Is there a minimum amount of calories

[JanetRose]

you should eat per day?

 

[Bob Slydell]

It all depends on the individual

 

[Chicago526]

you should eat per day?

Depends on if you are trying to lose or maintain weight. Also on if you are a man or woman, and how active (or not!) you are.

 

[goodeats]

Yes, it depends on the individual, but a general rule of thumb is not to go below 1200.


You can really mess up your metabolism if you go too low. There's a lady that works with me and she's overweight, but you would think that she shouldn't be by the way she eats (or I should say doesn't eat). She goes whole days at work without eating a thing, but then there are days were she indulges in all sorts of stuff. She's creating a 'famine' situation in her body where she stores all the calories from her 'feasts'. Much better to eat a moderate amount of calories through out the day.

 

[helenabear]

I too have been told it totally depends... but the general rule is NOT to go below 1200 calories. Anything less than that for sure can really mess up the metabolism.

As the poster above me said, you can create a whole "starvation" feeling for your body and it will store more than it would otherwise.

 

[ChristmasElf]

I think the calarie intake is 2200 for a man
and 1500-1600 for a woman.

 

[stinkerbelle]

minimum for basic body functions...1200cals

 

[eeyore kelly]

1200 is what I have heard too

 

[Jynohn]

The rule of thumb I've heard is 10 calories for every pound of body weight in order to maintain your current weight. (Ex. a 150lb woman should consume 1500 calories a day to maintain her current weight.)

I've been struggling with the same 10lbs for years despite the fact that I run at least 6 miles daily and really don't think I eat much at all. My husband has finally convinced me that the problem is I'm not eating enough. I finally gave in to his suggestion and have started consuming a protein shake twice a day in between my regular meals. I was so afraid this would cause me to gain even more weight, but believe it or not the weight is actually starting to come off despite the additional calories. He says it has something to do with your body going into starvation mode and conserving calories if you go too long between meals. He says your body is more efficient at burning calories if it is constantly digesting smaller meals. Kind of like a furnace as he describes it to me. It's working so far!

 

[bicker]

As others have indicated, without medical supervision, folks shouldn't eat less than 1200 calories per day. That is about the right number of calories to maintain a little less than 120 pounds of body weight, so if that's a bit too high for you, physical activity should make up the difference.

The phenomenon Jynohn mentioned is interesting: It's actually more a matter of not eating enough protein, than not eating enough calories. If you increase calorie consumption, then generally your weight will increase, all other factors held constant. Protein intake, for someone who is protein deprived, however, sometimes increases metabolism, which accounts for the phenomenon. It is temporary though. Eventually, the body adapts, and you're back to plain-ol' calories in versus calories out.

 

[Crazoo]

A big factor is also how much exercise you do..

If you're trying to lose weight, try working out and eating a balanced diet, much better than just dieting IMO.