Chowrangi

The holy month is supposed to make us refrain from excessive eating, but what we eat in Ramadan everyday at sunset and later really fattens us. The cumulative effect of all this eating is that by the time we’re fifty, most of us have either had a heart bypass or angioplasty and have to spend the rest of our lives as invalids.

We need about three thousand calories daily, which can be acquired from simple foods like lentils and vegetables. It may surprise most people to know that if we put two teaspoonfuls of sugar in the six cups of tea that most of us drink daily, we can gain three to four kilos every year! And this is what happens during Ramadan. We stuff ourselves with sugary foods and eat like there’s going to be no tomorrow.

So, to avoid weight gain during the holy month, do not eat fried and sugary foods. Consume fruits and vegetables and stay away from soft drinks, ice cream and other foods containing man-made sugar. For an average Paksitani whose height is five feet ten inches, the ideal weight is seventy to seventy five kilos. Try to maintain this weight and you will always be free from diabetes and heart disease.

It’s going to be tough, but remember, you owe it to yourself to remain healthy and live to a ripe old age.

Other posts by Shakir Lakhani

• No limit on foreign exchange taken out of Pakistan - November 12th, 2008
• Some questions about the "forex" scandal - November 11th, 2008
• Enjoying life after sixty - November 7th, 2008
• A Hussein in the White House - November 5th, 2008
• Why are poor Pakistanis always punished? - October 31st, 2008
• Pakistan's Economic Crisis: we're responsible - October 29th, 2008
• How Wall Street operates - October 23rd, 2008
• We’ll always have corruption - October 19th, 2008
• If Pakistan goes to war with United States of America - October 9th, 2008
• Killing of Christians in Secular India - October 1st, 2008