I’m quite new too. I have been a vegan, vegetarian, also did an anti candida diet and dabbled with grain free / paleo after having some gluten issues.
Before reading diet recovery I was trying to stick to less than 1800 cals per day and had issues of fatigue, coldness, anxiety etc. HCG seems shocking to me, doesn’t it require 500 cals per day? I read an article on the Gokaleo blog recently that suggested less than 1800 cals per day for a woman is technically starvation! Apparently women really need at least 2000+ cals per day, others perhaps even 3000+.
Over the last few weeks of following the refeeding protocol (not aggressively really, just eating to appetite satisfaction and occasionally a bit extra). I’ve found that a minimum of 2500 calories per day keeps me feeling warm, happy and generally well. I have a light frame/bone structure (ectomorph body type) so I’m willing to bet a woman with larger bones and muscles than me needs more food than I do.
Good luck and happy eating! If you are at risk of orthorexia issues/obsessiveness, I’d recommend staying away from dieting forums and diet recipe sites – I’ve been doing this, haven’t even looked at the “weight loss” category in this forum because I don’t want to slip back into restricting mindsets!