How to Lose Weight During Ramadan 2023?

How to Lose Weight During Ramadan 2023?

While abstaining from food might mean that you should be losing weight, the reality is that many Muslims who observe fasting during the holy month, still manage to put weight on. Intermittent fasting is currently hailed as the latest must-do when it comes to weight loss. So for one month a year, Muslims have the perfect opportunity to not only commit themselves to the spiritual discipline of fasting between sunrise and sundown but to integrate it into an increasingly science-driven way of eating for health.

Intermittent fasting works with a gradually shrinking window of eating. For beginners, it is usually 14:10 (14 hours of fasting to 10 hours of eating), and this can gradually shrink down to 20:4 (20 hours of fasting to four of eating). When fasting for Ramadan, your eating window is governed by the length of daylight.

Why is it that so many reports that they have put weight on, even though they have been diligent with their fasting? If you want Ramadan 2023 to be the year that you both observe Ramadan, and improve your overall health, then check that you are following the advice below.

Not breaking fast with the right kinds of food

Just because you are abstaining from food within a certain time frame, this does not give you a carte blanche to stuff your face with whatever you like between sunrise and sunset. Iftar is a time of celebration, and feasting with friends and family, and too many of the foods on offer might be calorific, high in carbohydrates,s, and high glycaemic index foods which convert quickly into sugar and give you concentrated bursts of energy (and subsequent lethargic drops).

Don’t fall into the trap of eating badly between iftar and suhoor. Here’s our guide to breaking your fast:

• Break your fast with a protein-based broth and water. This will replace important nutrients that you will have lost throughout the day.

• During iftar, avoid heavy carbohydrates such as rice, potatoes, and bread. Stick with proteins and vegetables.

• Try not to eat too soon before bed. Give your body time to digest the food.

• For Suhoor follow the same rules. High (natural) fat-content foods, protein, and probiotics (natural yogurt) are all good Suhoor foods.

You will find that you are less hungry, and have more energy during the day if you follow these simple rules.

Not getting enough exercise

There’s a concern that if you do too much exercise during the fasting days you’ll waste precious energy that is not being replaced with food. Actually, the opposite is true. Incorporating a gentle daily routine within your day will help to reinvigorate energy levels and help you to overcome a lethargic lull when continuing the fast might be more challenging. Try and avoid anything though that involves you getting too sweaty, as fasting for Ramadan also means no water so you are unable to replace that water loss.

Not getting enough sleep

The last thing you want to be doing during Ramadan is losing sleep – and eating when you should be sleeping is even more of a big no-no. Don’t eat your iftar too late, and allow some time for your food to digest before going to bed. Then make sure you get a good night’s sleep. Studies have shown how lack of sleep can actually lead to weight gain, whereas the body is automatically programmed to repair itself during sleep.

Going back to bad habits after a month

Of course, even if you do manage to lose weight during Ramadan, the three-day Eid celebrations are an amazing opportunity to enjoy every bit of food that you have avoided over the last month. Then the biggest pothole people fall down is simply reverting back to bad habits again. Intermittent fasting should be a way of life.

Read More – How to Recover After You Have Sinned