How Siraaj GAINED & LOST 40+ pounds After Marriage

By | Siraaj Muhammad

People say everything is relative.

As a college freshman, I always imagined myself physically balanced, meaning, “normal-sized”. I wasn’t a buff football player or a cut basketball player, but I wasn’t heavy or out of shape either. I was 6’0 and 161 pounds at 18 years old, and that seemed just fine. I wasn’t training like an endurance athlete or anything, but the daily activity from highschool PE class kept me in shape, which was certainly better than nothing, especially considering my desi diet!

Marriage was the big game changer for me, as in, it changed me into a 240-pound monster within 5 years following college.

I watched helplessly as my weight (and by weight, I mean fat!) increased exponentially.
As my responsibilities grew, so did my waistline, as I took on my more work responsibilities, had more children, and was helping establish and run Almaghrib’s Chicago chapter. I purchased a gym membership and tried to will myself to be regular, but responsibilities and low enthusiasm from lower energy levels prevented me. Nothing was working.

When I walked around, my image of myself was that 200-pound fit guy from college, and when I looked in the mirror, I didn’t recognize myself at all. Something had to give.

Changing my Life

Though I kept trying (and failing), I was stubborn and refused to give up on myself.

I joined a weight loss program, resolving to make it work for me. Rather than attempting to do everything at once, this program provided us a solid workout plan with eating habits to develop and implement step-by-step, before trying to add more into our routine. The process was gradual and focused on small changes towards better health, instead of being overwhelming.

While I didn’t perform the program perfectly on the training side, I stuck doggedly to the eating side and lost 30 pounds over 6 months. The exercises I managed to make time for also made me stronger than I had ever been in my life. For example, for the first time ever in my life, at the age of 31, I was able to perform unassisted pullups!

I felt great!

Once that program was completed, I went on to do another exercise program for a few months and dropped close to another 20 pounds.

I was in the best shape of my life, Alhamdulillah!

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Maintaining My Health

Since my weight loss journey, I’ve kept myself busy with different training programs and goals.
It’s easy to hit your weight goal and then return back to how you were before. What I’ve done is take on different goals. I admit my training attention span is short – I quickly become enamored with and bored with programs and switch around constantly. My primary goal is to keep training in some way and eat as well as I can. Below, I offer some lessons, tips, and best practices to start getting in shape, and keep yourself that way!

Getting Started

Get into a Training Program

If you’re just starting out, get into a program that covers your eating habits, and focuses on small steps that change your daily habits. Pick eating and training programs you can sustain.

Consistency Is Most Important

When’s the best time to workout? When should you plan your meals? The reality is, it doesn’t matter! Pick a time when you are MOST LIKELY to do something for your health, and keep it consistent as much as you can.

Focus and Prioritize Through Accountability

You have a lot of responsibilities. Many of them will seem more important than the time spent to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Realize working on your health is NOT about vanity or wanting to look good – it’s fundamental preventative healthcare. Before the time comes for a doctor to prescribe drugs to lower your cholesterol and diets that take away red meat, put your healthcare needs at the top of your daily priorities.

One way to do this is by creating an accountability mechanism. For example, if you fail to comply with required weekly behaviors, you donate a small but significant percentage of money. Feel free to go all out in the beginning to force yourself into positive habits.

Measure Compliance and Clothing Fit, NOT Weight

People starting new become dissuaded from training after their first week because it’s all brand new habits (mentally exhausting), the body is out of shape and in pain (physically exhausting), and the numbers aren’t going down fast enough relative to the pain and food sacrifices (emotionally exhausting).

A lot is happening when you start out. Fat goes down fast, and muscle (which is heavier), builds fast. Your body fat percentage goes down, but your weight stays the same. So, if you don’t have a body fat scale, you might not see any change on the scale, even though your body is certainly becoming stronger and healthier.

Don’t measure your weight, and don’t expect a linear 1 – 2 lb progression each week. Instead, measure how compliant you were with your eating plan, and measure how well your clothes feel when you wear them. Put a tape measure around your stomach and see how much it’s gone down. Do this every 2 weeks, and you’ll see the difference!

Expect Failure, Not Perfection

It’s ok to mess up. It’s ok to snack when you shouldn’t have or to miss a workout, even two. The question is, how often do you fail? If you can maintain 80% compliance with your program, you’ll see great results.

Keep Going!

Know Your Goals and the Programs that Can Get You There

If you look around, there’s a lot of training and eating programs. No matter the dogma of the enthusiasts in any program, all will deliver great results. However, it’s important to know what the program’s goals are, and it’s important to know for yourself what you want for yourself – your health, your body shape, and so on.

Training and Eating Well is for LIFE

There’s no stopping once you start. You don’t have to crush yourself in every workout, and you don’t have to eat grilled chicken and salad at every meal. But you should maintain good eating habits most of the time – for the rest of your life.

Eating Large Amounts of Anything Isn’t Virtuous

Someone is always trying to tell you something to eat or drink. Follow the Prophet’s (SAW) 1/3^rd rule for food, and most of your needs will be taken care of, insha’Allah.

The Best Thing You Can Do For Yourself – Train Consistently, Eat Properly

Want to feel stronger and healthier? Train consistently and eat well. Want to look young? Train consistently and eat well. Want to look stylish? Train consistently and eat well. Want to be there for your kids and spouse?

You guessed it:

Train consistently and eat properly.

It really is that simple!

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