What is a normal caloric intake?

[contagious coma]

I am currently struggling with an Eating disorder, and today I ate about 1,500 calories give or take a few (I've been trying not to calculate my caloric intake as of late, but I can't help it).

To me, that's A LOT, and I would even consider it a binge. I feel incredibly guilty EVERY time that I eat, and I know that's because of my eating disorder thoughts. When I read about people who eat 2,500+ calories who are "trying to lose weight", it makes me freak out. How could you possibly lose weight with a caloric intake that high?

So I was wondering, what is a normal intake for you guys? I guess I'm just trying to convince myself that my perception on normal is very skewed.

[Narcissistic Admiration]

1500 is average for women if they're trying to maintain a healthy weight.

[weeneez]

I honestly never keep track of the how much calories I take in each day, I don't have the patience for that lol

[Delightful_FOOL]

On a typical day, I eat between 1200 and 1500. I am not very active, though. Government man sets the norm at 2000.

[At Dusk And Forever]

I'm 5'11 143 pounds I was on a bulk up diet and gained 20 pounds, but now I'm spiraling down again since I lost my appetite....My metabolism is like a furnace.

[Pornime]

2000 calories for an adult

Women can make do with 1500 a day too

I haven't been counting my calorie-intake lately, but it varies between 800-2500 kcal

[Sephina]

1500-2000 is normal depending on activity level. if you are less active obviously you want to eat on the lower end, and if you are more active you can even go over 2000

[Shiny SyIveon]

AD-Aura

7000+ calories a day, mostly in carbohydrates.

If I wanted to really lose weight with my current level of activity I'd probably have to cut down to nearly 6000 or so. I'm male, 5'11", 220lbs or so. I'm steadily losing weight, but not at any drastic rate, Probably around a pound or so a week.

How can you even GET that much?

Three pizzas and a few burgers for lunch every day? gonk

I think I have about 1500 every day. :c Too much, ew

[glitteryvaux]

Laughing Kookaburra

AD-Aura

7000+ calories a day, mostly in carbohydrates.

If I wanted to really lose weight with my current level of activity I'd probably have to cut down to nearly 6000 or so. I'm male, 5'11", 220lbs or so. I'm steadily losing weight, but not at any drastic rate, Probably around a pound or so a week.

How can you even GET that much?

Three pizzas and a few burgers for lunch every day? gonk

I think I have about 1500 every day. :c Too much, ew

God, that's a ridiculous amount. You don't need to eat that much, no one does- but body builders. Websites like calorie count use your weight, age, and activity level to help you properly calculate roughly how many you should be eating. It'd be far more accurate than what anyone here can tell you.

[starsparkling]

I always read on the bottom of nutritional facts something about "based on a 2000 calorie diet" so I assumed that was normal.
However I counted calories one day and found mine is over that. redface
And then my statistics are 5'0, 95lbs, female
So that sounds perfectly fine, 1500 calories.

[Anasui]

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Mine is between 5oo-1ooo per day.

Today, I splurged, though. Looks like I won't be snacking tomorrow...

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[freelance lover]

First of all, congratulations on making the choice to recover. EDs are tough demons to fight, so I wish you the best of luck in your recovery journey.

Second, a person's caloric intake depends largely on their size. Bigger people need more calories to maintain their body. That's why body builders eat so much, and why large, obese people can still get away with eating 2000 calories and losing weight. So there's no magic caloric number, it depends on your body and body composition.

I'm 5'4" and currently weigh about 125-130lbs. My BMR (aka, how many calories I would burn just laying in bed all day) generally comes out to about 1400/day (there are a variety of equations used to compute this, so it just depends on which on you use). However, you have to remember you burn calories moving around, grocery shopping, showering, etc, so in reality I burn more than 1400 calories every day. I'm also pretty active, so I tend to eat more on days I go running or workout. My daily calorie intake ranges anywhere from 1300-1800 a day on average. Days I'm super active or am treating myself, I'm sure I get up to 2000, maybe above.

1500 is probably a very healthy amount for you to be eating, unless you're very tall or have a lot of muscle. You may look into intuitive eating. I've known some women recovering from eating disorders who have had great luck with it after reading the book by the same title. I've actually stopped calorie counting myself and am just focusing on eating when I'm hungry and eating healthy foods, to reduce the weird food hangups I was developing. It seems like it's really helped a lot of people work through their issues with food though, might be a good read.

[Styrene]

It really depends on your height, weight, sex, and activity level.

I'm an average height female with an average body weight, and because my job is fairly active, I can eat roughly 2200 calories a day and be fine. If I was sedentary, it would be 1700 (used to be more than that...damn this getting older thing).