Ramadan Kareem to you and your loved ones. May it bring you good health, prosperity, and GAINS! This Ramadan we want to challenge you, your food, and your habits. As a box, we would like to see how good your food and habits really are, and have some fun while we do it. What other way to do this than with a friendly nutrition competition. There are many reasons to look at your habits and nutrition, such as aiming for a slightly healthier lifestyle, losing or gaining weight, being more aware of what you eat, or just improving your performance in workouts and in life. Regardless of what your goals are, this challenge will give you a better idea of where your weaknesses and strengths are. Of course, being a nutrition challenge, most of the focus will be on food and drinks consumption, however there will also be some focus on sleep and overall physical performance. This challenge will be present during the Holy month of Ramadan, but will be available to fasting and non-fasting members. This challenge is not only limited to the box, so if you would like to include your family members or friends, they are more than welcome to join. The challenge is based on a trust system, just like rule #7: if you cheat, you are only cheating yourself. - The challenge period will be 4 weeks.
- Record your weight and take your measurements at the beginning and the end of the program. Keep a record every day.
- Calculate your calorie consumption by using this website: https://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html
- Perform our baseline workout at the beginning of the program and complete the same workout at the end of the challenge.
- The first three days will be a grace period for you to practice logging your foods and counting your points. You will not lose points for violations, however any points that add to your score are valid. On day 4 you will start to lose points for violations.
- Contact any of the shareholders and coaches if you are not sure about the rules.
Baseline Workout
For Time 400m Run 40 Squats 30 Sit Ups 20 Push Ups 10 Pull UpsRules and Points Structure
| # | Rule | Points |
| DAY POINT RULES | ||
| 1 | At the beginning of each day | +10 |
| 2 | Did a workout | +1 |
| 3 | Did not drink enough water | -2 |
| 4 | Ate fast food | -2 |
| 5 | Ate fried food | -2 |
| 6 | Ate food with added sugar | -2 |
| 7 | Skipped Iftar (non-fasting: skipped a meal) | -2 |
| 8 | Ate unhealthy heavily processed food | -2 |
| 9 | Ate high fat non-nutritious food | -2 |
| 10 | Slept at least 7 hours in one day (accumulated) | +2 |
| 11 | Drank enough water in one day | +2 |
| 12 | Ate at least one cup of vegetables or two servings of fruit | +2 |
| 13 | More than two servings of coffee/gahwa (equivalent to 200ml Americano) | -2 |
| WEEK POINT RULES (ON FRIDAY) | ||
| 13 | Did at least 3 workouts from the programming in one week | +3 |
| 14 | Logged food in MyFitnessPal at least 3 times in one week | +5 |
| 15 | Logged food other than MyFitnessPal at least 3 times in one week | +2 |
| 16 | Stayed within calorie consumption range (within +/- 100) for at least 3 days in one week | +5 |
Additional Information and Tips
- Added sugars – This includes any soft drink, candy, bread, dairy with added sugar, etc. Added sugars may be disguised as: granulated sugar, brown sugar, molasses, artificial sweeteners, high fructose corn syrup, agave nectar, honey, maple syrup, etc. It is recommended that for a 2000-calorie level, you should limit sugar intake to less than 8 tsp or 32 grams. This equates to less than 1 can of coca-cola per day.
- Unhealthy heavily processed foods – These tend to have added sugars, sodium and trans fats. These include anything in a package like creamers, protein bars, chips, candy, sugary breakfast cereals, processed meat, etc. This does not include healthy minimally processed foods like frozen fruit & vegetables (without sauces, etc.), canned fruits & vegetables (without added sodium and sugar), beans*, oatmeal, canned tuna or salmon. High fat non-nutritious foods such as Ribs as well.
- Avoid beans if they tend to give you gastrointestinal issues. If you are not sure, go ahead and avoid them for this challenge.
- Gluten – Only avoid if you are intolerant or have Celiac’s disease. Not sure? Ask your doctor or dietitian for help.
- Dairy – If real dairy doesn’t agree with you (ex. Lactose intolerant), try unsweetened natural almond, coconut or soy milk. Keep in mind that almond and coconut milk only have approximately 1g protein per cup and regular and soy milk have approximately 7g per cup.
- We understand it is part of tradition and culture to eat fried food during Iftar and have coffee. We are trying to accommodate these traditions while maintaining a healthy challenge. However, with that said, it is still a challenge, so it is not supposed to be too easy. You need to decide if you are okay with losing those points if the urge gets too big!
- Workouts from the programming are posted on the website https://cfblacksmith.com and on our Instagram story (@cf973). For every workout you do you will get 1 bonus point, and if you do at least 3 workouts in the same week you will get an additional 3 points at the end of the week (Friday).
- Logging your food – We recommend logging your food into MyFitnessPal app or website https://www.myfitnesspal.com. If you do this for 3 days per week you get 5 bonus points at the end of the week! It is acceptable to use a different method, however you will only get 2 extra points at the end of the week if you log at least 3 entries.
- Sleep – 7 hours in one night is the minimum, however you can accumulate missing hours during the entire day with actual sleep and additional naps.
- Hydration – Drink a minimum of 8 medium glasses or 2 litres of water per day. Any less will result in a violation.