Day 15: Half-weigh through Ramadan

Today marks the half way point in my Ramadan journey and I a very proud to have made it this far! I can  be brutally honest, it has actually been far easier than I was anticipating. I was really worried beforehand, especially at the prospect of not being able to share my birthday cake with my family on the 13th.

Since that day, when the start of Ramadan was delayed by Glasgow Central Mosque's Imam's, I've been on to a winner. The only negative I have experienced was the muscle cramps that I discussed earlier this week and I have not experienced any problems since upping my salt intake. Even during tonight's workout, I progressed in my performance again and there wasn't a sniff of a cramp developing anywhere in the body. 

With my potential sodium defficiency out of the way and under control again, my plan for Day 15 was always going to be a physical check-in. I have been monitoring my body weight and selected body measurements since January this year, after clocking my eating habits and weight was starting to spiral upwards quite quickly. I really enjoyed Christmas - I always do!

At the start of the year I weighed in at 18st4lbs, which was definitely my heighest since losing 60lbs in 2013, when I dropped from 19st10 to 15st5 in 6 months. At the start of Ramadan I weighed 17st13.5lbs, which had been roughly where I'd been for the past few months. 

With regards to body measurements, there are only two which I pay attention, waist and hips. I am only interested in tracking my body fat and looking to see if body fat has reduced. To track these areas I measure around the widest area of my waist (from belt line to navel), and the widest area of my hips (from belt line to top of thighs). 

At the start of the year I measured myself at 46 inches around the waist and 46.5 inches around the hips. At the start of Ramadan my waist had dropped to 44.5 inches and my hips were down to 45 inches. 

So how did I do?

Quite astonishingly, my weight today was 17st4.5lbs, a loss of 9lbs in the past 15 days.

My body measurements dropped too:

Waist = 43.5 inches (-1)

Hips = 44.5 inches (-0.5)

It's very important at this stage that I do not advocate fasting for Ramadan, or any other form of intermittent fast as a quick-fix solution for weight loss. I am always happy to lose inches from my waist and hips, but my weight is kind of irrelevant, as long as my training is progressing. If I get heavier, I am often getting stronger (excluding Christmas). During Ramadan, my training has most definitely progressed, despite slightly reduced intensity and a disrupted sleep pattern and workout schedule. I know that I have gotten stronger this month - which can be seen on my Instagram feed and stories, especially in calisthenic moves like the Bent-Arm Handstand. 

I'm half-weigh through Ramadan, I'm still getting stronger and I'm still enjoying the experience!

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