Ramadan Fasting and losing weight
Discussion
alabbasi said:
If you're fasting this time of year in England, you'll lose weight for a few reasons.
1) The days are looooooooong. There's really not much time to eat.
2) You'll also lose water weight
3) If you're like me, you'll spend a lot of time thinking about what you're going to eat. When you do and as long preparing your own food, you probably won't want to eat garbage
Don't worry about how much you weigh and worry more about how your clothes fit. @ 90kg's , My waist is 32 and my chest is 44. I'm 5'10. If I tried to get to my BMI weight, I would not look good.
Remember though that Muslims go all out on cooking in Ramadan. I grew up on a street with multiple Muslim families and they would swap part of what they had cooked that day with one another. So that created the pressure to create great tasting stuff i.e. deep fried or Indian deserts and so on- don't think the culture would tolerate giving someone a chicken breast salad 1) The days are looooooooong. There's really not much time to eat.
2) You'll also lose water weight
3) If you're like me, you'll spend a lot of time thinking about what you're going to eat. When you do and as long preparing your own food, you probably won't want to eat garbage
Don't worry about how much you weigh and worry more about how your clothes fit. @ 90kg's , My waist is 32 and my chest is 44. I'm 5'10. If I tried to get to my BMI weight, I would not look good.
You can fast all day, but if your two night meals add up to 3000+ calories and you have a desk job then you will probably put on weight!!
And then Eid is basically like Christmas where tons of biscuits and cakes will be on offer all day(s) along with big meals.
Wouldn't be surprised if some survey shows majority of Muslims gained weight at the end!
For starters I'd go get your body fat % measured as weight alone is not the best indicator of health. I never looked fat but before I started to train and get fit I was 25% BF which is just on the border of overwieght. I was about 86kg @ 6ft 2".
As for fasting. I'm not muslim but I did do the IF diet for a while which is similar and it worked well for me. I managed to loose fat whislt hanging onto my lean mass, but I also was hitting the gym too.
As for fasting. I'm not muslim but I did do the IF diet for a while which is similar and it worked well for me. I managed to loose fat whislt hanging onto my lean mass, but I also was hitting the gym too.
It is true, a lot of Muslims do excessive fried stuff when they break fast. That isnt so in my household. We keep it clean - the wife knows better.
I kept it keto style today. I had 3 eggs, a tuna tomato dish and veg. Walked about 10km (according to the fitbit) which is around 13k steps.
I kept it keto style today. I had 3 eggs, a tuna tomato dish and veg. Walked about 10km (according to the fitbit) which is around 13k steps.
If you're keeping your food healthy then the fast will do exactly what it's supposed to do. Fitbit is a great tool, it's like BI for your body. I had no idea that i was so inactive until I got one and lost a bunch of weight once I began to measure my movement. I now try to run 3-6 miles in the morning and walk another 4 miles in the evening. It's been a life changer.
I think i'm going to take 9 more steps and call it a day.
![](https://thumbsnap.com/sc/apKsT3i9.png[/img]</a> <a href="https://thumbsnap.com/apKsT3i9" Target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[img]https://thumbsnap.com/sc/apKsT3i9.png)
I think i'm going to take 9 more steps and call it a day.
Edited by alabbasi on Thursday 24th May 03:35
Cimaguy said:
It is true, a lot of Muslims do excessive fried stuff when they break fast. That isnt so in my household. We keep it clean - the wife knows better.
I kept it keto style today. I had 3 eggs, a tuna tomato dish and veg. Walked about 10km (according to the fitbit) which is around 13k steps.
Good stuff, Cimaguy. I hope it works for you. Sadly, so many newbies don't get good advice, and don't do it right, then think it doesn't work and they give up. So I'm going to help out where I can. Feel free to ask questions. I'll keep an eye on this thread. There are a few good knowledgeable PH Keto guys, so they might chip in too.I kept it keto style today. I had 3 eggs, a tuna tomato dish and veg. Walked about 10km (according to the fitbit) which is around 13k steps.
