I am Muslim and the month of Ramadan starts in about 1/2 days time when we Muslims fast for a month. Unfortunately here in UK this time of the year the fasting is going to be as long as 16 hours!
I am a beginner in bodybuilding. I have been seriously doing it for only the past two months. I have gained around 2.5lbs so far and my body fat percentage is just around 19% at the moment. Weight is just around 162lbs.
I seriously need suggestion and advice from people regarding the nutrition during the next one month. I will tell you about this month a little in detail to give you an idea of the eating pattern during this month.
The fast starts by having a meal just before dawn which at this time of the year is somewhere between 5 am to 5.30 am. From then onwards we are not allowed to eat or drink anything up until dusk which is at around 8 pm now. From then onwards we can eat up to the next morning again before going on to fast another day.
So it would be much appreciated if you people stepped up and gave me some valuable advice regarding nutrition for the next one month.
Good luck. Ideally, you would be awake for the entire time you open your fast in order to put down all the meals/nutrients you needed.
However, you’ve only been BB’ing for two months and only added 2.5lbs of muscle. You can go a month without stressing it. Just get back on your grind after Ramadan.
Make sure you’re getting enough protein and calories for your goals during the time when you’re awake. So it might look something like this;
8pm: Breaking your fast with some source of carbs/fats and protein (e.g whey)
9pm: another meal
11pm: I’m assuming you’re going to train late because of prayers etc so at this time get some preworkout-nutrition
Workout
12pm-1am: post workout nutrition.
5am: Have another meal here that contains casein or some whole foods protein.
Some tips:
Split your training routine up so each session will last probably around 30 minutes only. That way you have the option of doing it just after breaking the fast.
Get enough sleep (7-8 hours per day). Take naps during the day if you have to.
I have to repeat this part: Make sure you’re getting enough protein and your calories are set (either in deficit for fat loss or excess for weight gain).
I’m on the same boat. At Sehri time, have something that’s rich in slow-release protein, such as milk and cottage cheese. Have plenty of water, about 30 minutes prior. Have eggs or an omelet, and have slow releasing carbs with it, such as bran bread or oatmeal. Your good to go. Yogurt is also good.
[quote]elusive wrote:
Good luck. Ideally, you would be awake for the entire time you open your fast in order to put down all the meals/nutrients you needed.
However, you’ve only been BB’ing for two months and only added 2.5lbs of muscle. You can go a month without stressing it. Just get back on your grind after Ramadan.[/quote]
Elusive,
Thanks for your comment. Actually I have not put on 2.5lbs I think. For the past one week I have measured my weight twice and it came to somewhere around 74 kg. I was under 72 kg normally. I measured it today again on almost empty stomach and the scaled showed 72.6 lbs and my fat calculator showed 18%. So I would say I have put on around 1.5 lbs of muscle mass. I am a very skinny guy and don’t possess very high testosterone level
[quote]OldDirtyCracker wrote:
Meat for breakfast and “lunch” at 2 am? Please let us know what happens.[/quote]
OldDirtyCracker,
Thanks for your reply. Well I don’t think I will be getting up at 2 am for lunch or 2nd dinner and then again at 4.30 for the very last meal before starting the fast. That would be quite tough I guess. But if I do get awake or decide to wake up during the month twice I am thinking of having a glass of protein shake with milk, that will give me around 30g protein and just under 10g Carb and little bit of fat.
Thanks for the informative reply. Well I am actually thinking otherwise in regards to training. My gym closes at 9.30 pm on weekdays and fasting breaks at 8.15 pm. So no chance of getting there after breaking the fast and doing prayer.
In fact I am thinking of running twice a week for around 30 minutes and doing full blast core training once a week at home. I don’t wanna do something too much to get myself dehydrated because I know how bad stomach cramp can be. My body metabolism is quite high as I am used to eating at least 5/6 times a day not just because I want to gain muscle mass but because I have gastric problem therefore I need to be regular in eating
I am thinking of having at least around 80g of protein by consuming protein shakes throughout the non-fasting period. I have noticed that consuming 150g protein throughout the day after intense training is enough for recovery for me.
I maintain a food diary but during Ramadan I am not going to because the diet is going to be pretty much the same during this time so no point in wasting the pages My optimum calorie intake is arond 2600Kcal and I have been steadily losing body-fat having that much calorie. I am aiming to have around 2200Kcal each day during Ramadan.
Go get a big tub of casein protein and down a ton just before the fasting period. Iâ??d add in some fat and complex carbs too, maybe some fiber. That way youâ??re digesting food and getting nutrients for at least a number of hours into your fast.
