Posts Tagged ‘healthy-living’

Trading the Grain for Almond

Posted: July 14, 2013 in Challenge, Food, Ramadan
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Today I made a couple of dishes that are usually heavy in starch, carbs, sugar, and everything else that leaves you with a stomach ache. For the most part, it’s as simple as swapping out the grain for almond flour! I made pancakes for Sahoor and enchiladas for Iftar. The recipes below are examples of how you can still enjoy everyday food without feeling guilty or fat.

For Sahoor

This is a recipe for about 2 servings of Paleo Pancakes with syrup. Huh? Syrup? Just read on..

For the Syrup:

  1. Pour the juice into a sauce pan and and heat over high. Bring it to a slight broil.
  2. Once it starts to broil, lower the heat to medium and let it reduce. This takes about 10 minutes but in my experience, once it starts to reduce, it goes fast and becomes thick. You want it to thicken up a bit but too much is annoying.
  3. Once it’s at syrup thickness, take it off the stove and let it cool for a little bit before pouring it on your pancakes.

For the Pancakes:

  1. In a bowl, mix the almond flour, baking powder, sea salt, and cinnamon.
  2. In a seprate bowl, mix the milk and eggs. Mash in a banana if you want to.
  3. Combine into a cup that you will use to pour the mixture into the pan. I use a measuring cup that has a spout. Mix it all up.
  4. Heat up a skillet and add a little bit of coconut oil to it
  5. Pour less than 1/4 cup of the mixture into the skillet at a time.
  6. Cook on medium heat for a couple of minutes or until the sides start to brown up
  7. Flip and cook the other side for only a minute or so. Be careful while flipping, these are very fragile and take one or two rounds to get the feel of it before you can flip them without breaking them. Repeat with the remaining batter.

Once everything was done, I placed the pancakes on to a plate, put a little bit of the Kerrygold butter on top and then drizzled syrup on it. Tasted better than packaged pancake batter and kept me full in a healthy way throughout the day.

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For Iftar

I love Mexican food. Mexican food does not like human bodies or else it wouldn’t be so evil. It helped Mexico beat America in becoming the fattest country in the world! I’m here to tell you it doesn’t have to be that way. Today with the assistance of my sister, I made open enchiladas. This dish is a little more time consuming to make so plan ahead and have a partner. It serves 2-3 people.

For Enchiladas:

  • 1 lb of chicken, diced (you can actually use whatever meat you want)
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 1 1/2 cups of tomato puree
  • 4 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 2-3 tsp of chili powder
  • 1 tsp of cumin
  • 1 tsp of dried oregano
  • 1 tsp of sea salt
  • coconut oil

For Tortillas

  • 4 tablespoons of Almond Flour
  • 1/4 tsp of baking powder
  • 4 egg whites
  • 2 table spoons of almond or coconut milk
  • 1 tsp coconut oil per tortilla
  1. Preheat your oven to 370 degrees
  2. Place the meat onto a baking dish and bake it for about 15 minutes
  3. Heat up a pan and saute the onions on medium heat until they become soft.
  4. Add in the tomato puree, garlic, chili powder, cumin, oregano, and salt. Stir it up while it simmers on low heat for about 15-20 minutes
  5. Pour the mixture into a food processor and blend until it’s a smooth sauce.
  6. Place the tortillas in the baking dish and place the almost cooked chicken on top of them.
  7. Pour the enchilada sauce on top.
  8. Cover the enchiladas with aluminum foil and place back into the over for about 10 minutes.
  9. Cut up an avocado and some lime to enjoy with the dish.

Making the tortillas is pretty simple. Adjust the amount of ingredients to make how many you want. I would make these during step 4 above.

  1. In a bowl or cup that has a spout, mix in the almond flour, baking powder, eggs, and milk. Mix until all of the lumps are gone.
  2. Heat up a pan and add in coconut oil.
  3. Pour the batter into the pan. Move the pan around to thin it out. You can make the tortillas small if you want to make open enchiladas like I did or make them large if you plan on wrapping them closed.
  4. Cook for about 1 minute and flip them. Cook for another 30 seconds or so and they are done.

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So there you have it. Delicious meals that normally would have you feeling guilty for a week done in a healthy way. I hope you enjoy them!

Ramadan 2013 Mubarak!

Posted: July 8, 2013 in Challenge
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Can anyone believe that almost a whole year has gone by already? For those scratching their heads thinking that Ramadan seems to be starting earlier this year, you’re right. Ramadan follows the lunar calendar which results in it starting about 10 days earlier each year.

