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Fasting tips for the long summer days of Ramadhan
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Muslim youths reading the Quran together during Ramadhan. (Shutterstock/-)
F
or Muslims living in the northern hemisphere, fasting during the summer, when days can be over 20-hours long, poses quite a challenge. Here are some tips shared by Indonesian citizens who have been through it on how to cope with the situation.
Do as many activities as you can
“Well, I don't have any special strategy to maintain my energy, I just get on with my days as usual. Most of the day, I don't actually notice hunger and thirst though, since there are tasks to be done that distract me," said Alkindi, who fasted for 18 hours a day when living in Enschede, the Netherlands.
“If I go to school or work, fasting isn’t so hard. It’s harder if I don’t do anything. Last year, I didn’t have many activities though, so it was hard. Because if you don’t do anything, you’ll think about food. And going outside doesn't help. All the food stalls are open, and as my friends here are not fasting, we usually have to watch them having lunch," shared Shabrina Kadri, an undergraduate alumnus living in Toronto, Canada, who enjoys fasting for 19 hours a day.
Practice, practice, practice
“I never thought to follow Indonesian time during Ramadhan here, since I'm used to practicing the fast on Monday and Thursday, so my body got used to not eating and drinking for many hours. At first, when I had just moved to Canada, it really felt hard, but it wasn’t so bad. Fortunately, I never skip any fasting day," said Ridzki Samsulhadi who moved to Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, in 2007, but now lives in Toronto.
(Read also: This summer, long fasting days mostly affect sleep schedules of Indonesians living abroad)
Manage your sleep and nutrition
“One of the most challenging things is adjusting your sleeping schedule, since we have 24 hours of daylight it interferes with our natural sleep pattern. Right after tarawih [evening prayers], we need to go to sleep in order to be able to wake up in time for sahur [pre-dawn meal]," said Retno Aini, a mother and content editor of a parenting community media outlet in Indonesia who moved to Tromsø, Norway, in March 2013.
“We reduce the consumption of coffee and other caffeinated drinks. To maintain our energy during the day when we are fasting, we sometimes replace rice with whole wheat breads, potatoes, baked veggies or oatmeal porridge for our sahur. These foods are a good source of carbohydrates as they take longer to digest, so they will make us feel full for longer than rice," Retno added.
"We often make fruit and vegetable smoothies so we can drink and eat nutritious food at the same time. Furthermore, eating local products such as breads, muesli, salmon, tubers and dairy products can also be more economical compared to eating a complete set of Indonesian food [such as rice with various side dishes] even though we miss Indonesian food a lot." (kes)
