Sometimes we just want to let loose a bit during a holiday and eat whatever we want to… or, despite our good intentions, we get swept up in the moment and over eat. As we know, it is not the end of the world and tomorrow is another day. But how do we come off the gorging and sugar high? Here are 10 tips to recovery after the holiday overindulgence to help you get your mind and body back on track.
The day after a big feast here are ten things you can do to regain your healthy lifestyle:
1. Drink at least 10- 8 ounce glasses of water. 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.
9. Savor the memory of your overindulgence. If you are going to do it you should at least enjoy it. Having a pleasant memory you can refer back to can actually help you stay true going forward in living each day in the zone of a healthier life. An occasional indulgence can stay just that if we acknowledge it as such.
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.
Enjoy! And Live Vibrant!
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