1) Your first stop should be dietdoctor.com. They have some great visual guides on the carbs in different foods. You gotta learn this stuff, and some of it will surprise you. e.g. nuts of different types can range from super low carb, to super high carb!
https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/visual-guides
2) Next step, planning. dietdoctor website has a ton of meal plans and recipes. There are even more if you sign up for the free trial. It would be a bit dishonest to, you know, maybe perhaps maybe sign up for the free trial, then print ALL the recipes, and then cancel the trial. So don't do that. Wink wink, nudge nudge. Keto success is all about having the right snacks and ingredients to hand when you need them. Every time I've fallen off the wagon, it's because I haven't planned ahead and there's nothing keto in the fridge. It's not an easy way of eating at all. It takes planning and effort. But over time you'll be motivated by how good you feel, and shopping lists become second nature.
Stuff your fridge with keto-friendly foods and snacks. Lots of snacks. If you get hungry and all you've got is bread and ice cream and crisps, you're going to fail. I've been there!
Read every food label. Low sugar does not mean low carb. Many artificial sweeteners contain carbs. You want low GI sweeteners only.
http://www.sugar-and-sweetener-guide.com/glycemic-...
3) Bad news time... you're about to crash. Hard. The "keto flu" for newbies is very real. Standby for feeling terrible for a few days. Maybe a week for some people, depending how badly you were addicted to sugar. Trust me, push through, believe that you're doing something good here, and you'll suddenly be alert and feel on top of the world. To get through the flu, you need water and salt. LOTS of water and salt. Some people mix up some light broth from stock cubes and drink that. I prefer to just add Lo Salt (because it contains potassium, which you need) to food and drink plain water and black tea and coffee. But when you think you've had enough water, drink some more. If you get cramps, you need potassium (Lo Salt again) and magnesium (eat a bag of spinach or get some supplements). Just remember, hydration hydration hydration! (The keto diet is sometimes jokingly called "Pee yourself thin" and you'll soon see why.) And hydration is as much about replacing salts as it is about drinking water. In fact, water alone can flush out more salts and make things worse. You need water. And salts. Got it? Good. I'll say it again anyway. Water and salts. Can't stress it enough.
Some other useful stuff:
If you haven't found this already from the reddit faq, you should do this: https://keto-calculator.ankerl.com/
And weigh everything, and start tracking everything in MyFitnessPal. It gets very, very tedious, but I don't know another way to learn what 150g of broccoli even looks like, or how much white cabbage is ok and how much will knock you, personally, out of ketosis. Your carb macro should be a very hard limit. Do not exceed 20g NET carbs per day. Ever. Or you've wasted the next 3 days while you get back into ketosis. Hit your protein target every day. Or exceed it. Don't ever be under, or you could lose muscle mass. Eating too much protein for your training needs can knock you out of ketosis, as your body will convert very high excesses of protein back to sugar, but we're talking waaaaaay over here, like 150-200% over. A little bit over is fine, and it's better than a little bit under. Fat is the key to taste and flavour and filling you up. Fat is miles better at making you feel full up than sugar is. This is the magic. You're going to want to eat less. You need to add enough fats to your cooking to reach your daily calorie target. But don't go crazy and start adding oil to your coffee (yes, people do that). Fat macros are not a target like protein. You just eat enough to make things yummy and make you feel full. And remember, it's GOOD fats. Basically anything natural. Butter, olive oil, ghee, coconut oil, more olive oil. Throw out any chemically extracted oils (sunflower, vegetable oil, margarine etc). Don't ever take the low-fat option of anything off the shelf. It's probably full of sugar.
Right, I'm rambling now. You can find most of this info on the net already. You'll find a load of conflicting info too, and you'll find some real, real douchebags (like, worse than vegans
) who think keto is a religion and it's the only true way to eat, and you're going to die of diabetes and heart disease tomorrow if you're not doing it exactly their way. Try to ignore that cult nonsense and focus on the science and what works for you.Edited by TartanPaint on Thursday 24th May 08:57
TartanPaint said:
Good stuff, Cimaguy. I hope it works for you. Sadly, so many newbies don't get good advice, and don't do it right, then think it doesn't work and they give up. So I'm going to help out where I can. Feel free to ask questions. I'll keep an eye on this thread. There are a few good knowledgeable PH Keto guys, so they might chip in too.
