Never could fast – at least not after leaving the hostel! Sort of accepted it and took pride that I am a 6 meal person. Many of our religions also have an in-built weight loss program camouflaged as spiritual experience but they never appealed to me probably because of the camouflage! But age catches up and begs for a reprieve; not to mention a 10 year old neighbour who proudly announces his first Ramzan fast. Well, this trigger worked!.
Mind you, it was just a fruit fast for me and boy, what an experience it was. All expected (and more than expected) detox happened. I also learnt that even if it is a fruit fast, breaking a fast is as important, if not more, than keeping the fast. I miserably failed on this count and ended up with huge hang over. Frantically sought google search and discovered that Yes, the hang-over is quite common with symptoms ranging from head ache to nausea to irritation. But the sites promptly advised it should not put one off from fasting – that it is actually the detox that is continuing.
Well not sure if the first experience put me off or not – But guess it needs a stronger trigger to keep me going than seeing a 10 year old going on a fast and then playing football!
For those novices like me (who are a rarity I am told!), check out this site:
http://www.allaboutfasting.com/
http://productivemuslim.com/productivity-ninja-interview-reflecting-on-the-fasting-experiment/?utm_campaign=ProductiveMuslim+NewsLetter&utm_content=What+a+non-Muslim+taught+me+about+being+productive+during+Ramadan%3F&utm_medium=email&utm_source=getresponse