When i first went paleo, i was 6' and about 228 lbs. the paleo diet decreased my appetite and i was eating about 1200-1400 calories a day. I lost about 20 pounds but then plateaued.

I have a sedentary job and at the time was running about 12-14 miles per week. I counted the calories pretty carefully using fitday.com.

If i ate 1800-2000 calories per day i would gain weight. I have never understood people that say they can easily eat 2000 calories per day without gaining weight, that just would never work for me.

Even if I'm pure paleo, if I eat more than 1500 cals I gain weight. 1500 and 1400 and I stay the same. I'm insanely jealous of anyone who can eat that many calories and not gain weight. I love food.

If your digestion/gut flora are golden, you will need fewer calories than someone who has impaired digestion, simply because you will be absorbing more.

If you eat nutrient dense foods like liver, organ meats & seafood, you may need fewer calories.

I need to eat a lot of calories too, and actually, the leaner a person is, the more calories they need. This reasons are manifold, but there are two primary ones. First, muscle burns more energy than fat, so the leaner you are, the higher your basal metabolic rate will be. This means that if you're a young (wo)man who is skinny-fat and 150lbs with 25% bodyfat, your BRM will be lower than your twin who is also 150lbs, but only 7% body fat. Additionally, the leaner you are, the more calories you need to consume to do work. This is because you have little reserve energy (adipose tissue), so you must get your energy endogenously in order to keep moving if you do not want to start breaking down your internal organs and muscle for energy. So, long story short, it's a misconception that the bigger you are, the more calories you need. The truth is the LEANER you are and the less stored energy you have (body fat) the more calories you need, ceteris paribus.

Anecdotally, I have a few friends who are out of shape and not obese, but definitely fat. They literally all eat like birds. Literally they'll get up, drink coffee until noon, and then eat like a cobb salad or a club sandwich at lunch. Wait till dinner, and have something like steak frites or another salad. If I ate that little I'd literally waste away and get skinny fat, which is the last thing I want.

I eat 1600 a day as a 5'1 female. I also eat 65% of my calories from fat. I feel great! Seriously, uts the fat (and no starchy carbs or sugar).

When I start exercising again (unlucky foot injury) I will naturally up my calories as my body demands.

When I did regular western diet I'd gain weight over 1800 calories.

eating one meal a day on a regular basis allows you to consume much-much less calories overall than what is required by medical CW: with usual meal frequency most of the energy derived from digestion is spent on... digestion itself...

People are really good at self-mediated suffering. . . . I need 3,000-3,400 cals/day in order to maintain my weight and run around lean, but there were points during my first year at university in which I didn't get any food for over a day at a time. Sucks, but individuals will do whatever they feel is necessary in order to drop fat.

Female, 5'5", 120lbs, 3:23 marathon runner (approx. 50 miles per week) plus an active lifestyle, eating 2000 calories a day for the past three years. I lost weight in the first six months (was an inactive SAD eater of 140lbs before) but have maintained ~120lbs with no hunger pains or feelings of weakness!

Just my stats for comparison!

Heyo, I'm shorter than you, weigh less, and eat the same amount of calories when I am tracking with HONESTY (not forgetting to put in butter, snacks etc) even though I don't track anymore. Metabolism and activity level are going to vary wildly between people, even down to what time you are eating in the context of the day or the month (I eat like nothing when I'm ovulating, opposite when I'm menstruating). It sounds like you are in a good place of weight maintenance, keep it up and worry about yourself before others!

I think most people undershoot what they are really taking in. I think they lose track of the little snacks they have here and there. I take in about 3000 calories when I tally up absolutely everything and don't leave anything out, I'm 5'10 and 168 pounds last time I checked.

Either that or they are very sedentary.

I about starved when Weight Watchers had me on 1400 cal/day.

I'm 5'7", 150 lbs (22% body fat), meso-endo frame. I teach Zumba twice a week, lift heavy weights when I feel like it, and I have an active job. I eat 2000-2200 calories a day on a normal day. If I were to try to lose weight, 1800 is about a low an average as I could probably manage these days without gnawing my arm off. I happen to have a lot of lean body mass naturally, so I imagine that is largely responsible for my higher metabolism. I also spent my entire teenage years, and most my pre-teen years, within 5 lbs of 150 lbs (at a higher bf % and a few inches shorter). So I'm sure there's a set-point quality to it as well.

