Not Having enough calories according to the RDI on FS

I found this article.......

Calorie Needs to lose weight

There are approximately 3500 calories in a pound of stored body fat. So, if you create a 3500-calorie deficit through diet, exercise or a combination of both, you will lose one pound of body weight. (On average 75% of this is fat, 25% lean tissue) If you create a 7000 calorie deficit you will lose two pounds and so on. The calorie deficit can be achieved either by calorie-restriction alone, or by a combination of fewer calories in (diet) and more calories out (exercise). This combination of diet and exercise is best for lasting weight loss. Indeed, sustained weight loss is difficult or impossible without increased regular exercise.

If you want to lose fat, a useful guideline for lowering your calorie intake is to reduce your calories by at least 500, but not more than 1000 below your maintenance level. For people with only a small amount of weight to lose, 1000 calories will be too much of a deficit. As a guide to minimum calorie intake, the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends that calorie levels never drop below 1200 calories per day for women or 1800 calories per day for men. Even these calorie levels are quite low.

An alternative way of calculating a safe minimum calorie-intake level is by reference to your body weight or current body weight. Reducing calories by 15-20% below your daily calorie maintenance needs is a useful start. You may increase this depending on your weight loss goals.
http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/harris-benedict-equation/calorie-intake-to-lose-weight.php

BUT according to the RDI advisor on FS I am only eating between 600-800 calories per day. I put in a recommended intake of 1500 calories per day. So my Q is... should I be eating more OR should I change my RDI level? And if I am not eating enough could anyone explain to me please WHY this is considered a bad thing?
TYVM

It is bad to eat too little because your body thinks it is starving and will hang on to fat so it will have the stored energy to use in the time of famine. That's the point of fat. It's supposed to help you live through times of starvation, which for most of human history was the biggest problem we faced. The body was never designed to deal with the excess of today- hence, obesity.

Fat secret's RDI adviser is quite high, I wonder where exactly did you get the numbers 600-800?

You should definitely be eating more. If you eat the right amount, you will lose more fat instead of muscle. If you eat to little, you will lose muscle too as your body feeds on itself for fuel. The amount you should eat depends on your weight. For example, at my weight I am eating about 1500 calories a day. But when I was heavier, I lost weight eating 2000 calories a day. The actual number will be different for everyone and you should only use charts and calculators as guidelines and trial and error to see what works best for you

I'm wondering if the RDI advisor on fatsecret thought you were putting in pounds not kg. I'm not sure of your height or age, but just based on weight, your RDI for maintenence should be around 2500-2700 calories. So subtracting 500-1000 from that would put your calorie intake for weight loss at like 1500-2000 calories per day... if not more.

My current RDI is 25oo calories, does this mean i its ok to eat less than that?

That depends on your goals. If your goal is to reduce overall body mass, you can eat less. However with one caveat; if you go too low that caloric deficit will not be sustainable and you run the risk of easily gaining back that mass.

If your goal is fat loss while conserving lean mass, you should strive to hit a deficit that puts you in the 1 to 3 lbs. per week range and add a simple weight training regimen. The beginner's 5x5 routine (Google it) is a good start.

There is no way around the energy balance equation. If you consume less calories than you use, you will lose body mass. How you choose to do that and how sustainable it is, would be up to you.