Everyone has a weekend of eating that they regret. There’s no reason to view yourself as a failure, but it’s very easy to view yourself in that negative life. You may even wake up feeling guilty about everything you ate and drank. Don’t beat yourself up for succumbing to the temptation of unhealthy foods because there are easy ways to get your health back on track.
Weekends, especially holiday weekends, are notorious for relaxing diets. Whether it’s a potluck party, backyard barbecue, Saturday night drinks, or Sunday brunch, the calories tally up quickly. Not to mention, it’s difficult to stick to your diet in these circumstances, so you abandon ship and join in the consumption. This excess comes in the form of unhealthy carbs, salt, sugars, and fats. This leaves you feeling tired, guilty, hungry, and bloated.
So how do you find your balance again? If the weekend threw you for a spin and you let yourself go, use the following tips to help you recover. You’ll be feeling like your best self in no time!
Let It Go
After falling off your diet, the first rule of thumb is to leave it in the past. You cannot change the past, but hopefully you learned your lesson. How did all of that binge eating make you feel? Not good, right? That’s perfectly acceptable, but just acknowledge your mistakes and get back on the horse.
Don’t Skip Breakfast
While it may seem like a good idea to skip breakfast after an unhealthy weekend, it’s actually a horrible dietary mistake. Dietitians advise against skipping the first meal of the day because skipping a meal can slow the metabolism. This leaves you feeling bloated and unhealthy, and you may retain fat or fluid as a result. Instead, opt for a lighter breakfast like a fruit and vegetable smoothie, oatmeal, or chia pudding to start your day. Good fuel is better than no fuel.
Drink That Water
When your diet gets away from you, so do your healthy hydration habits. Additionally, most people forget to drink enough water in unhealthy situations because they are focused on consuming or drinking other things. After an indulgent weekend, drink a tall glass of water as soon as you wake up. The body needs water to move waste through the digestive tract, and it also helps to improve alkalinity and immune function. If you want to enhance the hydration and detox efforts, add a little lemon juice and apple cider vinegar to the water.
Add Some Fiber
There’s no need to go out and purchase a fiber supplement or anything like that. The goal should be to consume whole foods that are naturally rich in fiber. Focus on fresh fruits, vegetables, and complex carbohydrates from foods like sweet potatoes and quinoa. These foods help to move food through the digestive tract, which you desperately need after binge eating. Plus, fiber keeps you satiated between meals, helping you avoid unhealthy and unnecessary snacking.
Get Moving
One workout isn’t going to undo the damage of a bottle of wine, four slices of pizza, a bowl of buttery popcorn, and a burger. That’s just a fact, but it’s important to get your body moving again. When you slide right back into your regular workout routine, you’ll be able to find that rhythm again. Regular exercise is what helps you stick to your goals and burn off excess calories. Consider engaging in a high intensity interval training session to burn more calories on the first day back after the weekend. You’ll be tired in the best way possible!
Get Plenty Of Sleep
People think that they’ll get more sleep on the weekend, but this may not always be the case. If it’s a social weekend and you go out and indulge with food and drink, you may only sleep for a few hours. Additionally, the quality of sleep may not be that great because alcohol can easily disrupt sleep. One sleep study found that people who only got five hours of sleep ate more the following day. People who slept for seven to nine hours ate less. People who sleep well have better food restraint, which helps to decrease overall caloric intake.
Don’t Get On The Scale
The scale is not your friend after a weekend of unhealthy eating. It will most likely display a higher number than you are used to, but this is most likely because there is extra food sitting in the digestive tract. There’s no reason to start your day with defeat. Instead, try to weigh yourself after you get back on track for a couple days. This will most likely result in the number you’re used to seeing.
Vincent Stevens is the senior content writer at Dherbs. As a fitness and health and wellness enthusiast, he enjoys covering a variety of topics, including the latest health, fitness, beauty, and lifestyle trends. His goal is to inform people of different ways they can improve their overall health, which aligns with Dherbs’ core values. He received his bachelor’s degree in creative writing from the University of Redlands, graduating summa cum laude. He lives in Los Angeles, CA.
