Get Back on Track after Thanksgiving
If you're like me most years (not this year because I'm on prep... more on that later!) I'm sure your Thanksgiving involved LOTS of turkey, (not stuffing because I hate stuffing), gravy, mashed potatoes, and PIE.
Fortunately, just as you won't get lean from one day of eating healthy, you also won't do much damage to your physique from one day of overindulging. Here are a few tips you can follow for the next few days to help you get back on track after eating copious amounts of brownies shaped like a turkey yesterday! ;)
Drink a lot of water. I'm talking at LEAST a gallon of water -- maybe even two. Yes, you'll be peeing like a racehorse but this will help rid your body of all the toxins you've accumulated from the sugar you've been consuming. Plus, it will give you more energy so you won't have that post-turkey-and-potatoes food coma that tends to drag on for days.
Get active. Working out will not only release endorphins, it will boost your metabolism and accelerate your progress in your weight loss or muscle building goals. And speaking of goals...
Remind yourself of your goals. Unfortunately, Thanksgiving for some is only day 1 of the downward spiral of food comas, all the way until the New Year when they set a new goal and start over from square one. DON'T LET THIS BE YOU. Take a few minutes today and over the next few days to refocus on what your goals are and WHY they're important to you. This will help you get right back on track starting today.... not Monday. Not next week. Not on January 1. TODAY.
By the way, my boyfriend/biz partner/the most amazing coach I know and I, will be launching something AMAZING on Cyber Monday that will help you immensely this New Year! Stay tuned.
Treat today as any other day. Don't do anything drastic. Many of us (myself included) have the tendency to want to deprive ourselves of food after a huge day of overindulging. What does this do? Creates a vicious cycle of binge --> deprive --> binge --> deprive and pretty much sets us up for failure from the get go. Eat normally today, but opt for whole foods and...
Focus on protein and vegetables. You seriously can't OD on vegetables (although I may have come very close... love my broccoli). Eat as many vegetables as you can over the next few days, and pair it with your protein of choice: fish, chicken, steak, eggs, whatever your heart desires! This will help deplete your glycogen stores a bit from all the sugars you've been consuming. Dietary fats are also your best friend here -- take your fish oil supplements, drizzle some olive oil on your veggies, eat full fat meats, add some avocado to your salad, EAT YOUR EGG YOLKS!
Move on. If you take away ONE tip from this article, I want it to be this one. Move. the. heck. on. Yesterday was just a day. Sure, you probably ate enough to feed a small country, but that is totally OK. It happens to the best of us. The worst thing you can do right now is feel guilty about it and use precious mental energy to stress. It's counter-intuitive, because we think stressing about what we ate will make it go away. Sorry, but it won't. Instead of stressing, use that mental energy (and extra energy from all the foods) and go outside. Have fun. Spend time with your family. Come up with some creative ideas. PLAY. Be a kid again.
The road to becoming the healthiest, strongest, best version of yourself is a long one. There's no linear path -- it's full of zig zags, curves, loops and speed bumps. If you overindulged yesterday, consider that a speed bump and move on.
The quicker you move on and get back on track, the sooner you'll reach your goals.
And the world needs your bright, stress-free, loving light to keep on shinin', so go be the light!
Do me a favor! If you enjoyed these tips, please share them with a friend you think may need to hear them. I know the holidays are a tough time for many of us to stay on track -- so let's spread the love here! <3
xo,
Julie