1) Your first stop should be dietdoctor.com. They have some great visual guides on the carbs in different foods. You gotta learn this stuff, and some of it will surprise you. e.g. nuts of different types can range from super low carb, to super high carb!
https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/visual-guides
2) Next step, planning. dietdoctor website has a ton of meal plans and recipes. There are even more if you sign up for the free trial. It would be a bit dishonest to, you know, maybe perhaps maybe sign up for the free trial, then print ALL the recipes, and then cancel the trial. So don't do that. Wink wink, nudge nudge. Keto success is all about having the right snacks and ingredients to hand when you need them. Every time I've fallen off the wagon, it's because I haven't planned ahead and there's nothing keto in the fridge. It's not an easy way of eating at all. It takes planning and effort. But over time you'll be motivated by how good you feel, and shopping lists become second nature.
Stuff your fridge with keto-friendly foods and snacks. Lots of snacks. If you get hungry and all you've got is bread and ice cream and crisps, you're going to fail. I've been there!
Read every food label. Low sugar does not mean low carb. Many artificial sweeteners contain carbs. You want low GI sweeteners only.
http://www.sugar-and-sweetener-guide.com/glycemic-...
3) Bad news time... you're about to crash. Hard. The "keto flu" for newbies is very real. Standby for feeling terrible for a few days. Maybe a week for some people, depending how badly you were addicted to sugar. Trust me, push through, believe that you're doing something good here, and you'll suddenly be alert and feel on top of the world. To get through the flu, you need water and salt. LOTS of water and salt. Some people mix up some light broth from stock cubes and drink that. I prefer to just add Lo Salt (because it contains potassium, which you need) to food and drink plain water and black tea and coffee. But when you think you've had enough water, drink some more. If you get cramps, you need potassium (Lo Salt again) and magnesium (eat a bag of spinach or get some supplements). Just remember, hydration hydration hydration! (The keto diet is sometimes jokingly called "Pee yourself thin" and you'll soon see why.) And hydration is as much about replacing salts as it is about drinking water. In fact, water alone can flush out more salts and make things worse. You need water. And salts. Got it? Good. I'll say it again anyway. Water and salts. Can't stress it enough.
Some other useful stuff:
If you haven't found this already from the reddit faq, you should do this: https://keto-calculator.ankerl.com/
And weigh everything, and start tracking everything in MyFitnessPal. It gets very, very tedious, but I don't know another way to learn what 150g of broccoli even looks like, or how much white cabbage is ok and how much will knock you, personally, out of ketosis. Your carb macro should be a very hard limit. Do not exceed 20g NET carbs per day. Ever. Or you've wasted the next 3 days while you get back into ketosis. Hit your protein target every day. Or exceed it. Don't ever be under, or you could lose muscle mass. Eating too much protein for your training needs can knock you out of ketosis, as your body will convert very high excesses of protein back to sugar, but we're talking waaaaaay over here, like 150-200% over. A little bit over is fine, and it's better than a little bit under. Fat is the key to taste and flavour and filling you up. Fat is miles better at making you feel full up than sugar is. This is the magic. You're going to want to eat less. You need to add enough fats to your cooking to reach your daily calorie target. But don't go crazy and start adding oil to your coffee (yes, people do that). Fat macros are not a target like protein. You just eat enough to make things yummy and make you feel full. And remember, it's GOOD fats. Basically anything natural. Butter, olive oil, ghee, coconut oil, more olive oil. Throw out any chemically extracted oils (sunflower, vegetable oil, margarine etc). Don't ever take the low-fat option of anything off the shelf. It's probably full of sugar.
Right, I'm rambling now. You can find most of this info on the net already. You'll find a load of conflicting info too, and you'll find some real, real douchebags (like, worse than vegans) who think keto is a religion and it's the only true way to eat, and you're going to die of diabetes and heart disease tomorrow if you're not doing it exactly their way. Try to ignore that cult nonsense and focus on the science and what works for you.
Thank you so much for the detailed guidance. I did not understand the impact of straying away from the diet actually does impact the overall mechanism, in other words I will need to be religious with the approach. 1) Your first stop should be dietdoctor.com. They have some great visual guides on the carbs in different foods. You gotta learn this stuff, and some of it will surprise you. e.g. nuts of different types can range from super low carb, to super high carb!
https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/visual-guides
2) Next step, planning. dietdoctor website has a ton of meal plans and recipes. There are even more if you sign up for the free trial. It would be a bit dishonest to, you know, maybe perhaps maybe sign up for the free trial, then print ALL the recipes, and then cancel the trial. So don't do that. Wink wink, nudge nudge. Keto success is all about having the right snacks and ingredients to hand when you need them. Every time I've fallen off the wagon, it's because I haven't planned ahead and there's nothing keto in the fridge. It's not an easy way of eating at all. It takes planning and effort. But over time you'll be motivated by how good you feel, and shopping lists become second nature.
