Quick Tips for Ramadan and Fasting After Weight Loss Surgery

Quick Tips for Ramadan and Fasting After Weight Loss Surgery

Don’t fall off the weight loss wagon, using Ramadan as the excuse that pushed you off! It’s important to continue eating your normal healthy diet. All of your meal should remain based on lean protein foods and free vegetables. The addition of low Glycaemic Index (GI) carbohydrates may be useful for sustained energy release over periods of daily fasting.

Even though you are fasting from sunrise to sunset, with careful planning you can still consume 2-3 small, nutritious meals and 1 snack each day: Suhoor (just before dawn), Iftar (immediately after sunset), dinner (around 2-3 hours after Iftar), and 1 snack later in the evening.

Here are some quick tips and hints from our nutritionist to help you through this time of fasting, and how to make sure you still lose weight during this time:

• Consume 2-3 small, nutritious meals each day: Suhoor, Iftar and dinner.

• Include 1 snack each day, preferably a piece of low GI fruit or low fat yoghurt.

• Meals should contain mostly lean protein foods and free vegetables, with a small amount of low GI carbohydrate foods.

• Remember that Iftar is a meal, not a feast and “normal” portion sizes should be consumed.

• Eat slowly and chew your food well to avoid indigestion/heartburn, nausea and regurgitation.

• Break your fast with a warm drink/soup 10- 15 minutes before eating to avoid food getting stuck.

• Avoid “empty calories” such as sweets, pastries, fried foods and fruit juice. Limit sweets to 1-2 per week.

• Avoid eating and drinking at the same time. Sip between Iftar, your dinner meal and bedtime. Try rising earlier to drink before/ after your Suhoor meal. Aim for 2Lt of fluid each day.

• Continue your multivitamin. Take it at Suhoor (and at Iftar if required).

• Commence/continue Benefiber fibre supplement if you are prone to constipation.

• Continue to exercise, perhaps after Iftar.

• Speak to your doctor about your regular medications before commencing fasting.