From what I gathered from several conversations I’ve had with my Muslim friends and clients, in Islam, fasting is more than just abstaining from food and drink. Fasting also includes abstaining from any falsehood in speech and action; indecent speech and lustful thoughts. Fasting is believed to strengthen control of impulses and help develop good behaviour. In the holy month of Ramadan, Muslims are expected to increase their taqwa which refers to good deeds, alms and consciousness.
I embarked on further reading, and joined the fast with gusto! My curiosity got the better of me really. I wanted to know how long you could stay before you got really hungry. What food choices could keep me feeling full longer. And if efficiency is a reasonable expectation from someone who is fasting.
I have stated the theory above. It is beautiful. But what is the reality? I have lived in Dubai for almost 5 years. In that period, I have observed the practice of the Holy Ramadan closely. It’s a total restructuring of the day. Work hours are shifted to 8:30am – 13:30; people leave work earlier and complain a lot! The malls stay open till 2am. In the evenings its Iftar buffets and deals all over the place, it’s a party really. We non-Muslims have to be more conservative with our clothing and not eat or drink in public from sunrise to sunset, but all the restaurants are open for takeouts. In my years in Dubai, all the Ramadans have fallen in the summer, so it’s very hot. Not drinking water while you are outside is really tough.
Growing up in Eastern Nigerian, I never encountered Ramadan till I went to boarding at age 11, and saw for the first time, Muslim students assembled and fed before sunset. That was my earliest recollection of Ramadan. Then I realised why we got 2 days of public holidays at Sallah! Later in life, I worked in a really great company, NLNG and they provided lunch on site. During Ramadan, Muslims were offered the option of coming back for dinner or monetizing their lunch money. I had Christian colleagues that would try to become Muslim for that arrangement!
I moved to Canada, and each time there was no Muslim on my team, I didn’t know when Ramadan occurred. There are no Muslim public holidays in Canada for Ramadan. I have moved around the world but living in a Muslim society has brought a new awareness of Ramadan to me.
This year, Ramadan was coming around and I felt fine. Stronger and healthier than I have felt in a long time. I had loads of health issues stemming from my Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome woes. I worried about what fasting would do to my metabolism. I did some research and found out that women with PCOS did fast, at least in Egypt and Iran where most of the papers I read originated from. I made a plan to join and stop only if it felt unsafe to continue. Ramadan was supposed to start on 15th May but it got moved by a day because of the moon sighting. I was so ready! I danced for Joy! Everyone was convinced I couldn’t see it through! The first day went really well and I did not stop!
Read my highlight from the fasting:
- Fasting is privilege: In a world with an unimaginable percentage of people living below the poverty line and going hungry, including children, to voluntarily abstain from food is a luxury. During the holy month of Ramadan, you plan your meals to avoid constipation. To get the best nutrients and stay hydrated. There are several people that when Iftar rolls around, they still have nothing to eat. This is where consciousness in the Ramadan context comes in for me. It got me really thinking! I know now, that I will never waste food again.
- Opportunity to stop bad habits and adopt healthier and nutritious diets: There is a discipline that comes with fasting, it’s a about controlling your mind and impulses. I had to work through the fasting hours, and I would make royal icing or buttercream frosting to cover cakes and I couldn’t taste these! Before Ramadan, I would whip buttercream and taste it several times. I had to ask myself why? It’s still sugar!! I started to up wake up early. I discovered that I could do some work on my laptop and think! It brought me to the realisation that we do not allocate enough time to just thinking about things. Prioritizing what goes on my plate was also a big takeaway. There is a limited window of time to eat so I couldn’t load up on sugar, fatty fried food or junk.
- Sleep: To stay energized during the fasting period, you need to rest well at night. This means that you don’t stay up to eat all night. You need to sleep early since you need to wake up before sunset to eat and prepare for the day ahead. I have 16-month-old twin girls, this goal was not always possible, some days they were up till midnight and I had to wake up at 3:30am. Not resting well at night could account for why people are so sleepy and cranky during Ramadan. I didn’t feel great on days I slept for less than 5 hours. Luckily, I work from home. I took a mid-day nap about 3 times during the fasting month.
