Ramadan and weight loss! While Ramadan is mostly about bettering yourself spiritually, you can also use this time to create healthy habits for your body. That includes losing stubborn and unwanted fat.
If you already have healthy habits, you can continue them. I’ll be talking about some healthy habits you can implore to lose some fat and get healthier during this month; I’ll also be sharing tactics that I’ve use to make sure I stay healthy.
Man, it’s the time of the year again, Ramadan is approaching! When I was younger, I used to dread it; it meant I was going to be starving for an entire month. Now, I get excited for it! It’s a joyous month with people getting together and I have the opportunity to improve myself spiritually and physically.
Also, there will be delicious food whenever it’s time to eat! Too much delicious food, in fact. That’s where you have to learn self control.
People are searching “how to lose 10kg in ramadan”, “Ramadan weight loss plan”, “how to lose weight in ramadan without exercise” or “Ramadan weight loss before and after” pictures, fear not! I’m here to help.
Why am I credible you may ask? I’ve lose 50 pounds…twice, not in Ramadan, but still. I absolutely know what I’m talking about. So, for all my Muslim brothers and sister, or for anyone who wants to get in the best shape of their lives!
BEST Tips For Ramadan Weight Loss
1. Calories In Calories Out
Surprise, surprise! I’m staring off by talking about calories! For those of you who have read my previous posts, are you even surprised? ARE YOU? If you said yes, I have no words for you.
As I always say, you NEED TO BE IN A CALORIC DEFICIT to lose weight. You MUST be eating less calories than your body requires, PERIOD. I’m not talking about the periods that females have (I’ve never actually seen a female, I heard they are pretty though), I mean period as in that’s the end of a sentence.
Yes, this a bit more work, I’m sorry. You need to take a methodical approach on it. Figure out how many calories you need. Don’t just pick an arbitrary number and go with that.
How do you do that? Let me tell you! To start off with, I found a few basal metabolic rate (BMR: essentially what your metabolism is) calculators online that estimate how many calories you need. Here they are
- https://www.muscleandstrength.com/tools/bmr-calculator
- https://www.bmrcalculator.org/
- https://www.calculator.net/bmr-calculator.html?ctype=standard&cage=29&csex=m&cheightfeet=5&cheightinch=10.5&cpound=195&cheightmeter=180&ckg=60&cmop=0&coutunit=c&cformula=m&cfatpct=20&x=84&y=27
I took the average of these three and then subtracted 500 because the number I got seemed high to me. Everyone’s body is different so you’ll have to play around with the number for a few weeks possibly.
Also, don’t just start drastically decreasing your calories right away, it takes my body THREE TO FOUR WEEKS to start losing weight at times. “BUT…BUT Ramadan is only 4 weeks and I want the girl who I have a crush on’s dad to notice me at the masjid”.
Calm down, you should be going to the masjid at all times of the year and, that’s just how it is. Also, Islam teaches you patience. Allah (arabic term for God) created the world in 7 days as we believe; he could have done it in an instant. He was trying to teach us good things take times. The belief is the same for our Christian and Jewish comrades.
If you don’t belong to these faiths, “Rome wasn’t built in a day”. Good things take time.
You can start the process in Ramadan where you will already be eating less. Then retain your healthy habits even after Ramadan.
Try not to lose more than 0.5% to 1% of your body weight at a week. Take it slow and easy.
If after three or four weeks you still aren’t losing weight or gaining weight, decrease your calories by another 100 to 200 calories until you start losing weight in the range we just mentioned.
After the initial three to four weeks, you can adjust your calories every week or two.
If you are losing weight too fast, consider increasing your calories by 100 or 200 calories.
2. Track Your Food
Measure what you are eating. Don’t just eat randomly estimate what you are eating. I use a food scale to weigh my food. Then, I document all my food in MyFitnessPal. This way, I now exactly how many calories I’m consuming.
This is the food scale I use:
I use MyFitnessPal to log all my food. You can download the app on your phone.
3. Eat More Protein
This is SO IMORTANT, especially during suhur (meal before sunrise). Protein is slower digesting and will help keep you more full for longer.
It will also help you conserve more muscle. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn by just living. You definitely don’t want to lose your muscle. Your goal should be to burn fat.
Also, protein is tougher to digest, so more calories are used to digest it as compared to carbohydrates and fats. Here is how many calories it takes to digest each macronutrient (macro):
- Protein: 20-30%
- Carbohydrates: 5-10%
- Fats: 0-3%
The more protein you eat, the more calories you will burn.
