for members fasting ramadan -start august 1 st

ehte-h.. like you have seen the response from a moderator - it will stay open if we stick to the rules

edinat- you have a good plan and since you allready have done it one year before- .. you have some experience and you know you can do it - if only YOU are serious about it. Your food plan is similar to what i was thinking of doing.. ..
it's hard - but we can make it easier by having a group support. this is a place where we can find people that DO understand us.
why ?

well - first they are fasting just like you and i.
second- they are trying to stay on a plan and not sabotage themself or others. ( unlike our friends and family that we are surrounded with )..

we can come here and brag each day we suceed and stick to our plan .. we can come here and ask for support when we are not so strong.. or for encouragment when we think we can't keep going , it's hard etc. When we read posts from other members that HAVE succeeded - than we get new energy and pick up ourself and start over. That is the main reason we have started this topic. To not feel allone during this month.

Most members at my gym have frozen their accounts during this month , saying " oh .. during Ramadan.. i'm not c oming.. i don't want to workout .. i don't need to.. " almost like it's forbidden to keep moving .. if you are planning to stay in your home and recite your prayers 24 hours.. than i do understand that you don't want to stay at the gym for a 45-60 min period at least 3-4 times a week. If you are worried about the music in the gym.. put on some headsets and listen to a lecture or qur'an recitation while you are walking on a treadmill. There are ways to make it work .
At my gym there are few stretch classes, yoga , pilates- these classes are not " high intensity " and don't make me sweat and thirsty like some high- cardio classes - so these are some options i have planned to stick to.

Weight-training is another thing we can do while fasting. Of course everyone knows their capabilities.. and don't overdo it to put you at the risk of dehydration.. but i think i can to a few repetitions of some weight training at least 1-2 a week.

At home during the day .. take 15-20 min. and do some core training on the floor. It's not cardio ..but it does tone and strengthen the core. You can get some ideas on you tube about " core " exercises.. i got tips from pilates classes they have some nice moves that are really " burning " and require some muscle work that we usually neglect during weight lifting etc.

One friend told me she had last ramadan started a " walking group " for sisters.. after iftar- until isha prayer.. instead of sitting arround and talking .. they got together and would start walking - nearby the mosque found a street.. set a goal and did it every night. That's nice ... 30-45 min walk after the dinner.

If you have a bike/treadmill- plan and see what you can do to get some cardio in - if you are a super early person you can do it before suhur ( breakfast meal ) .. you can do it after night prayer / isha .. it doesn't have to be much .. if we stick to 20-30 min 3---5 x a week we will be doing " something " and not completely stop working out.
You know how hard it is to get back to it once you had a longer break ? You don't feel like it.. it's hard .. you start working out and it feels like your first training ever.. you want to puke you don't have the energy you used to have etc.. i hate that feeling and it happens to me even after a 10 days break.. don't want to think how bad it would be after a 30-35 day break ( counting eid days and some extra ..
Use your workout dvds.. .. whatever.. " think outside the box " .:)

Women- you know you have about " one week " off.. during the month- you can use that week to kick off the cardio - not an excuse to sit down and relax- when i asked my trainers at the gym " what to do during this month " they came right with .. oh well.. you have about " one week " where you can workout harder .. bc.. you are not fasting- right ? .. i was surprised they knew about it.. but i was glad they did.. because they basically told me " there's no way out of it .. we know you have o ptions .. i was hoping for them to tell me .. " oh.. take it easy, don't come you are fasting .. .. nope.. they started giving me all the options i have shared here with you ..

this would be my suggestions for the workout part.. will follow up with some food ideas later..

please join - throw in your opinions, ideas, if you have some experience in this - give us your feedback..

Girls- if you come across any good recipes that we can use .. don't hesitate to post them here

my kids are bigger now .. so i don't do it .. but when they were younger they used to make things like that .. you set your own traditions that she can associate with this month.
Other than " decorating " when they were younger .. we gave them each ( i have 3 of them ) .. $ 30.00 in one dollar bills .. so they could on there own take one dollar each day to donate.. it felt special to them because they were responsible to remember it and decide where they wanted to donate.
there are many ways to get the kids excited, like i said you can come up with your own traditions. You can buy them /print .. some coloring books with that topic .. get them involved in the food preparation /table setting- wake them up even though they are little- it will feel special to them and they will feel as part of it.. " pretend " they are fasting too.. even if only " till breakfast " .. that's how my have started.. they have fasted since they could talk.. even if only for few hours a day - and they have fasted complete days- all month since they have been in the first grade - ( now they are 13, 13 and 11 - ( yes i have twins ) .. and they are not missing any days of fasting .

hope this answers your question a little .. .. ps / lets not go to far from the diet- conversations ..

Today i have made some pasta.. i think it's good enough to be prepared for dinner ( iftar too ) - with some chicken on the side.. maybe ?

Whole wheat pasta.. ( 4 oz ) ..cook sepeartely

in a pan - sautee some garlic, fresh spinach, few mushrooms - one tomato..

in food blender/processor - blend a can of garbanzo beans with about 1/2 cup of chicken broth

mix the beans-paste with the pasta - than mix all of that with the veggies..
sprinkle some feta cheese on top

this was enough for 2 big plates .. it came to about 450-480 kcls.. and 25 gm of fiber.. my daughter was impressed with it.. esp. because the garbanzo beans blended- made it look and taste almost like you had some " creamy sause " ..

i'm thinking this can be done with other kind of beans too, maybe cannelini/white beans etc..