This post was kindly prepared and submitted by MyHalalKitchen.com.

1. Guard Your Suhoor:

• Make enough time for it and make sure it’s a healthy one.
• Eat a complete meal with a variety of fruits, whole grains and protein, such as beans or eggs. Choose from leafy greens, and water-rich fruits such as watermelon, peaches and papaya.
• Avoid refined sugars and too many carbohydrates, which can leave you feeling exhausted by mid-day.  
• Drink plenty of water or real juice, but don’t overstuff yourself with these, either.

2. Don’t Sleep the Day Away

• This is particularly important after the suhoor meal because digestion and circulation cannot occur if you spend half the day in bed.
• Additionally, you will slow yourself down by sleeping during the daylight hours meant for being productive.

3. Conserve Those Calories

• Avoid too much talking—yes, talking takes up a lot of energy and can actually bring on headaches. You need as much of your energy to get through the day so avoid unnecessary and long-winded conversations, especially futile ones that have nothing to do with work, family or the deen.
• Take it easy when doing errands or working around the house by maintaining a leisurely pace. Walk, don’t run and you’ll avoid losing the energy needed for your ibadah. We should remain productive, but choose our energy output wisely.

4.  Break Your Fast Calmly

• Don’t be in a rush to eat. You won’t digest your food properly and could make yourself sick. Instead, break fast with a healthy room-temperature fluid like water, pure fruit juice or warm milk, as cold drinks are hard on your system. Have a couple of dates, figs, and a handful of nuts. Then, pray your salah and return to the table for a nice meal.

5. Ease Into the Iftar Meal

• Warm the stomach and slowly acclimate your body to food by having soup as a first course to the iftar meal. It’s not only easy on the stomach, but it also prevents over-eating with heavier foods that generally come afterwards.

6. Lay off the Salt and the Grease

• There’s no denying that many traditional Ramadan foods are deliciously tempting, but also tend to be on the greasier side.  Have one samosa, for example, if you must, but realize that your body has to work harder to digest it.
• Salty foods should be avoided simply due to their dehydrating effects on your body. You may think by drinking large amounts of water you can recover from this dehydration, but you may suffer from headaches and bloating in the meantime.

7. Don’t Eat to Your Fill at Any Meal

• Eat plenty of protein- meat, poultry, eggs and fish, as opposed to empty calories like junk food, breads and snacks.
• Follow a golden rule on eating from our beloved Prophet (pbuh) who said:"The son of Adam does not fill any vessel worse than his stomach. It is sufficient for the son of Adam to eat a few morsels to keep him alive. If he must fill it, then one-third for his food, one-third for his drink, and one-third for air." (al-Tirmidhi --saheeh by al-Albaani)

8. Listen to Your Body

• How do you know when you’ve reached the one-third level? Your body will tell you, if you are listening. Be cognizant of what you’re putting in your mouth and how your body responds to certain types and amounts of foods.
• If you feel weak or out of breath, regularly check your blood sugar levels and hear rate.  Young or old, improper eating regiments and passivity about one’s diet can be a seriously unhealthy combination.

9. Do Light to Moderate Exercises

• Lifting small weights or leisure walking helps build muscle and improve circulation. Ramadan is not a time to look or feel like a weakling. Instead, it’s a great time to build discipline and structure into our lives. Small, daily exercises are a great way to do just that.

10. Get Rest During the Proper Hours

• Some people are early birds; others are night owls. Either way, you must be awake and aware for all of the daily salah and to implement many forms of ibadat throughout the day. Get yourself on a good sleep schedule where you hit the sack early enough to get in a few zzz’s, wake up for tahajjud during the last part of the night, then continue on for suhoor and fajr. Proper rest, eating and ibadah will make you ultimately feel like a more productive Muslim overall, insha’allah.

Here are just a couple of ideas for some light and healthy meals you can implement for your iftar or suhoor.

Lemon Poached Salmon

With just a few simple ingredients this dish is not only super quick, it’s also super light because it is poached or cooked in a hot, simmering liquid just below the point of boiling. Serve with a side of sautéed potato wedges or mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables for a balanced meal.

Ingredients

• 1 whole lemon, cut into thin wedges plus more to taste
• 1 bay leaf
• salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation

1. Defrost fish. Dry off any moisture on salmon with a paper towel, otherwise it will not cook properly.
2. Season salmon steaks on each side with salt and pepper.
3. Heat olive oil in a deep skillet or sauté pan. Do not burn oil.
4. Add salmon steaks all at once, skin side down. Let cook for about 4 minutes.
5. Add lemon 1-2 lemon wedges on each steak. Add about 1 to ½ inches of water to pan. Cover, reduce heat to a simmer and let cook another 4-5 minutes.
6. Turn off heat and let salmon sit 2-3 minutes before serving.

Makes 4 servings.

Sicilian Pasta Salad

The ingredients in this dish are rooted in Mediterranean culinary traditions, but can easily be found fresh at your grocer during the late summer. Prepare it in the morning and refrigerate until dinner- it tastes even better when the flavors marry for a while.

Ingredients

• 1-2 lbs. finely ground beef, chicken or turkey already cooked, seasoned and cooled
• ½ cup feta cheese, broken up
• ½ Tb. red pepper flakes
• 1/3 bunch fresh parsley or 1 Tb. dried parsley
• 4 fresh basil leaves
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• salt, to taste
• 4 Tb. extra virgin olive oil

Preparation

1. Cook pasta according to directions on box and allow to cool.
2. Add all other ingredients and mix well.
3. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Makes 4-6 servings.

Simple Steak

You don’t even need a grill to make this delicious and quick steak and after trying this recipe you may not even want steak any other way! Serve with oven-roasted potato wedges and a side of colorful vegetables.

Ingredients

• kosher salt, to taste
• Finely ground black pepper, to taste
• ¼ bunch fresh parsley

Preparation

1. Pat steaks dry and salt generously. Add pepper, too.
2. In a shallow sauté pan, add olive oil and butter and bring to medium heat.
3. Sauté steaks for about 5 minutes then flip. Sauté another 5 minutes and flip again.
4. Reduce heat to low and cover pan for another five minutes.
5. Remove steaks from pan and add salt to taste.  Top with a generous pat of butter and fresh parsley.

Makes 6 servings.