- The Suhoor meal: Suhoor is the pre-dawn meal eaten during the Ramadan fast. The timing varies from country to country as it depends on when sunrise occurs. Suhoor in Dubai was 4 am so I woke up everyday at 3:30am to eat. Sometimes I went straight back to bed; other days I worked. The meal is very important. It’s your energy bar for the rest of the day. I made multigrain breads for Suhoor and I paired it with proteins such as eggs, salmon, chicken. I ate fruits, vegetables and drank herbal teas and water. I also had oatmeal, oat and banana pancakes and homemade granola with plain yoghurt. I learnt a lot from planning my breakfasts to carry me through the day. I have pictures of all my breakfasts during Ramadan. It will surprise most people. I noticed I was hungrier on the days I had oatmeal or homemade granola with yoghurt than on the days I have my multigrain loaves with eggs or salmon.
Sample breakfast: A 150g multigrain bun (weighed before baking), ¼ cut watermelon, 1 boiled egg, Gouda cheese, 1 cup herbal tea and water.
- The Iftar meal: I find that a lot of people stumble on the Iftar meal. They go to Iftar buffets and overeat. If you haven’t eaten all day, you need to start slowly and listen to your body. If you do not have discipline, do not go to a buffet! There are always guidelines to how you should eat but your situation might be different. Its always advised to break the fast with dates and water. I did buy dried dates and dried prunes, but they are so high in sugar and I have PCOS! I found an article that suggested I shouldn’t eat a lot of dried dates, so I still have one or two sometimes for the culture, but I break the fast with fresh fruits such as watermelon, honey dew melon, pineapple and also vegetable salads. You have to drink lots of water. Fruit juices are recommended. The first week, I juiced but juices are not the best choice for me, so I stick with water. I drink water, I eat some fruit, I shake belly and I have juice with fibre in there. Then I follow up with a light soup or vegetable dish to prepare myself for a main meal. The main meal is a healthy balance of carbohydrates, proteins, fats and loads of vegetables. I continue hydrating myself with water and herbal teas till I go to bed.
Sample Iftar meal: Fresh fruit: e.g. Melon and water
Soup/salad: e.g. red lentil soup or mixed green salad with lemon dressing.
Main dish: e.g. Chicken and chick pea curry with basmati rice and steamed vegetables.
Fluids: Lots of water, herbal teas or drinks, I made hibiscus tea also known as Zobo in my home country.
- Keeping busy: Time seems to go by faster when you are busy, if you do not engage your mind, the physical situation which is hunger will take over. You will think of food the whole day. As a chef, I think of food the whole day: cooking it, prepping it and storing it. During the fast period when I thought of food, it was how to make it better, make it ahead, etc. I went on long walks in the beautiful Dubai mall, I made breads and standardized my recipes to mention a few activities. I hear people go to sleep and wake up at Iftar! When I am hungry, I cannot sleep at all. This is my way, keep busy!
- Meal planning: If you do not plan what you will eat at Iftar, you will eat the wrong things. It is not easy to start cooking at Iftar. My strategy was making dishes that take a long time to cook the day before, so after dinner, I would make a curry for the next evening, cool it down and leave it in the fridge, then at Iftar I put some rice in the cooker, and steam some vegetables. Sometimes I prepped all the vegetables the day before or during the day. Before Ramadan I froze a bunch of sauces to help with days I was took tired to cook and also to feed my husband who was home only in the weekends and not participating in the fast. Sometimes I cooked in the day when I couldn’t taste it and this also informed me that my standard recipes work perfectly!
- Weight loss: It is my opinion that if you do the Ramadan fast correctly, a natural side effect should be weight loss. When people add a lot of weight during Ramadan, I do not understand what they have done! I am currently 4kgs lighter and loving it! This is huge, because weight loss with PCOS is really tough. So, I imagine other people lose a lot more weight than myself.
- Exercising: Figuring out the best time to schedule it was a struggle for me. Fasting or not, you need regular exercise. The first week, I broke the fast with fruit and water at Iftar and hit the gym before dinner, this meant dinner was very late, just before 9pm. I didn’t like that, the second week, I was super busy and did not go to the gym at all but had long walks to the mall. The last two weeks, I went to the gym 4 times during the day, that is in the fasting period. I couldn’t survive it without water, so I sipped some water on these occasions. I will like to know when you exercise during Ramadan.
- Water: Water is incredibly important to our bodies. Sometimes we do not drink enough water in the day, but during the fast you really miss water. I think water was the most difficult part of the fast for me.
Please leave comments. I am really interested in your fasting stories, whether you are Muslim or from other faith and did the fast. I think I will do it again, and I will have more information then.
Best Regards,
-AJ
