Be Kind to Yourself After a Food Binge

No matter what your journey is, you are bound to experience a few setbacks before you reach your goal. The same applies to the weight loss journey. Binges are a way for your body and mind to try to get you back to your old habits when you are forcing them to change.

Binges are also brought on by deprivation. It is how you react after a food binge that will make or break your weight loss plan. They remind you to take a step back, make sure your strategy will be sustainable and appropriate for you, and keep yourself in check. They’re not, on the other hand, an excuse to be unkind to yourself or to penalize yourself for “bad behavior”. That won’t get you anywhere.

Instead of feeling guilty and abandoning your weight loss initiative, there are ways to help you get back on track stronger than before after a food binge.

How to Get Back on Track After a Food Binge

Here are some strategies that will help you deal with a food binge and get back to losing weight:

Forgive Yourself

Many people experience an instant and overwhelming feeling of guilt as soon as they start bingeing. Their mind tells them to stop, but they just can’t give up on the pleasure they are experiencing from all that delicious but forbidden food.

The guilt continues after the binge is over, and all they want to do is curl up in bed and stay there. The guilt-laden depression makes them feel like a failure. You need to stop, take a deep breath, and acknowledge what happened. After this, you need to tell yourself it is alright to make a mistake and that you forgive yourself. You can’t get back on track until you stop beating yourself down.

Take a Walk

The next step you take after a food binge is one of the most crucial. If you go out and take a walk, the fresh air will give you time to think about what you did and why you did it. The exercise will get your blood pumping and releasing endorphins, and you will immediately feel better and more confident. Once you have your confidence back, the rest will be easy.

Fill Yourself Up with Healthy Food

The walk will make you hungry and thirsty. Fill a pitcher with water and drink, allowing the elixir to flush away the memory of the food binge. You should then prepare a healthy meal for yourself that consists of good protein and healthy fats. This will soothe your inflamed stomach, and you will feel better. 

Yes, that’s right, think about your next meal. Don’t write off the day or try to penalize yourself for having given in to a food binge. Instead, focus on getting back on track as per usual. Focus on nourishing yourself and soothing yourself with healthy choices.

Many people try to purge their slip-up by skipping meals and starving themselves. This is one of the worst things you can do to yourself both physically and mentally. Always treat yourself gently and watch your inner talk. If your inner voice starts criticizing, stop and rephrase your inner voice so that it is saying comforting things to you.

Lastly, try to maintain a food journal that will help you identify what triggers your food binges. Maybe you were upset or feeling frustrated, which brought on the binge. By identifying the cause, you can prepare yourself to deal with it in a better way.