4. Stop Eating So Much Samosas and Pakoras
For those of you who don’t know what samosas and pakoras (I think that’s the plural of pakora?) are, they are fried appetizers. They are absolutely delicious.
I’m not saying stop eating them, I ABSOLUTELY will be eating them. Just limit them. Fit them into your calories.
During iftar (meal at sunset), don’t just dump an entire bottle of Rooh Afza (syrup drink sweetener) into you milk and eat 100 samosas.
Eat a few dates, fruit salad and DRINK WATER. You are dehydrated most likely. Your body can confuse that with hunger, so hydrate. Then, try to eat chicken or whatever healthy food you or your family made.
I know it’s hard when you’re starving, but just try. Don’t give up all the delicious food, just limit it.
5. What Will I Be Eating?
Personally, I just take the diet I’m already eating and split into two or three meals. One at suhur and iftar and then maybe one more during the eating period
Here is my current diet, I eat this mostly every day, for the most part. If not the exact same foods, around the same calories. Some days my calories might be more and other days, less. It’s not the exact same every day.
|
Meal |
Food | Protein (grams) |
Calories |
|
Breakfast |
276 grams of Egg whites + 1 slice of pasteurized cheese | 34 |
200 |
|
80 grams of rolled oats + 30 milliliters (ml) of sugar free syrup |
10 | 315 | |
| 80 grams of Corn Flakes + 360 ml of almond milk | 4 |
325 |
|
|
Breakfast Total |
48 |
840 |
|
|
Lunch |
Protein Pizza | 33.5 | 553 |
|
Spring Mix + 28 g of seasoned croutons |
4 |
140 |
|
| Lunch Total | 37.5 |
693 |
|
|
Dinner |
5 ounces (oz) of chicken breast | 44 |
234 |
|
|
220 g of Idaho Instant Potato | 6 | 220 |
|
|
170 g of mixed frozen vegetables | 0 |
50 |
| Orville Redenbacher’s Smart Pop Butter Popcorn Mini bags | 3 |
100 |
|
|
Dinner Totals |
53 |
604 |
|
|
Snack #1 |
Gatorade Chocolate Chip Protein Bar | 20 |
350 |
|
|
Greek Yogurt Cup From Aldi grocery store | 13 |
100 |
|
Snack #1 Total |
33 |
450 |
|
|
Snack #2 |
Protein Cheesecake | 43 | 395 |
|
Snack #2 Total |
43 |
395 |
|
|
Daily Total |
215 |
2982 |
Want to know my protein pizza and protein cheesecake recipes? Read my article, 5 Mouth Watering High Protein Meals For Weight Gain/Fat Loss – Lose Fat/
6. Physical Activity
Keep up on your physical activity, or start if you don’t exercise. It can be very tough, especially if you are working during the day. You don’t have to exercise at the same intensity, but keep exercising.
I personally like to lift weights either 2 hours before breaking fast or right after. Before breaking fast can get tough, especially towards the end of Ramadan, but I get it done. This is so I can relax after and make it to Taraweeh (night prayer in Ramadan).
For those of you who don’t have any obligations the next day, you could go after Taraweeh for before suhur.
If you need a workout routine, check out any of my following posts where I go over FREE workout programs:
- Fat Loss Diet Example to Lose Fat Mindlessly: Current Diet and Training Regimen 2023 – this is the workout routine that I was following most recently. I also go over my cardio and how I lost 20 pounds
- Weightlifting – this a a great workout plan for beginners. It’s also only 3 days week
During Ramadan, if this is too much for you, maybe cut one set out of each exercise. Or instead of doing high repetitions (reps), only do 8-10 reps.
If you don’t like weightlifting, do your favorite (or least hated!) for of cardio. This could be as simple as walking and trying to get in a certain number of steps per day.
If you are only going for a certain amount of steps per day, all the steps you getting in your daily life activities would count towards this!
Well, there you go that was all about Ramadan and weight loss! You’ll almost certainly be forced into a caloric deficit during this month, so utilize it! You’ll be on your way to getting in the best shape of your life Insha’Allah (God willing)
Disclaimer: I’m not your doctor. Please consult your doctor, nutritionist or any health care professional before making any changes in your own lifestyle. These blogs are just me sharing my knowledge for you reading entertainment purpose only. None of this is medical advice.
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