CommunityFood & Appetite

Daily Calorie Consumption During Weight Loss

16 replies16 peopleApr 27, 2026☆ Follow
Summary

What daily calorie intakes do people report while trying to lose weight?

Forum users share their personal calorie targets ranging from 1200 to 3000 per day depending on size, activity, and goals. Many note steady weight loss at lower intakes while maintaining energy and protein levels, with some on medications experiencing appetite changes that make higher calories difficult. A few describe maintenance phases or recomposition efforts at elevated intakes without weight gain. Experiences vary widely by height, weight, sex, and exercise habits.

What this discussion establishesWhere people disagree

Whether 1200-1500 calories is sustainable long-term versus needing to increase intake to avoid plateaus or metabolic slowdown.

Still open

How individual responses to medications affect the lowest comfortable calorie level over months or years.

Nothing here is advice.

16 replies · 16 people
BlueAlder75archiveopening postApr 27

Hi there. On average I'm hitting about 1200 calories daily at my size of 66kg and 172cm. It's going okay actually, with good energy levels, holding onto muscle thanks to high protein, and no hunger. Over the past three weeks I've dropped 3kg though. What calorie levels are others at and how much weight have you shed?

SharpCompass32archiveApr 29

Right now I'm at roughly 1450 to 1500 calories daily. Started 11 months ago and dropped 65 pounds with Tirz. Progress has slowed because I ought to be below 1350 for a pound a week, yet even with the medication staying under 1500 remains tough. I've hit 200 pounds multiple times over 12 years but always regained since I couldn't stick below 1500. With Tirz I reached 186 pounds and may raise the dose to continue losing.

NorthCinder50archiveApr 29

Around 1550 kcal daily at the moment. On maintenance now. Female, 174 cm, 53 kg.

PatientCompass47archiveApr 30

51 year old male, 5 foot 9, 200lbs. Eating 2500 calories daily with 190 to 210 grams of protein, creating a small 100 to 150 calorie deficit. Weight has held steady for two months after reaching maintenance, yet I've been getting leaner with a two inch smaller waist and now fit size 31 jeans. Lift weights three days a week, treadmill five days, bike two days. Also on TRT. Earlier lost 70lbs eating 1200 to 1500 calories a day.

RustMeadow53archiveApr 30

1800-2000. Down 30lbs averaging 2-3 pounds a week.

BlueSignal52archiveApr 30

Eating 1900 calories per day currently. Weight lifting five days weekly plus 20-30 minutes cardio on those days and 60 minutes light cardio on rest days. Deficit lands between 400-600 calories depending on the calculator. Aiming for at least 165g protein daily.

PlainMeadow55archiveApr 30

These days I tend to take in somewhere from twelve hundred up to sixteen hundred calories. Being five foot five and around thirty as a woman, when I first began the medication there were quite a few times I couldn't even hit the lower number due to feeling ill, yet now that the sickness has passed I always try to hit at least that level as the lowest amount.

CopperSignal27archiveApr 30

I've kept my daily food intake between sixteen hundred and nineteen hundred calories since the end of twenty twenty two. As a fifty eight year old guy standing one hundred sixty seven centimeters tall I began at one hundred forty five kilograms and reached seventy five by the close of twenty twenty three. I started those GLP shots during twenty twenty four and now sit at sixty five kilograms. I'm fairly sedentary overall yet adding three hours of walking each day instead of none has shown no clear change in how many calories I seem to need.

NorthKettle44archiveMay 1

5'7, lightly active male, currently 165lbs down from 195lbs since early February with steady 3lbs per week loss and solid energy. Also aiming for around 1200 calories, though not always simple since meals are mostly protein isolates or nutrient dense foods. Could eat a cookie but have no interest. No sugars or empty carbs in my intake.

KeenKettle50archiveMay 1

My daily food intake sits around 2600 calories these days. I'm also using reta at 7.5 milligrams along with sermorelin at 400 micrograms, tesamorelin at 2 milligrams, and both CJC and ipamorelin at 250 micrograms. The coach knows about the reta and suggested we shift toward body recomposition instead of only dropping fat. It's strange how my scale weight remains unchanged even at this calorie level.

SlowThistle36archiveMay 1

I'm six foot four and currently weigh three hundred three pounds after dropping twenty seven since late March. Daily intake stays between eighteen hundred and two thousand calories. I aim for at least one hundred fifty grams of protein but target two hundred. Using two point five milligrams of tirz and one milligram of reta with plans to raise the second one to two soon. I cover five miles walking daily and hit the gym three or four days each week.

CopperSparrow10archiveMay 1
↳ replying to @KeenKettle50

How do you manage that volume while on Reta? Does it not cause nausea?

RustCompass19archiveMay 1
↳ replying to @BlueAlder75 (opening post)

Just curious what your goal is. Single digit bodyfat? 36M 172cm 77kg. I maintain around 1800-2000kcal, which is what I've eaten for the past month, and plan to start another deficit phase at about 1500kcal for the next 4-6 weeks.

GreenMeadow54archiveMay 1

6"2, 162lbs. Maintenance right now is about 3000. It's a lot of food after cutting for nearly two years. Plus Tirz raised my metabolism around 15%. Very active and for the first time my calorie burn matches my activity level. Strange eating roughly 1000 calories more per day than I have in years.

KeenKettle50archiveMay 1
↳ replying to @CopperSparrow10

No idea! I must be one of the under-responders, if that fits. I do feel fuller than usual. Also eat 230g protein and 340g carbs or so, relying heavily on concentrated protein milk like fairlife 42g protein, so the actual volume isn't huge.

KeenPebble10archiveMay 8

Male, fifty three years old and five feet eleven inches tall. My usual daily food consumption averages between eighteen hundred and two thousand calories. I've now been taking Reta for nine weeks at a weekly amount of three milligrams.

WryMarble87archiveMay 8

I'm currently taking in roughly twelve hundred calories each day while standing five foot three and weighing one hundred forty pounds. The scale moves gradually now with fifteen pounds still to reach my target.

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