I was eating too few calories how do I get back on track?

With all the calorie calculators on the internet it's no wonder I was confused. I thought it said to eat 695 cal a day when I was saying thats what my DEFICIT should be!!! I have been eating 695 a day for a couple weeks and would like to start consuming what I am suppose to, to remain healthy. If I just jump to 1200+ calories a day tomorrow will I gain weight? What is the right way to get back up to a healthy # of calories?

(just for the record age 27, female, height 5'3, weight 137 My activity level is low due to school I do NOT have time to work out. I can barley squeeze in sleep, studying and making it to class as it is)

oh yea..I would like to weigh between 125 and 120 that's my goal

Hey! Good thing you realized you were eating too little. Yes, by all means, up your calories, and even if there is a slight gain on the scale initially, it will level out very soon. Maybe not weighing yourself for a week from now is a good idea. I know it worries you to gain a little, but it`s a small price to pay for good health, isn`t it? I`m sure you wouldn`t prefer to go on starving yourself for the rest of your life and deal with major health issues along the way.

Also, I don`t know how fond you`ll be of the idea, but you could definitely squeeze a little bit of activity during study breaks; even a couple dozen jumping jacks or squats will get your blood flowing, and you`ll see how much better you`ll be able to focus on your studying.

But how do I add them back in? Gradually or all at once? I am really not ok with gaining weight back my clothes just started fitting again! 

If you gain weight in one day by jumping straight into 1,200 calories.. it's most likely from the extra weight of food and water.

If you gain any "real" weight from the process it's because you damaged your metabolism a little. I would normally recommend doing it gradually, like adding an extra 100-200 a week. But since you were eating so little, to prevent further damage you should jump right into higher cals. 1,200 doesn't apply to everyone, your RMR is about 1,325.. so that would be the amount I would aim for to get things rollin'. Then slowly adjust to your sedentary burn, which is about 1,590. It's probably best that you do jump right into it.. just don't weigh yourself for awhile so you don't see any gain if there is any. The focus is on restoration right now, not weight loss. You will be a LOT better off, trust me.

OKay thanks you so much! I feel okay but have been sleeping like 2 extra hours a night ugggh! It will be nice to get back on track!

Lucky for you to be getting sleep! lol When I undereat, I get insomnia.

Just for the record this is hat the phord/cc thing told me. I don't want others to be confused by this!: 

Nutritionists say that you can safely lose no more than 1% of your body weight per week. For the weight you gave (138 lb), you can safely lose about 1.38 lb per week. Because each pound of body fat contains 3500 calories of energy, your safe deficit is 1.38 lb * 3500 calories per pound per week = 4830 calories per week, which comes to 4830 / 7 = 690 calories per day.

Yeah, I can see where that could have confused you. Not that my opinion matters, but I really don't like that calculator. lol It just doesn't seem "right" for me.

jjcakes, I am glad you figured this out sooner than later!! How did you survive on the starvcation diet, scary!! I have to wonder why you aren't using the Tools on Calorie Count, it's precisely what they are meant for and I promise will be less confusing. Up your calories immediately. I would do 1200 for 2 weeks and see how it goes, but seriously I am thinking even 1500 would be better for you.

Hmm... that is weird, jjcakes because I remember posting on a thread almost a month ago on you asking if 700 calories a day was okay since you were confused about the deficit. We told you the mininum was 1200 if you are/were sedentary... There was even 2 pages on it! What happened?... Well, at least now you finally know FOR sure 700 calories is NOT okay and I'm glad nothing happened to you.

*shakes head*

You are right Ammandief, she did asked the question before, but did not follow the advise here you are the link http://caloriecount.about.com/calorie-confusi on-ft140188#14  this is very dangerous to low calories intake that low, go back to your minimum requirements witch is 1.200 calories a day for a female, if you want to lose weight you need to get more exercise, if you really want to you can get squeeze exercise on busy life, believe you can, examples don’t take the lift do squats as soon as wake up for 10 min walk to every where you can there is a lot of ways to get exercises but you got to want change your life style, I hope this help.

Bruno

I must agree, it's very odd that you did not listen or heed the advice given to you by so many people and USE THE CALORIE COUNT TOOLS, even when you said you clearly understood you needed to eat 1200-1400 cals minimum

Particularly as you used to suffer from anorexia (in your own admission in another post), I think it's important you seek outside counseling for your current eating behaviors.

Calorie Count's mission is to promote healthy and sustainable weight management. A starvation diet of 700 calories does not fall within a healthy weight loss plan. Please help our moderators follow this vision and respect the guidelines:

• Promotion of starvation diets or habits that exhibit signs of an eating disorder ("pro-ana", "pro-mia", etc.) is prohibited.

Original Post by amandief:

Hmm... that is weird, jjcakes because I remember posting on a thread almost a month ago on you asking if 700 calories a day was okay since you were confused about the deficit. We told you the mininum was 1200 if you are/were sedentary... There was even 2 pages on it! What happened?... Well, at least now you finally know FOR sure 700 calories is NOT okay and I'm glad nothing happened to you.

*shakes head*

I have never needed to "diet" before in my life. I gained a lot of weight when I quit smoking cigarettes recently.  A month ago is when I first started looking in to counting calories or carbs or fat.

I posted on this forum and people gave me that phord/cc calculator link. I obviously liked that persons advice best because I chose to try to use it. It was a lil confusing.

I am sure I am not the first person who was eating too few calories and would like to get up to a healthy amount. All I'm asking is the best way to go about doing it, for myself and others. I am new to this, it took me a while to research and learn about about caloric intake, metabolism, and burning calories. It's not something you learn about over night especially when there are 500 websites telling you 300 different things.

Original Post by jjcakes:

Original Post by amandief:

Hmm... that is weird, jjcakes because I remember posting on a thread almost a month ago on you asking if 700 calories a day was okay since you were confused about the deficit. We told you the mininum was 1200 if you are/were sedentary... There was even 2 pages on it! What happened?... Well, at least now you finally know FOR sure 700 calories is NOT okay and I'm glad nothing happened to you.

*shakes head*

I have never needed to "diet" before in my life. I gained a lot of weight when I quit smoking cigarettes recently.  A month ago is when I first started looking in to counting calories or carbs or fat.

I posted on this forum and people gave me that phord/cc calculator link. I obviously liked that persons advice best because I chose to try to use it. It was a lil confusing.

I am sure I am not the first person who was eating too few calories and would like to get up to a healthy amount. All I'm asking is the best way to go about doing it, for myself and others. I am new to this, it took me a while to research and learn about about caloric intake, metabolism, and burning calories. It's not something you learn about over night especially when there are 500 websites telling you 300 different things.

PS Yes in High school (10 years ago) I was anorexic. I didn't count calories..I didn't eat at all. I weighed 110 lbs & I didn't need to be on a diet. I went to counseling and help. This is precisely why I AM concerned about losing weight correctly.

jjcakes, if you are confused by reading 500 websites all telling you different things, I am here to tell you there is only one you really need to pay attention to: this one - CALORIE COUNT. Use the Tools on this site.

Eat no fewer than 1200-1400 cals minimum.

Are you willing to do that immediately?

As I said I am not confused anymore and have been eating 1300 a day for 12 days now and I'm still losing weight :)