Intro

Bismillah hir Rahman nir Rahim

Now that Ramadan is over, I have decided to go on a diet again. Before Ramadan I was doing low carb, which has worked for me in the past(I lost about 15 pounds this summer), but it's really hard to deprive myself of pasta, rice, bread, cookies, CHOCOLATE. It also gets expencive, with all the meat you have to eat, and Atkins bars are not cheap. So, instead of going on a low carb diet, I decided to try something different.

For the next three months I want to document my success (or lack there of) at what I call the "Sunnah Diet." Sunnah roughly mean the lifestyle of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. As Muslims we should always try to follow the Sunnah, inshaAllah, to perfect our own religious lives. The Sunnah is found in the haddith, the sayings and deeds of the Prophet, peace be upon him. The haddith cover almost anything you can think of, everything from the proper way to pray, enter and leave your house, bathe, even go the bathroom. The Islamic manners for eating are also in the haddith.

To keep it brief, Islamic dieting (or my understanding of it) is mostly about portion control. You are not supposed to overeat and stuff yourself silly. You should have some personal control over how you eat, meaning don't scarf it down, eat it slowly. You should also drink lots of water or fluids. You should fill your stomach with 1/3 food, 1/3 drink, and 1/3 air (air is the empty space, from not filling yourself totally.) Eat until you are not hungry. And there is no deprivation, you can enjoy your cookies and sweeties, but in moderation. Moderation is the key to everything in Islam. But keep in mind, the earliest Muslims on up until recent times did not have all the processed junk food we have today. Don't eat your Oreoes straight out of the bag. Put a few on a plate, and don't sneak back for more. CONTROL YOURSELF.

InshaAllah I will post the haddiths that I read, the "rules" so to speak. I thought this was the best time to start, with Ramadan still fresh on my mind, and the knowledge that self disciplne and self control are possible. All during Ramadan, I woke up at 5:00 or 5:30 to eat breakfast, near impossible feats for me! But I was determined to not ruin my fasts by skipping Suhur and missing Fajr. I was determined to not miss my fasts, even though I was evacuating for Hurricane Ike, or because I was nearly killed by a tree falling on the house.

I intend to keep up with my dieting for the next three months. I am going to "expose" myself a bit, and admit how much I weigh....hmm, maybe next post.