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ladychlo · 2 years

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do you have any tips for those who will go through ramadan for the first time in life?

and what's your view on those who aren't muslims but yet fast with them during this month? personally i don't pray/don't go to mosque, but i am going through some tough time and thought of trying experience fasting to help myself and others if i have a chance.

Hi love <3 I hope you're doing well!!

Fasting can be really tough for the first time because your whole body must adapt to a new diet and it can be difficult to manage that. So first of all, you should know the limits of your body, and sort of communicate with it, and don't overwhelm it, or force it to adjust to full fasting from the first go.

So for my tips (can be many other helpful ones for your first fasting) Try to do your fasting gradually to help your body get familiarized with it. For example:

- Start with short fasting. fast for half the day, instead of doing the whole day (for example I fast for 14/15 hours a day but I'm used to it sinceI was 12yo) you can do half of that or even less. Also you can do three days per week and have breaks. you just need to be careful with how your body will react to change

-also during this, don't cut the food completely if it's your first time, try just to induce it bit by bit, until you feel that your body is ready to not be fed for several hours, and let your body bit by bit know how to consume the stashed energy.

-water and hydration can be the difficult part. stay hydrated at the start again until you feel like your body is able to go without any liquids for hours and it's not gonna be that case from the first go. keep drinking water even if you are not eating and if you cut the water too, be attentive to your body when it will alert you that it is dehydrating.

-be active while fasting!! do gentle and manageable activities, I loved loved swimming while fasting when Ramadan came during the summer, go for small walks, I always had work and finals during fasting so don't let your body go inactive make fasting part of your daily activities

-Also food consumption must be different, avoid greasy and heavy food that takes so long to digest, because it's gonna make you thirsty. make your meals light, eat lots of fruit, fruit is good when you wanna break your fasting. Especially watery food, I love eating Watermelon and ice cream after my fasting, also Dates (fruit) it's good to balance your energy. soup is good!! don't try to eat everything at once after your fast, dont dont eat more than what your body can handle.

-sleep well, and breathe and don't think about it as hard work or arduous tasks.

I think its genuinely nice when people who arent muslim and fast too, fasting is really a cross-cultural tradition and its really not exclusive to islam. I grew up in a city and a culture that is influenced by Jewish culture too. Not only islamic one but fasting is a shared tradition and there is a beautiful understanding on that matter.

For me personally, I do pray and go to mosque but It's really about where you find your peace and feel you're held. and fasting is not just about dieting or food or summat like that.

fasting calms me, it gives me serenity and I really avoid raising my voice, bickering, control my anger, I learn more how to be patient how to listen and to see how much I can reconnect with my body, feel lighter a bit, I try to make it more about others, check on loved ones more, help with what I can. pray and just think of people I know and people I dont when I pray and sending wishes after my prayers I send them to people I know and to strangers too, it humbles me tbh. because it's kind of breaking from the cycle of I'm hungry, I eat , then everything is grand.

its a spiritual state of being, and it involves your body , its about grounding yourself learning to be kind and gentle to others stripping from your ego, practice love through an understanding of others's hardship.

I hope your weight lessen, I'm here if you have any questions or you just wanna talk <3

#hope this helps #Ramadan #long post

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ninjanonymous · 4 years

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I’m pissed off, and sad, and scared, and I have a lot to say right now. This all needs to be said, for my own sake if not for anyone else’s.

Very recently, the Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that employers under the Affordable Care Act are now allowed to roll back access to birth control for their employees, as long as their religion disagrees with it. This ruling was made in the name of religious tyranny, and NOT that of religious freedom. Christian-run businesses can now force their beliefs onto their employees by actively denying them the healthcare that they very much need.

Can you imagine the outrage there would be if SCOTUS decided that it was suddenly okay for a Muslim-run business to break FLSA standards during Ramadan? After all, if a Christian-run business shouldn’t be forced to pay for all ACA-protected aspects of an employee’s healthcare, why should a Muslim-run business have to sacrifice profits when eating lunch during Ramadan is against their religion?

“Oh, but there are federal protections to keep something like that from happening.” Are there? Are there really? The ACA gave employees FEDERALLY PROTECTED access to birth control through their employers, because an employer’s religious beliefs shouldn’t be used to control the freedoms or hurt the wellbeing of others. Now look where we are.

This court ruling essentially dictates that religion can make you exempt from federally-mandated rules for the sake of profit. It puts the employer’s beliefs above the beliefs and wellbeing of their employees. It puts any company’s self-proclaimed God over the law, and allows them to forgo worker protections because, according to them, it’s what Jesus would want.

And where do we draw the line? Should a company that’s run by a Jehovah’s Witness be allowed to deny coverage for a needed blood transfusion? Can a religious company claim that any illness is a righteous punishment from God, and the use of modern medicine to treat it would be sinful? What would that mean for something as devastatingly expensive as cancer treatment? What if the CEO doesn’t agree with vaccines? And really, why even stop at access to healthcare when there are any number of ways that a company could encroach on their worker’s rights in the name of God?

Too many people in this country are entirely dependent on their employers for their health insurance. Healthcare costs in America are the highest in the western world by far, and life-saving treatment is often prohibitively expensive without it. This SCOTUS decision may ultimately deny many Americans their constitutional right to life.

Employers pay private insurance companies to provide care for their employees. This is a blanket expense. They don’t get an itemized bill for the healthcare that they’re covering. They’re paying for general healthcare coverage to be provided by insurance company, and that’s it. The employers are not the insurance companies themselves. They are not the ones processing the claims and choosing which to deny and which to cover. Your medical record is private, protected information. Your employer does not have access to that information under HIPAA. If your employer isn’t allowed in the room with you during your doctor’s appointment, they absolutely shouldn’t be allowed to pick and choose what care you can and can’t receive.

These companies are literally just saying, “see that person right there? I don’t like that they’re on birth control, because I’M a Christian, and that’s against MY beliefs, so now THEY can’t have it.” A Christian forcing their beliefs onto someone else isn’t religious freedom, just like a Muslim forcing their beliefs onto a Christian wouldn’t be. This is religious tyranny the and Christian-backed persecution of women.

And for this specific ruling, it really is that arbitrary. This ruling is a poorly-disguised move to further strip away the rights of women in the name of Abrahamic theocracy. The idea that this decision would save money for these employers is completely asinine, considering good reproductive healthcare and access to birth control reduces long-term costs overall (I will be adding the stats and sources to back this up in a later post).

And here’s an important reminder for you all: reproductive healthcare is still basic healthcare. Taking care of one’s needs regarding their reproductive system benefits their overall health. And even if you disagree with me there, “birth control” is a pretty damn big misnomer. While it is commonly used to prevent unwanted pregnancies, there are a myriad of other reasons that a woman might need it for.

Birth control can control hormonal acne. My own mother was put on it for this reason back when she was a teenager.

It can be used to help regulate one’s mood. A dear friend of mine is on it for this reason. She suffers from severe depression, occasionally to the point of suicidal ideation. I am fucking terrified about what this court decision could mean for her.

It reduces one’s chances of getting uterine cancer. I have a family history of uterine cancer, and it can be hard to detect. They only found it in my grandmother by chance when they were performing an unrelated surgery.

It reduces your chances of forming ovarian cysts. Women with PCOS often suffer from these, and they can be quite painful. My mother had to have a football-sized ovarian cyst removed from her abdomen, and histology found that it contained pre-cancerous cells.

It can relieve symptoms of PMS and PMDD. Again, this is a form of hormonal mood regulation, as well as a means of controlling many of the unfortunate physical side effects of the menstrual cycle. PMS and PMDD are often topics of ridicule, but their symptoms can have a serious negative impact on one’s day-to-day life. I’ll add more information on this later, since there’s a lot to cover.

It can help regulate one’s menstrual cycle. For reasons I shouldn’t have to explain, knowing when blood and viscera is going to start pouring out of your crotch really helps with being prepared to deal with it. It also helps to avoid really embarrassing situations in public, or the need to clean bloodstains out of clothes and furniture. Irregular periods are a gruesome guessing game. I’ve been there. I don’t want to go back.

It can make your periods less painful. Periods happen when, once a month, the uterus sheds its inner lining. As in, the person having their period is bleeding internally, because one of their organs is shredding and expelling parts of itself from the inside. That shit hurts. Many women have reported vomiting or passing out from period pain. For me, the average period cramp can be compared to really bad gas or diarrhea pain. You know, the kind that has you breaking out into cold sweats on the toilet while you silently beg for mercy to any god that might be listening. Fun, right? I’d recon my pain level is about the average, too.

It can be used to manage menstrual migraines. Did you know some women get migraines in conjunction with their periods? Migraines are debilitating. Imagine having them chronically, getting them frequently around the same time every month, then being denied affordable access to the one medicine that was keeping it in check because your asshole boss says that Jesus wants you to suffer. Bonus points if you get fired because the migraines had a negative impact on your ability to work.

It can reduce your risk of anemia. Some women get really heavy periods. Like, crazy heavy, to the point where they bleed so much that it’s unhealthy. Technically speaking, I fall into this camp. I’d hemorrhage to the point of needing a transfusion if I went long enough without birth control. Gee, I sure hope the insurance-throttling company that I work for isn’t run by a Jehovah’s Witness.

Birth control is the only non-invasive way to control uterine fibroids, which often go hand-in-hand with endometriosis. These are non-cancerous growths within or around the uterus can cause uncontrolled bleeding, and may be quite painful in and of themselves. A ridiculously high number of women have this, myself included. Most women that have them have no or very few symptoms. I was not so lucky.

And that’s just a few of birth control’s many uses. And actually, let me talk about my fibroids some more for a second, just so you all have a better idea of what it means to live with this shit. TMI time. I take birth control. I’ve been taking it regularly for about five years now. I’ve never had sex before, and I don’t plan on it any time soon. This is the one and only reason I’m on the pill.

Five years ago, during my freshman year of college, I started bleeding out of the blue. Really, really badly. This “spotting” was sudden, and heavy, and unrelenting. I’d completely bleed through a super tampon in less than two hours, when one of those would last a good eight hours on my heaviest day during a normal period. I had to sleep with towels on the bed, and set an alarm to wake up early so I could take deal with the shed blood before it got too bad, and to give myself extra time for cleanup before classes. After going from horizontal to vertical for the first time in several hours, getting to the bathroom was a race against time and gravity.

