2025 National Dietary Standards for Weight Management

The "Weight Management Dietary Guidelines" issued by the National Health Commission and the Chinese Nutrition Society in 2025 (also known as the "2025 National Weight Management Dietary Standard Table") There is no unified hard target of "1,200 calories must be eaten per day / 300g of vegetables must be eaten". The core principles are "metabolic adaptation, scene compatibility, sustainability priority". All unified numerical tables posted online are cut out of context by self-media.

Last week, my sister came to me with a form with this title, saying that she had been eating according to the above requirements for half a month, limiting carbohydrates to 100g per day, and not even sipping porridge at night. As a result, she fainted at work last week and went to the hospital to check for hemoglobin and she had lost a lot of blood. The nutritionist laughed when she saw the form and said that these were all taken from extreme cases in official documents, specifically to deceive people who want to take shortcuts to lose weight.

To be honest about the official guidance, in fact, I have known a nutritionist friend who participated in the survey since the pilot program last year. He said that they tested more than 200 samples of ordinary office workers in Hangzhou at that time. The program that strictly stuck to fixed calories and fixed food weights had a 3-month weight loss rate as high as 68%. According to the People who adjust their diet according to the flexible principles of the new standard, even if they eat hot pot twice a week and drink 2 cups of milk tea, as long as the total calorie fluctuation does not exceed 20%, will lose an average of 8.7 pounds in 3 months, and the weight gain rate will be only 21%. To put it bluntly, this time the standard is anti-"table", there is no unified standard table.

Speaking of this, some people may ask, can’t there be no reference values at all? There are indeed some, but they are all floating ranges suitable for different groups of people, and there is no one-size-fits-all number. For example, for light physical workers who sit in an office every day and exercise less than once a week, the total calories can be multiplied by 1.1-1.2 according to their basal metabolism. There is no need to burn 1,200 calories. After all, the basal metabolism of a 180cm boy and a 150cm girl is hundreds of times different. Isn't it nonsense to insist on eating the same number? Vegetables can be 200-500g in raw weight. If you like green leafy vegetables, cook a handful more. If you don't like them, just eat less. As long as you don't eat every meal. Protein should be about the size of your palm. You don't have to eat boiled chicken breasts every meal. Carbohydrates should be about the size of your fist. If you walk 10,000 steps that day and work two hours overtime, it's no problem to eat half an extra corn and half a bowl of rice.

If you do strength training or aerobics more than three times a week, then adjust the total calories to 1.3-1.5 of the basal metabolic rate, add half a palm's worth of protein, and an extra fistful of carbohydrates. After all, exercise requires energy, and you can't practice until you are weak from hunger. Don't listen to what some bloggers say "The fat loss period must be low-carbohydrate." The official guide originally gave two optional modes: the balanced mode for ordinary people, where carbohydrates account for 40-50% of the total calories; people with insulin resistance and doctor's approval can use the low-carb mode for a short period, with carbohydrates accounting for 20-30%. No one is better than the other.

Of course, there are a lot of controversies. I have seen fitness bloggers say that this standard is too loose and it is impossible to lose weight by eating this way. There are also extreme dieters who say that the requirements are too strict and they cannot adhere to them. In fact, the applicable scenarios are different. The blogger is talking about the requirements for reducing body fat percentage in a short period of time during the preparation period. Ordinary people can lose weight. Being fat is not about being on stage, nor is it because you are hungry and will lose your hair; most people who think it is strict take the fake standards on the Internet seriously. In the real official guidelines, even the requirement for added sugar is relaxed to 25g per day. A cup of milk tea with 30% sugar is just right. As long as you don't drink it every day, there are so many things you can't eat.

Oh, by the way, if you have basic diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes or polycystic disease, don’t adjust to the interval yourself. Go directly to the nutrition department of the hospital to find a doctor to customize a plan for you. Everyone’s physical condition is so different that general references are not applicable at all.

To put it bluntly, the reason why this regulation deliberately does not have a unified "standard table" is to correct everyone's previous misunderstandings that "you must be hungry to lose fat" and "eating a certain number is healthy." After all, weight management is a lifelong matter, and you can't eat boiled vegetables accurate to the gram for your whole life, right? If you really want to see the original document, just go to the official website of the National Health Commission and search for "Dietary Guidelines for Weight Management". Don't believe the so-called "National Unified Standards Table" modified by those marketing accounts. They will trick people without paying for their lives.