I am just recovering from being sick for a few weeks. I have lost a good 20 pounds from being sick and now is when I start to gain it all back. I was wondering, what is it exactly that I lost? Muscle? Fats? I know its not water lost because my mom has forced me to drink water every waking hour while I was sick. So what is it? and why did I lose it?

First of all, you probably lost both fat and muscle mass. Your body needed a lot of energy fighting the illness, you probably weren't eating well either. You also lost bone mass if you were in bed any length of time.

You need to eat a lot of protein to build yourself back up. In the "Support" thread under fitness and nutrition, I provided a few recipes on increasing your weight through nutritional drinks. Adding protein powder when you make the drinks will also help you gain more weight.

Continue drinking fluids, and get out and exercise. Do it slowly since you are probably very weak. Work yourself up to pre-illness fitness. Stretching exercises before you exercise is very important.

If you need any more help, let us know.

Good luck.