Weight Gain During Fasting, How Can It Be?

In addition to worship, many also people take advantage of the fast during the month of Ramadan to lose weight. However, it turns out that not a few people whose weight actually increases during fasting. Why is that, huh? To know the answer, let's look at this article.

During fasting, our time to eat and drink becomes very limited. Supposedly, this can be a healthy and effective way to lose weight. Even so, it turns out that there are several things that can cause weight gain during fasting.

Various Causes of Weight Gain During Fasting

Below are some of the causes of weight gain during fasting that you need to be aware of:

1. Overeating

Overeating is one of the main causes of weight gain during fasting. This can happen because when fasting, the body will adapt by holding back appetite. However, after breaking the fast, your appetite tends to increase again, so you may feel very hungry.

If not controlled properly, this hunger can cause you to overeat, starting from iftar time to sahur.

2. Consumption of unhealthy food

Eating a variety of unhealthy foods, such as foods that are too sweet, fatty foods, junk food, or fried foods, is one of the bad habits that many people often do in the month of Ramadan.

In fact, these foods are generally high in calories, sugar, and saturated fat, but lack nutritional content. If consumed in excess, these various foods can cause weight gain in the fasting month.

3. Decreased physical activity

The body is weak due to holding back hunger and thirst during fasting, which often makes people lazy to do physical activity. In fact, being physically active is one way to keep the body fit, fresh, and weight can be controlled.

So, if during fasting you don't control your diet and are not physically active, then it's not impossible that you will actually gain weight.

4. Decreased sleep

In addition to diet, fasting can also affect our daily sleep patterns. Normally, adults need at least 7–9 hours of sleep every day. However, in the month of Ramadan, the duration of your night's sleep may be reduced because you have to get up for sahur.

Research shows that there is a link between lack of sleep and weight gain. The reason is that lack of sleep can trigger the body to produce appetite-stimulating hormones, so you are more at risk of eating a lot at night.

5. Slows down the body's metabolism

A sudden decrease in calorie intake can slow down the body's metabolism as a natural mechanism to save energy consumption. This slowing of the body's metabolism is often associated with weight gain, because fewer calories will be burned.

Tips Maintaining Weight Weight During Fasting

If you want to maintain an ideal body weight during the fasting month, you can try the following tips:

• Avoid overeating during Iftar and Suhoor. Instead, consume food according to your caloric needs.
• At suhoor and iftar, choose foods that are high in fiber and protein, so that the feeling of fullness lasts longer.
• Avoid eating foods that are high in sugar, high in salt, and fatty foods.
• Drink at least 8 glasses of water per day, with the distribution of 2 glasses when breaking the fast, 4 glasses before going to bed, and 2 glasses at dawn.
• Make sure you get enough sleep every night.
• Do light exercise, such as yoga or a leisurely walk, 30 minutes before iftar or 1 hour after iftar.

Fasting in the month of Ramadan can indeed bring many benefits to the body, including weight loss. However, if it is not carried out properly, instead of making you lose weight, fasting can actually cause you to gain weight.

Therefore, from now on try to apply some of the tips above so that you don't gain weight during fasting. If you still have questions about how to lose weight while fasting, don't hesitate to consult a doctor.

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