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What Should I Eat During Ramadan?

Beginners
#1

Ramadan:
“Ramadan is a Muslim religious observance that takes place during the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, believed to be the month in which the Qur’an began to be revealed. It is the Islamic month of fasting, in which Muslims don’t eat or drink anything from dawn until sunset. Fasting is meant to teach the person patience and humility.” - Wikipedia

My Stats:
Age: 17
Weight: 101 Kg
Height: 6 ft 2"
Waist Size: 40"

Usually, I wake up just before Sunrise, eat a little bit and go to sleep. The next time I eat is after Sunset. What should I eat before and after fasting?
I’ve been training for about a year now, and I’ve lost 13 Kgs(Fat) and built up a lot of Muscle. I still have a lot of fat left, so I don’t have cuts but I’m working on it.
Also, should I train during fasting?

P.S I searched for other threads related to Ramadan eating but there was never really a complete answer

#2

How long between sunrise and sunset in the area in which you live?

Obviously you should eat a LOT at the times that you can eat. If you think about it, we normally do not eat at night and fast around 8hrs a day when we sleep. You could wake up in the middle of the night and eat something then as well, that will help.

I think you should cut the volume of training a lot but keep the poundages high that will maintain your strength. But LOW VOLUME.

You can do some aerobic/GPP work but keep that low too. That will help you lose fat during this month - may as well take advantage of it.

I wonder what the religious stance is on aminos / BCAAs?

Just before sunrise, a slowly digested protein like casein would be a great idea.

As soon as sun sets, a lot of fast acting shakes one after the other (well maybe 2 shakes).

Finally, do NOT train between sunrise and sunset. Only train at night when you can eat.

It will all take discipline but is not that big a deal.

#3

I fasted the other day for a personal reason. Of course, slow digesting protein (like casein) is your friend during this time. The hardest thing about fasting for me is usually the thirst. The other day when I fasted, I took some creatine upon waking and then I drank a ton of water. It seemed to help with controlling my thirst. After sunset, I plan to break my fast, drink a whey protein shake and some fats, and then work out before Isha.

PS: Do NOT use Ramadan as an excuse to eat crap. First of all, it kind of negates the purpose of fasting. Secondly, eating a lot of unhealthy food is a surefire way of gaining fat.

#4

Oh, forgot to comment on training. Definitely cut your volume down.

I wouldn’t suggest very much aerobic work during this time, just because you’ll be pressed for time at night and I think you should use that for lifting instead.

#5

Fasting is from ~04:30 AM to ~6:20 PM.
As far as I know there is no restriction on artificial food,
Should I train just before sunset? So when i go home I can eat.
I’ll try to get casein. After sunset, should I just eat a little at a time until I go to sleep and not worry about calories or should I control what I eat?

#6

Can I lift as much as possible instead of artificially reducing the weight?

#7

[quote]Magarhe wrote:
I wonder what the religious stance is on aminos / BCAAs?
[/quote]

Me being a muslim, if I can find the pills that are actual pills and not the ones in the gelatin coating, I can use them. So yes BCAAs are alright.

#8

what do you mean? artificial food? if you are talking about whey and bcaa’s like you mentioned before… these aren’t artificial foods. they are extracted from real food. just don’t consume them during your fast, of course

I have trained on an empty stomach before, but this is different because you can’t drink water. I tried working out before sunset the other day and my work out sucked because my mouth was so parched and my body felt drained. From now on, I am going to just break fast with a protein shake and THEN work out.

You don’t have to go out and buy casein protein. Grab some cottage cheese and mix it with a few tablespoons of natural peanut butter for taste–cottage cheese has lots of casein. Eating pretty much any meat with fat will be pretty slow to digest. And use common sense about calories.

Like I said, don’t eat pizza and cake every night. Just stick to healthy food and let your hunger guide you. Don’t be anal about it. Just don’t obsess over calories and other things like that when there is more important things to worry about.

artifically reducing the weight? what? continue to focus on upping your weights. don’t expect your strength to increase a ton during this month, but maintaining/increasing strength in your lifts should always be the priority

#9

Obviously, you should cheat and eat healthy stuff while no one is looking.
Allah surely isn’t!
That way you can train and stay reasonably healthy without being harrassed by religious family members, fanatics etc.

#10

“I have trained on an empty stomach before, but this is different because you can’t drink water. I tried working out before sunset the other day and my work out sucked because my mouth was so parched and my body felt drained. From now on, I am going to just break fast with a protein shake and THEN work out.”

So I just need to break fast with a protein shake and head to the gym after about 10 mins? I should be able to do that as long as the food isn’t too tempting XD

“You don’t have to go out and buy casein protein. Grab some cottage cheese and mix it with a few tablespoons of natural peanut butter for taste–cottage cheese has lots of casein. Eating pretty much any meat with fat will be pretty slow to digest. And use common sense about calories. Like I said, don’t eat pizza and cake every night. Just stick to healthy food and let your hunger guide you. Don’t be anal about it. Just don’t obsess over calories and other things like that when there is more important things to worry about.”

Alright then, I’ll stock up on cottage cheese then. I’ll try to keep the saturated fats as low as possible.

“artifically reducing the weight? what? continue to focus on upping your weights. don’t expect your strength to increase a ton during this month, but maintaining/increasing strength in your lifts should always be the priority”

What I meant by artificially reducing the weights was lifting less than you can usually lift, even though you can lift the usual amount.
So I’m guessing I should lift my usual unless I really can’t?

#11

Big breakfast - as much as you can hold with lots of good fat(avocados, coconut/olive oil for long-term fuel) and make sure it has a generous protion of meat in it. Some sort of fiber (steel-cut oats are good) to hold water in the body during digestion and lots of water in the morning.

After sunset - rehydrate first to prime the digestive pump and then a light meal to fuel the workout.

Workout.

Big dinner.

Biggish snack before bed with a slow digesting protein as part of it. And more water of course.

You shouldn’t have to change your training at all if you get enough calories during the hours that you can - assuming, of course, that you’re working out in the evening. I wouldn’t try training in the day during the fast.

#12

Since training after breaking fast seems to be the popular suggestion i think I’ll go with that.
All the advice is much appreciated. :slight_smile: Thanks guys.