I lived like this for a full month. Tampons and pads, for those of you that have had the privilege of never needing to buy them, can get really pricey. Doubly so for a broke college student, triply so when they need to be extra-large packs containing extra-large products, and quadruple-y so when that broke college student is still managing to bleed through those products at an absurd rate. And, it hurt. The pain was worse than usual; the camps were sharper, more persistent, and sometimes it felt like someone was jabbing a big needle into my abdomen and twisting it around. I was taking OTC painkillers constantly, and they barely made a dent in the pain.

The bleeding started just over a week after my last period had ended, so it was way too early for it to be my next cycle. I figured that maybe my cycle was syncing up to my roommate, or some other chick on my floor had some weird hormonal imbalance, and the outside interference from other people’s hormones was screwing with me enough to make my own body act weird. I figured I’d just have to wait out this one bad period, and everything would settle back down to normal. But, two weeks passed and absolutely nothing changed. The bleeding wasn’t slowing down, and I started to get worried that it wasn’t just an abnormal period. I waited a couple more days, then booked an appointment at the health center. It was more than a week until they could see me.

The consensus was fibroids. They couldn’t give me an official diagnosis without an ultrasound, but all signs pointed to that one conclusion. They said that the only way to make the bleeding stop was by taking birth control. I wasn’t happy about it, since my mom had me convinced that birth control would actually increase my risk of cancer (not true, as I later found out), but I agreed anyway. The nightmare was over a few days later.

So, off topic but still related, I had surgery on my foot a couple months ago. It had to be immobilized for a while, and I was put on blood thinners to prevent any clots from forming while I recovered. Birth control pills can actually increase the risk of blood clots, so I made the choice to hold off on taking those for a while, just as an added precaution. Sure enough, only five days later, the bleeding and the pain was back. Again, it had been only a week since my last period.

I still need to be on birth control. It is a medical necessity for me. My fibroids are still around, and I’ll still spot and cramp up if I miss a pill. I’ve recently been told by my doctor that a permanent fix, and my only other option for treatment, is a hysterectomy. I am 22 years old. Most surgeons would never dream about performing that procedure on me, even if it didn’t already come with its own health risks.

And hell, even if it is used just to prevent pregnancies, what gives someone else the right to deny a woman her bodily autonomy? Human beings are sexual creatures. They’re going to fuck, regardless of whatever laws or religious doctrines are involved. We are quite literally built to have sex, and it’s entirely healthy to do so. There are plenty of peer-reviewed studies that go into detail on the matter; just hop onto Google Scholar and see for yourself. And, maybe, preventing pregnancy is a need in and of itself. What if a woman has a condition that would make pregnancy extremely high-risk? Is she not justified in taking birth control to protect herself from grievous injury? If she’s married to a man, does that married couple not have a right to sleep together without fear of one of them literally dying for it? Even by Christian standards, it doesn’t seem right.

This decision that the Supreme Court has made is utterly shameful, and countless law-abiding American citizens will now be denied access to needed care that they otherwise couldn’t afford without insurance coverage. This is truly a loss for America and her people, and one that will cause suffering for decades to come.

#long post #text #my thoughts #scotus #politics #feminism #fuck republicans #fuck conservatives #and fuck the evangelical right #religion #christianity #america #2020 #sorry if i’m not the best writer #fuck #theocracy #angry #fibroids #birth control

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themedicalstate · 6 years

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Image Credit: Getty Images

Physicians, Depression and Burnout

When I applied for medical school, I knew I was signing up for hard work—but I had not expected this

Article by Jennifer Tsai (Scientific American)

Compared to the general population, female physicians are 2.3 times more likely to die by suicide (which overall is the third most common cause of death for women of ages 25–34). I am a medical student, and that statistic sits on my chest like a death threat.

This time last year, I found myself in a big bed with soft sheets, tucked between my friends Caitlin and Victoria, surrounded by empty ice cream containers, faces plastered in the sticky sweet syrup of cheap face masks. I remember us asking each other, how did we get here? How did we end up counting all the people around us—including us—who are depressed?

Victoria is applying to be a trauma surgeon. That’s nine years of training to learn how to pull bullets out of bodies. Caitlin wants to spend the next decade teaching her hands how to dissect seeded studs of cancer from the abdomen. Me? I’m taking a little break, trying to figure out what I want out of this life.

Together, the three of us are united in a text group known as Pu$$ySlayer69 (yes, pussy is spelled with dollar signs)—an ode to a male acquaintance’s WiFi password that we’re hoping to get emblazoned in glitter across team jackets. On this night, we were here in this bed because amidst the food porn and single girl memes, our text thread had slowly become darker and more desperate. It was filled with texts that said, “Today I feel so worthless.” Messages like, “I am crying in the bathroom between surgeries I don’t know why I just can’t do anything right.” Updates like “Another one of my patients just died. I’m so tired and sad I can’t even drive home to cry in my own bed.”

In this moment, with our arms wrapped around each other like curling vines, we checked on each other by rattling off the diagnostic criteria for depression. SIGECAPS: Sleep, Interest, Guilt, Energy, Concentration, Appetite, Psychomotor Agitation, Suicidal Ideation. We recited the words just as we learned in medical school. We laughed, because when you say it fast it sounds a bit like a song. Psychomotor agitation, suicidal ideation. We laughed so it sounded like more of a joke.

When I applied for medical school, I knew I was signing up for hard work. I knew I would have to spend countless hours studying, that my sleep cycle might never be the same. But I had not expected this.

Perhaps I shouldn’t have been so naïve. Other trainees learn of this risk from early on. In 2016, just two days after my best friend started medical school at Mt. Sinai, a woman in her fourth year jumped from the 33rd floor of the school’s dormitories. Her body was found by one of her classmates.

And bodies, when they fall, they fall heavy. I know, because one day during my surgery clerkship they dropped the stump of a 45-year-old man’s leg into my waiting arms and my first thought wasn’t oh my god I am holding somebody’s leg. It was oh my god this is heavy. I thought,someone help me.

By the time physicians reach residency, rates of depression are four times the national average. One of every three nascent physicians will experience an episode of major depression during their training, and nearly four hundred doctors commit suicide each year. More than one per day. Added together, that’s almost my entire medical school.

On this night, we took turns saving one other. We save each other at moments when we cannot save ourselves, share victories when we forgot we’ve had any. I told them about a patient I’ll call Mr. T. How he stopped eating the day they told him he had pancreatic cancer. But on my watch? I began spending my lunch breaks with him, urging him to start again. I managed to get him to eat some key lime pie; we shared wedges in his hospital bed.

Victoria’s eyes lit up when she told us she was invited to a traditional Ramadan meal with her patient’s family. Caitlin slapped her hands gleefully to each cheek like a cartoon character, reveling in in how good babies smell, especially when you deliver them with your own hands. We wielded memory and sugared ice cream spoons, embraced fear and each other, did our best to slay insecurity and doubt.

We turned this night into a midwife, helping us to be reborn.

Following greater recognition of physician burnout and depression, I have seen an increase in wellness programming at my and many other medical schools. Students now have sessions devoted to yoga and art, the opportunity to go horseback riding or participate in a modern dance class. I don’t want to diminish these efforts, but they’re speckled interpolations, not solutions. They exist once or twice a semester, on afternoons most medical students would prefer to spend studying for the next test. (There’s always a next test.) And while these attempts to dedicate more resources to personal resilience may be well-intentioned, they target individual behavior without seeking to address the stressful conditions that drive suffering in the first place.

The world is dying of loneliness, and doctors, who are worked from dusk to dawn, steeped in expectations, and challenged with grief on a daily basis, need more than grit to heal. It’s not just about self-care. If depression is so much about isolation, the antidote cannot be found alone.

Just a while ago, I stood in an atrium filled with balloons and familial fanfare and watched as Caitlin and Victoria opened their Match Day envelopes. At noon, these two women, along with a hundred other dear classmates and 30,000 eager students, discovered where they are spending the next several years of their lives as medical trainees.

I hope—oh do I hope—that the programs listed in their envelopes will recognize the ferocity of their care and the value of their hard work. I hope that they will fly to a place that treats them with kindness, one that reminds them how powerful they are on the days they feel small, and unworthy, and alone.

I am hopeful that this time next year, I will call my friends and find them wedged between a new tribe of people who support their breath. Hopeful they will find new communities and supports, new allies—new Slayers.

Because that’s the point. We give each other hope.

#science #medicine #mental health #depression #burnout

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ellymackay · 4 years

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Can Intermittent Fasting Help Your Sleep this Holiday Season?

The following article Can Intermittent Fasting Help Your Sleep this Holiday Season? was first published to https://www.ellymackay.com

Always consult your doctor before undertaking a new diet or fasting routine. This is not medical advice, but it is information you can use as a conversation-starter with your physician or nutritionist.

I’m currently conducting a sleep course online and there’s one thing people are asking me about A LOT: intermittent fasting. I’m not surprised. Fasting has become extremely popular as a tool for weight loss, anti-aging and longevity, and for its benefits to mental and physical health.

I’ve talked about intermittent fasting and its relationship to sleep before. Since then, there’s been some new information introduced about the ways fasting may benefit sleep. I’m guessing you might be as intrigued by this form of time-restricted eating as my students.

We’re heading right into the holidays, when healthful dietary choices can be tough, with all of those constant temptations. Eating routines—the timing of our meals throughout the day and night—also can get turned upside down, with parties, long, festive meals that stretch late into the evening, and the constant supply of snacks and treats that accompany the holiday season.

All this can take its toll on your energy levels, affect your mood, and of course make it more likely you’ll gain weight. Holiday season grazing also can create complications for sleep—even for routinely good sleepers.

You may not choose to try intermittent fasting during the holidays—I get it. But it’s worth a reminder, as we enter the season, that paying attention not only to the WHAT of your diet, but also the WHEN, matters for sleep, as well as for your mood, cognitive performance, and overall health.

What is intermittent fasting?

When you practice intermittent fasting, you designate regular, specific times to eat nothing, or to consume very few calories. When your body goes into a fasting mode, your digestive system quiets. Your body uses this time to repair and restore itself at a cellular level. Fasting also triggers the body to use its stored fat for energy, making it a potentially effective strategy for weight loss.

