What is the best diet for Ramadan? – Personal trainer explains
As a Singaporean personal trainer and fitness camp owner, one of the issues we have to help clients with in our multiracial country of Singapore is the fasting month of Ramadan.
There are personal training and fitness bootcamp members at the Genesis Performance Center who will be entering the month of fasting soon this year. And recently they have been wondering what would be the best way to maintain the fat loss, weight loss and muscle building results that they have obtained. This is usually a big concern for them because after a while in our programs they already have very healthy habits and lifestyles.
In fact, when I was working at the Singapore Sports College, we did research on how to help Muslim athletes perform well even during the month of fasting/Ramadan. Training and international competitions continue despite the month of fasting.
So here are my recommendations…
Train early in the morning (immediately after breakfast in the morning) or at night (after breakfast in the afternoon)
If you train in the morning, do it around 7:30 am or 8 am, if you do it at night, do it around 8 pm This is so you don’t train on a super full stomach.
Although we may not get the ideal 6 feeding opportunities per day, we should get at least 3 good ones. Morning breakfast, evening breakfast and one more big meal before bed. These foods should be slow-digesting so that you feel full longer. That means there are no bad things with starch. More protein and healthy fats that digest slowly.
So a sample daily schedule for morning training would be:
* Breakfast at 6 am: eggs, meat, nuts, cheese, a whey protein shake
* 730am training
* Breakfast at 7:15 pm (night): eggs, meat, nuts, cheese, a caesin protein shake
* 22:00 dinner: eggs, meat, nuts, cheese, casein protein shake
For evening training:
*Breakfast at 6 am: eggs, meat, nuts, cheese, a casein protein shake
* Breakfast at 7:15 pm (night): eggs, meat, nuts, cheese, a whey protein shake
* Workout at 8:00 pm: another whey protein shake after training
* 22:00 dinner: eggs, meat, nuts, cheese, casein protein shake
Here we go! It’s not ideal, but it’s good enough that you don’t lose too much progress during the month of fasting.
NOTE: Drink large amounts of water as often as you can during times when you are allowed to. You should need constant bathroom breaks and your urine should be colourless, that’s the right amount!