My fellow athletes that train with me know of my struggle with fitness this year. Between major projects at work, my board positions, and businesses, I found myself in the midst of a perfect storm that kept me away from all 3 major dimensions of fitness: exercise, nutrition, and rest. I’ve seen my metcon ability go out the window and my strength numbers drop dramatically over the past 6 months. Sad times.

As I debated restarting this blog this Ramadan, I remembered how much fun it was and how dedicated I became in all aspects of my life. I was doing well in the gym, my nutrition was on par, and I practiced this month’s duties better than ever. Not to mention, the month flew by. It became an obvious answer; the challenge that I started last year as an experiment will be my fitness revival this year!

I plan on following a similar format as I did last year however I will be experimenting with some new techniques for working out and obviously new healthy recipes. I also hope to collaborate with some great nutrition minds that surround me. If you would like to be a part of this project or have any suggestions, please reach out to me!

Also I want to reiterate like I did last year that I am not in any way an expert of scholar in Islamic scholar nor should anything I say be taken as professional advice . I simply want to journal the experience of a Muslim breaking the common mindset that this month is an excuse to overindulge with samosas and avoid fitness.

Here is to the next 30 days! Oh and make sure to stretch out….38863_10150237681965263_2865409_n

Pardon the Egg Roll and Snacking

Posted: August 15, 2012 in Challenge, Food
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So last night was another situation where I had Iftar at a friend’s house. I talked about this a few posts ago about creating a game plan when you are on foreign turf. I stuck with the same principles last night and I was able to get a great Paleo meal in. Much thanks to my friend and his family for great food!

Workout

This workout was 2 short workouts put together. There was a little bit of a break in between them to recover but there is only so much recovery when you haven’t eaten or drank all day. I got through it though and even ran!

3 Rounds
15 Hang Power Cleans 135lbs
15 Burpees
–10 Minute rest–
5 Rounds
35 Double Unders
Run 200 M

My stamina is building up and my body is adjusting to this so I will be curious to see how my body performs when it’s fully hydrated next week. If I’m starting to perform decent now, I should be a killer next week right??

Iftar

There you see some meat, some greens, a broiled tomato, and a unique lemon with spinach dish that I have to find the recipe for. I made sure to empty a jug of water.

Last night was also Laylatul Qadr, or night of power. It’s the 27th night of Ramadan and is a very special occasion. During the nights of Ramadan, there is a special prayer called Taraweeh every night. During these prayers, the Quran is recited in it’s entirety over the span of 27 days. Last night was when the last bit was read. The turn out was phenomenal. There had to have been over 2,000 people in the mosque. This was the case at mosques around the world. After that is done, people spend most of the night praying, reading the Quran, and worshiping in other ways. It’s said that worshiping in this night contains more reward than 1000 months. I’m all about good deals and that sounds like a good one to me. So I spent the night back and forth from the mosque. Now, dinner was around 8 pm, I didn’t sleep till 6 am. I had to have gotten hungry, so how did I snack?

I tried to stay healthy while snacking most of the night. I did indulge on a few Doritos (booo yeah I know), but I contained it. I had some mashed sweet potatoes left over from the other night so I ate that. I ate some watermelon to satisfy the sweet tooth, the almond butter came in handy as well. What was missing was guac… I need to fix that. Anyhow, I also snacked on gluten free hummus and drank lot’s of water.

Sahoor

This took me right into Sahoor and I made Chicken Stir Fry with eggs:

    • 3 eggs
    • 1 Tbs of water
    • 1/8 tsp of sea salt
    • 1/4 tsp of chili powder
    • 1/4 onion, chopped
    • 1 small tomato, chopped
    • 2 Tbs of coconut oil
    • 2 Scallions, cut in to 1 inch pieces
    • 1 bell pepper, chopped
    • 1 clove of garlic, minced
    • 2 chapli kabobs, diced or 1/2 lb of cooked chicken breast, diced

Beat the eggs in a bowl with the water, salt, chili powder, tomato, and onion. Heat up a pan and add the coconut oil. Add in the scallion, bell pepper, and garlic and saute for a few minutes until they are tender. Add in the egg mixture along with the chicken and start mixing it around. Keep mixing and scrambling until it’s done.

