Regardless of your BMI, eating less than 1000 kcal/day is not healthy for anyone. The minimum calories per day for a 20-year old female would be 1400 kcal/day, and even that would be on the low side, depending on several factors such as activity level, growth, genetics, etc. Based on the information you’ve shared it sounds you need more support around your relationship with food.
For more individualized support, consider:
- Meeting with a dietitian. They can better assess what issues might be coming up for you and discuss ways that you can better nourish yourself.
- Meeting with a therapist. They can discuss the feelings that you have when looking at food and any other issues around disordered eating.
- Meeting with your health care provider. They can help you figure out if your body is healthy, if there’s anything else causing your weight loss, and what other supports might be helpful.
Our health guides are developed through a systematic, rigorous process to ensure accuracy, reliability, and trustworthiness. Written and reviewed by experienced healthcare clinicians from Boston Children's Hospital, a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital and consistently ranked as a top hospital by Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report, these guides combine clinical expertise, specialized knowledge, and evidence-based medicine. We also incorporate research and best practices from authoritative sources such as the CDC, NIH, PubMed, top medical journals, and UpToDate.com. Clinical specialists and subject matter experts review and edit each guide, reinforcing our commitment to high-quality, factual, scientifically accurate health information for young people.