This is not another weight loss article!

By Maasi Wajo

Hello guys and I hope you all are fine and since we’re almost done with Ramadan, busy preparing for the splendor that’s Eid. Ramadan this year, has been really challenging for the most of us, mostly because of soaring temperatures in our country coupled with the very irritating load shedding (non) routine. Speaking of which, please do say a little prayer for all those people we lost in Karachi due to this terrible, terrible situation. My heart goes out to their families 😦

Now coming back to the article, it is about something that I should’ve written at the very beginning of Ramadan but my procrastination got the better of me; as it almost always does. Sigh.

Our usual Iftar table looks a little like this!

Binging on food is an extravagance most of us like to indulge in during Ramadan, something that basically kills the main purpose of the Holy Month, i.e. detoxification. The trick is to eat properly and to remain hydrated, especially in a climate as hot as ours. We can work upon getting our whole twisted eating lifestyle back in order during Ramadan if we try enough.

And this year this is exactly what I tried to achieve. Before the beginning of this month, I vowed that I’d change this overeating routine of mine, and guess what, it worked out just fine.

I started keeping track of my portions with the use of this very effective App, MyFitnessPal— and made it a point to not drink water an hour before and after my khana. At Iftar time it can’t be helped of course, but I handled this by taking only a few sips, painfully ignoring the very tempting Rooh Afza on the table. Sigh.

Oh how I missed thee, my lovely!

Half an hour after a very light Iftar (usually a couple of pakoras and a very small amount of dahi bhalas), I would take another glass of water; after an hour of which I’d take dinner. Now, after an hour and half of dinner I’d go on a water binging spree, drinking a glass of water after every half an hour. I made it a point to drink at least 7-8 glasses of water every night. At around 2 I’d stop drinking water altogether, because really, my tummy’d start protesting by that time. I’d take some namkeen lassi instead, and at 2:30 a cup of tea. At 3 I’d take my sehri, and finish it off with a cup of green tea.

My love, a glass of namkeen lassi, that I took every day in sehri!

Now what I was essentially doing here was that,

1) I was eating sweet and salty food separately, and,
2) I was giving at least half an hour in between any two meals (or water drinks)

I found this regimen really helpful since unlike the previous times, my tummy feels really nice this Ramadan and I don’t feel as bloated as I used to. At Iftar parties, a little bit of gluttony couldn’t be helped but while doing my Iftar at home, I tried to stick this routine as much as I could.

And about whether or not this regimen helped me with my weight loss issues? Well, I reluctantly weighed myself today and guess what……… it says I’m a little over ten pounds lighter than the last time; which was about a month ago!! Trust me, it’s as much of a surprise for me as for you since we all tend to gain weight in Ramadan, rather than lose it. I just hope I don’t go completely excited on Eid and eat myself to oblivion again. But one can hope.

I know I know, I should’ve written this way back since Ramadan has now almost ended but trust me, you can try it later as well. Since I definitely am going to! Better still; let’s do this together and keep each other in check! Let me know what you think of it!