As-salamu alaikum and welcome to the second 10 days of Ramadan. Congratulations that you've
made it this far and I'm sure by now many of you have settled into some sort of routine. And that's exactly what we want to shake up right now. How do we take our Ramadan experience to the next level? Alhamdulillah we've been blessed with this month to really be able
to take ourselves and improve not only spiritually but also mentally and physically. How many times have we wished throughout the year that we would adopt certain lifestyle changes or even diet changes but we say you know what it's just too hard. Well let's take all of
these skills that we're learning right now in this month and developing and be able to make it last throughout the year. How can we do that? Let's take for example you know giving up a nice cold drink that you've been offered on a hot day. In the month of Ramadan
you'd give it up in a heartbeat. Why? Because you have conviction and you have commitment to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So you're going to implement patience and self-restraint to really be able to fulfill that goal of completing the month of Ramadan. So how do we take these
skills and make them last throughout the year? I say let us look at how we break our fast and how we start our fast. Can we show self-restraint when it comes to food choices for example?
You know a lot of research is out there talking about how diets that are high in refined carbs, processed food, artificial food coloring and flavors, preservatives, those type of diets
are really inflammatory and they're linked very much so to diseases that are plaguing our society like diabetes, cancer and really a lot of the mental illnesses that are really
plaguing our youth today like anxiety and depression and ADD. So knowing that those type of foods contribute to inflammation that causes or really contributes greatly to all
of those diseases that we've mentioned and many more, shouldn't we take this opportunity in Ramadan to really hold ourselves accountable and really show self-restraint when it comes
to breaking our fast? So science has proven that throughout the fasting period our cells are constantly detoxifying and this is a great blessing. This actually prevents a lot of
disease for us. We remove a lot of toxins from our body during this process which Allah Subhanu wa Ta'ala has ordained for us. But what do we do when we break our fast? A lot
of times we're breaking our fast on drinks that are loaded with artificial food coloring, with high fructose corn syrup. Again, all inflammatory type of foods that cause a lot
of harm without us knowing it. And at the same time we're also lead on to dessert or we're starting our fast with foods like donuts and cookies and all kinds of things. So instead
of thinking that our patience and commitment and self-restraint is only within the day, let's apply that to the nighttime routine as well. Let's go ahead and switch out all
of your favorite drinks that have high fructose corn syrup or that have artificial food colorings. Let's switch out those types of foods that we like to break our fast with or have desserts
or even start our day with and switch them out with healthier options. Yes, you may get a lot of backlash from family members who may tease you and say, what, you're not going to eat the same food we're eating? Or you may get backlash if you are the one providing
the meals. You may get a lot of commotion from your family members saying, what are you talking about? This is Ramadan. We should be enjoying our food. We should enjoy food that is going to be good for us and that's not going to harm us. Then we're really reaping
the benefits of this month of fasting. So let's do these, let's show self-restraint when it comes to our food choices. Then we'll be able to carry on this practice of showing
commitment and self-restraint to our bodies, which Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la has entrusted to us throughout the entire year. JazakAllah khairan. Wasalamualaikum.
