By Karimah bint Dawoud, Muslim Chaplain & Well-being Writer.

Its so easy to put weight on as the weather gets colder, something many of the early Muslims didn’t experience, the primitive part of our psyche thinks we are still living in caves and so responds to cold weather(and tiredness) by craving starchy carbohydrates like cakes, flour products, pasta, rice, potatoes, to put on fat to combat the cold weather, WE DO NOT LIVE IN CAVES, WE HAVE CENTRAL HEATING AND WARM CLOTHES, THERE IS NO EXCUSE.
These foods have their purpose but unless you are very active they will turn to fat, they are a form of sugars that turn to fat if you just sit around the house all day long.

There is an Arabic proverb

“What starts good ends good”

Soooooo – A REMINDER TO MYSELF – A big glass of water, then a herbal tea with honey, then S-T-R-E-T-C-H then juice, then brunch,its a sunnah to drink honey and water with something herbal in it.

Looking forward to brunch gets me through my exercises, even if its a 5 minute  stretch and some sit up, its better than nothing and makes f you feel better.