I don't know how many calories I ate per day. But when I ate anything less then 1,600 in my counting calories days, I would be starving the next day. I found that about 1,800 worked for me. I guess it is different for everybody depending on their metabolism.

I know one girl - she eats at least 2,500 calories per day, and NEVER gains any weight. Maybe because she eats a lot of meat? Not sure.

When I track my food, which is rare, I am ususally eating under 1500. I don't know what to tell you, as I'm not trying for that. I eat when I'm hungry, I eat until I'm full. I am losing weight, so I guess that's how I'm making up the difference? I don't know how to tell how much that is, though.

I am very active, but I find the activity actually decreases my apetite while I am exercising and usually for a time afterwards.

5'7/125, strength training and CrossFit. I eat probably between 2000-2500 a day and have been able to gain, and maintain, the weight with these numbers. I typically prescribe to "eat when hungry stop when full", which most of the time is twice a day, so the caloric numbers may fluctuate a bit but for the most part stay the same. I counted calories when I started strength training and CrossFit but stopped when I could identify by looking what I was taking in.

IMO metabolism/body type are definitely key players in the scheme of things. I fit just about in the middle of ectomorph and mesomorph, a bit more to ecto, which when trying to maintain and build is a bit of a challenge but that's cool, I like N=1. When I figured out my body type, hallo lightbulb!, then I was finally able to dial the right calories in and get extremely positive results.

No weakness here - strong and fast, float like a butterfly sting like a bee :)

It's very interesting to read about everyone's different dietary intakes and needs. I'm 5'3", about 115 lbs, and 10% bf. Usually, I eat about 1500 to 1700 calories per day (just guessing because I don't often count) and maintain my weight.

I haven't been sleeping well and have been trying different things to see what works. My trainer has told me that I need to eat more (and more protein) but my appetite just isn't that great. Sometimes the thought of eating more makes me feel a little nauseous. But I have tried eating almond butter in the evening to increase my caloric intake with mixed results.

Yesterday, I decided to track my calories and increase my protein to see how I slept. Got in just over 2000 calories, about 50% fat, and the rest split evenly between protein and carbs. I slept the best that I have in a while, even with the noisy water sprinkler system going during the night. Don't know whether it was a fluke or not. Guess that I will have to keep doing this and see if it continues to work.

I am 5'6 and usually weigh somewhere between 118 - 125. I do a ton of walking and do a fair amount of incidental exercise (because I don't have a car, not because I have willpower). I have no idea what my body fat is. I have muscles but a few pinches of midsection extra that I don't really care about losing anymore. Calories consumed? Good grief. 1100 some days, 3000 some days. I am horribly inattentive about many things, so many times I am not doing things consciously. Some days I am absolutely starving, some days I am completely uninterested in food. I am kind of drifting towards just listening to my body (the sane messages, not the Drink Seven Guinnesses and eat a pizza messages).

I notice that I am healthier and happier the less thought I put into all this. And by God, I even get liver urges these days. Way to go, body!

Maybe an obvious answer...but it also depends on your dieting history and, of course, hormones. I am hypothyroid and have a 12 year history of disordered eating/overexercising so my metabolism is screwed three ways to sunday even on T3/T4. I am extremely active (re: 8-12 hours of kayaking a week now, 3x 40 min kettleball, 2 x 45 min swim workout) and have to eat between 1200-1500 calories to maintain and the majority of it has to come from protein. Why...don't know, but I have done enough n=1 to know what works although it is always a work in progress. FYI I am 5'7" 155# mesomorphic female who has never weighed less than 145# and that was during my competitive swimming days so I am not skinny fat- just softer than I'd like thanks to extremely even fat distribution on my body (thanks, 15 years of distance swimming) even at those calories and activity levels.

I just can't survive under 3500 calories, but I am a soccer player and I have a very active job.