Weight loss and Ramadan

In my training as a weight loss coach , we are taught to allow urges . Ctfar circumstances generate thoughts that lead to feelings , that fuel actions , that generate the result we're living in our lives . Urge is treated as a feeling in the F line and at Islamic Life Coach School , we allow all the feelings . We make room for them .

What about feelings of anger , fear , sadness ? Yes , we allow all of them . Allowing feeling does not mean asking you to act on them . There are three ways to deal with the feeling . Number one you avoid it or you resist it .

Meaning a feeling of anger or sadness is coming up for you but you ignore it and try to suppress it because you don't want to feel that way . Number two you act on it . Meaning you're excited , you clap your hands , you're sad , you cry . This also includes reactions from a feeling of anger and fear or frustration . Number three you allow the feeling .

Previously we have talked about this in much more detail . But allowing an emotion is to allow the sensations it creates in your body . That's it . If I ask a client what it would feel like if you allowed anxiety , they would almost always say that I would get up and do this and this , or yell and be reactive .

They start describing actions based on anxiety , which isn't what I was asking at all . I was asking the client what would it be like if you allowed anxiety in your body ? The answer is in terms of sensations . You would probably feel a sensation of restlessness , unease , maybe a little pressure in the chest or in the stomach , tingling in the hands .

These are my sensations of anxiety . There are many other sensations that people feel from the same emotion . The trick of allowing an emotion is to tune into the sensations that the body is experiencing and you will see that they will resolve themselves . There is a huge difference between a sensation and an emotion .

Sensation is an example of a pinprick you feel or a burning sensation you might feel from a hot stove . Sensations are different than emotions . Emotions generate sensations . If you don't act out on a feeling or if you don't resist it , the emotion itself is harmless . The same applies to the emotion of an urge .

So there are three ways to deal with an emotion Act on it or react from it , resist it or allow it . So how is allowing the feeling of an urge related to weight loss ? I'm going to teach you everything that it has to do with weight loss .

Ramadan is such a blessing for us that we get to train to live without the things that otherwise are considered necessary , like food and water . This training is a part of allowing an urge . Unfortunately , like any other feeling , we only know how to resist it or avoid it .

And after sunset , when we have resisted the urge to eat all day , we binge eat , which is a reaction because we've been suppressing the urge to eat all day . So most people don't lose weight in Ramadan . Some people actually gain weight and even if you do lose weight , it's temporary and it comes back with a vengeance . I am not a religiously trained scholar .

I cannot come close to describing the spiritual benefits of Ramadan . I can't come close to even describing the health benefits . I'm only focusing on one tiny aspect how we can use fasting to lose weight . This might seem selfish to some , but for others , for those of us struggling with emotional overeating .

This is a lifesaver , so I pray that in this podcast , I'm able to relay my message clearly so everyone listening can benefit . Some pain points around Ramadan , or fasting in general , are fasting becomes hard or even impossible due to dependent habits like caffeine or smoking . Binge eating around suhoor or iftar , that is , before sunrise and after sunset .

Eating highly processed , calorie dense food , fried , sugary , packaged foods . Not being able to lose weight despite fasting the month , or , for some , it's a feeling of dread at the idea of fasting because you dread being hangry . I'm going to try and touch on all of these briefly to help us create a more fulfilling experience in Ramadan .

Inshallah , all results in your life are created by your thoughts . Your most powerful tool is your brain . You can use it to overcome anything . This is so interesting because you struggle with your thoughts and you create a solution with your thoughts .

Ramadan is a blessing that Allah has gifted us to gain agency over our mind , so we can use this powerful blessing to create results rather than struggles . So how can we use this to our advantage ? Is your struggle during fasting around breaking bad habits ? Are you dependent on caffeine or nicotine ? Is smoking something that keeps you from fasting ?

Do you bite your nails ? Some people have a habit of chewing their hair . Are you dependent on sugar chocolate ? Do you overindulge on social media ? Any habit , however seemingly benign , can be overcome in Ramadan . Cursing , bad-mouthing , social media indulgence , youtube , tiktok , you name it All of these habits are actions on repeat .

Ctfar tells us that actions come from thoughts . When we are doing our behaviors repeatedly , the actions become automatic and thoughts that generate these actions become suppressed . Ramadan is a way for us to understand that we actually don't need these things in our lives . If we can refrain from them for the fasting period , we can actually live without them .

Your lower brain would have you believe otherwise . It would tell you that you cannot survive without these habits . Once you realize that you actually don't need these things for your survival , you can work on breaking the habit slowly .

Ramadan is a reset button opportunity to use Allah's blessings and even the social momentum and support that we get from friends , media and family to gain personal well-being . You can use this support to take the first step to breaking a bad habit Does not mean that after the month is over , you revert back to your previous habits . You have to stay consistent .

The Prophet peace be upon him was asked which of the acts are the most beloved to Allah and he said the consistent ones , even if they are small . So end of Ramadan is no green light for you to drop your consistency . Stay in mind management mode all year . Stay consistent . That is the most beloved deed .

If your struggle is that it is physically difficult for you to tolerate hunger or thirst , then remember being hungry or thirsty for a short period of time will not kill you . Every wave of these elevated sensations of hunger and thirst pass . It only hurts you if you resist it . Tune in to what your body feels like during that episode of elevated hunger .

Hunger being a pain point for some is just reactivity from the sensation of hunger . What would happen if you just allowed hunger ? If you have an urge to eat during fasting , we perpetuate it by avoiding it . Tune into the feeling of hunger , the sensation of hunger , and allow it . Tune into the feeling of hunger , the sensation of hunger , and allow it .