I’m on the same boat. At Sehri time, have something that’s rich in slow-release protein, such as milk and cottage cheese. Have plenty of water, about 30 minutes prior. Have eggs or an omelet, and have slow releasing carbs with it, such as bran bread or oatmeal. Your good to go. Yogurt is also good. [/quote]
Sepulnation,
Oatmeal in the morning along with an omlet sounds good. I don’t have casein protein but have whey. Protein powders are damn expensive The one that I have have will last me a good 2-3 weeks. I am a fan of cottage cheese so thanks a lot for your advice.
Salaam yeamin, Ramadan Mubarak!!! InshaAllah may Allah make this a blessed month for you.
When I fast, this is usually how I do it:
Suhoor (early morning meal): 2 eggs, 1 serving EVOO, 2 scoops Metabolic Drive (or other casein protein in your case since you are in England and if you don’t have Biotest products), and ALOT of water (even if I’m not thirsty, I chug it anyways).
It may not be the best, but I worked out 1 hour before sunset, so by the time I get home and shower, sunset has arrived and I can eat/drink again.
Sunset: dates, water, protein shake (on workout days)
Dinner 1: 8 oz chicken/broccoli/EVOO, water
Dinner 2: 8 oz fish, veggies, 1 tbsp peanut butter
That was my rough mealplan. Not set all 30 days in stone, but pretty close.
Thanks for the link. I’ll be in the same boat as well.
Trying out taking some fats (dark chocolate) + whey-casein mix + additional BCAA’s before Fajr, along with a lot of water. I plan to break with high protein, followed by protein+carbs preworkout after Isyak+Tarawih prayers. I plan to equal or only slightly reduce intake. And since I live in Malaysia, (fast lasts from 6 am to 7.30 pm), I can do with training at night and get enough sleep.
[quote]tmoney1 wrote:
Salaam yeamin, Ramadan Mubarak!!! InshaAllah may Allah make this a blessed month for you.
When I fast, this is usually how I do it:
Suhoor (early morning meal): 2 eggs, 1 serving EVOO, 2 scoops Metabolic Drive (or other casein protein in your case since you are in England and if you don’t have Biotest products), and ALOT of water (even if I’m not thirsty, I chug it anyways).
It may not be the best, but I worked out 1 hour before sunset, so by the time I get home and shower, sunset has arrived and I can eat/drink again.
Sunset: dates, water, protein shake (on workout days)
Dinner 1: 8 oz chicken/broccoli/EVOO, water
Dinner 2: 8 oz fish, veggies, 1 tbsp peanut butter
That was my rough mealplan. Not set all 30 days in stone, but pretty close.[/quote]
Salaam brother,
Thanks on sharing your approach. That seems to be a little too much. I am finding it quite hard to eat anything at all. I am now totally used to having little regular meals spread across in 4-6 meals a day so you can say my stomach has squeezed in a lot more than last year. It just is so painful to eat within that short amount of time I am awake. The stomach feels like bursting because of shoving down too much food!
Thanks a lot for the link as well! It’s Fazr namaaz time and I’ll have a read a little later.
[quote]bushidobadboy wrote:
I’m kind of prepping a guy for a local show in 5 weeks or so’s time. Alas, he neglected to mention that he was fasting for a month before the show. “Oh well, should be a challenge” I thought when he did tell me.
The only real modifiactions we have made are that he will be breaking fast with a hyperaminoacidemia shot (10g leucine, 50g casein hydro), consuming a few liquid meals during the eating window, and having another HA shot (with meal) last thing before fasting again.
BBB[/quote]
His show is in 5 weeks time and he’s going to fast in 4 of those weeks? I’m really interested in how the protocol’ll turn out. All the best BBB
[quote]anakayub wrote:
Thanks for the link. I’ll be in the same boat as well.
Trying out taking some fats (dark chocolate) + whey-casein mix + additional BCAA’s before Fajr, along with a lot of water. I plan to break with high protein, followed by protein+carbs preworkout after Isyak+Tarawih prayers. I plan to equal or only slightly reduce intake. And since I live in Malaysia, (fast lasts from 6 am to 7.30 pm), I can do with training at night and get enough sleep.[/quote]
my muslim friend, you should be able to gain muscle in ramadan considering you are a rank beginner. Eat more when you can eat.
Protein powder is not expensive, it is extremely cheap! 4.54kg of unflavoured whey protein concentrate is 32 pounds. Milk protein concentrate is around 22 for unflavoured and 25 flavoured. They whey protein works out at less than 20p per scoop!
I think you’ll find protein powder is cheaper and more convenient than food.
