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Calorie restriction diets don't make sense to me the way they are phrased. Reduce calories by 20-50%...of what. My current calories? Of the RDA 2000? Cause the

Calorie restriction diets don't make sense to me the way they are phrased. Reduce calories by 20-50%...of what. My current calories? Of the RDA 2000? Cause the thing is the logical conclusion of this prescription is you eat approaching zero calories. If you're in a negative energy state you lose weight. Then your body adapts. Then what....restrict by another 20-50%? Maybe I'm missing something but the way metabolisms work is any calorie level you set the body will adapt to, and that number is different for every single person.

jimrandomh 9y ago
2000 calories is not an RDA; the average American needs significantly more, and spreading the impression 2000kcal is an RDA is dangerous. Actual calorie needs depend on age, height, weight, and activity level, and are calculated using the Harris-Benedict equation.
- dpark 9y ago
  It's not an RDA but the average American probably does land close to 2000 calories/day. Don't forget that half of Americans are women and that most Americans are sedentary.
  - jghn 9y ago
    anecdata of a single point, but I'm pretty typical. Early 40s male, fairly sedentary lifestyle. Whenever I try to figure out my baseline caloric level by keeping track of calories and watching how my mass increases or decreases, I always end up in the upper 2Ks. Despite being overweight I'll grant you that my metabolism might be on the fast side, but I'm certainly not exercising the calories away.
    - dpark 9y ago
      Depending on what resources you trust, the average does seem to land above 2000, but not wildly so. http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/estimated-calorie-requirement http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/estimated-calorie-require... Here sedentary women peak around 2k and sedentary men at 2.4k. In the 30-50 age group, its 1.8k and 2.2k.
    - burger_moon 9y ago
      That seems odd. I'm in my 20s and do bodybuilding. I have a very dialed in eating schedule. My maintenance is around 2700-2800 calories but I lift 6 days a week plus cardio. I find it very odd that you could maintain weight at >2500 calories living a sedentary life and not having a clean diet.
      - pandaman 9y ago
        Depends on the body size. Unless you are doing heavy physical labor, most energy is spent on maintaining body temperature and running regular chemical reactions in the body. Both depend on the amount of the body to heat up and to react in.
      - jghn 9y ago
        When I was in my early-mid 20s, my baseline was closer to 3000-3200. It's possible my metabolism runs high, was just throwing it out there due to the comment that it's possible our view of normal is skewed low.
    - vidarh 9y ago
      I lift weights 3 times a weak. Early 40's male. Other than my weight lifting I lead a fairly sedentary style. My baseline is <2k. When I was lifting 5 times a week and actively seeking to add weight, my average intake was 2400kcal. To me what you describe doesn't sound typical at all, unless you're huge (I'm about 240lbs; and far more of that than average is muscle, which burns (marginally) more calories).
    - kmonsen 9y ago
      I just got my calorie need measured as part of a dexa scan.I'm 6'3", around 200lb and my need is 1600 calories/day before activity. High 2000s sounds really high unless you are significantly larger than me.
      - jghn 9y ago
        I'm more like 6' and 200. I'm just going by how my weight fluctuates when I track caloric intake.
Adverblessly 9y ago
The amount of calories you burn per day is correlated with your weight. If you decrease your calorie intake by 20% you will lose weight until you reach the balance point where the new weight burns 20% less calories than your original diet. As long as you continue to maintain the reduced calorie intake you will continue to maintain your new weight. There's more nuance than just that of course, but those are the broad strokes.
NikolaeVarius 9y ago
Your body will adapt but it's not going to just use 500 calories less than baseline in a week. It's not that difficult. Restrict calories to 500 less than baseline than after a week or two ifnyou haven't lost anything drop by another 250. Rinse and repeat. Extremely simple and easy

jimrandomh 9y ago

2000 calories is not an RDA; the average American needs significantly more, and spreading the impression 2000kcal is an RDA is dangerous. Actual calorie needs depend on age, height, weight, and activity level, and are calculated using the Harris-Benedict equation.

dpark 9y ago
It's not an RDA but the average American probably does land close to 2000 calories/day. Don't forget that half of Americans are women and that most Americans are sedentary.
- jghn 9y ago
  anecdata of a single point, but I'm pretty typical. Early 40s male, fairly sedentary lifestyle. Whenever I try to figure out my baseline caloric level by keeping track of calories and watching how my mass increases or decreases, I always end up in the upper 2Ks. Despite being overweight I'll grant you that my metabolism might be on the fast side, but I'm certainly not exercising the calories away.
  - dpark 9y ago
    Depending on what resources you trust, the average does seem to land above 2000, but not wildly so. http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/estimated-calorie-requirement http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/estimated-calorie-require... Here sedentary women peak around 2k and sedentary men at 2.4k. In the 30-50 age group, its 1.8k and 2.2k.
  - burger_moon 9y ago
    That seems odd. I'm in my 20s and do bodybuilding. I have a very dialed in eating schedule. My maintenance is around 2700-2800 calories but I lift 6 days a week plus cardio. I find it very odd that you could maintain weight at >2500 calories living a sedentary life and not having a clean diet.
    - pandaman 9y ago
      Depends on the body size. Unless you are doing heavy physical labor, most energy is spent on maintaining body temperature and running regular chemical reactions in the body. Both depend on the amount of the body to heat up and to react in.
    - jghn 9y ago
      When I was in my early-mid 20s, my baseline was closer to 3000-3200. It's possible my metabolism runs high, was just throwing it out there due to the comment that it's possible our view of normal is skewed low.
  - vidarh 9y ago
    I lift weights 3 times a weak. Early 40's male. Other than my weight lifting I lead a fairly sedentary style. My baseline is <2k. When I was lifting 5 times a week and actively seeking to add weight, my average intake was 2400kcal. To me what you describe doesn't sound typical at all, unless you're huge (I'm about 240lbs; and far more of that than average is muscle, which burns (marginally) more calories).
  - kmonsen 9y ago
    I just got my calorie need measured as part of a dexa scan.I'm 6'3", around 200lb and my need is 1600 calories/day before activity. High 2000s sounds really high unless you are significantly larger than me.
    - jghn 9y ago
      I'm more like 6' and 200. I'm just going by how my weight fluctuates when I track caloric intake.

Adverblessly 9y ago

The amount of calories you burn per day is correlated with your weight. If you decrease your calorie intake by 20% you will lose weight until you reach the balance point where the new weight burns 20% less calories than your original diet. As long as you continue to maintain the reduced calorie intake you will continue to maintain your new weight. There's more nuance than just that of course, but those are the broad strokes.

NikolaeVarius 9y ago

Your body will adapt but it's not going to just use 500 calories less than baseline in a week. It's not that difficult. Restrict calories to 500 less than baseline than after a week or two ifnyou haven't lost anything drop by another 250. Rinse and repeat. Extremely simple and easy