A little confused--advice please?

hello i need some advice because i need to gain weight. i'm 5'3.5 inches, 17 years old & not exactly sure of my exact weight because the scales are always different but my home scale said 75.5 on sunday. i was hovering at 77-78 on my home scale for awhile but i recently lost weight this weekend unintentionally when going on a vacation (tons of walking around nyc!)

oh & my highest weight ever was 97 at 5'3 & the doctor was fine with that because i've always been petite....

anyways i have been trying to recover since june, but i am still a little confused as to what exactly i should be doing (besides eating--which i am defiantly doing). i saw a nutritionist but she was only putting me on 1200 calories which i thought was ridiculous for my purposes. plus she told me to eat chicken & i've been a vegetarian for four years now...

i admit i am not eating enough compared to you guys & i really want to get better before school starts. i'm just confused with this whole "starvation mode" & exactly how many calories i need to eat. any sample plans would be great! i really just want to move on & enjoy a happy healthy life!

Get up to 2500 calories at first.  If you stop gaining on that, then move up.  It's quite easy with things such as nuts/nut butters, full-fat dairy, and other dense foods (check out the 'high cal food list' on this forum). 

Are you still seeing this nutritionist? Does she deal with ed's? Unless this is a very starter plan 1200 is not adequate for even someone who needs to loose weight at your age. I have seen many nutritionists in my time and even some who deal with ed are clueless. You are very underweight and if you want to get better it means eating to gain weight. Are your currently eating 1200 a day can you start increasing by a few hundred calories at a time till you reach 2500?

thanks guys for the replies. i really want to do this right & get it over with.

currently i'm not seeing this nutritionist regularly (found out she specializes in weight management of people with diabetes plus she was telling me to eat chicken even though i've been a vegetarian for four years--long before the ed)

i'm not sure my exact intake but 1200 could be a good estimate? maybe more on some days.. so would it be wise to increase a little bit daily or to go right away? 

It willl most deffinatly be better to add calories a little each day, make sure the calories that you add are from good nutrient rich foods. A good start to breakfast would be:

1 cup of full fat yogurt

1/4 cup of nuts

so in breakfast alone you have 200 calories for the nuts and i think it is 110 for the yogurt. you are getting essential fatty acids, calcium, protien and carbs.

I have never been underweight. but the process is the same for either gaining or loosing, the foods that are eaten need to be high quality, live whole foods as much as possible. Here is an Idea for lunch or dinner:

1 cup pasta (your choice)

1/2 cup veggie spaghetti sauce (either home made or commercially produced)

2 tbsp whey protein (to sprinkle on the spaghetti)

Parmesan cheese (full fat)

leafy green salad with choice of dressing & drizzled with flax seed oil.

and a cup of melon balls for desert

In this meal you have complex carbohydrates, protein,& essential fatty acids,

And for snacks you can try Whey protein shakes/fruit smoothies

You might want to consider adding a multi-vitamin, flax seed oil supplements, pro-biotic capsules, and digestive enzyme capsules. hope this helps 

trish