Serve it on a plate with some slivered almonds. A sliced avocado would go great with it too. I had some sweet potato remaining so I ate that with it. I drank 1.5 liters of water and was full.

This is it, less thanb 3 days left! Stay focused and let’s get through it.

Return on Investment

Posted: August 12, 2012 in Challenge, Food
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Before I get into today’s topic, I want to share something that I’ve been laughing to myself about all day. In my last post I talked about not giving in to peer pressure or those food temptations you would regret later. I think I could have used this yesterday at the froyo place:

Lol anyhow, return on investment, ROI. I could go on for pages about the ROI you can get from this month so I will just target what this blog is intended for. I’ve talked to a few people about their eating habits during Ramadan and I hear one answer pretty often. “Oh it’s Ramadan, so it’s my month off from watching my diet.” Sigh. I think we need to alter our thinking when it comes to this. If Ramadan was only one day like Eid or Thanksgiving, then sure, by all means do what you want. However, we are talking about 30 days of when we should be striving for perfection in all aspects of life. By cultural habit, these 30 days consist of some of the worst food your body will ever consume throughout the year and since our brains tell us we are starving, we indulge in gluttony. Why do everything else good this month but neglect our body? Ramadan is usually a month for change in a lot of our daily habits. We strive to be nicer, more charitable, more pious. Why not add “Healthy Lifestyle” to the list of habits you want to make a positive change on during this month. By binding yourself to those intentions for these 30 days, you could come out a changed person with a whole new lifestyle. Investing in yourself for these 30 days could return a lifetime of benefits like decreased medical bills and disease prevention.

I noticed my ROI decrease in recent days when I stopped putting in much effort for Sahoor. I was stuck in a cycle of waking up late and just throwing together an omelette. I got bored with this and started eating less, resulting in decreased energy throughout the day. I’ve decided that for the rest of Ramadan, I will be waking up much earlier to ensure I make something enticing for Sahoor. This will involve doing some preparations the night before too so I’m excited to wake up and get ready for Sahoor.

Sahoor – This morning I made a mexican breakfast dish, Huevos Rancheros. It’s essentially an egg omelette with salsa.

    • 1 tomato, chopped
    • 1 jalepeno pepper, chopped
    • 1 garlic clove, minced
    • 1/4 small onion, chopped
    • sea salt
    • 2 eggs and 3 egg whites
    • 2 Tbs of olive oil

Puree the tomato, jalepeno, garlic, and onions in a blender. Put 1 Tbs of oil on a hot pan and then add the salsa to it. Cook it until it starts getting thick. Move it to the side but keep it warm. Make the omelette to your desire. Add the salsa to the omelette and you have your self Huevos Rancheros.

Look, it’s a happy meal. Hahha…ha…ha. Anyways, it was a good breakfast. I had a couple of spoon fulls of almond butter as well. I drank 1.5 liters of water.

So I’ve told you what changes I will be making. Are there some that you are looking to make too?

Be the Example

Posted: August 11, 2012 in Food
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Eating properly when you are with out your peers is a lot harder than when you are cooking in your own kitchen. For one it’s all too easy to order something that you will regret later. You also have the peer pressure, the jokes, and the tedious task of finding something that would fit your lifestyle. This is especially hard when you are first starting out a Paleo lifestyle or any healthy diet for that matter. However after a few weeks, that diet becomes your lifestyle and all those former “tasty” treats aren’t as appealing to you. That might also be because you know how your stomach reacts to those things now when you go overboard on a cheat meal. Put those temptations to the side, lead by example and who knows what minds you will change. If a group of friends constantly sees you subbing the rice for vegetables, at some point they might consider changing their habits for the better as well. Be the example.

If you know you will be going out and you know what restaurant you will be eating out, do your homework. Most places will provide a menu online. Look through it before you head out and see what you would like. That way when it’s time to order, you aren’t put into a bind and make the wrong decision under pressure. Check out what sides the meal may come with and what your alternatives could be. Go in with a game plan and backup game plan. If the menu isn’t available online, don’t be shy about asking the staff for nutritional facts or how things are made. Most places will be more than happy to provide you with that and if they don’t, well then place might just not fit your lifestyle. Also don’t hesitate to ask for substitutes. Chances are the greens you ask for are a lot easier for them to provide than the cheese or rice. Do your homework, have a game plan, and stick to it at all costs. You never know whose life you could change at any given moment.

