Bouncing Back

We all have them. Those mornings when you wake up, slap your palm against your forehead and just feel awful about indulging so much the night before. Indulging means different things to different people—it could be something as simple as Coldstone ice cream or three glasses of wine plus a slice of cake at a wedding. How do you transform those feelings of guilt into a feeling of something more positive?

First of all know this, and repeat after me: you will not gain weight from one indulgent night on the town. To add inches to your waistline you really need to be constantly consuming more calories than you are burning. If we just squeeze a moderate amount of activity into our day, coupled with mostly healthy eats, we are fine. However, if you are constantly indulging in Coldstone ice cream every single night and sitting in a cubicle with no exercise during the day, things might get hairy.

So now you are wondering what I do personally to “detox” my body from a night of indulgence. Hands down, my favorite post-food coma activity is Bikram Yoga. I mean, how can you beat stretching and twisting your body into pretzel shapes in a room heated to 103 degrees for 90 minutes?! The hardest part is actually getting to the studio, but once I’m there and practicing I can literally feel the toxins pouring out of me.

Couple Bikram with a nutrient packed green smoothie made with fresh spinach, fruit, soymilk and nut butter, and you are golden. I don’t restrict calories the day after indulging at all. I just focus intently on what I’m eating and how it feels in my body. I know that eating a greasy hamburger will not make me feel as good as a big salad will, so I’m likely to choose the salad option. I am very in touch with my body and over the years I have strengthened the mentality that, really, when you eat healthy 80% of the time, you have that 20% wiggle room.

So, the real moral of the story is to cut yourself some slack! Don’t cut yourself down for the previous night’s activities. There is NOTHING you can do about it now. All you can do is keep looking forward and making the best choices possible from here on out. Practice being mindful and aware of everything you put in your mouth and eat slowly, with intention…not hunched over the computer screen or standing up. You’ll be fine. I promise.