Malnutrition and calorie deficits
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Why do you say you are "...coming out of malnutrition"? That makes folks concerned that you are dealing with an active eating disorder, and it would in fact make your situation more urgent.
Under the ACA, if your parents have health insurance, you can be covered under their insurance plan until you are 26.
Make sure there are really no student health services available to you at the moment. If there aren't, then you're right to try to eat healthy food and not take your calories too low for the next month until you can get in to see someone.
I don't know your height, but 1500 may still be low for you. It's hard to say, and I don't want to speculate, really, since the thinning hair and lack of a period are both troubling symptoms - which I know you know. That's why you're posting.
So aim for at least 1500 calories if not more, and focus on foods that are nutritionally dense: Dark green veggies, beans, eggs, berries, whole grains, cottage cheese and Greek yogurt, salmon, lean meats. There's lots of food that has very high nutritional value while not being high in calories.
I said it because it is malnutrition, essentially. I ate junk food as meals-- a bunch of empty calories with no nutrients. I didn't mean for it to sound so bad, though. I'm 5'3, and a website I looked at said that my intake for maintaining should be 1950 to 2150, and to lose weight would be 1450 to 1650.
The only thing about this is that I really hate half of the things you listed.
I hate beans (other than green beans), hate eggs, dislike dairy for the most part, hate fish. As far as veggies go, I'm more into carrots, cucumbers, lettuce, cabbage. I'll try to add spinach to my salads, but idk. 
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Did you set it to -2 lbs a week? Go with maintenance or the -0.5 lb a week option. Don't eat less food than that, with these health issues.
If money's an issue, I know lots of American posters (I'm not one) have offered great ideas on eating nutritious food for less $, in a bunch of threads.
(Myself, I like nice meat, but I hate paying for it. So I get choice cuts the day they go on sale. That'll be the exact day of the "best before" date, but if you freeze it, it'll be totally fine. Dried beans are cheaper than canned, but they're more of a pain to work with if you're not used to dealing with them and you're single; myself, I'd get a bunch of canned generic brand beans on sale and rinse them really well. Veg and fruit, maybe you're lucky and your university or neighbourhood runs a community garden? Or I've seen people mention Aldi here a lot. Sorry if you've got all that down, I thought maybe you wouldn't, since you said you weren't eating much nutritious stuff.)0 -
Did you set it to -2 lbs a week? Go with maintenance or the -0.5 lb a week option. Don't eat less food than that, with these health issues.
If money's an issue, I know lots of American posters (I'm not one) have offered great ideas on eating nutritious food for less $, in a bunch of threads.
(Myself, I like nice meat, but I hate paying for it. So I get choice cuts the day they go on sale. That'll be the exact day of the "best before" date, but if you freeze it, it'll be totally fine. Dried beans are cheaper than canned, but they're more of a pain to work with if you're not used to dealing with them and you're single; myself, I'd get a bunch of canned generic brand beans on sale and rinse them really well. Veg and fruit, maybe you're lucky and your university or neighbourhood runs a community garden? Or I've seen people mention Aldi here a lot. Sorry if you've got all that down, I thought maybe you wouldn't, since you said you weren't eating much nutritious stuff.)
I don't have an issue getting my hands on healthy foods, but thanks.
It's just going to the doctor that's going to cost a fortune. 0 -
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Alright, I think I got the gist of things. Chill on trying to lose weight for now, eat close to maintenance, concentrate on eating healthier/more nutritious foods and go to the doctor. Thanks, guys!0
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Good luck
(FTR, as an explanation for possible silliness, I experienced a lag on newer posts, so missed key info as the discussion progressed.)0 -
She's overweight with signs of PCOS. Extra androgens are causing your periods to stop and your hair to thin, not "being malnourished."
Eat less. Lose weight. Eat first to get in the basics: 3 servings veg, 2 fruit, protein to your macro settings. Then fill up what's left with whatever you want.0 -
If you have hair falling out from high androgen levels, you need to lose weight primarily. It's not because you're not eating "good enough" food. It's from having too much fat mass on your body.
It's not malnutrition. It's eating too much.0 -
I'm afraid of going to a doctor. I want to see if I can get my period back with diet first. I read that being overweight could cause not having one.
If there is something wrong, the longer you wait on seeing a doctor the worse it could potentially get. I know you may be afraid of what you might here, but Please see a doctor.0 -
Under the ACA, you're eligible to be covered under your parent's insurance until you're 26. Do either one of them have insurance?
https://www.healthcare.gov/young-adults/children-under-26/0 -
This. Seriously. It's not something to mess around with.
You really should still be covered under your parent's insurance if you're in the US. Else find a way to get coverage. It's completely irresponsible to not have health insurance. What happens if you got into a car accident or something and you had to be hospitalized? You'd bury yourself in debt. Please get insurance.0 -
I'm afraid of going to a doctor. I want to see if I can get my period back with diet first. I read that being overweight could cause not having one.
Don't be afraid of doctors. They have a lot of education to contribute that we can't! It sounds like your body is fighting hard right now and an evaluation of what nutrients you are missing is very important, rather than just throwing in a multi vitamin. I honestly recommend pursuing your health concerns other than weight FIRST because a deficit right now could make things worse!
I don't have insurance aside from student insurance, so I probably won't be seeing a doctor until a month from now, even then, it's not a real doctor, I don't think. I have a month to try to fix things on my own.
Oh I getcha, you'll have student insurance when you go back to school in a month.
Sure, you may not see a real doctor at first. Truly, a nurse can handle many issues for students. I have my insurance with the VA and for a while we did not have a GYN. I actually liked the nurse better than the GYN we finally got. But I digress. Anyway, whoever you do see at school would probably refer you to a specialist anyway.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/expert.q.a/04/11/no.periods.shu/
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@jjrscott I'm in a similar position to you. My latest blood test results show I am clinically malnourished and have folate-deficiency anaemia as well as pre-diabetic, despite being obese. In my case, this has been caused by a combination of never feeling hungry (due to nerve damage) and not having enough carers. I now try to eat by the clock, and have more carers. I used to only know I was hungry when I felt faint, and would grab cheese or chocolate to make the light-headedness (is that a word?) go away because I didn't have help with food prep and cooking.
I can't give any advice other than to see your doctor re periods (that ship has lonnnnng sailed for me), but I can tell you that I'm focussing on nutrition at the moment, and finding that when I eat nutritionally dense meals I don't have room for the calorie-rich/nutrition-poor foods that I used to have. I'm still struggling with volume of food I need to eat, although it's probably not much compared to people who don't have these issues it's a lot compared to what I used to eat. Calorie-wise, I've gone from maybe 8000 cals to approx 1400 cals but there's a lot more of it.
Best of luck to you, you can do this.0 -
If you are in college you should be covered by your parents insurance if not apply for insurance through the aca. I understand you will have insurance when you start classes again but what you are talking about thats going on with you is no joke. You need to see a dr. Asap and get this checked out there are so many things that could be wrong and could get so much worse that the bills you are worried about accruing now from drs and such will be more expensive and besides that, what is more important than your health?? Nothing!! If you keep this up you may not be here very long, sad but true,your body needs certain nutrients to sustain life and quality of life is so important. Dont give up on yourself! Please get help.0
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