The period of nightly sleep is a natural fast we undertake every night, most of us without even realizing that’s what we’re doing. Indeed, a waking fasting state and a sleep state share several characteristics, including a body with cells engaged in repair, and a body that is taking a rest from the demanding work of digestion.

How does intermittent fasting work?

Creating a fasting routine isn’t complicated. (But you should always talk with your doctor about making changes to your diet, and before you begin a fasting regimen.) There are a number of routines that are commonly used with intermittent fasting.

People choose to restrict their eating to periods of 6, 8, or 10 hours a day allows for a consistent fast to occur every day in the remaining 14-18 hours.

Some people undertake a full 24-hour fast one or two days a week (they drink water)

A routine known as 5:2 fasting combines single days of calorie restriction (eating around 500 calories) every 2-3 days, with normal eating in between.

It’s worth noting that despite all the attention it’s getting, fasting isn’t a new practice. People have used fasting for thousands of years as a cultural, religious, spiritual and health practice. For example, fasting that aligns with circadian rhythms–restricting eating with sundown and resuming after sunrise—is a practice that Muslims undertake during the holiday Ramadan. (Scientists have used Ramadan as a way to study how fasting affects the body and mind, as well as to study how fasting affects sleep patterns.) People of the Jewish faith fast for 24 hours during the holiday of Yom Kippur.

The health benefits of fasting

A growing body of research shows the potential benefits for health and disease protection from intermittent fasting. Fasting can result in weight loss, according to research. Studies show fasting can improve insulin sensitivity, lower inflammation, and improve markers for heart disease including lowering levels of unhealthful LDL cholesterol. Intermittent fasting has been shown to have the potential to treat some cancers, as well as neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. There’s also evidence that fasting may help reduce risk for developing cancer.

Time restricted eating can improve immune function and enhance the body’s ability to repair cells and DNA. Fasting induces a cellular process known as autophagy, which is when the cells of the body clears itself of damaged cells, spurring the growth of new, healthy cells. Autophagy is one way the body maintains more youthful, functional cells and protects against disease, by eliminating aged cells that behave dysfunctionally, and clearing the body of toxins that build up in older cells.

Intermittent fasting increases the body’s natural production of human growth hormone. Human growth hormone encourages fat burning and protects lean muscle mass, aids in cellular repair, and may help to slow aging. Fasting can reduce unhealthful inflammation and boost the body’s ability to protect itself against oxidative stress, which is one significant contributor to aging and disease.

Given these benefits, it’s not hard to understand why intermittent fasting would be attractive as an anti-aging strategy. But what about your nightly rest? How does fasting help improve sleep?

The science of fasting and sleep

Eating and sleeping are two fundamental processes that are also deeply entwined. Both are essential for survival. Both are regulated by internal, homeostatic drives and also by circadian rhythms. Many people know circadian rhythms play a big role in regulating sleep. But eating, hunger and digestion have their own circadian rhythmicity.

Eating and sleeping aren’t just influenced by circadian rhythms. They also exert influences back on those rhythms themselves. An irregular sleeping routine can de-synchronize a well-timed circadian clock, and throw daily rhythms off course. The timing of meals also affects our circadian clocks, and the function of circadian rhythms that exert a powerful influence over our sleep.

(If you’re interested in learning more about the WHEN of eating, including the benefits of establishing daily windows of eating and fasting times, I talk about this in my book, The Power of When.)

A growing body of research indicates fasting has a strengthening effect on circadian rhythms, helping to keep circadian clocks synchronized. Because circadian rhythms exert a strong influence over nearly all the body’s processes (as well as most of our behavior), a more robust, synchronized clock has profound effects on health. Well synchronized clocks support healthy metabolic activity, stronger immunity, and better, more restful and restorative sleep-wake cycles. Disrupted circadian clocks are closely linked to aging and disease. Keeping the body’s master bio clock in sync is one critical way to slow biological aging and potentially extend lifespan.

Other recent research has demonstrated effects that fasting can have directly on sleep, and also on conditions that affect sleep. For example, one study in mice found that a 24-hour fasting period, followed by a meal, led to deeper levels of non-REM sleep. Research has shown that fasting may help to reduce chronic pain, elevate mood and decrease inflammation—all conditions to which improvements will also benefit sleep.

A lot of people turn to intermittent fasting and to calorie restriction as a means to lose weight. Studies indicate periodic fasting can help with weight loss, including helping to push beyond a weight loss plateau. It’s important to note that research—including this 2018 study—show that even when fasting doesn’t lead to weight loss, it can improve underlying cardiometabolic health, increasing insulin sensitivity, reducing blood pressure and cholesterol, lowering inflammation, bringing appetite under control (including reducing cravings for sugar). Maintaining a healthy weight, protecting cardiometabolic health, and adhering to a healthful diet will all translate into more restful, plentiful, high quality sleep.

A group of recent studies reinforces that the timing of when we fast matters, with restricting eating to earlier in the day showing a range of benefits, from better insulin function and lower blood pressure, greater appetite control, increased fat loss and weight reduction, and better reinforcement of circadian rhythms. This lines up with all we know about the hazards of late-in-the-day eating for weight, health, and sleep. An abundance of research tells us that eating heavily near bedtime can worsen sleep quality and cause other complications for restful sleep. A 2019 study found that among people with mild and moderate sleep apnea, eating more of total calories later in the day is linked to more disrupted sleep patterns, and to more severe sleep apnea.

Individual chronotype will play a factor in determining the right window of time to schedule fasting periods. It’s not likely that Wolves will be able to sustain a fast that ENDS at 5 p.m., for example. As a Wolf and Intermittent Faster I shifted my feeding time to 5:00 p.m. and it has worked extremely well. To be clear, this is NOT a schedule for everyone, but for some Wolves, it could be a game changer.

Every chronotype is different and every individual is different. It’s worth keeping in mind the science on the benefits of early time-restricted eating, while also making room to find the intermittent fasting schedule that suits your chronotype and individual needs, in consultation with your doctor.

Don’t know your chronotype? Take this quiz to find out: http://www.chronoquiz.com/

There is a lot of interesting and compelling research coming out about intermittent fasting, and some of it shows that fasting may have real promise as a tool to help optimize sleep. But we’re still at a relative beginning of understanding how different forms of fasting and calorie restriction affect sleep. Both potential benefits and drawbacks need to be more fully examined and understood. For example, there’s evidence that during fasting periods, alertness and the production of neurochemicals that stimulate wakefulness in the brain increase. Alertness and wake-promoting hormone production appear to decrease during the night to levels that support sleep. But this is just one area of study that needs additional attention. We need to see more research that investigates the specific implications of intermittent fasting directly on sleep.

Fasting isn’t for everyone. People with histories of disordered eating are cautioned against fasting. Women who are pregnant or breast feeding shouldn’t’ fast. Anyone with any medical condition—including a sleep disorder, or mood disorders such as anxiety—should consult with a physician before adopting a fasting routine. Healthy folks, too: if you’re going to try intermittent fasting, it’s important to check in with your doctor before you begin.

If you’re interested in learning more about how intermittent fasting works and how people begin a fasting practice, there are a couple of beginner guides that I recommend as a starting point for information gathering before you talk with your physician. MindBodyGreen has a good intermittent fasting discussion here. And here’s another fasting 101 guide with some helpful basic information. Both have been reviewed by medical professionals.

Whether you explore fasting as a practice with the guidance of your doctor, or begin to pay more mindful attention to your daily eating patterns, a greater awareness of the when of your eating will make you feel and sleep better, right through the holidays and beyond.

Sweet Dreams,

Michael J. Breus, PhD, DABSM

The Sleep Doctor

www.thesleepdoctor.com

The post Can Intermittent Fasting Help Your Sleep this Holiday Season? appeared first on Your Guide to Better Sleep.

from Your Guide to Better Sleep https://thesleepdoctor.com/2019/11/26/can-intermittent-fasting-help-your-sleep-this-holiday-season/

from Elly Mackay - Feed https://www.ellymackay.com/2019/11/27/can-intermittent-fasting-help-your-sleep-this-holiday-season/

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beautiful---nightmare · 7 years

