13 September 2007

Tips for Fasting

A few tips to better manage your fasting experience:

- When it is time to break fast, do not over-eat; try to slow down, take it easy, and don't push your stomache. This also goes for eating in general during the non-fasting hours; if you try to keep your stomache as full as possibly during the evenings, it's going to feel comparatively very empty in the morning, and you'll just feel hungrier (especially true for over-eating at Suhoor time). If you try to make it during the day with not so much food, your body adjusts, and you'll find it easier to fast.

- Drink lots of water and fruit juices over the non-fasting period, to adjust for the periods where you aren't taking in any fluids. Try to cut down on fruit 'drinks' (which are technically just flavored water and sugar), soft-drinks (coke, pepsi etc), and other non-natural beverages, which might actually cause you to feel more dehydrated the next day (due to excess amount of sugar and processed contents).

- Avoid fatty and fried foods, which give the illusion of filling you up. They make you heavy, but within a few hours you're hungry again. Try to eat more fruits/vegetables, and natural foods that include fibre, grains and seeds. Especially useful are:
* Dates; which are an excellent source of sugar, fibre and carbohydrates
* Almonds; provide protein and fibre with less fat
* Bananas; provide potassium, magnesium and carbohydrates

- Try to cut down/avoid foods with too much processed sugar (especially the sweets we find so many of during ramadan). Sugar is important, but it is much better to get natural sugar from dates and other fruits.

- Also try to avoid salty foods closer to suhoor time. These will dry you up and you'll end up feeling very thirsty the next day (Personal experience; avoid tikka late at night!)

- Overall, take it easy on the food, don't overstuff yourself, and use common sense. Try to take in more natural foods, and try to cut-down on processed ones, and just east wisely.

Hope these make for a better fasting experience; if anyone has any other tips, feel free to share them with us :)

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello everyone,
Ramadan Kareem to you :)

Im not an expert on fasting (but on healthy eating habits) but all the tips you gave Ammar to have a nicer experience of Ramadan are great and should be followed all year round. Keeping ur body hydrated is VERY important (otherwise u are too tired and can't focus on what u do) so make sure you drink at least 2 liters of plain water during the non fasting period. Have also lots of (raw) fruits and vegs because the water in them is more easily absorbed by the body cells so you body won't feel to much dehydrated during the fasting period.
Your body is part of you and loving it (yourself) means choosing carefully what you put inside. You wouldn't give junk food to a baby, would you? Your body will thank you for feedind it with the right food, trust me.

Good luck everyone.

i sounded like a guru, didn't i? ahahahahahahahahhaha

Anonymous said...

Kel 3am o enta bkeir first of all o ba3dein I didn't abide to any of those tips!

I've been eating like a hog - sugary, salty.. you name it! am too hyper now, tummy feeling bad & it's almost athan time :$

thanks anyway! :)

KJ said...

Great tips bro and they are also useful in nonRamadan days

Anonymous said...

Man you know what’s funny? When I lived in Kuwait (when I was a lot younger) I never fasted with my family and never cared of what going around me! Now that I’m older I just eat one meal a day and practically fast the whole year! And I’m not even a Muslim!

To your subject dear… I did think and I still believe people over eat in Ramadan! But man how do you resist all of that good food? I want to come and visit you now just to eat till I explode! So am I invited to the (alfu6ur)? :P

Ammaro said...

sure, youre invited :)

Anonymous said...

:D Thank you!

Dr. Shale bin Agnon said...

Two litres of water depends very strongly on the climate. Drink two litres of water here if you want to spend your days en route and returning from the bathroom.

Anonymous said...

Shale,

2 liters of fluid is the minimum amout you should drink per day... and yes, you should go at least 10 times per day to the bathroom!
When you practise sport or when the weather is hot, you can add up to your 2 liters...