Stuff your fridge with keto-friendly foods and snacks. Lots of snacks. If you get hungry and all you've got is bread and ice cream and crisps, you're going to fail. I've been there!
Read every food label. Low sugar does not mean low carb. Many artificial sweeteners contain carbs. You want low GI sweeteners only.
http://www.sugar-and-sweetener-guide.com/glycemic-...
3) Bad news time... you're about to crash. Hard. The "keto flu" for newbies is very real. Standby for feeling terrible for a few days. Maybe a week for some people, depending how badly you were addicted to sugar. Trust me, push through, believe that you're doing something good here, and you'll suddenly be alert and feel on top of the world. To get through the flu, you need water and salt. LOTS of water and salt. Some people mix up some light broth from stock cubes and drink that. I prefer to just add Lo Salt (because it contains potassium, which you need) to food and drink plain water and black tea and coffee. But when you think you've had enough water, drink some more. If you get cramps, you need potassium (Lo Salt again) and magnesium (eat a bag of spinach or get some supplements). Just remember, hydration hydration hydration! (The keto diet is sometimes jokingly called "Pee yourself thin" and you'll soon see why.) And hydration is as much about replacing salts as it is about drinking water. In fact, water alone can flush out more salts and make things worse. You need water. And salts. Got it? Good. I'll say it again anyway. Water and salts. Can't stress it enough.
Some other useful stuff:
If you haven't found this already from the reddit faq, you should do this: https://keto-calculator.ankerl.com/
And weigh everything, and start tracking everything in MyFitnessPal. It gets very, very tedious, but I don't know another way to learn what 150g of broccoli even looks like, or how much white cabbage is ok and how much will knock you, personally, out of ketosis. Your carb macro should be a very hard limit. Do not exceed 20g NET carbs per day. Ever. Or you've wasted the next 3 days while you get back into ketosis. Hit your protein target every day. Or exceed it. Don't ever be under, or you could lose muscle mass. Eating too much protein for your training needs can knock you out of ketosis, as your body will convert very high excesses of protein back to sugar, but we're talking waaaaaay over here, like 150-200% over. A little bit over is fine, and it's better than a little bit under. Fat is the key to taste and flavour and filling you up. Fat is miles better at making you feel full up than sugar is. This is the magic. You're going to want to eat less. You need to add enough fats to your cooking to reach your daily calorie target. But don't go crazy and start adding oil to your coffee (yes, people do that). Fat macros are not a target like protein. You just eat enough to make things yummy and make you feel full. And remember, it's GOOD fats. Basically anything natural. Butter, olive oil, ghee, coconut oil, more olive oil. Throw out any chemically extracted oils (sunflower, vegetable oil, margarine etc). Don't ever take the low-fat option of anything off the shelf. It's probably full of sugar.
Right, I'm rambling now. You can find most of this info on the net already. You'll find a load of conflicting info too, and you'll find some real, real douchebags (like, worse than vegans
) who think keto is a religion and it's the only true way to eat, and you're going to die of diabetes and heart disease tomorrow if you're not doing it exactly their way. Try to ignore that cult nonsense and focus on the science and what works for you.Edited by TartanPaint on Thursday 24th May 08:57
Tartanpaint, thank you so much for your input. I will be re-reading this quite a few times until it sinks into my mind! I will definitely check the links out too!!!
I've attached my Fitbit weight log for the past few years. It has clearly been a really struggle and focus of my attention. There have been quite a few unfortunate highs. There is a downward shift however it isnt as quick or maintained as I would like it to be. 90kg is my target weight for the short-term.
