Okay so if the point in eating healthy is in moderation...and that level of moderation is most often defined by metabolic rate which is affected predominately by caloric intake over a period of time....

using the standard 3,000 calorie intake a day with base minimums for women being 1,200 a day and men 1,800 a day or you hit "starvation mode" what happens when your average daily caloric intake has been at or below base minimum for 8 years?

despite regular exercise

and still falling short of standard healthy guidelines in weight

I'm not a calorie counter but I did this out of curiosity and now i feel a little lost.

where does the average daily caloric intake come from?

i have no clue what you said but i do know i'm under-weight by about 30 lbs or more.

Well Jt if you had some boobies pressed against you, you would have more weight, my bad.

I would start with resting metabolic rate.
First morning heart rate and temp.
And go from there to determine YOUR caloric intake needs.

The recommended daily requirements are very broad based averages.
A guideline at best, certainly not gospel.

The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) was developed during WWII during periods of food rationing in order to establish a baseline nutrition level to accomodate for food shortages/excesses and determine the amount of calories/nutrients to set a standard level of nutrition for persons in need. This agency also established the amount of vitamins and mineral percentages that are acceptable in the daily intake. However, I'm not entirely sure of their analysis of these numbers. The government agency responsible for the allowances is now called the Food and Nutrition Board, and adjusts the levels every 5-10 years with new data.

Although personally, everyone is different with different needs for a variety of nutrients. It depends on a lot of factors, such as how physcially active you are, training style, how much rest you get, what kind of foods you eat, the quality of foods eaten, level of digestion, and others.

It really depends upon your goals as far as losing/gaining weight are concerned and how you plan on reaching those goals.

As far as your metabolism is concerned, if you've been undereating for eight years, then you're body is accustomed to operating on low levels of nutrients. It probably doesn't perform optimally and will take a long time to bounce back. Best course of action is to eat small frequent meals 5-8 times a day (more like snacks), with very low carbohydrate consumption, high to moderate protein consumption and adequate level of healthy fats. The reason for reducing carbohydrate intake drastically is to lower your level of insulin which acts to store calories. When you're body is used to lower levels of calories, it will take any oportunity it can to store (in fat cells) the excess. So thereby controlling insulin levels you will be able to eat more calories without having excess storage. Bascially you have to eat like strict diabetic. Become familiar with the Glycemic Index and Glycemic load. Continue to exercise intensely at least 5-6 times per week with weights and cardio, to further stimulate your metabolism, build muscle, burn fat and increase insulin sensitivity.


v/r

Jess