The Aftermath
Written by Gino Escalante
If you are like me, you’ve had thoughts about ‘eating well’ over the course of those special days coming up. I am sure you have every intention of eating a small garden salad with a side of iced water and calling it a day. But just in case you accidentally consume a few pints of ice cream and not some, but all of the cookies in front of you, I’d like to propose a back-up plan. Something to lean on when you wake up the following day and feel the literal brick in your stomach.
1) Don’t Judge
I’m sure it’s easy to look back and ‘Past You’ (PY) and realize that you made some bad decisions. PY was young and bold. PY thought they could portion-control and not let themselves go. But PY also wanted to see how many cookies they could fit in their mouth at once. And believe it or not, four is a lot more than you think.
Anywhooo, don’t judge PY. They should have known better, but the past is in the past. There isn’t much you can do about it now, so there is no need to dwell or make yourself feel guilty. Just learn what you can from PY and move on.
2) Consistency is Key
It’s seems obvious that if you ate big, you’d want to go workout big. Unless, that is your norm, don’t do it! If you are thinking about spending an hour on the rower for every slice of pie you ate, then think again. The body isn’t going to enjoy this all-out assault after the all-out binge. Remember that your body craves consistency. Going from one extreme to the other may not be the best idea.
3) Don’t Fast – Do Your Norm
Another thought would be to skip a meal or two. Or go a whole day without consuming food. Intermittent fasting can be effective, especially when done properly. But this isn’t the case. The idea of fasting after a big meal can stress the body since if it’s something you are not accustomed to. Just go back to your normal routine and eat the way you normally would. That’s what your body wants.
P.S. Consume water. Plenty of it.
4) Clean Your Fridge
Sugar is very good at kicking a man when he is down. PY has made every mistake in the dietary book, but that doesn’t mean you need to keep that ball rolling. If you have leftovers, feel free to pack it all up and bring it to work the next day. Bring it to the gym. Bring it anywhere outside of your home. If it’s stays in your fridge, it’ll talk to you. And the longer it talks, the more likely you are to listen. So if you are going to eat all the bad things, make sure you get rid of any potential evidence that’ll implicate you into doing it again the next day.
5) Find a Buddy
Everyone knows that there’s no pressure like peer pressure. Because of that, I would encourage you to get a ‘diet buddy’ to get you back on track. For me, it’s my wife Lori. Whenever I eat enough ice cream to get a street named after me, (hasn’t happened…yet) Lori is there to roll me back home and come up with a plan to get me back on track. Salads over the next few lunches? Meal prep some more veggies for the week? Maybe don’t buy any more cheese for a while?
My ‘diet buddy’ gives me something to look forward to so that I can move on from my bad decisions and get back to being the 12309458 fittest person on earth!
Let me know in the comments below if you have any other tips for the holidays.