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So Ramadan is coming up

With Ramadan approaching, I thought to make a little post about tips and tricks for getting through Ramadan for the ex Muslim. I should say that these tips and tricks don't work for everyone. You've gotta look at your own family and decide what's best for yourself. 1. Stockpiling. Basically just storing food in your room or your bag or whatever. Chocolate, biscuits, cake. Whatever you fancy and just hiding it away. Avoid things that make a lot of noise. Things that crackle or have loud packaging. So don't eat a big packet of crisps while your entire family is home. Store water too. You can buy a ton of water fairly cheaply. Here in the U.K. in Tescos or something you can get a 2 litre bottle of water for like 50p. 2. Saving up money. This is another great way to get through Ramadan. If you're at school or university or at work. Put some money aside so you can buy food. Grab yourself a sandwich or a drink. If you have maybe classmates or colleagues that are Muslim and can't know you're not one it's worth going out somewhere more secluded to eat. For me personally, there's a nice little park around the corner from my house. No one I know really goes down there so it's a nice place for me to eat if i need to. 3. Be a woman. I'm not one myself but apparently, if you're on your period you don't have to fast. So that can be a good way to get out of it. If your house is mostly men, we tend not to track your monthly cycles so you can extend it to a two week period but don't go overboard with it. Chances are your period will land during Ramadan anyway, if its at the start of the month try to avoid letting people its that time of the month. By that I mean be more discreet when throwing tampons or pads away 4. Fake an illness. We've all done this to get out of school. Everyone has. I've done it myself. It's not difficult to do and they might expect it too. You go from eating several meals a day to having just one big one. Your body is gonna take a bit of a hit. Especially with how dehydrated you can get. Plant the seed the day before and then the next day just stay in bed and groan to make out you're sick. 5. Drink tap water. Hydration is probably the biggest reason fasting during Ramadan is so difficult. You've gotta stay hydrated. If you can't stockpile water or buy it then drink tap water. It's clean and cold. It doesn't smell and there's no evidence if you drink it. Unlike juice or biscuits for example, you can smell it on your breath. You might have crumbs on your shirt, you might've had to throw the bottle away. So tap water is a great alternative. 6. Getting out of taraweh prayers. This is another area I guess being a woman can help. You're not obligated to pray taraweh at night. If you can get away with it, tell your parents that you'll read at home. And then sit in your room and go on tumblr. Like we all do when we pray anyway. If you are made to go to mosque, alone that is. Just don't go to mosque. Go for walks. Maybe see if a friend can come out to hang around with. Pretty much every year there will always be a group teenagers who go to mosque but don't pray. They just stand outside the mosque and smoke. I used to do that all the time. Even when I was Muslim. If your family go with you, it's a little difficult. It's worth using the size of your mosque to your advantage. If it's a big mosque with lots of people, you'll have a better chance of sneaking off, especially if you sit on the opposite end from your family. My dad usually goes with me to taraweh. The mosque we go to is big but there aren't many people there. Most leave after 8 rakats anyway. So what I do is, I make sure he sees me on the opposite end so he knows my whereabouts, and then leave after 2 or 6 rakats, since they read a dua after 4 it's not the best time to leave. Then you can sneak back in when they pray witr and bobs your uncle. Well not bob. Maybe Muhammad is your uncle. 7. Dealing with increased religiosity. This is another difficult thing about Ramadan in general. It turns the wannabe thug Muslims who smoke and drink and sleep around to become scholars. Everyone becomes more religious. It's the holiest month in Islam and honestly, the only way I can see avoiding that, is to either be at home for as little time as possible, and that's about it really. There's no other way to deal with it. You're just gonna have to grow thick skin and deal with it. Now the pressure might get to you and Ramadan is probably gonna be the month where you're most likely to tell people you're no longer Muslim, but don't take that risk. Just deal with it as best as you can. I should mention with some of these tips it all depends on your family. Not all of these work for me myself but they're just little things you can do. Also, try to do these things later on in the month rather than at the start. During the middle and end, people get more tired, they become a little less alert to certain things. Your parents might not care if you spend all day in your room.

#exmuslim #ex muslim #Ramadan #ex Muslim help #help for ex Muslims in Ramadan #tips and tricks #strugglesofanexmuslim

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howtoloseweightfastsafely · 5 years

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Advanced Fat Loss - Part III: Intermittent Fasting

This is the food-timing strategy used by countless traditional cultures to reduce inflammation, fix hormonal imbalances, and literally slow down the aging process. (A nice side-effect of this strategy is an unrivaled effect on focus and productivity)

Intermittent Fasting, also known as IF, basically means eating all of your calories within an 8 hour period for men (or a 10 hour period for women) and fasting the rest of the time.

This is highly beneficial for fat burning during the fasting period, and it has the added benefit of reducing stress on your liver, other vital organs, and adrenal glands and causing a mini-detoxification process in your body.

But wait! How many times have you heard that the best way to lose weight is to keep your metabolism constantly stimulated - by eating five, six, seven times a day? Or that you'll "never lose weight" unless you eat every three hours? Too many to count, right?

Look, the supplement companies would love for you to believe that, because that keeps you using plenty of protein powders, protein bars, and meal replacements throughout the day.

But the truth is, intermittent fasting is actually closest to the way our bodies are programmed to eat; our ancestors often hunted and foraged all day, lit one fire at sundown, and did all of their cooking and eating at that time.

Now we've come a long way since that time, and made a lot of advances in nutrition and medicine that help us lead longer, healthier, more productive lives. But everyone can agree it's easier to swim downstream than upstream, and IF is definitely the way our bodies have evolved to eat.

Let's get further into the specifics of a healthy IF regimen...

You already don't eat for about 8 hours a night when you're asleep, so that's not difficult. It's the 16 hours that you're awake that you need to manage. Out of those 16 hours, you just have to choose one 8-hour period during which to fast.

The good thing is, you can work out an IF regimen that fits into your lifestyle best so long as you hit a total fasting period of 16 hours for men or 14 hours for women.

For example, if you're a man, you may decide that the eight hours after you wake up is the best time to do all of your eating, and that you won't eat anything in the afternoon, evening or through the night. This is a good way to start things off if you've still got a substantial amount of weight to lose or you have a body type with a slow metabolism.

However, if you're not someone who eats much in the morning, listen to your body! It's telling you not to eat until the eight hours between your afternoon and your bedtime.

Oh yeah, there's more.

I should also note that IF is the "strategy of champions". You, see IF is the main thing that Bruce Lee and a college football hall-of-famer (leading rusher and Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker), have in common. IF is basically the "strategy to trump all strategies" and it is my hands-down favorite way to build a jaw-dropping physique.

For example, here's how I've been structuring my fast for the past 6-8 months (for massive results!):

Last meal of the Day 1: 7:30-8 p.m.

Fast begins at 8 p.m.

Sleep: 11 p.m.-7 a.m.

Continue fasting until 12 p.m.

Eat 2 big meals from 12 p.m. - 8 p.m. on Day 2

Keep in mind that there are many variations on the IF concept: You could eat only in the late morning and afternoon, leaving four hours after you wake up and four hours before you go to bed (plus 8 hours of sleep) as fasting portions.

Or you could fast the way that Muslims the world over do during Ramadan (and Sumo wrestlers in Japan do year-round) - no food between dawn and sunset, but the feast at the end of the day is something truly epic. The point is, it's up to you and your lifestyle.

The only thing to add is that you should definitely perform your workouts during your eight-hour eating period, not during your sixteen-hour fasting period. There is a slight exception to this rule if you do one (or both) of the following:

- Have some grass-fed butter or MCT/Coconut Oil with your morning coffee. This will give a bit of a boost and not be so stressful on your body.

- Take 5-10 grams of BCAAs (branch chain amino acids) about 45 minutes pre-workout.

This will help prevent muscle breakdown that may occur when training fasted. (You can get roughly 10 grams of BCAAs for every 40 grams of whey protein.)

Otherwise, if you work out on an empty stomach, your body is too low on many of the hormones you need to promote muscle growth and burn fat, and in many cases, you'll only end up forcing your body into a catabolic state, where it's cannibalizing its own muscle for energy (and rapidly lowering your day-to-day basal metabolic rate.)

That said, as long as you're in a caloric deficit and are training steadily on IF, I wouldn't worry too much about losing too much muscle or stalling your fat loss.

For example, here's a peek into Herschel Walker's very unorthodox fitness regimen. He eats one huge meal per day (dinner), and it consists of soup, salad, bread, and occasionally chicken. He workouts out daily, but uses no weight training whatsoever. Instead, he sticks to progressive bodyweight training. I wouldn't recommend his workout regiment to any of us mere mortals, but for reference, he is known to do up to 1,000 push-ups, pull-ups, dips and squats EVERY DAY.

(The man is a beast.)

On a somewhat similar regimen, Hugh Jackman (from Wolverine/X-Men, Les Miserables, and various other films) practiced a 16/8 Intermittent Fasting routine. Like the method I've described above, he fast for 16 hours and then eats all 6,000 of his daily calorie needs within an 8 hour period.

A few things to keep in mind during IF:

- You will get hungry the first week or so and want to give up. Just stick with it, and keep in mind that you have 2 huge meals coming up in just a few hours.

- To stave off hunger, make sure you have your morning coffee or tea, and feel free to have an extra cup or two of plain green tea if you need.

- Stay hydrated!! One of the biggest reasons IF doesn't work is because people don't drink enough water, and misinterpret thirst as hunger.

- Keep busy. One of my favorite benefits of IF is the massive productivity boost. Many IF practitioners have noticed the same effect. Basically, water, some caffeine, and some work to get done somehow bring you into an intense state of focus. I usually get more work done while I'm fasting in the morning (and not worrying about food) than I do the whole rest of the day.

That's all for now. You've got three "cream of the crop" methods that will constantly fire up your body and reveal a lean, lean physique, especially when more traditional methods eventually fail.

Remember, though, that this is advanced fat loss - if you're just getting started on a weight-loss program, cycling your carbs and calories won't actually be as effective for you as a standard calorie-restriction and exercise regimen.

After the first month or so of a standard program, the ideal fat loss per week is between one and two pounds; anything more is unsustainable (and counterproductive in the long run, because it can destroy your lean muscle and stresses your heart) and anything less isn't working fast enough to get you the results that you want.

Thus, use traditional means to lose weight (eat less, eat better, work out, use the calorie calculator bonus) until you stop losing one to two pounds per week; this should happen between four to six months after you've started your program.

Once it does stop, you're ready for advanced fat loss methods like carb/calorie cycling and intermittent fasting (and the body of your dreams!)

Interested in losing weight? Then click below to see the exact steps I took to lose weight and keep it off for good...

Read the previous article about "Advanced Fat Loss - Part II: Carb Cycling"

Read the next article about "Putting It All Together"

Moving forward, there are several other articles/topics I'll share so you can lose weight even faster, and feel great doing it.

Below is a list of these topics and you can use this Table of Contents to jump to the part that interests you the most.

