Calories in a day?
Discussion
Can anyone give me any good advice or links for the number of calories I should be eating in a day? I know very little about it.
I'm well known for stuffing my face for most of the day, but the other day I added up my calorie intake for the first time and they came to between 1800 and 2000 on an average day. I do an hour and a quarter of very brisk walking a day, twenty minutes of resistance training and when it's not snowing or freezing cold 30-45 minutes of running or cycling each day too. According to this that I found on google: http://walking.about.com/cs/calories/l/blcalcalc.h... I should be eating about 2500 calories a day! I don't think I could physically manage to stuff that much into me (unless it was in the form of beer!).
Any thoughts? My weight's stable, in fact it goes up if I cut down on my exercise. For example, during the recent snow my walking's been slower and I haven't been running, so some days I've been eating just 1500 calories.
I'm well known for stuffing my face for most of the day, but the other day I added up my calorie intake for the first time and they came to between 1800 and 2000 on an average day. I do an hour and a quarter of very brisk walking a day, twenty minutes of resistance training and when it's not snowing or freezing cold 30-45 minutes of running or cycling each day too. According to this that I found on google: http://walking.about.com/cs/calories/l/blcalcalc.h... I should be eating about 2500 calories a day! I don't think I could physically manage to stuff that much into me (unless it was in the form of beer!).
Any thoughts? My weight's stable, in fact it goes up if I cut down on my exercise. For example, during the recent snow my walking's been slower and I haven't been running, so some days I've been eating just 1500 calories.
unless your a fat knacker or a aneroxic twig, i would advise you change nothing. If your weight is stable and your not losing muscle mass and gaining fat then there is no probs.
Advised is 1800-2000 cals for a women, and 2000-3000 if your a bloke. It all depends on numerous factors such as metabolism, excercise, and qualitity of food.
With the exercise your doing you should be just fine.
Advised is 1800-2000 cals for a women, and 2000-3000 if your a bloke. It all depends on numerous factors such as metabolism, excercise, and qualitity of food.
With the exercise your doing you should be just fine.
GingerWizard said:
unless your a fat knacker or a aneroxic twig, i would advise you change nothing. If your weight is stable and your not losing muscle mass and gaining fat then there is no probs.
Advised is 1800-2000 cals for a women, and 2000-3000 if your a bloke. It all depends on numerous factors such as metabolism, excercise, and qualitity of food.
With the exercise your doing you should be just fine.
Thanks. I'm a little on the slim side but pretty average I'd say. I'm just astonished how some guys pack away 2500 a day. 3000?! Blimey! I'd be sick trying! People joke about how much I eat, so I was very surprised to see how many calories I really do eat.Advised is 1800-2000 cals for a women, and 2000-3000 if your a bloke. It all depends on numerous factors such as metabolism, excercise, and qualitity of food.
With the exercise your doing you should be just fine.
Oh, thanks for the link above. I'll check it out now.
have just gotten a heart rate monitor which calcs calories used...it has my wt and ht etc....decided to wear it for 24 hours to assess my calories burned even when sedantary..19 hrs gone and I've burned 3500 cals. I did workout 1 hour before this using about 1000 cals..this should give me an idea of what I can cosume to lose wt. on a mission for wt loss/fitness.Reached a plateau so a boost needed. cutting down booze.
MacGee said:
have just gotten a heart rate monitor which calcs calories used...it has my wt and ht etc....decided to wear it for 24 hours to assess my calories burned even when sedantary..19 hrs gone and I've burned 3500 cals. I did workout 1 hour before this using about 1000 cals..this should give me an idea of what I can cosume to lose wt. on a mission for wt loss/fitness.Reached a plateau so a boost needed. cutting down booze.
That's a cool way of doing it. 
it could be worth double checking how you're calculating your calory intake as well. A lot of products quote calories for a "standard portion" which might not be quite your definition of standard! - not implying you eat too much, but that their idea of a portion is usually about 3 cornflakes and a drop of semi-skimmed!
When I did this I thought I was getting abpuit 170 from my bowl of cereal. When I was sad and weighed my portion it was more like 300+ calories!
When I did this I thought I was getting abpuit 170 from my bowl of cereal. When I was sad and weighed my portion it was more like 300+ calories!
fadeaway said:
it could be worth double checking how you're calculating your calory intake as well. A lot of products quote calories for a "standard portion" which might not be quite your definition of standard! - not implying you eat too much, but that their idea of a portion is usually about 3 cornflakes and a drop of semi-skimmed!
When I did this I thought I was getting abpuit 170 from my bowl of cereal. When I was sad and weighed my portion it was more like 300+ calories!
I weighed and measured everything When I did this I thought I was getting abpuit 170 from my bowl of cereal. When I was sad and weighed my portion it was more like 300+ calories!
From memory I think my cornflakes are about 300-400 calories with the milk included. I have two bowls a day, one in the morning and one at about 9-10pm.ThatPhilBrettGuy said:
Your definition of 'stuffing your face all day' must be different to mine. Apart from the cornflakes what else are you eating?