Sahoor – Today was going to be a workout rest day for me so I didn’t eat as well as I should have. I had 2 scrambled eggs with onions, tomatoes, and peppers. I added some sea salt and ground pepper to it as well. I also had a chicken chapli kabob (the ones from yesterday). I downed a liter of water and called it a morning.

Iftar – I went out to dinner with friends and took my game plan with me. I searched for the restaurant’s menu online, found what would be Paleo friendly, looked up was in it and some nutritional facts. I ended up ordering Tokyo style Ahi Tuna with mixed vegetables and steamed broccoli. Usually this dish comes with vegetables and rice. I had my game plan with me though so I knew I would substitute out the rice for something else. I chose to go with broccoli. It also came with soy sauce (probably sodium loaded so I avoided it), wasabi, and ginger.

I did falter slightly with the desert afterwords and had some frozen yogurt. I stuck with the non fat yogurt but it’s still processed junk. My friends decided to call me out on it so I posed for a picture eating it to remind myself to stick to the game plan next time!

Overall, do your homework, have a game plan, avoid peer pressure, and hold your self accountable. (phew, doesn’t that line just blow you away??) haha anyways, until next time!

Power of a Good Breakfast

Posted: August 10, 2012 in Challenge, Food
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Hey, did you know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day? Snore. Duh, we’ve all been hearing this since we were little. Oh but do we really spend the time and effort every morning to eat a nutritional breakfast? By that I don’t mean pouring a bowl of sugar packed cereal or grabbing some toaster pastries as you are leaving the house. I mean actually budget time in the mornings to prepare a breakfast that contains protein, complex carbs, and healthy fats. What you have for breakfast will affect the rest of your day every single time. Not only will it decide if you will have a sluggish or energetic day, it can greatly affect your workout. Today I was able to have a great meal for Sahoor and it resonated throughout my day, all the way to my CrossFit workout in the evening.

Sahoor

For starters, I had scrambled eggs, 2 eggs/2 egg whites (I ran out), mixed with onions and peppers. Going back to being prepared, I made guacamole the night before because I knew I wouldn’t have the energy nor time to make it in the morning. I added a generous amount to my plate. I even scooped some up with my fork and ate it afterwards by itself. I followed this with a protein shake and 1.5+ liters of water. I felt great already and knew it would be a good day!

The Workout

Today’s workout consisted of a strength portion followed by a met-con.

Every Minute on the Minute for 7 Minutes
1 Clean and Jerk – 185 lb
 
3 Rounds for Time
7 Front Squats – 185 lb
21 Kettle Bell Swings – 53 lb
Run 200 meters

The only thing I modified was the run. The rest of the athletes ran 400 meters. Other than that, I was able to do all of the Clean and Jerks at that weight with no issue. The 7th one was challenging to maintain form but it didn’t feel heavy! For the met-con, in order to do your Front Squats, you have to Clean the bar to your shoulders and then squat. So the key is to do them unbroken. As soon as you drop that bar, you have to spend a decent amount of energy to pick that 185 lbs up to your shoulders. I was pretty good at doing those unbroken until the very last Front Squat in the very last round! Picking that bar up took some time since your quads are getting destroyed by the KB swings as well as the run. Nonetheless, I was excited that I was able to finish it in a good time, WITHOUT feeling dizzy!! I honestly feel that my nutrient filled breakfast attributed to my successful workout.

Iftar

For tonight’s Iftar, I decided to make another bunless burger. This time around I used Chicken Chapli Kabobs.

    • ground chicken meat
    • onions
    • green peppers
    • tomatoes
    • chili powder
    • eggs
    • olive oil

Add the onions, peppers, tomatoes, and chili powder to a food processor. Blend it up and then add the mixture along with the eggs and oil to the ground chicken. Use your hands to mix it up real well. Grab a meatball sized amount of meat into your hands and then form it into a circular pattie. Slap it onto a grill and let it cook. I usually use a George Foreman grill and make a large batch at one time. I then freeze them for future use. They are great to pull out for a quick meal when you don’t have time to cook.

I added a layer of lettuce to my plate, added on 4 or 5 chicken patties, topped with some sliced onions, cucumbers, organic Dijon mustard and the remaining guac. You can really add whatever you would normally enjoy on a burger (as long as it’s not processed and loaded with junk!) I had a protein shake and some fish oil as well. Great way to end the day.

To recap, breakfast = very important. Breakfast….=….very important. Note what you eat in the mornings and you will find a direct correlation to the function of your day. Make that meal count!