Topic 1: How I Lost 30 Pounds In 90 Days - And How You Can Too

Topic 2: How I Lost Weight By Not Following The Mainstream Media And Health Guru's Advice - Why The Health Industry Is Broken And How We Can Fix It

Topic 3: The #1 Ridiculous Diet Myth Pushed By 95% Of Doctors And "experts" That Is Keeping You From The Body Of Your Dreams

Topic 4: The Dangers of Low-Carb and Other "No Calorie Counting" Diets

Topic 5: Why Red Meat May Be Good For You And Eggs Won't Kill You

Topic 6: Two Critical Hormones That Are Quietly Making Americans Sicker and Heavier Than Ever Before

Topic 7: Everything Popular Is Wrong: The Real Key To Long-Term Weight Loss

Topic 8: Why That New Miracle Diet Isn't So Much of a Miracle After All (And Why You're Guaranteed To Hate Yourself On It Sooner or Later)

Topic 9: A Nutrition Crash Course To Build A Healthy Body and Happy Mind

Topic 10: How Much You Really Need To Eat For Steady Fat Loss (The Truth About Calories and Macronutrients)

Topic 11: The Easy Way To Determining Your Calorie Intake

Topic 12: Calculating A Weight Loss Deficit

Topic 13: How To Determine Your Optimal "Macros" (And How The Skinny On The 3-Phase Extreme Fat Loss Formula)

Topic 14: Two Dangerous "Invisible Thorn" Foods Masquerading as "Heart Healthy Super Nutrients"

Topic 15: The Truth About Whole Grains And Beans: What Traditional Cultures Know About These So-called "Healthy Foods" That Most Americans Don't

Topic 16: The Inflammation-Reducing, Immune-Fortifying Secret of All Long-Living Cultures (This 3-Step Process Can Reduce Chronic Pain and Heal Your Gut in Less Than 24 Hours)

Topic 17: The Foolproof Immune-enhancing Plan That Cleanses And Purifies Your Body, While "patching Up" Holes, Gaps, And Inefficiencies In Your Digestive System (And How To Do It Without Wasting $10+ Per "meal" On Ridiculous Juice Cleanses)

Topic 18: The Great Soy Myth (and The Truth About Soy in Eastern Asia)

Topic 19: How Chemicals In Food Make Us Fat (Plus 10 Banned Chemicals Still in the U.S. Food Supply)

Topic 20: 10 Banned Chemicals Still in the U.S. Food Supply

Topic 21: How To Protect Yourself Against Chronic Inflammation (What Time Magazine Calls A "Secret Killer")

Topic 22: The Truth About Buying Organic: Secrets The Health Food Industry Doesn't Want You To Know

Topic 23: Choosing High Quality Foods

Topic 24: A Recipe For Rapid Aging: The "Hidden" Compounds Stealing Your Youth, Minute by Minute

Topic 25: 7 Steps To Reduce AGEs and Slow Aging

Topic 26: The 10-second Trick That Can Slash Your Risk Of Cardiovascular Mortality By 37% (Most Traditional Cultures Have Done This For Centuries, But The Pharmaceutical Industry Would Be Up In Arms If More Modern-day Americans Knew About It)

Topic 27: How To Clean Up Your Liver and Vital Organs

Topic 28: The Simple Detox 'Cheat Sheet': How To Easily and Properly Cleanse, Nourish, and Rid Your Body of Dangerous Toxins (and Build a Lean Well-Oiled "Machine" in the Process)

Topic 29: How To Deal With the "Stress Hormone" Before It Deals With You

Topic 30: 7 Common Sense Ways to Have Uncommon Peace of Mind (or How To Stop Your "Stress Hormone" In Its Tracks)

Topic 31: How To Sleep Like A Baby (And Wake Up Feeling Like A Boss)

Topic 32: The 8-step Formula That Finally "fixes" Years Of Poor Sleep, Including Trouble Falling Asleep, Staying Asleep, And Waking Up Rested (If You Ever Find Yourself Hitting The Snooze Every Morning Or Dozing Off At Work, These Steps Will Change Your Life Forever)

Topic 33: For Even Better Leg Up And/or See Faster Results In Fixing Years Of Poor Sleep, Including Trouble Falling Asleep, Staying Asleep, And Waking Up Rested, Do The Following:

Topic 34: Solution To Overcoming Your Mental Barriers and Cultivating A Winner's Mentality

Topic 35: Part 1 of 4: Solution To Overcoming Your Mental Barriers and Cultivating A Winner's Mentality

Topic 36: Part 2 of 4: Solution To Overcoming Your Mental Barriers and Cultivating A Winner's Mentality

Topic 37: Part 3 of 4: Solution To Overcoming Your Mental Barriers and Cultivating A Winner's Mentality

Topic 38: Part 4 of 4: Solution To Overcoming Your Mental Barriers and Cultivating A Winner's Mentality

Topic 39: How To Beat Your Mental Roadblocks And Why It Can Be The Difference Between A Happy, Satisfying Life And A Sad, Fearful Existence (These Strategies Will Reduce Stress, Increase Productivity And Show You How To Fulfill All Your Dreams)

Topic 40: Maximum Fat Loss in Minimum Time: The Body Type Solution To Quick, Lasting Results

Topic 41: If You Want Maximum Results In Minimum Time You're Going To Have To Work Out (And Workout Hard, At That)

Topic 42: Food Planning For Maximum Fat Loss In Minimum Time

Topic 43: How To Lose Weight Fast If You're in Chronic Pain

Topic 44: Nutrition Basics for Fast Pain Relief (and Weight Loss)

Topic 45: How To Track Results (And Not Fall Into the Trap That Ruins 95% of Well-Thought Out Diets)

Topic 46: Advanced Fat Loss - Calorie Cycling, Carb Cycling and Intermittent Fasting

Topic 47: Advanced Fat Loss - Part I: Calorie Cycling

Topic 48: Advanced Fat Loss - Part II: Carb Cycling

Topic 49: Advanced Fat Loss - Part III: Intermittent Fasting

Topic 50: Putting It All Together

Learn more by visiting our website here: invigoratenow.com

#weightloss #diet

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ethiopiyeah · 7 years

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Gondar and the Simiens

I left the campsite the following g day after spending the morning helping Tommy and his crew of farmer-builders erect a new hut. Tommy was keen to take the design of the Mongolian yurts I showed him in my photos so I showed the builders how to cut angles in the wood to make a trellis shape around the round wall. From the campsite I took the bus to Bahirdarand from there to Gondar, arriving late at night. Gondar is an ancient capital of Ethiopia and has a raft of old sites including a series of castles built by a dynasty of rulers in the 17th and 18th century and ancient orthodox churches. The first day there, I visited the old castle area. The 30m high stone edifices supppsedly fuse Arabic and Portuguese influences - they are much more solidly built and impressive than anything I've seen in Ethiopia that has been built since. Gondar is also the centre of Ethiopia's Jewish community, with over 6000 Jews living in the surrounding area - the last Jews of Ethiopia. I tracked down their synagogue and after an interrogation in Ivrit I was allowed in, and arrived in time to speak to one of the Israeli volunteers. The community centre/synagogue/school, funded by the Jewish Agency for Israel and private donations, preserves Jewish life in the region while also preparing people for life in Israel: teaching Ivrit, english and Judaism. On the one hand this seemed to me like a valuable and positive mission, as long as it wasn't a false hope for the people there. On the other hand, I was conscious that the Judaism and practice the volunteers taught there was a translated version of Ashkenazi customs and traditions. Meanwhile, the ancient Ethiopian traditions, said to originate in pre-rabinnic Judaism, from the first temple era when they were severed from the rest of the Jewish world. It seems to me a big loss that this way of life is being forgotten without anyone even trying to preserve in writing their practices. No one I spoke to could tell me what people did before the Jewish Agency came, or in what sense they were Jewish before Israel. I found d this a very sad loss. On this note, I've been noticing a link between the Ethiopian orthodox church and Judaism. Their calendar followis the same semi-lunar year with the additional month every four year cycle, they celebrate new year in September, and follow biblical kashrut. That said, they have some clear Islamic influence too, with a period of time (a month to 55 days depending who I ask) fasting - which involves not eating meat or dairy during daylight hours - seemingly resembling Ramadan. Perhaps Judaism came first and then Christianity followed? Or maybe the Christians always followed a more biblical tradition than those in European/Eurasian cultures? Or even that the Jews came after the Christians. Or perhaps most likely a complex mixture of all the above in a web of immigration, invasion and cultural interchange over the last 2500 years. After a day in Gonder I had arranged my hike in the Simien Mountains - three days walking with a group of three other tourists: Eyal and Jen, the Israeli/American couple, and french Cynthia. We set off early, picking up our guide and armed park ranger guard at the entrance to the national park. Starting at around 3000 metres (Ben Nevis is 1345) I could already feel the altitude. The light headedness was alleviated by the thick medicinal scent of thyme which grew all around us, covering the scrubland. We soon reached the escarpment, which rises 1000 meters straight from the valley below. Walking along the narrow path next to the abyss was vertiginous to say the least. I had started to feel a little sick in the stomach but at the time attributed it to the height. This turned out to be a misattribution. I did indeed have an upset stomach which caused me no end of issues over the next few days. Suffice to say I am now an expert at asking people for toilet paper and squatting behind windswept rocks. Indigestion aside the views were remarkable and matched only by the variety of flora and fauna including many birds and animals endemic to either Ethiopia or this range of mountains. We saw many groups of Gelada monkeys, which can reach up to 200 strong (our biggest was around 80), the Ethiopian wolf, a jackal, a bushback deer, and countless species of enormous eagles and vultures. The plants at altitude were also fascinating, wih the landscape changing every 200m or so, as one specialist plant ceded to another better suited for that altitude band. Our guide, Sammie, dilligently and enthusiastically identified and described each species in detail, answering all our questions. Each day we finished hiking around 3pm, just before the storm clouds gathered and hit the campsites. As it was low season, we had the place almost to ourselves, meaning we could sleep in protected concrete huts, shielded from the worst of the cold (it gets to 0 degrees at night). As part of the package, we also had our own cook who made gourmet 2 course meals both nights. Over dinner we chatted until late, telling of our travels around the world and in Ethiopia. 8:30pm doesn't sound late until there's no electricity and the sun sets at 7. We all had very early nights, and woke up with the sun to start the next day. At the end of the third day we hiked to the road where we met the 4x4 which would take us back to Gondar along a winding dirt track. Despite the bumps I slept most of the way. The four of us from the group met up for a blowout luxury ($4) dinner to toast our successful hiking. Tomorrow I head on a long bus journey to Lalibella where I'll see the supposed tourist highlight in Ethiopia - the carved stone churches.

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sameoldmelody · 7 years

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Day 18

When I said taking the 4 days break was both good and bad... this is the bad.

When you’ve fallen into a routine, after a week or so your body adapts to it. So day after day it gets easier with the cycle and progress is imminent. Now, when you take a break and halt the cycle.. getting back behind the wheel feels like you’re back to square one.

And that’s how I felt yesterday after the 4 day break.

Didn’t help that I was on a full shift again at work, so having to get up early and staying till 5:30 felt like a torture, like the day was never ending especially with the hunger pangs showing up earlier and lasted longer. I honestly think it’s tougher for most women on their period who experience intense craving, an increase in appetite and have a longer cycle. The <7 day break from Ramadan and having your body eat whatever it wants is pretty great to be honest, especially when you see all the men in your life squirming in jealousy. But you have your fun, and when it’s over, it feels like you’ve messed it all up and the momentum you had going was pointless.

