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| Edited By: Sapna Vyas |Source: DNA |Updated: Jul 15, 2018, 06:45 AM IST
In this article, I will help you find out the best way to bounce back from a binge. Although after overeating, it may take up to three days to feel like your fit, toned self again. Important note: Don’t let any of this encourage binging. As Spider Man’s Uncle Ben said, “With great power comes great responsibility.” These techniques should not be habits but strategic emergency measures for mitigating the negative effects a temporary divergence.
Listen up. It’s not a crime to indulge. You’re only human, after all. So, if you’re feeling mad at yourself for overdoing it, just stop. Dwelling on your binge will only make you more upset, which could lead to emotional bouts of overeating down the road. Moving past the guilt is the first step toward getting back on track. Generally, this would only take two or three days to set you back.
No more cheat days. Now it’s over. Draw a line in the sand. The bad eating stops now. If you’re serious about your fitness goals, then this weekend was the exception, and not the rule. Simply get back up, dust yourself off and get re-focused. Leave the past, and your slip-ups, in the past.
Don’t deprive yourself of food just because you overdid it yesterday. Skipping usual meals or snacks the day after a binge will only increases the desire to overeat again. Whilst it may be tempting to go a day without eating because you feel like you compensated enough during the weekend, this is one of the worst things you can do to your body. Skipping meals is only going to throw your body further out of whack by potentially slowing down your metabolism and activating stress hormones. These processes could cause your body to store excess fat.
For the next few days, I need you to be extra picky about what you eat. Stick with only whole, real foods like fruits, vegetables and some lean meat. Whole, real foods will quickly help to restore balance. Don’t eat packaged foods for the next few days. This means saying no to junk food, snack food, processed food, baked food and alcohol.
While bad eating can take on many forms, the end result is most often dehydration and water retention. The only way to restore balance is to get hydrated. Staying hydrated can aid in binge recovery by helping digestion and fighting gas-induced bloat.
When you’ve had a weekend full of unhealthy eating, I recommend incorporating more fibre into your meals. Fruits, vegetables, Isabgol, and complex carbs such as sweet potato, brown rice and quinoa are great. These foods can help you get your digestion back on track.
The ability to recover quickly after a binge is absolutely essential to success in building and maintaining a fit body (and mind). And once you realise that an occasional binge isn’t the end of the world, you can even use the extra energy to your advantage. You can use the excess energy (carbs, mostly) to refill your glycogen stores and fuel some absolutely killer workouts.
