Ramadan- Week 3

A few updates from my last entry on Ramadan:

The entry “The Best Meal Ever” happened the weekend before Ramadan started, so I have been pretty much faithful to the fast thing (See other post on Segou).

Today marks 3 weeks of Ramadan.  Only 7 more days to go.  I have never felt better.  I am able to concentrate more and get more accomplished as I have become more accustomed to the fast.  However, depending on the quality of the meal the night before, I have good days and bad days, just as the cook seems to have good days and bad days.  I have had only one “holiday” from the fast (my 2 days in Segou) and surprisingly I did not put on that much weight from the experience.  

I just weighed myself a few minutes ago after clinic, and I am now at 76.5 kg (~ 168 lbs).  So in the 3 weeks I have done this fast, I have lost a total of 7 kg (~ 15 lbs).  This is the lowest I have weighed since my Freshman year in college, 1994).  Now, I will say that the scale I am using probably has not been checked or re-scaled in a while, so I am not sure how accurate the reading is.  But my initial weight of 83 kg was made on that scale, so I am using that as my point of reference.  

I started to read the Koran to fully get the Ramadan experience.  It truly is an inspirational book.  I have only covered the first 20 pages or so, and it kind of reads like a morality tale.  I will fill you in one more as I read it.

The foot infection has now healed up.  I think I also have an alternate explanation for its occurrence.  According to some of the Peace Corps volunteers I have met, cracked heels and soles are a common occurrence in West Africa.  People don’t really wear shoes in the village, they mostly just wear cheap sandals.  Thus, the feet are constantly dry, and thus crack.  Since I have been in Mali, I, being a HUGE fan of sandals, decided to adapt to the local customs.  Suffice it to say that I wear sandals pretty much every day.  So, hence the cracked heels and soles on my feet, and the infection.

I have done some reading online about the physiology of fasting.  Suffice it to say that all of those old wives tales about starving yourself to loose weight as being bad is actually not all that true. While fasting, your body is forced to rely on its own stores for energy: fat, glycogen, protein.  The initial weight loss you see in any diet is predominately water weight.  After that, you start to loose body fat, as that tissue type has the greatest amount of energy than protein and sugar.  In this type of fast, you are losing water and fat, as you are using up your water stores to stay cool throughout the day and you are burning your fat stores after your body has already used up the nutrients and energy from the meal you ate at night.  This is just basic info from what I have read, and I continue to read more, so stay tuned for even more info.

I am not sure what this whole Eid al Fatr thing is about at the end of Ramadan, but Maiga and I have already spoken about it and we will experience Eid al Fatr in Bamako with his family, which from previous experience, means delicious food from Timbuktu. Yes, indeed.