and some sort of salad and probably a couple of martoonis. How many calories is that? That's roughly a normal day. I don't usually have snacks, but if I do, it's probably a pint of Haagen-Dazs butter pecan or rum raisin.

[Jordaen]

Those numbers seem way more reasonable to me. Unless you are like 150lbs, old, and extremely sedentary, 2k calories just seems way too low.

Of course, most people's problem is that they are too sedentary.

Lol so apparently I weigh more than I do, am way older than I am, and do nothing all day because I eat less than 2k? I'm a 20 year old female who weighs between 98-102 (depending on the day), 5'2" and I go to the gym every other day. I eat less than 2k calories. I eat when I'm hungry, I eat until I'm full. I drink a lot of water, very little sugar, and lean meats with vegetables. Basically the opposite of what you said...if I took in even 2500 calories I would gain so much weight, and I would feel bloated all the time until my stomach stretched out. I rarely ever get above 1600...Gawd I can't even imagine eating almost triple that!

[Skelington]

Between 1000-2000 if anything. Some days Skelington forgets to eat, though. There's no real average since his eating patterns vary so much.