I am 20 year old male and I weigh 120lbs. I am 6'1". I have always been skinny all my life even when I ate meat and dairy and junk food. I am now vegan and I lost 5 lbs when I switched to vegan so I am a steady 120lbs for now. I dont like being so skinny but I dont think there is much I can do about it without taking drastic measures.

Any suggestions or should I just accept that I am skinny.

You are extremely underweight. You should probably see a doctor or a dietician.

^
Agrees w/Cissy. But if that's the way you are, you're just going to have to learn to accept it too. ( = Tough love :p )

But for now all I can say is.....jus' eat up!!! :D

that's scarily underweight. i think you should talk to a doctor.

You shouldn't have to worry if you are just naturally thin. Everyone is built differently and you shouldn't have to feel like you have to strive to be the "normal" weight, especially if you just aren't built that way.

I think its probably wise to go see a nutritionist or a dietician, because you are extremely underweight. Your height and weight give you a BMI of 15.8, which is very low. You should love and accept yourself no matter what your size is, but your health is important, too. Maybe you could post a daily menu of what you are eating/doing and we could give you some tips?
lovenlight,
Linz

For breakfast I will usually eat peanut butter and jelly sandwhich with a banana and rice milk with spiru-tein mix.

Snacks I often eat chips and salsa, home made french fries.

Lunch I often eat bean burritos or a boca burger.

Dinner often soup with fresh vegetables or pasta or boca burger.

I am trying to eat more fruit and vegetables.

Ok, so I would say you're getting about 1800 calories, which is what active women my size eat when they diet. SOO...you're going to have to step up the eating.

First off, fat is your friend! Try to snack on and incorporate foods that are higher in fat, including nuts, nut butters, avocado, olive oil, soy products, flax, ccconut, all good fatty foods. I am not encouraging you to eat crap, but uhh, eat some crap. Make yourself a batch of cookies, or some big healthy fatty muffins, and carry them with you to snack on.
Snack!! Snacking is your other friend! Its a good way to fill in calories in between meals and not totally stuff yourself. You can carry bars, or the snacks I mentioned above, as well as seeds, nuts, and dried fruit.
You also need to pump up the calories in your meals, in my opinion. Breakfast is actually pretty good, but lunch needs another serving of food. Amy's frozen meals are convienient and are something you could add to your lunch fairly easily. You could also prepare meals like stir fry, chili, lasanga, and freeze individual servings and have those around for lunch. You could also prepare protein shakes for yourself.
Dinner sounds decent, but once again could use another serving. Try having a big salad with avocado and oily dressing, maybe some croutons. The pasta is a good idea-you could also look into having some more fake meats around as a convienient and pretty caloric addition to your dinner. Try having dessert- food is good! There are all kinds of soy ice creams, and there are vegan pasteries and cookies, too.

I know there are people on this board who can give you better advice then me, and I suspect they will be here shortly. :)

lovenlight,
Linz

Yup, I'm here!

First off: Those fake meats aren't always very caloric. For instance: Light life and Yves slices only pack in about 60-80 calories per serving. Boca burgers are 120 calories (as is your average veggie burger).

Better options would be Tofurky sausages (about 250 calories per link), or Sunshine Burgers (which have a higher fat content than most veggie burgers, and I like the taste better).

As RBM mentioned, avocado would be a good thing to work into your diet. You can use guacamole in place of/addition to the salsa with your chips, or add some sliced avocado to your burritos.

It sounds like you're already eating a pretty good amount of food. Most of the advice we give on these boards is usually geared towards people who eat very little. You, however, might need to go on more of an "athlete's diet" to gain weight. That is, you need to eat a sh*tload of food with lots of high calorie snacks. :) A nutritionist should be able to help you with this... (My nutritionist gave me an info sheet entitled "Lean Body Weight Gain for the High School Athlete" - it's for scrawny boys that join the football team, basically.)

Anyway, baked goods don't hurt. You can make (or buy) some nutritious vegan muffins (use whole grains, fruits, and veggies so you can sort of convince yourself it's healthy ;) ). Oatmeal-raisin cookies, banana bread, etc.