Periods... a blessing and a curse for sure.

Anyway, I soldiered on then went straight to bed after work till it’s time for iftar. I’m always thankful for afternoon naps, I feel like I rarely ever have them without Ramadan.

Mum sent me some pictures this morning of all the Eid cookies and goodies that’s apparently waiting for me in anticipation. It’s really sweet, but I’m not sure how much I’ll enjoy it this time round. My diet has changed so much (again) and I think she might be a little surprise to see me.

Just three more sleeps till I’m there! :-)

P.S. I hope to share more photos and experience of the true Ramadan for me within the next few weeks. Can’t believe there’s only 11 more days to go!

#ramadan #ireland #alone #fasting #18hours #summer #dying #hunger #food

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islamhashtag-blog · 5 years

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Assalamu alaikum wrwb ,

Was it your First Ramadan today or your Ramadan starts tomorrow ? Ramadan Mubarak ! We have been waiting for Ramadan since a long period right ?We have been preparing for it physically and Spiritually .

Today I am writing to you all to share my Ramadan Plans .I hope this benefit you all too in some or the other ways.

My Ramadan Goals

Like every major event, Ramadan needs Planning .I have Planned 5 Ramadan Goals

Hifj al Lisan

Tilawah al Quran

Taqlil min al Taam

Sadaqah

Qiyamul Lail

If you haven’t heard the above phrases before,let me tell you what they mean .

1.Hifj al Lisan is guarding the tongue . Scholars say that this is the aspect we need to work the most .Ramadan will be long.It will be hot as it is summer .Many People fast but as soon as the second half of the day starts they start complaining . Guarding tongue doesn’t always mean to stay away from ill talks and laghw speech .It also means guarding our tongue from ungratefulness . When we complain,it seems that we are not Raji (happy) with the will of Allah .It is as if we are angry with Allah swt. Naujubillah !

May Allah help us guard our tongue and make us his grateful servants.

Tilawah al Quran :Ramadan is the month of Quran . Allāh, Exalted is He, said: ‘The month of Ramaḍān is the One in which the Qur’ān was sent down’. Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said , “Read the Qur’an, for it will come as an intercessor for its reciters on the Day of Resurrection.” We should increase our recitation of Quran .The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “The one who was devoted to the Qur’an will be told on the Day of Resurrection: ‘Recite and ascend (in ranks) as you used to recite when you were in the world. be at the last Ayah you recite. “Imam al-Dhahabi narrates that Qatadah, d. 118AH, would complete one Qur’ān every seven days but when Ramaḍān would come he would complete one Qur’ān every three days and in the last ten he would complete one every night.

Check Ramadan Quran reading Schedule for Men and Women and Download Quran Completion tracker

May Allah help us increase our recitation of Quran, help us understand it and do amal on it .

3 . Taqlil min al Tam : One of our major Problem during Ramadan is inability to resist eating to full and sometimes overfull at Iftar . There is a narration about Ibrahim b. Abi Ayyūb that states that he would only have two full meals during the whole month. Eating full stomach makes us sleepy . Some of us even become flat at the iftar table .Let us try to limit our Iftar . I am not saying not to eat but to eat everything in less quantity .We were advised to take slow, measured bites, and keep checking if we have that gnawing feeling in our stomach we had earlier when we were fasting. If it goes away, stop eating immediately and save the rest of the food for later. Snack a little on dessert, and we’re done.

May Allah help us keep all the fast .We are incapable of keeping even one fast by our strength .It is Allah swt who give us quwwat (strength) and Taufiq .

4. Sadaqah : We should take special care in Paying our Zakat and Sadaqatul Fitr and also hasten to give some voluntary charity . Ibn ‘Abbas beautifully described the generosity of the Prophet (sall Allahu ʿalayhi wa sallam) when he said: ‘He was the most generous of all people…and when Ramaḍān came he would become even more generous such that he became like the blowing wind’.

5 .Qiyamul Lail : It is the night prayer . We should stand in Prayers at night with full ikhlas . Allah says in quran,

” Indeed, your Lord knows, [O Muhammad], that you stand [in prayer] almost two thirds of the night or half of it or a third of it, and [so do] a group of those with you. And Allah determines [the extent of] the night and the day. He has known that you [Muslims] will not be able to do it and has turned to you in forgiveness, so recite what is easy [for you] of the Qur’an. He has known that there will be among you those who are ill and others traveling throughout the land seeking [something] of the bounty of Allah and others fighting for the cause of Allah. So recite what is easy from it and establish prayer and give zakah and loan Allah a goodly loan. And whatever good you put forward for yourselves – you will find it with Allah. It is better and greater in reward. And seek forgiveness of Allah. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.”(Quran 73:20)

Action Plans to Reach my Ramadan Goals

1 . Manage my Sleep Pattern : Have you heard about the Polyphasic Sleep pattern ? People have scoured past examples, such as the life of Leonardo da Vinci, to develop new polyphasic schedules. The general idea is to break the large chunk of sleep at night in to multiple naps and thus reduce the total time spent sleeping.

We may not realize it, but our sleep is broadly divided into three stages. The first stage is that of light sleep consisting of rapid theta waves. The second stage is that of deep sleep characterized by slow delta waves. And finally, the last stage when we dream can be spotted with the help of rapid eye movements (REM).

During a night’s sleep, these three stages repeat in a cyclic manner over 90 to 200 minutes. If you want to try the Polyphasic sleep pattern you can try to find your cycle .Mine is 3hrs . I can get up after 3 hrs do some task and then nap back . You need to find yours.

Increase the Recitation of Quran : Not same schedule works for everybody . The advice I liked most is attaching my mind with Quran and Picking it up for recitation whenever I get time . We need to prioritise all our work and Put Quran in out uppermost Priority.

3. Feeding Poor : Sending Iftar to neighbors , Feeding Poor and distributing water bottles at Masjid is in my checklist this year In sha allah.

Dhikr time : Dhikr time needs to be set . It needs to be set at the Peaceful hours and it needs to be tracked . You can download our FREE Dhikr tracker .

5 .Increase Recitation of Surah Ikhlas .The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, “Surat Ikhlas is equivalent to one-third of the Qur’an.”

6.Read Surah Mulk everyday : Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) saying, “There is a Surah in the Qur’an which contains thirty Ayat which kept intervening for a man until his sins are forgiven. . ‘ (Surat Al-Mulk 67). ” [At-Tirmidhi and Abu Dawud]

7 . Read Surah Baqarah at night : Abu Mas’ud Al-Badri (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: I heard the Prophet (ﷺ) saying, “He who recites the two Ayat at the end of Surat Al-Baqarah at night, they will suffice him.” [Al- Bukhari and Muslim] .

8 . Be in Wudu and do much Wudu : The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “Wudu ‘is half the Iman.” [Muslim] . And Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: I heard my Khalil (the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)) as saying, “The adornment of the believer (in Jannah) will reach the places where the water of Wudu ‘reaches (his body).” [Muslim] .

9 .Do Miswak

10 .The Men can read Isha and Fajr in congregation .

Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “Were people to know the blessing of pronouncing Adhan and the standing in the first row, they would even draw lots to secure these privileges. would race for it; and were they to know the merits of Salat after nightfall (‘Isha’) and the dawn (Fajr) Salat, they would come to them even if they had to crawl. ” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim] .

Teach Islam to your Kids

And while we work on ourself and our spiritual cleansing , we should not neglect our kids .We should make use of the month of Barakah, to teach Islam to our Kids .They shall be watching us doing our Ibadah and they would want to Participate . Tell the the stories of Prophets ,Engage them in some Activity .Do not just leave them alone.They would never do it .Sit with them spend time them,engage with them be it just for half an hour of the day .

You can get Islamic Worksheets here

Ramadan Mubarak ! My Ramadan Goals and Action Plan Assalamu alaikum wrwb , Was it your First Ramadan today or your Ramadan starts tomorrow ? Ramadan Mubarak !

#ramadan

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lucycates-anythingispossible · 5 years

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The glory of Intermittent Fasting (IF) - How to do and the benefits

Intermittent fasting (IF) has been practiced the world over for some time now. The Muslim Ramadan, during which food is not eaten for the first 12 hours of the day. There is also Jewish Yom Kippur, one of four days for fasting. Catholics have lent, some Mormons fast every Sunday or every other Sunday. Sikhs, Hindus, Buddhists, all fast. Some fast for religion, some for protest, and, more recently, some for health.

Fasting & Intermittent fasting is a great tool to help you fight inflammation, improve digestion, and boost your longevity. Fasting is the body’s natural way of relaxing and cleansing. Without food for a long time, we will die, but in short spurts, followed by adequate nutrition, the lack of food is replaced with greater energy and a cleaner, healthier body.

Short fasting intervals also increase mental energy, focus, and clarity, as it frees the mind from processing and digesting the chemicals, both good and bad, that come from food. During a fast, your body metabolizes chemicals, dead cells, fat, and damaged tissue, clearing your system. When you return to eating, it is as though you have gained a whole new body.

We all need to sleep to reset and revitalize, so does our digestive tract and organs.

Studies have indicated that periods of intermittent fasting result in the following anti-inflammatory responses:

Changes The Function of Cells, Genes and Hormones

For example, your body initiates important cellular repair processes and changes hormone levels to make stored body fat more accessible.

Insulin levels: Blood levels of insulin drop significantly, which facilitates fat burning .

Human growth hormone: The blood levels of growth hormone may increase as much as 5-fold. Higher levels of this hormone facilitate fat burning and muscle gain, and have numerous other benefits.

Cellular repair: The body induces important cellular repair processes, such as removing waste material from cells.

Gene expression: There are beneficial changes in several genes and molecules related to longevity and protection against disease.

Reduce weight levels and visceral fat

Lower insulin levels, higher growth hormone levels and increased amounts of norepinephrine (noradrenaline) all increase the breakdown of body fat and facilitate its use for energy.

Reduce Insulin Resistance, Lowering Your Risk of Type 2 Diabetes

Major benefits for insulin resistance and lead to an impressive reduction in blood sugar levels. In human studies on intermittent fasting, fasting blood sugar has been reduced by 3-6%, while fasting insulin has been reduced by 20-31%.

