Holiday Hangover - Recovery After Overeating and Indulging...

Did you over eat today? Over indulge? Eat so much candy that you feel sick??? Let's not live in the past! Let's start the process of recovery and get back to healthy eating. If we don't face it head first, one day becomes a week, then a month, and then before you know it... you have nothing to show for all your hard work! Lets get started now!

 1. Drink at least half of your body weight in water (example: 100lbs=50oz). This will help flush out all the excess foods you consumed. It will also help fill your stomach since you stretched it out when you ate too much.

2. Eliminate processed carbs from your diet for the whole day. If it comes out of a colorful package avoid it. This also means no breads, pasta or other foods with flour in them. Highly processed and highly refined foods spike your blood sugar level so they tend to trigger cravings and the desire to stuff your face with more sweet treats.

3. Eat 6 times during the day, every 2-4 hours to help you avoid getting hungry so you don’t give in and go for another piece of carrot cake or chocolate candy. These shouldn’t be big meals. Think 3 right-sized meals with 3 snacks with whole foods.

4. Make sure to include protein for each meal or snack. Protein takes longer to metabolize so it keeps you satisfied longer and avoids the peaks and valleys of blood sugar levels.

6. Start the day meditating and thinking through how you will navigate your day with health in mind. Focus on what you want to achieve and how you are going to achieve it. This includes thinking through how you will drink your water, when you will eat and what you will eat throughout the day. Like a fire drill, if we pre-plan our intention we are much more likely to succeed when the day gets busy or becomes unexpectedly stressful.

7. Begin and end the day with activity or exercise. The reality is if we over eat we have over-consumed calories. Now we need to build in more activity or exercise to burn off what we ate or it will stay glued to our body as fat.

8. Go to bed early. The best way to recover from a day of feasting is to reinforce good habits. Getting enough sleep helps fortify our resolve and resilience.

10. Focus on the things you enjoy in life that have nothing to do with food. Pick one and indulge in it. This could be playing a round of golf with a friend, shopping for a new outfit or soaking in a hot bathtub while reading a good book. It is always good to remind yourself that there is much more to life than food.

  

Credit:  Sheila Dietrich