Also, add extra fats whereever it seems plausable. Like, extra oil in your spaghetti sauce, extra margarine on your bread, don't skimp on the oil'n'vinegar dressing. You get the idea.

There is hope. :) You can be bigger if you want. I went through it...

I'm not surprised if you are underweight if that is all you are eating. Even I (short, female, and borderline underweight) eats more than that. Liquid calories might help you increae your intake without getting "uncomfortably full". That is, lots of soymilk/juice, yogurt, icecream, etc. Also high fat snacks, like nuts, or dried fruit (not high fat, but energy dense) between meals would be helpful. Try and eat 5-6 meals that are at least 400-600 cal each throughout the day, and also some exercise esp weights etc will help you bulk up healthily.

Oh, also add olive oil etc to cooking, and pasta/rice would be a good addition to your diet. Instead of soup, maybe have a baked potato topped with a protein source (eg tvp/hommus/diced veggies), theres lots of healthy, tasty ways to add substance whilst staying vegan.

I eat as what you eat in a day as an appetizer for lunch.

You need more calories. Talk to a doctor. Soon.

trail mix, dude. i swear to ya -- lots and lots of trail mix *pats belly* :D

You feel underweight because you are underweight. You eat enough to sustain a 12-year-old girl rather than an adult male over 6 feet tall. Do you eat so little because you have food issues, or just because that's all you feel like eating? If you don't eat enough because you feel emotionally bad about eating, those are issues you should talk to a doctor about. If you don't eat enough because you don't feel hungry, those are also issues you should talk to a doctor about. If you just haven't been making the time to eat more, start doing so! Take part in all the wonderful, delicious vegan foods out there and eat plenty of snacks!

assuming that you don't have an eating disorder or a disease that needs specific medical attention (check with your doctor), then i highly reccommend weight training. You'll build muscle, you'll gain weight.

my husband was 5 feet 7 inches and 118 lb as a distance runner; 14 yrs later, he's about 170 with good diet and weight training. Now, granted, he's an omnivore (which does make a difference), but it's likely that if you increase your caloric intake (his intake is nearly 3000 cals a day) as you increase in strength. it's possible to do it as a vegan if you eat nutrient rich foods.

i recommend high intensity training. hardgainer.com has some great information to start you out.

I think I just dont eat enough because I dont have time or I wait to long between meals so I dont get food throughout the day. I dont really have but 10 minutes for lunch during the day at school. What are some dry foods I can bring with me that will be good for a lunch? I will try to get some trail mix also

For dinner I will just try to eat more.

You can bring along (in a small tupperware container) hummus, pita, and veggies for dipping. Pack some cookies, chips, and energy bars in your bag too. You can snag those for a snack whenever you need.

It's all about the frequent snacking. A person can really only fit so much in at one sitting (ie, mealtime). Indulge in shakes and smoothies, too. A good hearty bedtime snack wouldn't hurt - if that's a time that you know you won't be busy. :)

yup, just get used to carrying around a lunch box. i don't carry a purse (as many gals do), but rather a lunch box. you and your lunch box can be best friends.

take what everybody else said as advice.. try smoothies, add olive oil to your smoothies, or something else.. top fruit salad with walnuts, try drinking amazake shakes and eating pemmican bars..

try naked food juices.. but not as meals, add them to your meals.. theys good for ya..

coconut oil is better in smoothies than olive (unless it's a veggie smoothie).

Alright for diner I had some tofu noodle soup, chips with guacamole, slice of bread with some pasta sauce and a handfull of almonds. And a glass of grape juice. I will try to add more to my other meals as well.

try drinking amazake shakes and eating pemmican bars..

..
Pemmican bars aren't actually vegan, though.

Good start on eating more foods. You could also add margarine or olive oil to the bread, to go with the sauce.

And don't knock dessert. Everyone forgets about dessert when they're trying to put on weight. :P Bake up some healthy vegan apple pies, monkey bread (banana and chocolate chips), pumpkin pie, sweet potato pie, mmm... banana splits w/ soy delicious ice cream, nuts, and chocolate syrup.

Let me know if you want some recipes. :) Or just look into Sara Lee... many of her fruit pies are vegan.