How to Lose the Ramadan & Eid Extra Weight in 7 Simple Steps!

Ramadan, Eid El-Fitr, and quarantine, three things that are not diet-friendly. Especially that Eid vacation where we are all given an unlimited permit to consume unbelievably high levels of sugar eating the traditional Eid treats, i.e. Kahk, biscuits, and other sweet delicacies.

Therefore, it is safe to say that we are all coming out of Eid with an extra unwanted few pounds. But fear not, we are here to help you lose those that holiday weight as fast as you can and in a few simple steps.

1. Drink plenty of water

This may seem too simple to mention but when concerned with weight loss, a lot of us underestimate the importance of loading up on water, or worse, forget to drink water altogether.
This lack of dehydration not only put your heart at risk but also makes it hard for you to kick your holiday eating habits. Because, believe it or not, drinking plenty of water on a regular basis throughout the day helps you cut down on your post-holiday cravings.

2. Change the menu

A rookie mistake that most people make when starting a diet is skipping meals completely. This will actually slow down your metabolism and thus, make it harder for you to achieve your weight loss goals. So what you need is to continue eating but changing the foods on the menu. During Ramadan, most of us tend to eat more fatty meals, and of course, during Eid, sweet carbs-filled delicacies are the main course on the menu. So what you’ll need to do is switch to a lighter diet where you replace fatty dishes with veggie-based dishes, and exchange Kahk and biscuits for whole grains and low-carbs snacks.

3. Don’t deprive yourself completely!

No matter how much you work to switch up your diet after a holiday, it is nearly impossible not to be tempted by the foods you have been indulging yourself in during Ramadan and Eid.
So the best way to stop yourself from completely falling off the wagon is to allow yourself a small indulgence once or twice throughout the week to keep yourself sane. But once or twice is all you get, because you could easily fall back into your holiday eating habit if you don’t pay attention.

4. Get rid of the Kahk leftovers

No matter how much of a strong will you have, keeping the Kahk leftover around is pound to make you want to reach for them. So give them out or get rid of them any way you can. We know it’ll be hard but if you want to lose those few extra pounds, you’ll have to start by cleaning the house of any leftovers or temptations.

5. Get to moving!

A lot of us skipped on working out during Ramadan and Eid, which of course played a huge role in gaining those unwanted few pounds.
Therefore, now that Eid vacation is over, it is time to get back on the horse, and by horse, we mean the treadmill. There are countless exercises and workouts that you easily do at home during this quarantine, so you can’t use the ‘no-gym’ excuse. And here are a few.

6. Don’t just exercise, exercise with weight!

Exercising with weights keeps your metabolism stoked long after you are done working out. In addition, it will also help give you a more toned body shape.
Lifting weights also help build your muscle mass which will, in turn, help you lose fat mass.

7. Go to bed hungry

Nighttime is the only time it is ever okay to be hungry.
Why? Because the food you eat late at night, before bed, is the hardest food to burn for your body.
So throughout the day, try to stay properly fueled by keeping your appetite satisfied in order to have enough energy. When dinner time comes, have a moderate dinner then stop eating after that until bed. The least amount of time to have between eating dinner and going to bed is two hours.
However, when we say hungry, we don’t mean starving. Because you don’t want to go to bed so hungry that you can’t sleep or have to wake up in the middle of the night to have mid-night snack which is so much worse.

Finally, the last thing we advise you with is to go easy on the scale because weighing yourself too many times can cause frustration, and frustration could make you give up on your fitness goals altogether. So limit yourself to one weigh a week to monitor your progress, and in the meantime stay off the scale. And remember that at the end of the day, it is not about how much you weigh, it is about how healthy your body is.