Mind your nutritional intake when exercising during Ramadhan

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

If there is one thing that has set Heidi's spirits soaring over the last couple of weeks, it has been the fasting month of Ramadhan.

As a defiant woman who exercises for the sake of looking attractive in a tanktop, and not to improve her health, she also approaches the holy month from the other point of view.

When it comes to exercising, Heidi sees the obligation to fast as a means to help her lose weight rather than as a great opportunity to improve her spirituality.

"Well, of course I want to improve my spirituality during Ramadhan. But there's nothing wrong with wanting to lose weight while fasting, right? Right?" she said unconvincingly.

Heidi apparently still could not get over last week's evaluation, where it was revealed that she had only lost 1.5 kilos during the past month.

But what about her exercise?

Heidi was thinking about taking a month off from the three- times a week routine at the Quantum Athletic Club in Kuningan, South Jakarta.

But Diding Winardi, Quantum's head instructor, forbade her from skipping the exercises and told her to continue.

"No excuses. We can still exercise during Ramadhan," he said.

Trying to justify her sloth, Heidi contacted Carmen Jahja, a sports physician who chairs the sports commission at the National Sports Council (KONI).

Alas, Carmen snuffed out Heidi's hopes and confirmed Diding's advice. "In fact, skipping regular exercise just because you're fasting is not a good idea," she said.

Of course, there are some things that should be considered, such as the duration and the load of exercise, she added.

"Since exercise needs energy, it's better to do it close to meal time. But while it's impossible to do it before sahur (pre dawn meal), it's best to do it before or after breaking the fast," she said.

Carmen suggested doing exercise an hour before and then an hour after breaking the fast. The first hour should include the kinds of exercise that don't need a lot of energy or that make you lose a lot of liquid.

"You can do stretching or weight training. And you're better doing it in an air conditioned room," Carmen said.

When it is time to break the fast, she added, drink enough water and eat snacks that contain carbohydrates or are high in sugar.

"After that, don't eat a meal right away. Continue with long exercises like aerobics or jogging," Carmen said.

For athletes, however, Carmen said that it was more difficult to maintain training sessions.

"Athletes need at least six hours a day to exercise. But since it is difficult to do so, they do it once a day. Besides, there are hardly any sports events during or near Ramadhan," she noted.

And so Heidi followed their suggestions and appeared in the gym. She started her exercise around 5 p.m. with a 40-minute run on the treadmill.

Diding, however, told her not to break the fast by eating snacks but to have fruit or fruit juice instead.

"Eating snacks will ruin the diet. So, there won't be any point in doing exercises because you won't lose weight," he said.

Since Heidi has an ulcer problem, eating fruit causes her a little nausea so she took water and hot sweet tea instead.

Sometimes, though, she couldn't resist the tasty snacks that sometimes only appeared during Ramadhan, like kolak.

"Psst..don't tell Diding!" she said.

After breaking the fast, Heidi continued with weight training and did a series of sit ups.

"Wow, I feel so fresh!," she said.