Interesting and confusing meeting with my nutritionist....

Sorry this is probably more of a vent than anything....

So I met with my nutritionist today and brought up some of the concerns that I brought up in another thread....basically that I'm following her plan but that my daily total only comes out to about 1500 calories.  Her reaction was a bit unexpected.  First, she said agreed that seemed low and that I should be closer to 1800-2000 calories.  She looked over my meal journal/record and said it looked like I was at about 1800.  I disagreed with her and assured her that I measure everything and had added it up and that it was only about 1500 calories and then made her go meal by meal and let her know the specifics.  She agreed that the amount I was eating was on the "lower end" of the plan, "probably about 1600 calories."  Then I weighed in and hadn't gained since last week.  And at that point her only addition to my plan was increasing the amount of hemp milk I'm using to make my oatmeal (basically an addition of 40 calories).  I'm so freaking confused!  I feel like I expressed my concerns well but she didn't seem to "get it"....instead she just keeps telling me I'm doing "a good job." But I'm NOT.  I want to gain weight slowly but this is getting ridiculous (about 1lb/month) Ugh!  I'm not sure if I should just do this on my own and not see her anymore.

have you expressed your concerns to your nutritionist directly?  she may just be trying to not push you to hard, for fear of intimidating you and scaring you away. eating disorders are tricky and difficult for people to understand if they can't relate.

most importantly, it sounds like you know what you need to do to be healthier.  i know it's easier to have someone tell you what you should do, but ultimately you need to learn to trust yourself (rather than the disorder) and make the changes that you know are appropriate.

<3

That sounds frustrating.  However, if you know what your calories are and you are not gaining, you know what to do to gain.  Take her advice that can benefit you, leave the rest, and supplement it with your own knowledge.  Don't let it discourage you from your goal!

Sounds like she's a quack. 

Do you know her credientals? Where she got her degree? Is she a dietician as well, or just a nutritionist. I believe that it's pretty easy to obtain a license as a nutritionist (too easy IMOP).  Does she work with people with ED (anoreixa, restricting type) or people with ED's that are BED or bullimia? Restricting and BED have different approaches (and bullimia as well, depending on the case).

Honestly, I'd quit wasting my money, get up to 2500 ASAP and stop seeing her. 

I have to agree. Your nutritionist does NOT sound like she knows what she is doing at all. There is a huuuge difference between 2000 and 1600. Also, if she is not an ED specialist (meaning that she has a great deal of experience with ED patients. She can work at a clinic and still have no clue) - she probably doesn't realize just how much food a recovering anorexic can end up needing to consume.

I went to a N a few years back who had worked at a clinic. She never moved me past 2700 calories a day and I gained all of 5 measley pounds before leaving for college - I had needed to gain at least 15-20 to be at a reasonable weight. They aren't always the most knowledgable people when it comes to the actual amount of calories someone needs. They can teach you to make healthy choices and such - but as per overall daily needs, they don't always seem to want to push people up to what is needed. I think its a general stigma than not eating slows down your metabolism. Which it does, initially. Now that you are eating again - your metabolism will shoot up and you shouldbe eating 2500 as a minimum everyday.

In my many years of this i have seen many N and some are good and some are bad. A bad one I almost feel can do more harm then good. No matter what I think in recovery from an ed you need one who deals a lot with them. Even with that like rebel said they can be on a wrong page. Some N that even deal with eds I feel like are scared of what one with an ed may do and that is not a good way to respond to a suffer. I think a N who can help with the mental fears but also not back down on the needs of calories for the patient.

If you stick with her I think you really need to speak up. If not then you need to do some major increasing

 Dieticians are far more knowledgeable than nutritionists so I suggest you make a point of trying to seek one out. Also, I totally agree that a bad nutritionist will certainly do more harm than good, and that if you want both your mental and physical health to recover more easily you need to see a different nutritionist immediately, or find a dietician.  In addition, it would be awesome if you could find someone who has dealt with other EDs before as well b/c they will understand your needs better than somone who THINKS they know how to help.  I lucked out b/c my dietician was a recovered bulimic, so she often understood my warped mindset.  In spite of that, however, I've still struggled with sticking to her plans as well as I should, so you have to learn more of how to rely on and trust yourself.  YOU sound like you know you need more than what she has suggested so trust THAT.  Good luck with everything, I hope things get a litte clearer for you.

Gaining would be difficult for most people on 1500 calories or 2000 for that matter. Just eat more, guidelines & advice are just that, do what works and if that's eating more, then that's what you need. Getting a basic idea of what to eat from a dietitian is a great start but it's still up to you to make adjustments because as we all know, no 2 people are going to react the same to any dietary plan. imo

Thanks for all the replies and input.  This is a nutritionist who my therapist referred me to.  She has a history of working in inpatient eating disorder programs, so I thought she would be a good fit for me.  I really did try to express my feelings to her and didn't back down when she tried to dismiss them but she didn't seem to listen.  But it really is her or no one b/c there aren't really any other options where I live.  And, if I don't work with a nutritionist it's pretty likely that the rest of my treatment team, especially my therapist would be pretty upset with me.  I guess I just need to trust my instincts and up my intake on my own.