“It is never impossible to keep your skin and body healthy during Ramadan, whether you are fasting or not. It is our duty to ourselves and our environment to have a clean body and mind all the time,” says Wafa Yahya, fashion blogger based in the UAE. “When our skin and body is nourished, we tend to be more productive with our work and we become more joyful with our relationship and interaction with people” Wafa added.
“I have enlisted seven easy steps below on how to stay well and glowing during the Holy Month. These steps can be easily summed up with an acronym of R.A.M.A.D.A.N.”
Rehydrate
When you are fasting for long hours, it is advisable to drink more water than your usual habit. Water doesn’t just refresh you from inside but it also cleanses the toxins in your body. Our skin will also benefit from water as it is scientifically proven that a hydrated skin is a nourished skin.
Activate
Ramadan should not be an excuse for you to become lazy and forget about exercise, you can definitely do that before you go to sleep or when you wake up in the morning. Two to three hours after Iftar, you can try some stretching, run on a treadmill or even jog around your home with your family or friends. It is your responsibility to have an active lifestyle as part of your daily habit. You can start with little exercise and increase gradually.
Meditate
Meditation is sometimes mistaken for exercise but it is a completely different thing. From the old French word ‘meditacion’, it literally means thought or reflection. To meditate for even 10-15 minutes a day is healthy for our body, mind, and soul. Try to assimilate silence and cherish that moment every day. You can say a prayer and thank God for all the blessing that we have. You will definitely feel much better afterwards. Do not forget that real beauty originates from the inside out.
Analyse your food
You need to stop eating junk food or limit it for once or twice a month. indulging on French fries filled with salt and many chemicals that you cannot even pronounce or doughnuts and artificial juices drowning in sugar will never give you a beautiful skin. Too much salt will absorb more water in your body and can cause high blood pressure and excessive sugar as we all know, is the cause of many diseases, such as diabetes. Care for your body and it will take care of you.
Detoxify
Instead of buying boxed, artificial juices from the grocery, replace it with nutritious fresh juice. You can even do your own and mix your favourite fruits, shake it up and enjoy it at home, perhaps after an exercise. It is also much cheaper and it will surely detoxify your body. You can also replace junk food with almonds, spinach, carrots, and green leafy veggies as snacks. Fruits and vegetables will detoxify your body more naturally than any medicine or capsules sold in the pharmacy.
Armoured with a smile
Smiling is free and it is proven to change even a bad morning, believe that everything will be better. As you smile, you are actually exercising muscles in the face that will help wrinkles go away. Be kind as some people may be facing a hard battle and they just need sunshine of contagious happiness. Be that radiant fairy and grant everybody the gift of positivity. Remember that when you smile, you have the power to break the ice.
Nap and sleep
It sounds so simple but having an ample time of sleeping is sometimes taken for granted. The right amount of sleep will improve your memory, concentration and immunity. It will also make you glow naturally as you feel re-energised and recharged. Many offices during Ramadan have short timings and you can actually take advantage of that to go home and take a power nap after 5pm and wake up before Iftar. If you do not have time to nap during the day, be sure to get those 7-8 hours of sleep every night. Always remember that health is wealth and following the mentioned steps are the only way for you to keep that glowing skin, no matter what season it is.