It is day 18 of the Ramadan Countdown and today I want to talk about another very important healthy habit to start practicing. It’s a long-time favourite and internet-certified cure-all. That’s right, you guessed it: drinking water.
During Ramadan not only do we not eat food during the day, we also don’t drink any liquids. With that being the case, my family and I usually end up drinking around 2 litres of water between iftar and suhoor. This is necessary to stay hydrated but it can feel like way too much at first. As soon as the fast is broken, I can’t get enough to drink, but a few sips in and I have to tap out.
The key is to get started a few weeks in advance so that your body can get used to taking in its daily supply of water within a few hours. If you already drink lots of water, congratulations! You have achieved a level of adulting that I have not mastered yet. And if you’re like me, start your morning off with a big glass of water. If you have a 32 Oz water bottle or an equivalent, fill it up and challenge yourself to drink it before noon. And then when that’s done, fill it up again and try to drink through the whole thing before dinner time.
Practice taking slow sips, don’t try to gulp it all down at once. Have the bottle/glass/Mason jar by your side throughout the day. Make staying hydrated a deliberate part of your daily routine. It’s important to start off Ramadan on a strong foot if you can. So, making sure that your body is already hydrated will keep you from suffering of thirst as much as possible during the day. You will also be ready to down those 2 litres between iftar and suhoor like a pro!
To go along with this, try to slowly cut down on caffeinated drinks as well. Obviously if we rely on things like coffee or tea throughout the day, Ramadan will be a real kick in the butt. If we can try to cut the habit now, (I know it’s asking a lot, I’m sorry!) we can potentially make life a little bit easier for ourselves down the road, insha’Allah.
It’s day 19 of the Ramadan Countdown and today I want to talk about intermittent fasting.
So, for those of you who have observed Ramadan in the past, you know how intense it can really be. That’s why it’s important to prepare yourself mentally and physically! My suggestion is to take the latest trend in dieting and apply it to your fasting preparations. Intermittent fasting is a fancy way of saying “skip breakfast/dinner”. I’m not asking you to skip both meals, but if you can, try to practice skipping one. For me personally, it’s easier to skip breakfast than it is dinner because I usually forget to eat in the mornings anyway (thanks, personal neglect!). I don’t eat until around 1:30 when I take my lunch and then I’ll eat dinner as normal.
Intermittent fasting will not only prepare you for Ramadan, but it has also been shown to aid in weightloss and “autophagy”. Autophagy is when normal, healthy cells eat damaged cells in order to rid the body of them and produce more healthy cells. This is one reason why fasting has been so highly recommended in cultures all across the world for centuries. It is also regularly shown that people who practice some form of fasting throughout their lifetime live much healthier lives. If you would like to read more about what intermittent fasting is and why it works, proceed here or here.
So to mentally and physically prepare yourself for what fasting will feel like, try intermittent fasting! You can choose whether you would also like to omit liquids, that’s up to you. While it only lasts for half a day, it can still get you off to the right start. If you’ve never fasted for Ramadan before, it will definitely help ready you for the challenge and the reward that comes with this beautiful month ahead.
It’s that time of year again where we all eagerly anticipate the coming of Ramadan. This will be my second month of fasting and if everything goes well, (and assuming my in-laws don’t grow tired of me and ship me back to the States before then) I will get to spend it with family, insha’Allah! Now, with every good thing comes a little bit of preparation. And I want to take the next 20 or so days to highlight all the things we can do to prepare for the most wonderful time of the year.
First things first, Ramadan is projected to start on Friday, 24 April this year. We won’t know for sure until the day gets here and they announce it officially. Now is the time to make up for any missed fasts from last year. I have a few days to make up for and I’m kicking myself for not making them up sooner. This is one dilemma that a lot of us bring upon ourselves (from what I gather from the Insta memes) and it always seems to be the case that we leave it till the last minute. Why do we do it? Laziness, a love of food, living with mother-in-laws who cook way too well, etc. etc.
So, the first step of Ramadan 2020 preparation is to make up those fasts! If you reverted to Islam after last Eid al-Fitr, you do not need to worry about this, alhamdulillah. If you lost track of how many days you missed, try your best to remember and fast for as many days that you guess you missed. It is always better to fast more than you think you need to. In all of this, ask Allah (SWT) for guidance and also forgiveness if you are making up fasts because they were broken for a reason other than travel, menstruation, and serious illness, unconsciousness, or other valid reasons not to fast.
