not enough calories... good or bad?

There is this massive myth about dieting (I prefer to call it lifestyle change, because that is essentially it) which says when dieting, we need to drastically reduce our calories by x amount and only eat certain foods.

This is UNTRUE.

You can put down that horrible diet yoghurt, or ready meal, or rice cake. Instead, eat calorie dense foods - they may be higher in calories than what you expect and probably higher in fat than what you expect to eat on a "diet" but rather than thinking of it as a diet, think of it as getting healthy - there is genuinely NO NEED to deny yourself foods you enjoy and make yourself do a bunch of exercises that you hate.

If you are forcing yourself to do anything, chances are you'll lose momentum and/or be discouraged. Instead, you need to find what works for you. It could be you eat more carbs/less protein or vice versa. You may need to tweak it around tonnes before you find the right method for you.

I'm sure there will be way more helpful advice on its way, but I would suggest looking at what your BMR is - that is, the base level of calories you need per day to survive - ie if you were doing absolutely nothing. You really should be eating that at the very least, whether it's 1200 calories or 2200 calories. You can then input data such as how much you work out and your lifestyle (whether you are active at work/daytime) and it will give you the calorie intake value - you can then tweak the deficit (10%/20%) according to how much you need/want to lose.

Some people on here can be rude and condescending, shrug it off! The first thing you need to do is calculate your BMR, there are some great websites out there to do that for you! 1200 is too low, you need fuel for your body girl.

try to get as close as you can, no need to stuff urself

If you were active before and now not bc of the medical reasons, you're definitely going to have to cut down the amount you've been eating. Try to get to the 1200 if you can but like d9123 said, don't stuff yourself. Eating calorie dense foods will help. Keep an eye on how your weight and waist measurement is going week to week. You'll get a better idea of how your weight fluctuates especially around TOM if that effects you. If your weight and waist measurement is rising you'll know it's time to lower your intake and reassess.

Why else would i be here? Thanks for the reply btw

You wrote that you're eating more now than you used to. I said that is doubtful because you would've been eating more to gain weight in the first place. You come here and eat LESS than you were previously eating so you can lose weight. I don't think you (or the deluded person who perceived my response as "rude" and "condescending") understood what I said.

im eating more than i used to

I highly doubt that if you're here because you need to lose weight.

If you're having trouble reaching your daily calorie goal, eat more calorie dense foods.

I lost 45 pounds before I joined. Didn't realize prior to joining that going under 1200 was so dangerous.

So I upped my calories.

You can keep your so you can "highly doubt it" all you want. Judgy Judgerson

What are you even talking about? Your experience has nothing to do with the original post.

She said she is eating more NOW.

She said NOTHING about losing weight PRIOR to MFP.

THEREFORE, it is IMPOSSIBLE for her to be eating more NOW (LOSING WEIGHT) than BEFORE (GAINING WEIGHT).

FFS. Basic reading comprehension, people. Learn it before you get high and mighty over nothing.