10 Ways to Get Back on Track After a Weekend of Binge Eating (or Drinking)

With the holidays just around the corner, we are all worried about what eating will mean for our waistlines.  But it’s not exclusive to the holidays.  We have all had weekends where we ate and drank too much.  You just overindulged.  I recently attended a family get-together, and I ate far too much on each day, and I was honestly watching what I was eating.  I think I gained five pounds and have been working hard on taking it off ever since.  Moderation is difficult for people in my family. It’s like a genetic trait to not be able to resist delicious indulgences.  But there are things you can do to if you’ve gone too far.  Don’t get upset about it.  Recognize that its something you’ve done, and try these things to help you bounce back:

Don’t Go Down a Rabbit Hole

This is the story of my life.  In many ways.  But just because you spent a few too many days eating poorly doesn’t mean you have to continue down that bad path.  This is really important – don’t use this as an excuse to eat that way.  Once you’ve realized that you’ve had more than one heavy meal in a day or two, start to change your habits back to eating healthy and properly.

Acknowledge It

Acknowledging that you’ve gone a bit too far, but don’t be too hard on yourself.  If you start shaming yourself for the decisions you made when it comes to food, it will perpetuate the bad behavior.  Think – I already messed up, so I should keep going, right?  Nope.  I can relate to this a little bit too well, but not just with food.  So take it from an expert in being hard on yourself, this isn’t the path to take.  We are all humans and sometimes we’re not perfect.  Don’t beat yourself up.  Learn from what happened and move on.

Drink Water

When you’re not hydrated, your body can feel it and your urine will show it.  The best way to get back to health is to increase your water intake.  This is something that I’ve been struggling to do for a while now.  Not just because I over indulged but in general.  Make water a regular part of your routine and you will feel much better.

Cut Down on Your Portions

If you’re always eating too much rice, for example, ease up on that when you get to the next meal.  This isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  Most people are probably already overeating.  Unless you’re eating nothing but veggies, then you don’t necessarily need to listen to this piece of advice.

Balance Things Out

As I alluded to in the previous section, try to eat more vegetables.  You can’t go wrong with more greens.  Or increase the amount of fruit you’re having.  Some days, I feel like I only eat fruit, so I need to switch it up and get some more vegetables in my diet.  This will also help you feel like you’re not stuffing yourself with unhealthy treats.  And you’ll feel less gross.  I promise.  When I travel for work, I find that I am only eating carbs.  There isn’t always the options available to keep me healthy.  So once I can switch back to healthy foods, I immediately feel less disgusting.

Get to Work

Working out will not only help you burn off some of the food that you consumed, but it will also help you get your mind off any negative feelings you have about what you decided to eat.  You can really sweat some of that disgusting out of you.  I find this especially helpful when I’ve been drinking.

Don’t Bring it Home

Part of the reason that we get ourselves in trouble with eating or drinking is because we have it in the house.  Don’t bring chips or the croissants home.  The temptation won’t be there and you don’t need that if you’re trying to eat properly.  It’s that simple.  I mentioned this indulgence gene in my family.  We all recognize, if it’s out of sight we won’t want to eat it.  But the moment it’s physically in the house, we will devour it.  So keep it out of your house and you’ll feel better.

Don’t Starve Yourself

When you’re feeling bad about yourself, your first instinct is likely to stop eating altogether.  But that’s not helpful.  Instead, cut down on your portions and try to have more balanced meals.  This is definitely a better way to go than starving yourself.  If you don’t eat, you will feel hungry and have a better chance of going overboard when you do start eating again.

Know Your Triggers

I’ve mentioned this a few times in this post, but I like to eat foods that are bad for me.  Over the years I have learned what my triggers are.  If the smell of fresh baked cookies sends you into a tailspin, try not to put yourself in those situations.  During this recent family get together, my mother had stocked the cupboards with all of my favorite foods – but it was for my siblings and their family.  I had a really hard time not eating those things.  And even without eating those things, I still managed to overeat that weekend.  Alcohol is another one for me.  If I’m out and friends are drinking, its a hop, skip and a jump for me.  And before too long I’ve realized that I’ve had six rum and cokes when I promised myself I would only have two.

Find Healthy Alternatives

If you’ve found yourself going wild on sweets and treats, try to fill your fridge with fruits that can be pleasant in taste.  I would also suggest even some low sugar yogurt.  I tried this recently, instead of wanting to eat pumpkin pie, I picked up some pumpkin pie flavored greek yogurt.  It’s not as good, but it helps when I get a craving.  Small changes to what you bring into your house can help you avoid going out and going crazy on the things that you know aren’t good for you.