Weighing In

Posted: August 8, 2012 in Challenge, Food, Ramadan
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It’s important to assess your progress (or retrogress) in any activity you take on. In CrossFit, this is done by doing Benchmark Workouts or by checking your maxes in different Olympic and Power lifts. Along with those numbers, keeping track of your body fat (and sometimes weight) is important as well. With Ramadan 2/3s over, it was time to do a “weigh in” to see what sort of progress I had made and if I am still in line with my goals. First let’s talk about what I ate.

Sahoor – Again, (sorry) another day of scrambled eggs with onions and tomatoes. Yeah I’m starting to get sick of this too. I also had a protein shake and a liter of water. I’ll try to get creative here soon, I promise. It’s actually hurting my workouts because I’m not getting enough fats in. I think it might be time for some more guac…

Iftar – I opened my fast with a protein shake at the gym since I was running late. Luckily I was having dinner with the family so I didn’t have to cook. My family isn’t exactly Paleo compliant but they are aware of what I am doing so they made sure I was accommodated. The dinner consisted of marinated whole chicken, chicken nuggets, fries, other carbs, and salad. Can you guess what I stuck with?I hacked some different parts of the chicken on to my plate, added in the salad, and indulged in some family bonding. Growing up, this was one of my favorite meals. The chicken is marinated in a blend of spices including chili powder, chaat masala, and crushed peppers all mixed with lemon and lime juice. You literally take a whole chicken, dip it in this mixture and bake it until it’s done. The spice mixture will drip off as it bakes but you can scoop it right back up to have with your chicken when it’s done.

Weighing In

So I weighed myself and I had a bit of a shock. I am down 13 pounds! To the average person that sounds great but to an athlete it could be detrimental. Is it 13 lbs of fat? Was it muscle? Has my body fat gone up since I’m eating less? Have I lost lean body mass?

Given that it’s Ramadan and those obligations comes first to me, I went into this knowing I would lose some muscle and strength but 13 lbs was a little scary. Sure, since my surgery my diet had been horrible and I barely made it to the gym so I had some pounds to spare. I made it over to Max Muscle to get my body fat tested. The result, I have lost almost 2% body fat! That may not sound like a lot but being at 11%, I don’t have a lot to lose there. Side note, when I first started CrossFit, I was over 20% body fat. Yummy.

So weight is down, body fat is down, how is my strength? I decided to measure my Press, Push Press, and Jerk lifts. I did several sets of each movement to find a 1 rep max.

    • Press – I didn’t come anywhere near my 1 rep max and I was really discouraged. I was failing at about 20# below my PR (Personal Record). I think I just wasn’t warmed up (or awake) enough at this point.
    • Push press – I picked up where I left off with the press to do a push press. I failed on my first one and this is when I began to worry. Had I lost that much? Or maybe I just didn’t eat right today? I decided to drop the weight down by 20# and work my way up. Success. I was able to work my way up pretty fast. I didn’t hit a PR or match my existing one but I came pretty close.
    • Jerk – I hit real success on this movement. I started a few lbs under where I left the push press off at. This movement requires some real explosion when you split your legs and I definitely felt myself weaker than normal days. I had to compensate by using more arm strength but I made it work. I was able to match my PR!! I mighthave been able to hit a new PR but I was pretty wiped after almost 30 reps at this point. Also, it was time for Iftar so I didn’t have time for another rep.

Here is a video of my one rep before I matched my PR. As you as can see I don’t have the explosiveness I should at all but I blame fatigue and hunger for that!

Overall I have to say that I am pretty satisfied with my results. I knew I wasn’t going to make great gains this month but I’m happy to see that I was able to match my PR. I will do some more of these in the coming days with other movements to see how this Ramadan Challenge is shaping up to be!

Craving the Guac

Posted: August 2, 2012 in Food
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So I’ve been told by some that I eat a lot of guacamole.  I don’t think I eat enough! Love that stuff. If I had ripe avocados being delivered to me on a daily basis (hmm, wonder if Amazon Prime can do this), I would probably make some for every meal. I know some of you are still making faces at that word but have you tried it yet?? It will change your life. Well not really but it’s one of the best alternatives I’ve found for sugar/carb loaded sides. It has the essentials like monounsaturated fats, fiber, vitamins C and E and potassium that you need to get through these long days of Ramadan. According to the American Heart Association, monounsaturated fats from avocados can help reduce your cholesterol level, a huge contributor to heart disease. Oh so I guess it could change your life!

