A new start

skymningen

I have been on a good way 3 1/2 weeks ago. I had been going to the gym and trying my best to get into lifting for about 3 months and felt like I was slowly seeing some results. I had lost weight before, and my weight was on the lower end of healthy BMI (160 cm/ 5'3" or 5'4, between 50 and 51 kg/ 110-113 lbs). Still, when asking for help here on the forums once I had already been called "underweight" by some users. My BMI was about 19, so I don't really see why. I struggled to eat enough protein (both just eating it, as I am more a carb craving person and generally, as it made me bloated and congested) and I struggled to lower my body fat % (which stalled between 23 and 24% for quite a while).
Fast forward to the last weeks. I had a conference for one week, so no time for gym and no logging (we organized that conference, I was helping not just attending). I took a week off after the conference and decided to still not log the first days and spend time with some friends I hadn't seen for a while. In the middle of that week, I got sick with bacterial food poisoning which stayed for full 1 1/2 weeks. I could not eat a lot, I could not keep a lot of what I ate inside me long enough to gain nutrition. What I could eat was mainly carbs and some broth.
Obviously, I lost more weight and feel like I lost all of the little muscle/strength that I had gained.
Now I am at just under 21% body fat and 48 kg (105 lbs). That is really exactly on the verge of underweight. I know that. I want to gain weight, but I still struggle with stomach aches after eating and have to eat multiple easy to digest small meals in a day (as good as I can, being back at work and all). I feel very weak and not yet completely healthy.
I theoretically know I need to go into a bulk, up my protein and all. But with my current remaining symptoms that is not fully possible yet. I would like to not lose more weight and get back to the gym while hopefully not rocketing my body fat % again instantly and not injuring myself at the gym.
What should I do? Wait until I feel fully recovered and just try to eat more in general? Get back to the gym and basically start from 0 (empty bar and such) and drop my warm-up cardio as it will make me burn too much? Is that safe? I would ask my doctor, but she is not quite an expert in lifting and I don't want her to think I am starting to have an eating disorder. Is there maybe a type of "recovery lifting" program someone can recommend that I can do until I am back to normal eating and not as flimsy anymore?

H_Ock12

I think it would be worthwhile for you to visit your doctor and speak with her about the physical symptoms you're experiencing. It's normal to lose weight after an illness or food poisoning, but not normal to feel sick every time you eat. Perhaps she would be willing to give you a referral to a nutritionist to help you figure out what foods you can eat that will sit better with you. A Gastroenterologist referral may also be helpful.

I would wait until the feeling of weakness lessened before I started lifting again.

skymningen

I was at the doctors office three times in the last two weeks... right now she says it is still normal that I have problems eating because the inflammation has to subside and I had a bacterium which tends to give people those symptoms and they should get better in the course of this week. So there is no further help to be found, unfortunately.

edickson76

With that body fat % you are in range to start a bulk. I'd recommend reading through the links in the sticky at the top of the forum. Also, this article will explain what is going on physiologically: https://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/initial-body-fat-and-body-composition-changes.html/

You don't need high protein intake on a bulk, as you will see when reading through the links in the sticky. Also worth watching Eric Helms's nutritional pyramid series on Youtube. Practical recommendation: plan out your weekly meals ahead of time. That way, you aren't scrambling at 9:30pm to eat something to hit a calorie or macro goal.

As for workout, warm-up is always recommended. If it is a warm-up, you aren't going to burn too many calories. Select a beginner progressive overload workout program (also in the sticky links).

I see no problem in waiting until next week to start back at the gym. If you feel like crap, how good can your workout be? If you still feel bad next week, eat at maintenance rather than surplus for another week.

elothen

Ya gotta find a way to eat or your time in the gym will still be wasted. Experiment with some other foods and go talk to people at a whole foods store. The medical profession has gone to total crap so don't stop there (or even waste your time/money in the first place.

You still need something to get heart rate up and muscles warm before lifting. Id just drop your cardio to the minimum to accomplish that for the foreseeable future

lorrpb

You need to recover from the illness before you start worrying about bulking. Eat a healthy well balanced diet and do whatever light activity you can for the next couple of weeks.