One study in diabetic rats also showed that intermittent fasting protected against kidney damage, one of the most severe complications of diabetes. What this implies, is that intermittent fasting may be highly protective for people who are at risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

However, there may be some differences between genders. One study in women showed that blood sugar control actually worsened after a 22-day long intermittent fasting protocol.

Reduce Oxidative Stress and Inflammation in The Body

Oxidative stress is one of the steps towards aging and many chronic diseases. It involves unstable molecules called free radicals, which react with other important molecules (like protein and DNA) and damage them.

Several studies show that intermittent fasting may enhance the body's resistance to oxidative stress. Additionally, studies show that intermittent fasting can help fight inflammation, another key driver of all sorts of common diseases.

Beneficial For Heart Health

Shown to improve numerous different risk factors, including blood pressure, total and LDL cholesterol, blood triglycerides, inflammatory markers and blood sugar levels

Induces Various Cellular Repair Processes

When we fast, the cells in the body initiate a cellular "waste removal" process called autophagy. This involves the cells breaking down and metabolizing broken and dysfunctional proteins that build up inside cells over time.

Increased autophagy may provide protection against several diseases, including cancer and Alzheimer's disease

Prevent Cancer

Fasting has been shown to have several beneficial effects on metabolism that may lead to reduced risk of cancer.

Intermittent fasting has been shown to help prevent cancer in animal studies. One paper in humans showed that it can reduce side effects caused by chemotherapy.

Good For Your Brain

This includes reduced oxidative stress, reduced inflammation and a reduction in blood sugar levels and insulin resistance.

Several studies in rats have shown that intermittent fasting may increase the growth of new nerve cells, which should have benefits for brain function. Animal studies have also shown that intermittent fasting protects against brain damage due to strokes It may have important benefits for brain health. It may increase growth of new neurons and protect the brain from damage.

Help Prevent Alzheimer's Disease

A study in rats shows that intermittent fasting may delay the onset of Alzheimer's disease or reduce its severity. Animal studies also suggest that fasting may protect against other neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson's and Huntington's disease.

However, more research in humans is needed.

Extend Your Lifespan, Helping You Live Longer

One of the most exciting applications of intermittent fasting may be its ability to extend lifespan.

Studies in rats have shown that intermittent fasting extends lifespan in a similar way as continuous calorie restriction.In some of these studies, the effects were quite dramatic. In one of them, rats that fasted every other day lived 83% longer than rats who weren't fasted.

Different methods of IF

Intermittent Fasting (IF) can be hard on you if you're new to it or if you jump in too quickly. Women especially can suffer from adverse hormonal effects including ravaging hunger, altered menstrual cycles, and mood changes.

1. Fast for 12 hours a day

According to some researchers, fasting for 10–16 hours can cause the body to turn its fat stores into energy, which releases ketones into the bloodstream. This should encourage weight loss. This type of intermittent fasting plan may be a good option for beginners. This is because the fasting window is relatively small, much of the fasting occurs during sleep, and the person can consume the same number of calories each day.

The easiest way to do the 12-hour fast is to include the period of sleep in the fasting window.

2. Fasting for 16 hours

Fasting for 16 hours a day, leaving an eating window of 8 hours, is called the 16:8 method or the Leangains diet. During the 16:8 diet, men fast for 16 hours each day, and women fast for 14 hours. This type of intermittent fast may be helpful for someone who has already tried the 12-hour fast but did not see any benefits. On this fast, people usually finish their evening meal by 8 p.m. and then skip breakfast the next day, not eating again until noon.

3. Fasting for 2 days a week

People following the 5:2 diet eat standard amounts of healthful food for 5 days and reduce calorie intake on the other 2 days. During the 2 fasting days, men generally consume 600 calories and women 500 calories. Typically, people separate their fasting days in the week. For example, they may fast on a Monday and Thursday and eat normally on the other days. There should be at least 1 non-fasting day between fasting days.

4. Alternate day fasting

There are several variations of the alternate day fasting plan, which involves fasting every other day. For some people, alternate day fasting means a complete avoidance of solid foods on fasting days, while other people allow up to 500 calories. On feeding days, people often choose to eat as much as they want.

5. A weekly 24-hour fast

Fasting completely for 1 or 2 days a week, known as the Eat-Stop-Eat diet, involves eating no food for 24 hours at a time. Many people fast from breakfast to breakfast or lunch to lunch. People on this diet plan can have water & herbal tea drinks during the fasting period. People should return to normal eating patterns on the non-fasting days. Eating in this manner reduces a person's total calorie intake but does not limit the specific foods that the individual consumes. A 24-hour fast can be challenging, and it may cause fatigue, headaches, or irritability. Many people find that these effects become less extreme over time as the body adjusts to this new pattern of eating.

6. Meal skipping

This flexible approach to intermittent fasting may be good for beginners. It involves occasionally skipping meals. People can decide which meals to skip according to their level of hunger or time restraints. However, it is important to eat healthful foods at each meal. Meal skipping is likely to be most successful when individuals monitor and respond to their body's hunger signals. Essentially, people using this style of intermittent fasting will eat when they are hungry and skip meals when they are not. This may feel more natural for some people than the other fasting methods.

7. The Warrior Diet

The Warrior Diet is a relatively extreme form of intermittent fasting.

The Warrior Diet involves eating very little, usually just a few servings of raw fruit and vegetables, during a 20-hour fasting window, then eating one large meal at night. The eating window is usually only around 4 hours. This form of fasting may be best for people who have tried other forms of intermittent fasting already. Supporters of the Warrior Diet claim that humans are natural nocturnal eaters and that eating at night allows the body to gain nutrients in line with its circadian rhythms.

During the 4-hour eating phase, people should make sure that they consume plenty of vegetables, proteins, and healthful fats. They should also include some carbohydrates. Although it is possible to eat some foods during the fasting period, it can be challenging to stick to the strict guidelines on when and what to eat in the long term. Also, some people struggle with eating such a large meal so close to bedtime. There is also a risk that people on this diet will not eat enough nutrients, such as fiber. This can increase the risk of cancer and have an adverse effect on digestive and immune health.

Personal Experience

When it comes to Intermittent fasting, I have done this inadvertently most of my life without knowing or realising the benefits to full extent.

The conscious fasting I have done was 2 years ago where I undertook a 3-day water only fast ( distilled water) - it was during a 6 week colonic treatment also.

I was in my 11th floor flat in London, with my good friend Chris & my cat Mia.

My friend has done the 3-day fasts regularly, he guided and instructed me for this time. He was mainly out working, however none the less I had a good balance between his support & alone time.

The 1st day my ego / mind wanted me to carry out life as normal which I know now is to be avoided, by the end of the day I was super tired. I there onwards resigned any further activity and stayed indoors until 3:30pm 3rd day had arrived.

I decided to start 3:30pm on Thursday, which means after 3 complete 24 hours cycle days the finishing time would be 3:30pm Sunday. It’s a good way to do it, as the 1st & 3rd day you are mainly sleeping and not thinking about food as much (maybe you will be dreaming though about it).

I can honestly say this was such a great time for me, of course you are going to be craving food, your mind is going to be doing lots of fluctuating and playing lots of tricks (per usual). However, eventually it quietens down because it realises however much it asks for food, your determination & willpower will not allow it to have any. So stops asking.

The connection I had with my cat during this time was profound, we have always got along of course, but I felt I could understand her on a deeper level since we were spending so much time together without any breaks. She was my rock during this process.

Meditation, listening to music, reading & thinking were key elements alongside to this experience, I had lots of time to think, and really beautiful memories of my life resurfaced that I haven’t pondered upon for sometime. I really appreciated people, events & situations in my life since the opportunity was there to reflect.

Also I really appreciated food, how lucky I was in my life to be able to have food anytime I want, any kind of food & quantity. It took away that (at least for a short time) unconscious scoffing down food without awareness - when returning to food. Yes I cried with delight & gratitude - with my friend Chris laughing warmly as he recognised the experience.

Another realisation that came to mind is that our ego is our desire for food. The ego is part of our survival mechanism, and connected to fear; or the lack of something. The clarity of this is not as what it was at the time.

I wish to go back to doing more 3-day fasts, eventually in time I will increase the duration with more focused meditation and preparation before/after the fast is much needed to be inspected closer.

In truth, we exist and survive, not because of the ego, but in spite of it.

