1. PROTEIN is the word
Fitness is a lot about what we eat. Protein is key to a healthy diet because your entire body, your hair, keratin, collagen are all made up of protein. Protein helps your body to recover, rest and rehabilitate. Some examples of protein that you can add to your diet this Ramazan are chicken, meat, daal, cholay (chick peas) and dairy products like yogurt and milk. Quinoa and nuts are all good protein sources.
Try this Quinoa Pulau Recipe for a different Pulau flavour.
Protein Tip: FZM recommends eating protein at both Sehri and Iftari both
2. Stock up on your daily dose of minerals and vitamins
Since our food is highly processed, it loses essential nutrients in the cooking process. It’s important to meet your daily requirement of vitamins and minerals. Fatima recommends supplements to ensure we get our full intake.
Vitamin Tip: Speak to your doctor before you select any vitamins or minerals to add to your diet.
3. It’s not JUST about water.
Hydration doesn’t mean you just have to drink more water. It’s hot and you’re sweating and your body needs to hydrate and also replenish its salts and minerals. You can get that by eating fruits with high water content, for example watermelon. FZM also recommends drinking coconut water at iftari.
Fruity Tip: Make sure you eat your fruit on an empty stomach because that’s the best way it’s digested.
4. It’s okay to have a cheat meal.
Just because you’re having two meals a day, doesn’t mean you over-eat. Open your fast with a date, eat some fruit and then just have dinner straight away. You don’t need a full-on iftari spread. Do your research and find new and healthy recipes, cut down on the fried foods.
Meal Tip: It’s okay to have one cheat meal but then make sure you eat clean the rest of the week.
5. A Workout in Ramazan helps you increase your metabolism.
People need to workout during Ramazan because your metabolism slows down. When you’re fasting and when you eat fatty food at iftari, it further slows down your metabolism. Hence, working out is important whether you do Pilates or Strength Training.
Fitness Workout Tip: A 30 minutes workout is good enough because the results are 20 times more pronounced in Ramazan compared to the rest of the year.
Fitness is all about setting your mind to achieve your healthy body goals. Once you get into a routine, you will miss it when you skip it. So start today, and you’ll soon start feeling a difference in mind & body fitness levels! Stay healthy and stay fit this Ramazan!
