Metabolic Rate Tested

This morning I had my metabolic rate tested. Using the BodyGem system, I was able to learn my Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) which tells me the amount of calories my body needs to just survive / exist at complete rest. So my RMR is 1450 calories per day. Then using a formula to determine my daily activity level -- working, living, walking around and purposeful exercise -- you can calculate up to what your daily caloric needs are to maintain your current weight or to lose weight. In the past few months I'd gotten away from logging my food intake on www.FitDay.com ... but after last week's appointments with the doctors and nutritionist, I have been tracking my food for the past 5 days or so. I'm barely hitting the 1,100-1,200 calories/day mark right now. Some days are less (yesterday was around 850 calories) and some days are more (in the past my highest day recorded was around 1,500). I need to add about 400 calories/day because right now my body is in "shut-down" mode and thinks its starving. No wonder the scale isn't moving lately! I'm so glad I had the test done. Last week when the Nut said to increase my calories but she seemed to be pulling that number out of thin air, I had major doubts if that was the right thing to do. But with the hard and real numbers that I know are personalized for my own body, I feel more comfortable increasing calories to get the scale moving again. Added to this new information I also have to figure out how to add some more sodium to my diet. FitDay tells you how much you're taking in, so I've gone back and looked as past food logs and I average about 2,000-2,500mg per day. This is right at the normal RDA, but if I need to increase my intake I'm going to have to have a plan and specific foods that are high sodium to add. SO..... need to increase my calories by about 400/day and increase sodium (not sure how much to add, exactly). I already eat 5 times a day, so I either need to adjust what those meals/snacks look like to be more calorie dense, or figure out how to add another meal and/or snack to the day. Guess I'll be spending the next couple days adjusting my eating plan and doing a bit of meal planning. I'll keep you posted. ~Pam