http://atmavikasayoga.in

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miquerisxh-blog · 6 years

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HOW TO STAY HEALTHY IN THE LAST TEN Days of Ramadan By Aishah Muhammad Now that Ramadan is coming to an end, and only Allah subḥānahu wa ta'āla (glorified and exalted be He) knows if we will see this month again, the time that remains for us of this month is quite special. Within the last ten days of Ramadan we anticipate the Night of Power (Laylat-ul-Qadr), the most blessed night of the year. Many people seek to observe this period while in i’tikaf to maximize ibadah (worship). Physical health and strength is thus vital for observing i’tikaf in this blessed period. Aisha raḍyAllāhu 'anha (may Allāh be pleased with her) reported: “With the start of the last ten days of Ramadan, the Prophet ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) used to tighten his waist belt (i.e. work harder) and used to pray the whole night, and used to keep his family awake for the prayers.” [Bukhari] Adapting our sleeping routine around suhoor and night prayers, and the general reduction in our intake of food are both factors that can cause a reduced level of energy for the acts of worship we aim to accomplish. The other cause lies in the quality of our iftar. Often, we find the dining tables at iftar full of food that is much larger in quantity than what we are used to at any other dinner time. Sadly, much of this food is not beneficial or nutritious for the body, thus leaves us in a weaker physical state. But our body is an amanah (a trust) from Allah subḥānahu wa ta'āla (glorified and exalted be He). With only the last few precious days remaining, it is crucial to focus on what we are consuming so that we can make the most of the time we have left. The following tips can help keep us strong at nights as we seek to observe Laylat-ul-Qadr, in sha Allah. 🌷 DON'T MISS SUHOOR Narrated Anas bin Malik raḍyAllāhu 'anhu (may Allāh be pleased with him): The Prophet ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) said, “Take suhoor as there is a blessing in it.” [Bukhari] Towards the end of the month, our stomachs have adapted greatly to the amount of food we are consuming, leaving us feeling like we are not hungry. As a result, many people skip suhoor because they feel full from iftar or feel nauseated by eating so early in the morning. Not only is suhoor a blessed sunnah, but it is also essential as an additional meal that will allow us to keep going for the day. Eat something small rather than leaving it out completely. Some HEALTHY SUHOOR examples include: 1. The sunnah nabidh – made from dates placed in water overnight (in empty stomach). 2. Oatmeal with fruit 3. Boiled egg and wholegrain toast 4. Greek yogurt with granola and fruit 5. Date smoothie made with oats, dates, and some milk and fruit of your choice 🌷 DRINK PLENTY OF WATER It is essential to keep hydrated while fasting, especially if you live in a hot climate or have long fasts. When the window between iftar and suhoor is short, it is key to drink at least a minimum of two glasses of water with each of those meals. Eat fruits that are full of water, such as watermelon, cucumbers, strawberries, grapefruit and raspberries. This will add to the water you are consuming. While praying taraweeh, be sure to take a bottle of water with you and take sips between each unit of prayer. Breaking down when you drink your fluid makes it much easier to take in a large amount, especially if you are someone who does not normally drink enough. Many suffer from headaches when they do not drink enough which can be debilitating for our night time worship. 🌷 BE CAREFUL OF WHAT YOU COOK This is a big point, especially for those who have the duty of making the food for iftar. In many cultures, it is the norm to cook various fried dishes and sweet foods. It is extremely important to fill your diet with foods that contain complex carbohydrates; this is a food group that releases energy slowly rather than giving you a dramatic surge in energy levels. Complex carbohydrates are found in foods such as wholegrain bread, brown rice, beans, and vegetables. Protein, found in foods like fish, chicken, beans, and lentils, is another essential component to our diet. Ultimately, we should remember to eat everything in moderation. A samosa is not going to harm you if you eat one or two in a week, however eating just samosas throughout the month will not do your health any justice. 🌷 DO NOT OVEREAT When we have so much to choose from at iftar, it can be really easy to end up filling the plate with much more than we need. By overeating, we run the risk of making ourselves feel tired and drowsy during those key hours of worship in the night. Fill the plate with the minimum amount and only take seconds if the stomach is still rumbling. 🌷 STAY ACTIVE While many of us feel tired at various points in the day when we are fasting, this does not mean we should lie on the sofa from sunrise to sunset. By remaining active, we are giving the body the essential amount of exercise it needs; it is a right of our body over us. Yes – running a marathon may be out of the question. But that does not mean you can not take short walks on a daily basis or do some light workouts at home. It is also important to mention that the act of salah is an essential tool in improving our physical state as it stretches out muscles in various movements, improves body posture and digestion. So never forget to pray salah on time, asking Allah subḥānahu wa ta'āla (glorified and exalted be He) to keep you healthy and active, in sha Allah. 🌷 SMART NAPPING DURING I'TIKAF In the last ten days, we stay awake throughout the night when we used to take a nap earlier in the month. As we seek to observe Laylut-ul-Qadr, it is important that we take a nap in the day to make up for some of the hours we lose. This is essential to keep us alert and awake in our daily activities as well as during our worship at night. The time you nap will vary depending on your daytime schedule however the advised time in the sunnah is after dhuhr. Also, make use of your sleep cycle and stick to napping for 20 minutes, 45 minutes or 90 minutes to keep yourself rejuvenated for ibadah. May Allah subḥānahu wa ta'āla (glorified and exalted be He) bless all of us to make the most out of this Ramadan. (Ameen!) What are your tips for the last ten nights of Ramadan? Share with us below. • • • • Source: https://productivemuslim.com/stay-healthy-last-ten-days-ramadan/ #WriteUpOfTheDay #LearnApplyGetMotivated #SpiritualProductivityWeek #ProductiveRamadhan2018

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mworefugio438-blog · 7 years

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The Regular American Diet regimen Sorrows

Despite his fondness for Major Mac computers, Filet-Fish, and containers of KFC seared poultry, Donald Trump's passion from the fast food business has gone mainly unrequited. However the technique was to take my right-hand man, put this inside her vaginal canal, quick scrubing entrusted to straight, she virtually drounded me. He vagina pressed so precarious before, so now you recognize I am actually being actually honest Currently, the Filipino will not permit me also try.I need the flavor, the wonderful taste, of the climax. Reporter Marc de Jong is actually a veteran feline lover and also proprietor from - - Even more thorough information concerning meals for kittens and expecting felines is found in How To Care for Your Expectant Feline, his reputable digital book on feline rise, maternity as well as kitty treatment. You can generate cash quick free along with typing service, and the charm from this, is actually that it's extremely cost-free. 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As well as if you possess the opposite issue: You offer a lot, however believe exhausted and nasty, look at pulling back from offering to others and also technique providing to your own self. That is actually why PHYSICIAN Painter is attending to weight loss equipped with a brand-new technique- fat reduction to lose weight without receiving individuals to experience restricted or striped off the food items that they consume. Being offered a location in our homes from Parliament Quick Flow was unpredicted, yet one thing I knew I could possibly never reject. When the inadequate are actually depriving, allow those who possess, fast one time and also offer just what they typically would certainly have consumed to the bishops for the bad, and all will abound for a long time. He was cancelled when he was captured providing the meals out through surveillance video cameras. Thus if you have a little one that has ADD or even ADHD and you want to make an effort providing your little one fish oil to observe if taking fish oil for kids can assist your little one management his/her ADD or even ATTENTION DEFICIT DISORDER you should talk to your physician regarding the benefits from fish oil for little ones just before providing your kids fish oil.

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automatismoateo · 7 years

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Ramadan is here! A Message from /r/exmuslim! via /r/atheism

Submitted May 27, 2017 at 02:40AM by ONE_deedat (Via reddit http://ift.tt/2qoO3FX) Ramadan is here! A Message from /r/exmuslim!

I would like to Introduce myself as /u/One_deedat, one of the mods over at r/exmuslim. First of all I would like to thank all those atheists who have helped and supported us in the past year and beyond that. Most of us over at r/exmuslim are atheists ourselves and would consider you guys our comrades and natural allies. I never normally get the chance to do this so I would like to take this opportunity here.

Ramadan is already here, starting TODAY in most places (Saturday the 27th of May), so I felt it might be a good time to give you guys a quick once over, firstly to inform people about Ramadan and secondly to highlight how it affects us ex-muslims.

What is Ramadan?

Ramadan is the name of the ninth month in the Islamic calendar that is considered holy by 1.6 billion Muslims globally. Muslims are commanded in the Quran 2:185 that :

"The month of Ramadan is that in which was revealed the Quran.......And whosoever of you is present, let him fast the month.....and that you should magnify Allah for having guided you, and that perhaps you may be thankful."

So Muslims have to fast to show gratitude to Allah, however some will tell you they fast to experience the hunger faced by those that are poor and impoverished. Muslims fast from sunrise till sunset for the whole month. This equates to 28 or 29 individual fasting days (dependant on sighting of the moon). Fasting consists of abstaining from ALL food and drink as well as things like sexual activity. The month is also considered by Muslims as a time to practice increased devotion towards their religion such as increased recitation of the Quran, extra prayers in the evening, sticking to the five times a day prayers and increased charity to the poor.

A Muslim is required to fast if they have attained puberty, however most people start fasting a lot earlier through peer pressure and encouragement from their families and friends. Children are not however expected to fast more than a handful of days in the whole month. For females they don’t have to fast during their periods.

Isn't Ramadan later in the year?

You might be thinking this is if you remember the date for a previous Ramadan but because the Islamic calendar is a lunar based calendar Ramadan moves back about 11-12 days each solar year. Also because of this fasting days change in length each year and are different throughout the world e.g. this year’s fasts last about 20 hours in Norway, 18 hours in the UK/Canada, 16 hours USA/Turkey, 15 hours India/Pakistan, 14 hours KSA etc….. If Ramadan fell around xmas in the UK, the fats would only last about 7-8 hours.

So, how does all this adversely affect exmuslims?

The effect of Ramadan varies greatly depending on which country they live in, the religious makeup of their immediate and extended family, their freedom of movement, gender and age specific pressures, etc etc etc. However due to the repercussions of publically coming out or even coming out to their families, exmuslims feel coerced and are sometimes even forced to partake in the rituals of the month with little freedom to choose for themselves and so this could be the most frustrating part of the whole year.

Part of this frustration is due to Ramadan being full of rituals, these include:

Having to wake up early in the morning before sunset (3-4 am) to eat before dawn leading to a significant disruption of the circadian rhythm

The fast itself can lead to dehydration in the hot summer weather and involves hypoglycaemia,

The evening breaking of fast (iftar) is normally a large meal, lavish if affordable and plays havoc with the digestive system

The extra prayers at late night (Taraweeh) are extremely long (1-1.5 hours) and involve prolonged periods of standing. This time of the year these would be held at around 10pm leaving only 4-5 hours to sleep until the cycle repeats itself for the next fast.

The last few times, Ramadan has started to fall at a time of year when a lot of western exmuslims are doing their annual exams and the above stresses add to the risk of failure or under performance for reasons exmuslims know are bogus and will bring them very little benefit in life and will adversely affect their future.

Things can however be worse in Muslim countries, where eating in public during fasting hours can lead to punishment or at the very least serious shunning and there is less scope to hide from prying eyes and maybe secretly drink a few drops of water or down a chocolate bar.

Every Ramadan, we get many posts from people having trouble reconciling their position as an apostate in a hyper-religious environment. We get an increased footfall compared to our average level, from what I assume to be distressed exmuslims looking for an outlet to be themselves.

If you’re an Ex-Muslim here, reading this- you're not alone for we are many! Head over to /r/exmuslim to meet some like minded individuals.

If you are never-Muslim (never-moose) atheist then just remember us in your thoughts as individuals who dare to think differently in communities and families where thinking differently is a taboo and in some people’s eyes the most heinous of all crimes.

That's all from me so have a nice day you guys, feel free to ask any questions especially specific to Ramadan, I will strive to give my honest impartial opinion even as an exmuslim!

#reddit

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