5 Fitness Experts Dish on Staying Healthy & Fit During Ramadan

Many of us have goals in Ramadan such as reading more Quran, giving charity, and praying on time. Some have the goal of staying fit and healthy during Ramadan, since some may actually tend to gain weight due to a lack of exercise and over-eating at iftar time. We asked five fabulous and inspiring healthy and fit Muslim women their top health and fitness tips.
Hit the flip to check it out.
5 Fitness Experts Dish on Staying Healthy & Fit During Ramadan
 

1- Rahaf Khatib, Run Like A Hijabi
Stay-at-home mom of three, avid runner/marathoner, & 2015 top ten Runners World cover search finalist: “As far as fitness and Ramadan is concerned I would say do what your body is comfortable with. Don’t go all out, and definitely don’t start anything you haven’t already been doing pre-Ramadan. To maintain your fitness though, I would recommend either working out/running right before Iftar or pre suhoor/post taraweh. Your main goal is connection with Allah. Afterall the hadeeth of Prophet reads “there are two blessings most people do NOT make the most out of, and thus lose out, good health and free time”. Note: She sells some pretty cool medal hangers to hang all your running medals, check out her page for details.
 

2- Amirah Shourbaji, health and fitness enthusiast, mother of three and a PhD student
I generally don’t do any intense workouts during Ramadan, however to prevent too much muscle loss after iftar I make sure to stretch and do some deep breathing as well as some light weights (much lighter than I normally would do).
Because the day is so long and the day is so short, food and liquid intake is considered very carefully. It’s important to eat nutrient dense foods to satisfy and nourish the body. I especially keep my salt intake low as it makes one thirsty. I also limit my sugar intake as much as possible during Ramadan, but it’s nice to satisfy a craving once in a while just try to not go overboard as it can cause bloating and discomfort the next fasting day. Once I’ve eaten iftar I keep refilling my water bottle and make sure to get in at least 64 ounces before it’s time to fast the next day.
Because I work and have children, I do a lot of meal prep and keep things very simple. The week before Ramadan I prep things for suhoor such as healthy whole grain muffins, egg and cheese muffins which can be kept in the freezer until it’s time to eat. It also allows my kids that arent fasting ’t snack on things that are healthy during the day. In terms of iftar prep, in the week leading up to Ramadan I will also cook large batches of meat and chicken that I then store in the freezer and can be easily added to various iftar dishes for quick and healthy meals. I make sure to keep my freezer stocked with frozen vegetables.
For suhoor, I’ve found that smoothies are a nice addition. I usually prepare the smoothie the evening before. I usually add a handful of spinach with plain yogurt and different varieties of fruit along with some chia seeds and some peanut or almond butter. I do not add sugar. I’ve found that the smoothies have helped with energy levels in the long day.”
 

 
3- Angy El-Khatib, MPH, CHES, Health Education Specialist at Public Health-Dayton and Montgomery County
“Intuitively, you would think that dietary intake is what most significantly affects athletic performance during Ramadan, but it’s not. It’s actually phase shift of food intake, fluid intake, and a change in sleeping patterns. I wouldn’t recommend trying to improve aerobic fitness or strength during Ramadan; instead, the focus should be on maintenance. My best tip for maintaining your athletic performance during Ramadan include training immediately before iftar or very soon after. Part of the reason for this is so that you’re able to quickly rehydrate or replenish your fluid to avoid exercise-induced dehydration (preferably with something with electrolytes in it like orange juice or Gatorade) and also so you’re not interrupting your sleeping patterns too much. Even outside of Ramadan, people overlook sleeping as a contributor to their health and fitness goals, so during Ramadan it’s extra important for maintenance.

4- Yasmin Essa, HC, AADP, Women’s holistic wellness expert and coach, and founder of Wellness with Yasmin
Here is my number one tip … Spend less time in the kitchen. If you love making delicious food for your loved ones, this tip is hard. I get it. Are you familiar with The Five Languages of Love by Gary Chapman? I love his philosophy, but he missed one major love language: Food. It’s definitely one of mine (thanks to my Egyptian blood). I love making food for the people I love. I love experimenting in the kitchen, and I prefer homemade food over restaurant food any day of the week. However, Ramadan is about optimizing your mind, body, and soul. Think of it this way. If you spend less time in the kitchen, that’s more time in ibadah [worship], with family, in reflection, and at the masjid, inshAllah.
My three top strategies for minimizing your kitchen time are:
1) Make one pot meals. They are delicious and also mean less dishes/clean-up. It doesn’t have to be every night, but try to do it here and there.
2) Cook in bulk (I like cooking a lot of chicken breast at once and freezing it for later use.)
3) I recommend a third small meal during Ramadan between iftar and suhoor. Smoothies work great and are quick, in shaa Allah.

5- Eman Abu-yasein, Fitness trainer and Beachboy online coach and grandmother
“[My] number one [tip] is never stop working out in Ramadan. Fasting should never be a reason to get lazy. You can keep up with your workout in many ways: First, find a short time working out program to do every day. You do not need to do more than 20 to 30 minutes. You can get your workout either right before iftar or after suhoor. I usually get my workout done right before iftar. And if for some reason I miss a day I make up for my workout after suhoor and fajr prayer. You do not need to do a very intense workout like Insanity or running 10 Miles. There are a lot of very moderate level, very healthy and effective working out programs you can do at home such as PiYo, 21 Day Fix, turbo kick and more. It is very important to make sure you drink enough water at iftar and suhoor, and to keep up the very healthy eating.