Guacamole can be eaten with almost anything too. Chicken, eggs, carrots, literally anything (ahem, including chips and pizza but that’s not the point of this blog). Anyhow, by popular demand and to save you from having to scrolling down too far, here is the recipe again. I’ve tweaked it a little bit:

    • 2 ripe avocados, peeled
    • 1 lemon
    • 1/2 lime 
    • 1/4 tsp of cumin
    • 1/2 tsp of chili powder
    • 1 clove of garlic (or less), minced
    • 1/4 tsp of sea salt
    • 1 diced tomato, diced
    • 1/2 red onion, diced
    • handful of cilantro to garnish, finely chopped (how-to)

Instructions: Put everything in bowl and mash it up with a fork until the avocado chunks can’t be seen anymore. Simple enough and it only takes a few minutes. It tastes best served right away. If you want to save some as leftovers, make sure you put it tupperware and refrigerate it asap.

The meals

For Sahoor I had a large omelette with tomatoes, onions, and peppers. I sprinkled some sea salt on it and added some hot sauce to it. I had a Paleo Muffin as well. I drank my usual 1.5 liters of water with it.

For Iftar, I was craving the guac so it was time to make some more. Keeping with that theme, I was craving something tangy so I made Chicken Fajitas.

    • 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced up
    • 1 tsp cumin
    • 1 tsp oregano
    • 1 tsp chili powder
    • 1 tsp sea salt
    • 1 Tbs coconut oil
    • 1/2 red onion, sliced
    • 2 bell peppers, sliced (red makes it look nicer)
    • 1 lemon
    • 1/2 lime
    • 1/2 tomato
    • 1/2 tsp of chopped cilantro

Instructions: In a bowl, mix the cumin, oregano, chili powder, and sea salt. Toss the chicken in and coat it with the mixture. Heat a large pan and add in the coconut oil when it gets hot. Throw in the onions and let them satuee for 2-3 minute. Add in the chicken and stir it around until it’s almost done (10-15 minutes). Add in the onion, bell peppers, lemon juice, lime juice, tomato, and cilantro to the pan. Stir it up for another couple of minutes and you’re done. Serve with some guacamole, and lettuce. 

Workout

Sleep, for time. I scored 7.5 hours! This is more than I’ve slept in a while. I know I’ve taken two rest days here but sometimes it’s needed. Just make sure it doesn’t snowball. I am relaxed, energized and ready for a good workout tonight. Oh and I have guac in me so I’m sure I will be awesome!

My Ramadan Challenge

Posted: July 17, 2012 in Challenge
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Aslaamulaikum all!

Well it’s that time again, 325 days have passed and it’s time to start the month of Ramadan. While most people know Ramadan as Muslims not eating or drinking from sun up to sun down, there is actually a lot more to it. This is a month where Muslims push themselves to become better people through fasting, spirtual cleansing, discipline, philanthropic and charity work. It’s 30 days of reflecting on our lives, understanding how people less fortuante than us who don’t have food may feel, giving to the less fortunate, and developing self-control in restraining our selves from bad actions. All in all it’s a month designed to better our mind, body, and soul. Most people do a great job with the mind and soul but all too often I see the body part being neglected.

I’ll be the first to say I have been guilty with that neglect. 10 minutes before the sun sets, I’m salvating over which egg rolls I will eat first and what sugar drink I will gulp down in a 0-60 contest. But why? I’ve heard all the excuses in the book  (a lot of them made by me) about eating the way we do when it’s time to open our fast or neglecting even doing a few pushups when we wake up.

This year I’ve said no more of these excuses. How can I maintain my fitness level, push my self to eat clean, and at the same time show others that it can be done? I want to show people that as a Muslim that observes Ramadan, I can harness the greatness of this month that will push me not only to be a better son, brother, co-worker, and community member, but to also be a better athlete that respects the body God has given me.

Over the next 30 days I will document how I eat, how I workout, how I rest, some recipes that I find useful, and other tips and tricks I pick up along the way. I want others to read this and believe that they too can do it. Make no mistake, the main goal this Ramadan will be to better my deen and myself but in doing so, maintain or even increase my fitness. Will this work? Will I be able to maintain it for 30 days? Who knows. All I know is that if this works, this will be a game changer for me and how I tackle Ramadan in the future. Hopefully it will motivate some of my friends and family to do the same.

July 20th, here I come!

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