Keeping a balanced healthy diet that’s fresh every day is confusing enough, but Ramadan compounds matters given that it is a month known for its sometimes unhealthy meals, pastries and sweets.
Finding a way to help you eat your favorite food during the Iftar hours without harming health or gaining more weight is on most people’s minds for Ramadan. This is harder while fasting as one has to organize time between meals, lethargy brought by fasting and the desire to just start eating once Iftar begins.
Boldsky.com has shed light on some tips to help you keep a healthy diet this Ramadan:
- Make 50 percent of your Suhoor meal contain non-starchy vegetables, and let the remaining portion vary between proteins such as beans, eggs, and whole grains such as oat bread.
- Up to 50 percent of the Iftar meal should be cooked vegetables. If you eat vegetables and rice, make sure half of the plate is filled with vegetables.
- While Ramadan series are an integral part of the Iftar meal, watching them might make you eat more food than necessary. It’s best to avoid watching TV while eating.
- Avoid heavy meals during Suhoor.
- Avoid eating processed foods.
- Eat small meals every three hours for snacks provided they don’t go over 100 calories, with good choices being fruits or nuts.
- Make sure that these snacks contain healthy fats, fiber and protein. This keeps you feeling full and reduces cravings for food.
- If you want to eat an unhealthy type of food such as Konafa, you can eat a small piece once a day, provided that it does not exceed 100 calories.