While you are making up these fasts, it’s helpful to get into the spirit of Ramadan by also abstaining from things like music and trashy TV and focusing on other aspects of your deen. This can be dedicating extra time to prayer, volunteering, reading spiritual books, and reading Quran every day if you don’t already.
Today is the second instalment of the Self Love Sunday series and I want to talk about an attitude adjustment. This is something that I believe most of us have struggled with at one point in our lives and apart from being told to get over it, there aren’t many helpful resources on how to get to the root of the issue. I’ve struggled with this myself and it’s been really frustrating trying to figure it out but I think I’m getting there. So, I’ve put together a little list below of what I’ve learned so far. This is a crucial step to self love. When we can come from a positive, easy-going, selfless mentality we make life easier for ourselves and those around us. Our relationships can succeed, our projects can flourish, and our impact can be lasting. Check it out and let me know what you think!
1) Say no to your insecurities
Insecurities lead to overthinking and sensitivity, which can cause to distrust and push others away. They make you can “energy vampire” and a burden to be around. Will cause you to react to the stories you create in your head and will cause confusion amongst everyone around you as well as put you on the path to relationship destruction. Ways to overcome your insecurities are: remember that people are not out to get you; learn that you teach people how to treat you; focus on yourself and what you’re doing rather than being nosy about others and focusing everyone else; put time into developing your accomplishments and life experiences to build confidence.
2) Control your emotions
Catering to emotions can lead to taking things personally and becoming defensive. In order to defend yourself and fight back, the attitude comes in for the kill. While your so-called “enemy” (really just a friend in the mood for a laugh) teased you good naturedly, you responded with a hurtful comment thereby taking the fun out of the moment and putting a chip in the relationship. How to even begin to reign in the wild wave of emotions? Practice patience and do not react right away. Remember that these are simply words and they can’t harm you, so there is no need to defend yourself. Don’t take anything personally. If you have to fake it till you make it, go ahead. Remember that it is not you vs. the world (or your friends/family/spouse) but a moment; whether this moment ends up being good or bad is up to you. Look into the stoic philosophy. It’s a fairly simple one that can be summed up by embracing a certain level of apathy, detaching from one’s emotions, and preparing for the worst while also taking nothing personally.
3) Be grateful
Every morning, write a list of what you’re grateful for about a person or situation that has been pushing your buttons. Choose to see the bright side in every situation (don’t ignore reality but don’t wallow in it either). This will also help you realign your priorities and get out of the self-centred mentality. When something doesn’t go your way, be grateful for something else instead!
4) Stick to your mindfulness practice
Praying five times a day, zikr, meditation, journaling, working out without music/entertainment, etc. Do these things every day, no excuses. Try to make this routine the first thing you do when you wake up so you get off to a good start. Become intentional about every word you say and every action you take. Learn to withhold reaction and separate yourself from the situation. Practice thinking before you speak. As the saying goes, “Be quick to hear, and slow to speak.” Saves you every time.
5) Embrace new challenges (and old) and find ways to make a positive impact
Taking on challenges builds character and doing good for others realigns perspective and priorities. Activities like these teach valuable lessons on selflessness, teamwork, perseverance, patience, positivity, generosity, compassion, and kindness. It also gives you meaning outside of yourself which will help put you in the right mindset to move forward and be the best version of yourself.
You can have a bad attitude and not even know it. It may only come out around a certain person or rare situation. Having a growth mentality will not help us avoid that person/situation but will allow us to recognize them as a challenge that brings out a toxic trait within ourselves that needs to be addressed. My husband brings out a lot of good in me but he also pushes just the right buttons to bring out my bad attitude some days. Before meeting him, I didn’t get a lot of opportunities to overcome this bad habit in myself because the opportunity for it rarely show up. When it did make an appearance, I just chalked it up to a bad day. I lived on my own, I was single, and nothing too serious was going on in my life that caused me so much stress that it spilled out into my relationships, alhamdulillah. But relationships with other people are essential for self-development. When you’re close with people, they show you all sides of yourself (not just the good parts). After meeting my husband, it became apparent that I had been spoiled a little bit in life and needed to work on how to respond to frustration and someone challenging me in a perfectly normal way. I had to figure out how to deal with stress when someone else is involved.
It’s been a long road and I can honestly say that I wasn’t the best version of myself. But that’s okay because we all have those moments in life. What matters is that we keep pushing forward, always with a growth mentality. What I’m grateful for is that I have Islam to show me the way, I have an amazing husband who keeps it real, and I have a lot of really cool opportunities to put into practice what I’ve learned. Subhan’Allah.
The Honest Hijabi 
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