Ramadan is right around the corner. Muslims should feel excited and ready to welcome this holy month. However, people complain about the long hours of the day, about the difficulties of fasting while going to work, about not being able to concentrate at work or study, about feeling tired during the day, and worst of all, easily feeling irritated by the surrounding people, known or unknown to them.
Islam is a whole package – It is a holistic way of living
Even though Ramadan is a fasting month, Muslims should not live the rest of the year differently. We should not indulge ourselves eating excessively without proper control over the other months of the year.
Prophet Muhammad (sallaAllhu Aleihi wasallam) instructed us that this life (dunya) is a prison for the believers. That is, it’s a test to the believers; it’s about controlling our desires (including our diet).
Therefore, a true Muslim will practice simple eating style to maintain good health. Our beloved Rasoolulah commented on a Muslim’s diet should follow “one-third of food, one-third of water, and one-third of air”.
We always, especially when breaking the fast, eat as if there will be no food available for the next day. We are so concerned about NOT eating enough. How many of us, including myself, can adequately control ourselves to eat moderately?
The benefits of fasting
We all know that regular cleansing is important in keeping good health. It should not be difficult to understand that establishing a habit of fasting regularly throughout the year is even more beneficiary.
Many raw foodists water fast once a week to relieve the burden from their bodies.
Muslims have the Prophet’s tradition of fasting two days a week (Mondays and Thursdays). This is all wisdom! Muslims get the health benefit through fasting in addition to the reward from Allah, insha Allah. What a good deal!
Not good but harmful?
However, the usual practice of preparing for the fast and breaking the fast by the majority of Muslims destroy all the benefits we could get from fasting. The practice of waking up in the middle of the night eating a heavy meal for the suhour (the meal before fasting) and going back to sleep after the Fajr prayer leaves the heavy-duty digesting work to our bodies while in sleep is burdening our bodies. No wonder we feel tired after waking up and throughout the day. On the other hand, overeating upon breaking the fast is like giving our bodies a shock after all the tranquility.
Fasting = Food deprivation?
A very wrong idea that people adopt about staying healthy is to eat A LOT OF foods in one meal. It is as if malnutrition is caused by not eating enough food. True, we need all kinds of nutrients to stay healthy. But this doesn’t mean we need to EAT A LOT in quantity.
Fresh produce provides all kinds of vitamins and minerals our bodies need. Accompanied with a little portion of raw nuts, the diet is completed with a full spectrum of nutrients. In other words, it is not the quantity but the ** quality ** of the food we eat to stay healthy.
People during fasting (religious or non-religious) have a psychological effect of feeling deprived. Thus, it’s very easy to consume more than needed after the fast to compensate the “loss”. Eating in a manner as if tomorrow will not come – eating the last meal on earth. But think about it, the food is still there. It will not “run away”.
Less is more (Eating less = More energy)
From my own fasting practices, I experience exceptionally high energy when eating light.
Just the other day, my students from my evening class asked me in amaze (They would be even more amazed if they knew I just broke the fast for that day) that why I don’t feel tired after a long day? (How they wish I could dismiss the class earlier!)
I showed them the bottle I had in my hand, “This keeps me fresh and alive!” jokingly I said. They started guessing what’s in the bottle – water, tea, coffee, or some kind of medicinal drink?
It was fresh coconut water (not store-bought bottled coconut water but freshly cut opened by myself in my own kitchen)!
My fasting diet
So, what is my diet during fasting?
When breaking the fast time comes, I drink a 2-cup glass of either freshly made green veggie juice or fruit juice (cantaloupe juice or watermelon juice, for example). After the Magrib prayer, a meal including a big plate of fruits (no more than two different varieties) followed by either a big bowl of salad or a bowl of raw soup with a bit of sweet dessert (tahini blended well with honey and some cacao powder, for example) is served.
By the way, in addition to eating light, it’s equally important to get proper digestion by sloooooowly eating your food. That’s why break the fast with easiest digestible veggie or fruit juice and start the meal with a plate of fruit. They are easy to digest and in the mean time take up some space so you won’t feel too hungry.
Unless feeling really hungry, no more food before going to bed at night. If really needed, I would make a small cup of green smoothie after the night prayer. In fact, that’s the only quantity of food I would get during fasting.
My suhour is water – plenty of it.
Do you like my diet plan?
I follow this diet during my regular fasting and it works very well. But obviously, unlike Ramadan, my regular fasting usually does not last more than one day. Whether this low-fat, low-amount diet can continuously providing my enough energy for the entire month is still unknown to me. Insha Allah, I’ll report to you after Ramadan.
Regardless of the plan, Allah commands us to fast in Ramadan merely to wish us to establish taqwa in our hearts. With this correct understanding, accompanied with faith, and the right approach, insha Allah, we’ll be successful.
I’d love to hear from you about your challenges during Ramadan. What are your thoughts about the diet plan suggested? Do you think it’s workable? Do you have a diet plan during the month of Ramadan? What is it? Share with us. We’d like to hear from you.
Holistic Living 
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