Hi, I have googled the answer to this question and searched this forum, but with no joy...

About 5 months ago I started to quite drastically cut my calorie intake. It didn't go too low, probably 2000 a day, but from very healthy sources. Also, I have been doing a lot of exercise. I am 175cm, 85kg and generally quite muscular and big.

I think that because the calories came from vegetables and nuts and wholegrains the body actually burns some calories processing them, therefor this is not equal to eating easily accessible calories, simple carbs. Anyway, the fact is I think I was consuming too few calories and my body went into "famine" mode, which as I understand it is nothing more complex than a dip in metabolism while your body stores everything it can as fat...

This seems to be the case because I started to feel weak and tired, started to feel faint when exercising hard, couldn't get restful sleep and kept waking early, get lots of headaches and fatigue, especially in the afternoons.

Unfortunately I didn't immediately link these symptoms with too few calories because I didn't crave food and had done a good job of cutting dowm, therefore this situation dragged on for some time. Two weeks ago I finally figured it out and am feeling better for eating more.

Question:

My question is, have i permanently lowered my metabolism? Or will it go back up again? And if so, how long will it take?? And how much should i eat now? I have increased my intake significantly but I haven't gone overboard. Roughly 2500 cals a day.

Many Thanks for advice!