Ramadan, fasting, MFP, and you. A guide

I am writing this short guide in regards to the month of Ramadan in hopes that it will come in handy to many of the MFPers who will be observing it and will be fasting.

For anyone not aware, a brief explanation of Ramadan is that Ramadan is a lunar month where Muslims fast (that is, no drinking (even water), no eating, no smoking, no sexual activity among other things). The restriction is from dawn till sunset. Muslims are allowed to eat and drink etc normally in night time.

The first challenge we face is kind of psychological. Thoughts come to mind that the diet and exercise plan set by MFP cannot be carried on during Ramadan. The good news is that this is incorrect assumption. There is a concept called “intermittent fasting” which is very close to how Ramdan is observed.

Really the main thing regarding the plan set by MFP is that we eat a reasonable amount. That being said, it does NOT matter when we eat the calories. So in Ramadan we really only skip lunch (based on the traditional 3 meals a day). Which isn’t so bad if we eat a little bit more during the night time. What I personally do is I split my calories in 3 parts. So lets assume I have to eat 1800 calories. I eat 1200 calories after Maghrib (dinner/iftar) and the rest of the 600 calories is consumed right before Fajr (Sehri/breakfast).

Another challeneg faced is “I cannot eat all those calories and worry I might be eating too little”. Luckily, there are many delicious solutions. Typical Iftar consists of many heavy food items. 5 dates alone are about 120 calories. Then we have samosas, kubsa, madghoot, pakoras and many other oil heavy snacks. Then we have fruits (fruit salads are a norm in many Muslim cultures for iftar). All these make up more calories than we think. Try counting out the calories. You will be surprised how much you actually eat during iftar and sehri. And if you are still under your calories, you can always take a tablespoon or 2 of honey or peanut butter or just eat some extra samosas

A challenge on the other aspect is “I eat too much in Ramadan and will gain weight”. That is a valid concern and something I myself face. Which is why I try to reduce my weight loss to either 0.5 lbs a week or just bring my diary to a maintenance and not worry about trying to lose weight for that month. I, however, will emphasize to please NOT stop logging your diary. That is a habit that you should in every situation continue. When you look at your diary daily, you will naturally try and be more careful with what/how much you eat.

Last challenge is “I cannot workout during Ramadan”. In Saudi Arabia, Fast is from around 4 AM to 7 PM. This gives you plenty of time between Maghrib and Isha to workout. I personally workout after 9 PM anyways so I don’t see the schedule changing much for me. Try to workout as much as possible.

One thing that I would like to encourage is “pre-logging”. Log what you plan to eat before breaking fast. Leave couple of hundred calories as wiggle room but the concept is to try and log what you would like to or plan to eat before you eat them so you don’t lose focus. I used to use pre-logging a lot and it helped me take control of how much to eat greatly.

I would like to remind you all that this is a month where we face many challenges. Specially thes few years when Ramadan is coming in summer. Hydrate yourself. Eat properly. Don’t be afraid of iftar parties. You will likely go crazy trying to avoid iftar parties and eating only salad when everyone is enjoying all kinds of delicious meals.

I hope others will add any other concerns or other points in this thread.

Happy Ramadan folks

ETA: Credit goes to taso42 and Sarauk2sf for helping me with this.