Yes, maybe. I suppose I get the reputation not from what I eat, but how often. A typical day for me is:8:30am: cornflakes or rice krispies with milk and a glass of orange juice
10:30am: ham or chicken wrap with spinach and a flapjack (homemade)
1:00pm: ham or chicken wrap with spinach and a flapjack (homemade)
3:30pm: stewed apple (I'm allergic to fresh fruit), and a sandwich sometimes if I'm hungry
6-7pm: dinner, usually chicken or fish stir fried with brocolli, pepper, onion, chilli and mushrooms with spices or ginger etc.
9-10pm: cornflakes or rice krispies with milk and a glass of fruit juice
I also drink quite a lot. A typical vending machine glass of water about once every 45-60 minutes throughout the day.
I just don't seem to be able to last more than a few hours without food, which is why I thought I had a high metabolism and was getting through a lot of calories. The above came to 1800-2000 when I added it up though.
Admittedly when I was 20/21 the above food was almost doubled, but I think everyone's like that when they're that age.
RobM77 said:
ThatPhilBrettGuy said:
Your definition of 'stuffing your face all day' must be different to mine. Apart from the cornflakes what else are you eating?
Yes, maybe. I suppose I get the reputation not from what I eat, but how often. A typical day for me is:8:30am: cornflakes or rice krispies with milk and a glass of orange juice
10:30am: ham or chicken wrap with spinach and a flapjack (homemade)
1:00pm: ham or chicken wrap with spinach and a flapjack (homemade)
3:30pm: stewed apple (I'm allergic to fresh fruit), and a sandwich sometimes if I'm hungry
6-7pm: dinner, usually chicken or fish stir fried with brocolli, pepper, onion, chilli and mushrooms with spices or ginger etc.
9-10pm: cornflakes or rice krispies with milk and a glass of fruit juice
I also drink quite a lot. A typical vending machine glass of water about once every 45-60 minutes throughout the day.
I just don't seem to be able to last more than a few hours without food, which is why I thought I had a high metabolism and was getting through a lot of calories. The above came to 1800-2000 when I added it up though.
Admittedly when I was 20/21 the above food was almost doubled, but I think everyone's like that when they're that age.
LordGrover said:
If you know things like your resting heart rate and body fat percentage I cobbled together a spreadsheet/calculator: download.
thanks - great spreadsheet I only know the figures from when I was running a lot (RHR 55, 7% fat, 67kg weight), but I put those in and it came out at 2100 calories a day, which sounds far more realistic than the 2500 I've heard quoted for the average guy.This is exactly the sort of info I'm after, thanks.
ThatPhilBrettGuy said:
RobM77 said:
ThatPhilBrettGuy said:
Your definition of 'stuffing your face all day' must be different to mine. Apart from the cornflakes what else are you eating?
Yes, maybe. I suppose I get the reputation not from what I eat, but how often. A typical day for me is:8:30am: cornflakes or rice krispies with milk and a glass of orange juice
10:30am: ham or chicken wrap with spinach and a flapjack (homemade)
1:00pm: ham or chicken wrap with spinach and a flapjack (homemade)
3:30pm: stewed apple (I'm allergic to fresh fruit), and a sandwich sometimes if I'm hungry
6-7pm: dinner, usually chicken or fish stir fried with brocolli, pepper, onion, chilli and mushrooms with spices or ginger etc.
9-10pm: cornflakes or rice krispies with milk and a glass of fruit juice
I also drink quite a lot. A typical vending machine glass of water about once every 45-60 minutes throughout the day.
I just don't seem to be able to last more than a few hours without food, which is why I thought I had a high metabolism and was getting through a lot of calories. The above came to 1800-2000 when I added it up though.
Admittedly when I was 20/21 the above food was almost doubled, but I think everyone's like that when they're that age.
bonsai said:
RobM77 said:
I'm allergic to fresh fruit
that is, quite frankly, madness.
Yes, it is. Very annoying too!It started when I was a kid when apples would make my mouth itch, and then just got steadily worse as I grew older. Now if I eat any fruit (banana, apple, pear etc) my mouth itches badly and my lips burn and swell. If I cook the fruit first then it's fine.
RobM77 said:
LordGrover said:
If you know things like your resting heart rate and body fat percentage I cobbled together a spreadsheet/calculator: download.
thanks - great spreadsheet I only know the figures from when I was running a lot (RHR 55, 7% fat, 67kg weight), but I put those in and it came out at 2100 calories a day, which sounds far more realistic than the 2500 I've heard quoted for the average guy.This is exactly the sort of info I'm after, thanks.
FYI it's worth fiddling with Energy Expenditure to match how active you are.
Note - it's not by any means 100% accurate, just the best I could come up with with my limited knowledge. Use at your own risk.
LordGrover said:
RobM77 said:
LordGrover said:
If you know things like your resting heart rate and body fat percentage I cobbled together a spreadsheet/calculator: download.
thanks - great spreadsheet I only know the figures from when I was running a lot (RHR 55, 7% fat, 67kg weight), but I put those in and it came out at 2100 calories a day, which sounds far more realistic than the 2500 I've heard quoted for the average guy.This is exactly the sort of info I'm after, thanks.
FYI it's worth fiddling with Energy Expenditure to match how active you are.
Note - it's not by any means 100% accurate, just the best I could come up with with my limited knowledge. Use at your own risk.
The good thing though is that I'm confident now that I shouldn't worry about eating too little. My weight's healthy and stable, which is what matters.
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