Ever since the recent Ramadhan, I noticed I haven't eaten like I used to. I don't even eat lunch anymore while I'm working and when I get home, I eat a very small meal, sometimes nothing at all. I've fasted every year before that for many years but, for whatever reason, I can't seem to recover back to my normal diet. I do construction work and I think I've worked harder this year than any other and it was definitely the toughest Ramadhan I've have to do. Is it possible that with the combination of fasting and doing relentless physical labor outdoors, that it had some kind of long term effect on my system? I was underweight before fasting and now I can't even catch up to my "normal" weight. If I was at a normal weight for my height, I wouldn't be too concerned about it. Right now I'm around 140-145lb, 6'1 tall which is very skinny. My work clothes don't even fit me anymore.
I fear that I won't recover by next year and I'll just get even skinnier than I am now.. I don't want to force myself to eat because I think of that as being "haram" (not sure of the right word to use here). If my body is already satisfied, there should be no need for me to keep stuffing my mouth just so I can gain more weight, right?
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It's not haram to get your daily calorie intake. You just said you are underweight.
Know that appetite is relative. Let me tell you about a little experiment a professor did on his students. He invited some of his students to have a dinner with him. Little did on person of the group know that his bowl was connected with a hidden extra bowl that pushed soup every time the student drank from his own bowl. No matter how hard the student tried, the bowl kept filling up. It was only after consuming 3 times the normal bowl volume that they smelled something fishy.
Long story short, download an app that monitors your daily calorie intake, this should be 2500 calorie's. Get on the scale every week and see if you went up somewhere between 250 grams. If not, add 250 calories to your daily intake. Before you know it you'll gain weight.
How do I know? the law of conservation of energy, that's how.
Your body mass index is actually normal. Do you want to gain weight due to your appearance??
One of the reasons your body is having a hard time gaining weight may be because you gained muscle and your stomach shrunk. Muscle burns fat really easily, and your stomach will naturally shrink from fasting and not eating often or enough, so both combinations may be the reason for your weight loss. Instead of trying to eat more food, try to eat foods that are higher in calories.
One of the reasons your body is having a hard time gaining weight may be because you gained muscle and your stomach shrunk. Muscle burns fat really easily, and your stomach will naturally shrink from fasting and not eating often or enough
There is no such thing as a shrunken stomach. Though you are right about having a higher rest calorie burn rate if someone has more muscles.
Ever since the recent Ramadhan, I noticed I haven't eaten like I used to. I don't even eat lunch anymore while I'm working and when I get home, I eat a very small meal, sometimes nothing at all. I've fasted every year before that for many years but, for whatever reason, I can't seem to recover back to my normal diet. I do construction work and I think I've worked harder this year than any other and it was definitely the toughest Ramadhan I've have to do. Is it possible that with the combination of fasting and doing relentless physical labor outdoors, that it had some kind of long term effect on my system? I was underweight before fasting and now I can't even catch up to my "normal" weight. If I was at a normal weight for my height, I wouldn't be too concerned about it. Right now I'm around 140-145lb, 6'1 tall which is very skinny. My work clothes don't even fit me anymore.
I fear that I won't recover by next year and I'll just get even skinnier than I am now.. I don't want to force myself to eat because I think of that as being "haram" (not sure of the right word to use here). If my body is already satisfied, there should be no need for me to keep stuffing my mouth just so I can gain more weight, right?
Asalaamualaykum
You need to see a dietitian - most eating disorders are psychological by the way. You have to see a professional to start off with.
Have you tried to drink weight gain milk, like Appeton?.
Not recently. I've tried weight gainers in the past and I did not like them at all. I ended up buying protein powder and just mixing it with my own stuff to up the calories. Its much cheaper that way.
format_quote Originally Posted by 00001001
It's not haram to get your daily calorie intake. You just said you are underweight.
Know that appetite is relative. Let me tell you about a little experiment a professor did on his students. He invited some of his students to have a dinner with him. Little did on person of the group know that his bowl was connected with a hidden extra bowl that pushed soup every time the student drank from his own bowl. No matter how hard the student tried, the bowl kept filling up. It was only after consuming 3 times the normal bowl volume that they smelled something fishy.
Long story short, download an app that monitors your daily calorie intake, this should be 2500 calorie's. Get on the scale every week and see if you went up somewhere between 250 grams. If not, add 250 calories to your daily intake. Before you know it you'll gain weight.
How do I know? the law of conservation of energy, that's how.
I understand it's all about intake and I can tell you it is not easy at all. I used an online app in the past, I think called caloriecount, and I was pushing over 4000 calories. I can't remember how much time I gave it but, the time put into it and the money spent on continually buying foods to meet my daily goal was too much for the little gain I got. As Charisma said, maybe I just need to eat calorie rich foods vs a large quantity of low calorie items. After I stopped trying to meet my daily 4000 calorie goal, it didn't take long for me to go back down. So it seems like my overall issue (before this one) was to not only gain weight but to be able to maintain it without missing a beat.
format_quote Originally Posted by *charisma*
Assalamu Alaikum
Your body mass index is actually normal. Do you want to gain weight due to your appearance??
One of the reasons your body is having a hard time gaining weight may be because you gained muscle and your stomach shrunk. Muscle burns fat really easily, and your stomach will naturally shrink from fasting and not eating often or enough, so both combinations may be the reason for your weight loss. Instead of trying to eat more food, try to eat foods that are higher in calories.
Appearance is one of the reasons. From what I used to look like, I think I may have actually lost muscle. I always had a low body fat %, even before fasting, so my muscles were definitely depraved and doing physical work outside in 100*F+ heat only worsened the effect. Your advice about eating higher calorie foods sounds good though. I'll do more research on what's out there.
format_quote Originally Posted by samirbrazendale
Asalaamualaykum
You need to see a dietitian - most eating disorders are psychological by the way. You have to see a professional to start off with.
In the past, I read about thyroid issues affecting people's weight so I went to get mine checked out along with a physical. Everything was fine. I was just told to eat more...
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