Saturday 7 September 2013

I binged (and I liked it!)… What’s next?

After a particularly full on couple of days I came home from work and went straight to the cupboard and fridge. A few rows of chocolate and a glass of coke later and the day’s worries were behind me. Soon after my fiancé arrived home and he had also had a pretty shitty day… so being the loving soon-to-be-wife I am, I loaded him up with chocolate and coke too. 

 
A nap on the couch and a few hours later talk turned to dinner. Still recovering from our sugar binge, neither one of us felt like cooking (and didn’t particularly feel like the meat and three veg that was planned for tonight’s dinner). So some genius decided we should get McDonalds. We deserved it after all… oh and McFlurrys too! Eating dinner was literally a blur… the food was gone just as fast as it was bought. Did we even chew?

My kitchen bench the morning after
 
Needless to say a few hours later we were feeling pretty sorry for ourselves. We were bloated, gassy and asking “Why did we just do that?!”

The point of this blog isn’t to show the perfect wellness lifestyle (evidently I am far from that) but it is to show how to deal with the imperfections. We are newbies after all and let’s face it… this lifestyle isn’t easy to stick to after a lifetime of eating completely the opposite way! I have a picture on my vision board that says strive for progress, not perfection and I encourage you all to adopt a similar attitude to avoid a LOT of negativity.

 Here are some steps you can take after that inevitable slip from your wellness path:

 1.       Don’t beat yourself up about it!
What’s done is done and stressing about it is just going to make it worse. Try looking at the facts, is one bad afternoon going to undo all your healthy eating? No!

2.       Help your body out
Afterwards you’re going to feel pretty gross as your body tries to digest all that processed food. Try using a hot wheat pack, taking some digestive enzymes and drinking lots of water and peppermint tea to help your tummy out. The next day you might like to start with some lemon in warm water or green tea to help your body detox.

3.       Find out why
Gently ask yourself (without judgement) why that just happened? For example, mine was because I had a bad day… it was Friday… I was exhausted and stressed.

4.       Remind yourself why you began this journey
A common mistake that is often made after a binge is that it is okay to continue to eat this way for the rest of the day/week/month etc. One slip up does not mean you should give up. Remind yourself of your goals and how good it feels to eat foods that nourish and energise you.

5.       Notice how you feel after the binge
You may have some pretty strong physical and emotional reactions after eating foods your body is no longer familiar with. I felt incredibly sick but I was also quite annoyed with myself for what I had done. Again you need to be gentle with how you do this but just remember how you are feeling and it might just be that little bit of encouragement to make a better decision next time. I did this almost five years ago after a trip to Sizzler (way before my wellness journey began). I was that sick that I convinced myself I would never go back and I never have!

       6.    Move on
But most importantly move on! Don't punish yourself for your little slip by denying yourself of food for the next day. You don't need a 7 day juice detox or to cut out meals or a punishing exercise routine. The best thing you can do is make your favourite healthy foods the next day. Make some raw desserts and yummy fulfilling dishes to show yourself that you aren't missing out on anything. Notice how you feel after these foods and remember this for when you are feeling tired/stressed/emotional in the future.

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