TartanPaint said:
3) Bad news time... you're about to crash. Hard. The "keto flu" for newbies is very real. Standby for feeling terrible for a few days. Maybe a week for some people, depending how badly you were addicted to sugar. Trust me, push through, believe that you're doing something good here, and you'll suddenly be alert and feel on top of the world. To get through the flu, you need water and salt. LOTS of water and salt. Some people mix up some light broth from stock cubes and drink that. I prefer to just add Lo Salt (because it contains potassium, which you need) to food and drink plain water and black tea and coffee. But when you think you've had enough water, drink some more. If you get cramps, you need potassium (Lo Salt again) and magnesium (eat a bag of spinach or get some supplements). Just remember, hydration hydration hydration! (The keto diet is sometimes jokingly called "Pee yourself thin" and you'll soon see why.) And hydration is as much about replacing salts as it is about drinking water. In fact, water alone can flush out more salts and make things worse. You need water. And salts. Got it? Good. I'll say it again anyway. Water and salts. Can't stress it enough.
When does this kick in? I guess this is my second day without sugar and carbs. I am not feeling a thing. Again, tonight I'll keep it clean. Edited by TartanPaint on Thursday 24th May 08:57
Cimaguy said:
It is true, a lot of Muslims do excessive fried stuff when they break fast. That isnt so in my household. We keep it clean - the wife knows better.
I kept it keto style today. I had 3 eggs, a tuna tomato dish and veg. Walked about 10km (according to the fitbit) which is around 13k steps.
You need to increase fat intake imo - the above doesn't look like a lot of food. I've done keto for the last couple of years during Ramadan as it makes the fasts a lot easier. I'm currently 88kg and aim for around 2000 cals per day - around 70% of that will be from fat. I don't do cardio but will weight train 2/3 times per week usually around 90 mins before breaking the fast and I'm steadily losing weight.I kept it keto style today. I had 3 eggs, a tuna tomato dish and veg. Walked about 10km (according to the fitbit) which is around 13k steps.
Right, second day on Keto. For my second Keto meal (yesterday night) I had about 500g of chicken, about 150g of olives, 400g of green veg (including small corn). I drank 2 litres of water. I did 15k steps and burnt about 3.3k cals. I lost no weight but I suspect it is too early for all of that.
I did feel as I had a lot less energy this morning walking from the station to work. I guess that is a good thing? It means my glucose reserves are low. I am feeling quite hungry today.
What type of fats should I eat? I didn't see much online about good fats to munch.
Thanks.
I did feel as I had a lot less energy this morning walking from the station to work. I guess that is a good thing? It means my glucose reserves are low. I am feeling quite hungry today.
What type of fats should I eat? I didn't see much online about good fats to munch.
Thanks.
SignalGruen said:
That's way too much protein. I get fats from avocado, full fat greek yogurt, salmon, macadamia nuts, walnuts and whole eggs fried in butter or coconut oil. So tonight I will eat 200g steak, 250g 10% greek yogurt, 5 whole eggs and some macadamia nuts and walnut spread over 5 hrs.
Okay, I will do the same.. well replace the steak with chicken. I cant digest avocado so will need to give that a miss. Are you having any greens?
Did you do the macro calculator? Do that, post the results here, and only then can we tell you if you're eating too much protein. 500g of chicken is about 25% protein, so call it 125g. That might be fine. Only the calculator will tell you.
Which veg you eat is important. 400g of spinach is about 12g of carbs, but 400g of carrots and sweetcorn would be about 80g of carbs. Only one of those options will help you reach ketosis.
Your olives alone is 9g out of your 20g limit.
Not all veg is low carb. If in doubt, log everything and go back to the visual guides on dietdoctor, because it's possible the reason you're not getting the flu... you might well not be low carb enough if you're eating corn. It's starchy as hell. Think corn starch. Corn flour. These things are clues it's not a low-carb food. If you can log everything in MFP you'll see for yourself if you're under or over 20g. And don't try to hit 20g. 10g will get you to ketosis even faster!
Which veg you eat is important. 400g of spinach is about 12g of carbs, but 400g of carrots and sweetcorn would be about 80g of carbs. Only one of those options will help you reach ketosis.
Your olives alone is 9g out of your 20g limit.
Not all veg is low carb. If in doubt, log everything and go back to the visual guides on dietdoctor, because it's possible the reason you're not getting the flu... you might well not be low carb enough if you're eating corn. It's starchy as hell. Think corn starch. Corn flour. These things are clues it's not a low-carb food. If you can log everything in MFP you'll see for yourself if you're under or over 20g. And don't try to hit 20g. 10g will get you to ketosis even faster!
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