Festivals, fasting, travel and Ramadan

The principle underneath all of them

These treatments slow the stomach. That is how they work. It means a large meal, and especially a large fatty meal, sits where it is for hours. Every festival problem on this page is a version of the same mechanism.

Which gives one rule that covers Diwali, Eid, a wedding, a vrat and iftar equally: never arrive hungry and never break a fast with fried food. Eat something small and protein-based beforehand, then eat what you actually want, slowly, in a smaller quantity than you used to.

If you fast, come and see us first

This is the single most useful thing on this page and it is the thing people do least. Fasting during Ramadan, Navratri, Ekadashi or Shravan while on obesity treatment is entirely possible for most people, and it is much safer planned than improvised. The specific things worth deciding in advance are:

• Which day of the week a weekly dose falls on, so the difficult days are not also the hardest fasting days.
• Whether a diabetes medicine needs changing for the month. If you take glimepiride or insulin, this is not optional. A long daylight fast plus a sulfonylurea is how people end up in hospital.
• Whether to pause dose escalation for the duration and resume afterwards, which is often the sensible answer.
• How you will get fluid in during the permitted hours. Dehydration is the main route from ordinary side effects to a kidney problem.

Vrat food is the trap

It is worth saying plainly, because it surprises people: a religious fast is not automatically good for your weight. Navratri farali food is sabudana, potato, and a great deal of frying. It is close to zero protein and very high in rapidly absorbed carbohydrate. People routinely finish nine days of fasting heavier than they started, and on obesity treatment they also feel unwell for most of it.

Curd and paneer are permitted in most vrat traditions and are the fix. Rajgira and kuttu are better than sabudana. Roasted makhana beats fried farali chips. None of that compromises the fast.

Weddings and the season

A Hyderabad wedding season can be six weeks of invitations. Holding your weight steady through it is a genuine result and should be counted as one. The practical version: eat a small protein-first meal at home before you go, choose two things you actually want rather than grazing everything, keep the injection day away from the biggest function of the week, and know that sweets are usually tolerated better than fried savouries because fat is the trigger more than sugar is.