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3 Tips to Recover from Overeating3 Tips to Recover from Overeating

Source: MyFoodDiary.com

Tips to Recover from Overeating
Criticizing yourself for overeating will get you nowhere. Stay positive.

Whether you overeat at one meal or throughout a whole weekend, it's essential to get back on track as soon as possible. Avoid letting the slip-up send you into a spiral of guilt and self-doubt. Leave the past behind and use these tips to quickly return to your healthy habits.

Cut out the criticism.

Everyone overindulges from time to time, so don't dwell on it. Criticizing yourself will get you nowhere, and you risk making yourself feel worse, which could lead to emotional eating. Identify any negative self-talk and replace it with supportive affirmations. Focus on the positives of the experience. Maybe it was a wonderful meal spent catching up with old friends. Perhaps getting off track has filled you with a renewed sense of motivation. Start planning your next healthy meal or workout and keep moving forward.

Sit down and eat.

It's tempting to skip meals to save on calories, but this can lead to increased hunger and a higher risk of overeating later on. While cutting back on calories is okay, it should be done in a healthy manner. Return to the practice of mindful eating: prepare your meals, sit down, and take your time while eating. Focus on foods that are naturally low in calories but rich in nutrients, such as a salad made with seasonal fruits and vegetables or a salmon fillet, which provides lean protein and heart-healthy fats. Pay attention to hunger cues and eat when you feel hungry, but stop when you are satisfied. The sooner you return to your normal, healthy eating habits, the more quickly you will feel in control of the situation and be able to achieve your goals.

Move your body, don't punish it.

Few things will improve your mood and outlook better than a challenging workout, but do it for the right reasons. Using it as punishment for unhealthy eating may result in pushing yourself to the point of injury. You will end your workout feeling exhausted and guilty, rather than energized. Exercise is a great way to burn off the extra calories you’ve eaten, but do something you enjoy that will also lift your spirits. A long bike ride or a hike can give you time to reflect and reevaluate your goals. An evening of dancing or a game of softball will reiterate that exercise is a fun way to improve health.

Lori Rice, M.S., is a nutritional scientist and author with a passion for healthy cooking, exercise physiology, and food photography.
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