Rida Hussain |
With over 1.5 billion Muslims of the world fasting in the exact same month, at the exact same time of the year, following a similar routine, Ramadan sends a strong message of a religious bond among the entire Muslim community. Fasting is, no doubt, a challenging practice and is made even more demanding when the month of Ramadan falls in the hot summer months.
Altered sleep patterns, different times of meals, and for some the change in the exercise and training schedules as well, make this month entirely different from the other eleven months of the year. All these changes affect the energy levels, mood patterns, and, of course, the output in the professional work.
In Ramadan, since there is a change in the daily life pattern, you must first understand your body needs. Neglecting your body needs would bring unwanted problems.
Being dull, lazy, and lethargic is not an option in Ramadan, especially when you have a tough and demanding routine on the normal days. Mostly people are struggling to keep themselves up to the mark in everything but cannot manage to do so in this month.
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So, how to keep ourselves active in Ramadan?
Relax, this does not require a lot of hard work. Just follow a few simple tips and you will surely achieve your targets.
1. Understanding your body needs
In Ramadan, since there is a change in the daily life pattern, you must first understand your body needs. Neglecting your body needs would bring unwanted problems.
For instance, if your body demands full sleep, and on average a person requires a sleep of 6 hours daily, so you must try and adjust your sleeping patterns between Iftar and Suhoor. Avoid watching late night movies, hanging out, and reading books if your body excessively needs to rest.
2. Managing food intake
Just like the sleeping pattern, the need of food intake differs from person to person depending upon the metabolism. But there definitely comes the time in a day where everybody feels lower energy levels and strives to remain active.
Consumption of fresh and unflavored yogurt is also recommended in Suhoor as it would help to keep your thirst level in control during the fast.
All you need to do is to focus on your food pattern in Iftar and Suhoor which determines your level of energy throughout the day. To keep your energy level stored for a longer part of the day you must take in the food that is slow to digest or food that is rich in energy and has a high level of carbohydrates and proteins.
Dates, Bananas, Homemade milkshakes, Khajla, Pheni, egg sandwich, are all food items that supply sufficient level of carbohydrates with dates especially packed with lots of energy. Consumption of fresh and unflavored yogurt is also recommended in Suhoor as it would help to keep your thirst level in control during the fast.
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You also need to avoid heavy, junk, and oily food throughout the month. Oily food adds nothing except giving you additional calories to carry and in the later part of your fast, it may cause stomach and chest burning.
Also, avoid immediately stocking your stomach with excessive food at Iftar. Taking a huge quantity of food at Iftar after fasting all day long reduces your metabolic activity and affects your blood circulation. You can divide your food intake into two meals: Iftar followed by a light dinner.
3. Water intake
Water is an essential need of one’s body and the water level fluctuates during Ramadan especially when fasting in the hot weather when there are excessive sweating and heat which may cause dehydration. One must be wary of water level in the body.
A walk of few minutes or mild skipping is not bad to digest the heavy food we often consume in Ramadan.
All you need to do is to maintain your adequate water intake after every two hours, as soon as you break your fast. Drinking loads of water just at the time of Iftar brings digestion problems. Also keeping the water intake low is not an option.
4. Try to do light exercise
Exercise are always a good way to keep one active even during the normal days and bit of light exercise in the month of Ramadan keeps the functions of the digestive system in proper functioning.
A walk of few minutes or mild skipping is not bad to digest the heavy food we often consume in Ramadan. Exercise would not only keep in shape the digestive system but also keeps the cholesterol and blood sugar in check.
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Follow these simple tips and you will have a peaceful Ramadan.
Rida Hussain is a Master’s in Mass Communication from the University of Karachi with a keen interest to write on social and current affairs.