I was surfing the web and came across this calorie comparison of several diets. I thought it was interesting and helpful. I can't link yet, so the article is excerpted to conserve space.
Karen

If you follow the meal plans outlined in the South Beach, you won’t be hungry – you’ll be ravenous. They average out at about 1200 – 1500 calories per day. That’s pretty low, low enough to threaten the lean muscle mass that is critical to an elevated metabolism. If you’re going to experiment with this diet, forget the scale, and start tracking your bodyfat percentage and lean muscle mass.

Someone’s caloric allowance varies depending upon a person’s activity, weight and metabolism. One of the best places to start is by looking at the most popular brand name diets. Why do many brand named diets work? Brand name diets work because most of them are based on 1200 to 1500 calories no matter what food combinations they tell you to eat. Just look at these examples:

South Beach Diet – 1200-1500 calories
* Atkins Diet – 1500 calories
* Sugar Busters – 1300 calories
* Low-Carb Diet – 1400 calories
* Jenny Craig – 1200-1500 calories
* Weight Watchers – 1500 calories
* Cabbage Soup Diet – 1000-1500 calories
* The Zone – 1000 – 1500 calories

You basically need to take in fewer calories than you burn to lose weight. The greater the deficit – the greater the weight loss. The question is how fast do you want to lose the weight? A caloric allowance or a brand name diet may seem low, but they give you plenty of room for error. Take into consideration most people miss calories and/or under estimate calories recorded during the journaling process.

If your caloric allowance is too close to your approximate calories burned, you may not be leaving enough room for error and not getting the results you want. It takes a 3500 calorie defecit to lose one pound. That means, if you reduce your calories by 500 calories a day you would lose 1 pound a week…or reduce your caloric intake by 1000 calories a day to lose 2lbs a week.

The average American eats nearly 3790 calories a day. Now, that doesn’t mean the person actually eats 4,000 calories a day - it could mean they eat 2,000 calories a day during the week, and on the weekends they consume enough restaurant meals and drinks to increase the overall average. This is also why American feels like they are living on a diet - most Americans diet during the week and screw it all up on the weekend….creating what I call “the never-ending diet plan”.

I bet you are saying “I know I don’t eat that many calories” and of course you probably don’t. That’s just a national average and you are probably already more aware of what you eat, putting you on the lower end of the average. The only way to know exactly what you are eating is to journal your food by writing everything you eat down and documenting the number of calories in each item.

Most people’s mistake is they are not consistent. They key to success is dieting 7 days a week so your daily caloric intake for the week averages to be 1200-1500 calories. Just think of it like checks in balances with your bank account. You can save everyday, but all it takes is one bad shopping day to wipe out all your hard work.

I'm a little confused. They said :

"If you follow the meal plans outlined in the South Beach, you won’t be hungry – you’ll be ravenous. They average out at about 1200 – 1500 calories per day. That’s pretty low, low enough to threaten the lean muscle mass that is critical to an elevated metabolism. "

And then they said:

"They key to success is dieting 7 days a week so your daily caloric intake for the week averages to be 1200-1500 calories"

This part is also confusing:

"The average American eats nearly 3790 calories a day. Now, that doesn’t mean the person actually eats 4,000 calories a day - it could mean they eat 2,000 calories a day during the week, and on the weekends they consume enough restaurant meals and drinks to increase the overall average."

That would mean 8265 calories each on Saturday and Sunday. Not that it's not done , but I don't think that's average.

Julie I see what you mean. The lean muscle mass reference might need to be stated to cover the back sides of the author. Not that I don't think it is true, but because it is part of the prevailing fitness jargon. It is also true, these low calorie counts is what makes people lose weight, regardless of the finer details.

I am part of another forum where people struggle with S (Saturday, Sunday, and special) days gone wild. It seems substantiated by the National Registry, that the weekends are where people have the most trouble.

Grilled salmon at a move chain was 1500 cal alone. Mac & cheese box, 1 cup 421 cal. I don't know about 8,000 but I do know, these type of foods could do serious damage if one wasn't monitoring their consumption. It sure did to me.

Thanks for the insights.

When I was on SBD I ate WAY more than 1200-1500. If you actually follow the ORIGINAL SBD you were NOT ravenous. That was the whole point. Eat a minimum of these foods in these approximate ratios and if you are hungry, eat MORE of them. If you are not hungry, then stop. So the writer of the article clearly didnt actually READ the entire diet, just flipped to the suggested menus.

Howdy,
I did SB quite successfully back in the day and based on my admittedly limited time currently calorie counting (3 months) I think the calorie count was accurate for me. I did follow the suggested menus and lost weight as stated by the diet.

I found I could not sustain the no bread rule, and coupled with several high stressful events converging in my life, plus the counsel of don't weight and other poor advise, I got derailed by 35 #.

Good observations. I don't remember being ravenous on SB (or WW for that matter) but then I am not ravenous eating 1100 calories either. Salads are quite filling:-)

I still use the 5 peanut guide as a snack when hungry.
Karen

That's one food for which I'd eat the whole box! So yeah, there's my daily intake in one sitting.

When I did SB I started out at about 1800-2000 calories (hey that was the first time ever that 1800 calories was NOT starving) and eventually it drifted down a bit lower as some of my insulin resistance evolved. But I was eating bread. It's in phase 2 and it doesnt wig me out, not like other foods.

I left the SBD site because the site no longer supports what the original plan was - too many people eternally stuck in phase 1 but calling it phase 2. Plus the whole kraft food thing...dont get me started!

I learned a lot form SB that I still use- insulin resistance, reducing refined carbs, good wholesome snacks and fats. So I keep that part overlaped with my calorie expenditure.
Karen

I found this confusing, too. In fact it didn't make sense.Is 1200-1500 calories not enough or is it just right ?
I personally maintain on about 1400-1500 per day and I am not at all ravenous.

I would guess it depends on the person, their metabolism, how active (or not) they are etc etc. Its a fairly individual thing.

I used to calorie count religiously and stalled on around 1300 a day - wasn't hungry or anything but couldn't shift the weight. Upped it to 1500-1600 and it started moving again.

At the moment I am not counting all that much but would hazard a guess I am consuming between 1800 - 2200 cals a day AND LOSING on it. Not at a record breaking pace, but its still a downward slide.

The only difference is I do a bucketload of sport/exercise (running (indoor and outdoor), spinning, weights, dragonboating) plus as its summer here I walk to the shops if I need something etc.

For me - 1200 - 1500 cals probably WOULD leave me ravenous