This is it. Come June 5 (or June 6, depending on the moon), the holy month begins. It's a time met with great anticipation, excitement, and a bit of apprehension. And, like last year, the summer solstice falls on Ramadan. That's over 16 hours of fasting -- no eating and no drinking. As Ramadan approaches, I find myself asking, How did I do this last year? Looking back, I try to assess where the month could've gone better and how to make it a bit easier. There are a few lessons all young Muslims had to learn their first few years of fasting (i.e. do not over eat after iftar because you will regret it) and we each gathered a few tips and tricks over the years, whether from experience or from family and friends. So here are some of the tips and tricks I've gathered to help you make it through Ramadan.

Shower when it's close to iftar.

This might sound a bit odd, but during Ramadan, if I shower when it's not close to iftar, I get really thirsty. I assume this is because I take warm/hot showers, and the steam/heat dehydrates me. So I try to shower later in the day, closer to sunset, to avoid feeling thirsty.

Don't eat junk food or sweets before fajr prayer.

Junk food doesn't keep you full and sweet only make you hungrier faster. Every year, I struggle with the question of what to eat for suhoor. I don't have an appetite that early in the morning and I know that, at some point, people just want to sleep through suhoor. Personally, I get tried of eating the same thing every suhoor, so I alternate between eating rice and sandwiches. Also, certain condiments, such as guacamole or peanut better, tend to keep you full.

Limit time outside.

This summer promises to be hot, and the last thing you want to do is dehydrate yourself. So limit your time outside during the day if you can help it.

Avoid Instagram and cooking shows.

For whatever reason, Ramadan is the only time of year I want to watch cooking shows, despite the fact that it makes me hungrier. Resist the temptation to look at pictures of food. Hence, you might also consider avoiding Instagram for a little while, since there are always tons of pictures of food on there.

Dedicate the time you're not eating to a hobby.

It always surprises me how much time there seems to be in the day when you're not eating. Put all those extra hours to good use and try picking up a new hobby or revisit an old one. It helps time go by faster.

Drink water slowly after iftar.

When the days are long and hot, the first thing you want to do after iftar is chug down a whole bottle of water. Again, resist the temptation. Drinking too much water too fast isn't good for you, and what's more is it fills you up and leaves little room for dinner.

Sorry, coffee drinkers...

Every year, the coffee drinkers I know are faced with an ultimatum: quit or drink coffee at bad times. Personally, I recommend quitting, just because it's so much easier than the alternative of drinking coffee at suhoor or after iftar. However, if you can't quit, I suggest that you drink coffee after iftar as opposed to suhoor because coffee dehydrates you. If you drink coffee after iftar, you can still drink water, but if you drink coffee during suhoor, it's going to be a long, thirsty day.

Download Ramadan Legacy.

This is a cool app a friend recommended. It keeps track of your fasts and has ayaats and surahs for you to learn every day, as well as a few other features. After Ramadan ends, you can look back and see where you made the greatest progress and where your biggest set backs were, which can help improve your Ramadan next year.

Mediation and prayer.

This is the holy month, after all, and prayer is as essential as the fast. Ramadan is about a spiritual cleansing as much as a physical one, and prayer is a huge part of that process. Mediation helps you get into the right state of mind, and it's a great way to internalize and reflect on all this month has to offer.

Binge... on TV shows.

Whether or not it's the best thing to do, it's certainly something we've all done at one point or another. Binge watching TV shows makes the time go by a lot faster, and it's easier to think "only a few more episodes until iftar" than "three hours and 24 minutes until iftar." However, I do suggest that if you do this, take breaks every few episodes to move around a bit so you don't become sore and light-headed.

Be patient.

The world seems to slow down during Ramadan. You're not running around as much, you're not mindlessly snacking, and you spend more time praying and reflecting. At the beginning of the month, you're thrown off your routine and struggling to re-establish one. Eventually, you get tired of waking up at suhoor and during the day you feel exhausted and irritable. Through all of this, it's important to be patient with yourself and with others. This test of patience is just one of the many we try to pass during the holy month, and it's the easiest to fail. You're tired, you're hungry, you're thirsty, and there's still five hours left before sunset when you have to go through the hungry, thirst, and tiredness again. But exercise patience through it all. And, remember, Ramadan is both an empowering and humbling experience.

Every single time I tell a non-Muslim about Ramadan their reply is, "I could never do that" and I probably would feel the same way if I hadn't been doing it year after year. It still amazes me when I look back at that month, and I feel as though I am a better, happier person for it. That sense of empowerment is as powerful as the sense of humility. I choose to fast and every night of Ramadan I know there is a meal waiting on the table. Others in the world don't have that luxury of choice, and don't know whether a meal is waiting for them tonight.

For these reasons and more, Ramadan is my favorite time of year and Ramadan 2016 promises to be the best one, yet.