Tune into the headache from the caffeine withdrawal and allow it . The more you acknowledge these sensations , the smaller they get . Yes , headache and hunger pains are real , but mostly we perpetuate the experience by becoming a victim to these sensations .

If you allow it , you will not react to it , which is what we mostly regret long after the headache and the hunger pain is gone . If your pain point is anger , try allowing it and , inshallah , it won't be as bad . When you are hungry , that's your body's way of telling you time to eat .

When you have an urge to eat , it's your lower brain's way of telling you to find satisfaction with food . When you have an uncomfortable emotion , like guilt or sadness , urge is different than hunger . Urge can come even when you're not hungry , meaning urge can come even in a full stomach , like an urge to eat a cookie . Urge is a feeling or emotion .

Hunger is a sensation that an empty stomach creates In both cases in case of real hunger and in case of the urge , the sensations generated by both of them can be allowed . Outside of Ramadan and for most of us all . Throughout our lives we've been eating as an answer to the sensation of hunger , which is a natural thing .

But more tragically , we're eating as an answer to mute our negative emotions . Meaning you avoid an emotion by eating . Remember , avoidance is one of the three ways of dealing with an emotion . So in Ramadan , we are forced to not eat , taking out the option of acting from the emotion , leaving us options of reacting from it , allowing it or resisting it .

We've already talked about what reacting from an emotion looks like . As for resisting it , for those of us not mastered the art of fasting , it is because we are resisting these sensations .

We resist being hungry all day , leading to binge eating at dinner time and overeating overnight , pretty much canceling all of the health benefits of the day , indulging into foods that provide instant gratification , like the calorie dense foods and highly processed , fried , sugary foods .

This results in no weight loss or just otherwise feeling or being sluggish throughout the day . Otherwise feeling or being sluggish throughout the day . Understand that in these cases , where hunger is a struggle and it is physically difficult to tolerate at times , being hungry will not kill you . Tell yourself I'm stronger than hunger .

Give yourself room and patience to go through the episode . Be compassionate to your body and to your feelings . You are keeping your body from the most basic needs . Of course it will throw a tantrum . Let it . That is all . It is a tantrum .

There are no long-term health disadvantages to fasting and , quite opposite to that , there are actually innumerable advantages . So if your lower brain feeds you , I'm dying . What are you doing to me ? You monster , feed me . The lower brain is doing what it knows best . It's going into fear mode . It's giving you danger alerts that food is scarce .

Chow down and store fat for the time when food will not be available . Your higher brain can embrace that tantrum in its full capacity . You can still choose to eat healthy , nutritious food without the feeling of scarcity . Your higher brain has it completely under control . Your mind is stronger than your body .

If your struggle is emotional fear of anxiety , in fear of deprivation from not having food tell your mind a different sentence . All emotions , including deprivation , arise from thoughts . Your fear of not being able to eat or drink is coming from a thought . It's a lower brain thought in this case . Try and find this thought .

What is it that I feel I need to eat ? I should eat every 4 hours , is it ? I can't go this long without food . What sentence is driving your fear of fasting ? Find that sentence and replace it with a different one . That thought will serve you . Fasting cannot physically hurt me . Fasting is good for me . Fasting is good for me . Fasting has benefits .

Allah has commanded fasting . You will be surprised how easy it is to retrain your brain by changing one sentence at a time . Pick a thought that suits your needs and practice it . And now I would like to take this opportunity to invite you guys to the 21st century .

This is where the scientists have actually caught up to the fact that fasting is good for a human being . After going through roller coasters of non-fat , frequent meal diet and exercise fads , science is proving that fasting is beneficial for us , something that was told to us centuries and centuries ago by Islam .

On a spiritual level , I tell myself , of course , nothing surprising there , but on an intellectual level , my mind is blown and my faith is reaffirmed . So dealing with the sensations of hunger because you don't get to eat during fasting is a part of the training that the human brain needs . Another big part of this training is how to allow urges .

I've described before that hunger is a sensation that you feel from a physical lack of food . Urge is an emotion that comes from a lack of access to your immediate gratification .

For some people it's food , for others it's caffeine , for others it's social media , and I honestly believe this is the bigger lesson here , again , not accounting for the spiritual , psychological benefits that Allah has promised us . I cannot encompass that in this podcast .

This is the bigger lesson here , again , not accounting for the spiritual , psychological benefits that Allah has promised us . I cannot encompass that in this podcast . Outside of that realm , I do believe that allowing for urges is the biggest lesson to take out of Ramadan .

If you need further clarification on how to allow urges , or you have identified your urge and you need help processing it rather than overeating from it , then please book a consult with me and I'll guide you through that . Allowing for urges is the key to losing weight . For emotional overeaters , fasting is the best teacher for that .

All of this applies if you're listening to this , outside of the month of Ramadan , because you can use it to fast during any other day . Besides the spiritual benefits of fasting , you can gain physical health benefits

like weight loss . I'm grateful for Ramadan and the uncountable blessings that it has for us as Muslims . May Allah grant us the full benefits of this month that he has intended for us . This episode was just a drop in the ocean of the benefits that we can otherwise reclaim from this month .

I pray for Allah to give us the mental and the physical strength to fast and to fulfill our spiritual self during fasting . May Allah grant us many more of this month so we can capitalize on its benefits to the maximum . May Allah make us successful in this world and the next , through our efforts of fasting and gaining His approval only .

Ameen , ya Rabbul Aalameen . I will talk to you guys next time .