Adding 600-700 calories to my diet... Am I doing this right?

I'm no doctor, but from what it sounds like, you were not eating often enough. Also, how you feel may relate to the type of food you are eating. (for example, the calories might be less if I only eat Mcdonalds once a day and that's it...but if I eat 3 medium meals and 3 small snacks throughout the day that are all nutritious...I will feel a lot better!).

I think 1,400 would be a great start especially if you're exercising too. Once again I am not a doctor and am not sure about your specific situation, but one definite thing is to make sure you eat MORE than 1,200 calories, especially if you're working out too.

If you are adding 600-700 calories a day and also adding 2+ hours of exercise, you're really not making a difference. You'll still be running on close 600 calories a day, or less, depending on how hard you exercise.

She has a good point.

add the food in, get used to eating at a normal level (I would go to this site: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ and calculate your maintenance and eat that for a while) before trying to diet and add exercise in.

your body is coming out of a tough time, there is not need to rush into taxing it again, get healthy and then worry about the weight loss

Height: 5'3"
Weight: 185lbs
Body Fat: 27%

Sorry to say but you are a lot higher than 27% bodyfat, especially if you are small framed. As a 6' tall man I was around 27% bodyfat when I was 185 pounds. Your stats sound closer to 40-45% bodyfat to me unless you have a large amount of muscle for a woman.

Pics for comparison to your appearance.

That's why I said I *thought* I did it right... It seemed low to me too.

Out of curiosity what did you do to get that value?

WOW!! I am 5'3 161 and about 30% body fat. So you can't be 27%. Also I was losing 1 lb a week on about 1400 calories Net. Now I am trying to lose .5 and raised it.


I would die eating that low!! I also would be at my goal weight. SHEESH!

So much depends on why you were sick and the problems you're having.

But your past posts reveal that one year ago, you were weighing about 180 and then 6-8 months of 600 calories you're at 185? You were also waiting for thyroid test results. Were those positive?

Sounds like a complicated medical profile. You shouldn't seek advice here, but at a doctor's office instead.

ETA: Not trying to be snarky, just want to be sure you don't use "diet" advice to deal with what is obviously a medical issue, if what you say is true about your weight and intake. Gaining "weight" on that calorie level usually means massive water gain masking the fat loss, and that water gain can be deadly to your kidneys. No lie. And while the water itself can cause kidney issues, you'll want to get to the bottom of why you're retaining it. Get to a doctor.

If you've been eating 600 calories a day for 6-8 months and are 185 lbs., you must've lost about 70 lbs. over that time.

I actually gained 5lbs... It wasn't 600 calories by choice. I probably did have a few 1,000 calories day here and there, but most days I felt too sick to eat.

I hope you are getting advice from a doctor and dietician!

That's why I said I *thought* I did it right... It seemed low to me too.

Out of curiosity what did you do to get that value?

I think wrist measurement, read the op.

wrist alone cannot give you a bodyfat measure and a smaller wrist would give you a higher bf% based on weight not a smaller one because a small wrist size indicates small bone structure and a lower lean mass.

That's why I said I *thought* I did it right... It seemed low to me too.

Out of curiosity what did you do to get that value?

I used this: http://www.bmi-calculator.net/body-fat-calculator/

Do you mind if I ask what your measurements are?

I copied this from another post I just wrote (yes about weight loss but I think it still would be useful to you)

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A really great calorie calculator is http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

A few things:

BMR (basal metabolic rate) = the amount of calories you burn in a day simply being alive
TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) = the amount of calories you burn in a day once you take into account movement and exercise

these are both important numbers to know when setting up your plan

To lose weight you simply need to eat less than your TDEE. It is also usually recommended to eat above your BMR. To find out how many lbs you will lose in a week with a specific intake do TDEE - daily intake = daily deficit *7 (days in a week) = weekly deficit / 3500 (number of calories in a pound) = lbs of loss per week

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I think it would benefit you to run your numbers and find out what calories you body should need just to run properly. It seems like you think you need less than you do.

I don't think you even need to worry about your body fat percent. You're into obese BMI so you know you want to lower it.

Yeah that is true, suppose I am focusing on something that isn't that important. You have weight to lose, should focus on how to lose it.

600 calories is far to little. 1200 calories is too little. 1200 calories plus exercise is again far to little. I agree with others that 1800 sounds like a more reasonable number if you are exercising.

I don't think you even need to worry about your body fat percent. You're into obese BMI so you know you want to lower it.

Yeah that is true, suppose I am focusing on something that isn't that important. You have weight to lose, should focus on how to lose it.

600 calories is far to little. 1200 calories is too little. 1200 calories plus exercise is again far to little. I agree with others that 1800 sounds like a more reasonable number if you are exercising.

My gross ends up being around 1700 to 1800 with exercise calories included and 5'3.