Food Coma? 5 Healthy Ways to Recover From Your Thanksgiving Feast
Did you overeat during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend? Fall asleep on the couch? Yeah. Me too. It’s called a food coma.
Between the juicy turkey, sugary sweet potatoes with marshmallows, starchy stuffing, and decadent desserts, I definitely ate more than my fair share of calories. I didn’t even mention the regular buttered mashed potatoes, tangy cranberry sauce, creamy green bean casserole, and tasty wine!
If you felt uncomfortable, bloated, and depressed because your relatives almost had to roll you to your car or you found yourself unzipping your pants just to breathe normally after your Thanksgiving feast, listen up. You’re not alone.
As I mentioned before, I am not a doctor, nutritionist, or psychiatrist. However, I am a regular person – just like you – trying to make good choices in my life.
Despite the Thanksgiving food coma, here are 5 pretty simple ways to recover from your gluttonous Thanksgiving rampage.
#1 – Forgive Yourself
First and foremost, don’t be so hard on yourself. Overeating is pretty common during the holidays. When you’re with friends and family, eating together is a typical ritual. It’s a way to bond and facilitate conversation with the people you love the most.
As long as you understand that and as long as you don’t overeat on a continuous basis, you should be fine. Accept Thanksgiving as an isolated event, not as a commentary on how fat you are, and move on.
#2 – Have A Plan Before and After Your Big Meal
Like we talked about earlier, if you know you’re probably going to eat more than you should at Thanksgiving or any other holiday meal, it pays to have a plan.
At dinner try eating your favorite foods first so you satisfy your cravings. As you eat, you may be inclined to stop because the food that’s left isn’t your first choice.
You could also limit yourself to just one plate of food. With this one though, make sure not to pile up your food into a small mountain range.
After dinner instead of falling asleep on the couch, help clean up. Help your host clear the table, wash dishes, or put together doggie bags with leftovers.
Maybe pop in a dance party video game and include the group in a fun activity that involves moving around instead of sitting on your fanny.
You might also want to think about walking your host’s dog or playing with that baby or toddler wandering about.
#3 – Eat Normally
Even if you’re feeling fat and bloated the next few days, resist the urge to eat less or even starve yourself to get back on track.
These efforts to compensate for your Thanksgiving eating frenzy might not work and you’ll end up eating more because your hunger will kick in. When that happens you might be more susceptible to office donuts when you could have just eaten regularly.
#4 – Drink Water
Forget all the diet colas and sugary drinks. Stick to the basics: water. Water helps to flush your body out because it removes toxins. It even may help you lose some weight because water also fills you up.
With that in mind, try not to fork over too much of your moola for bottled water. Think about filling up at home and bringing your water with you. If work has a bottleless water cooler in the break room, make sure to drink up and refill several times during the day.
#5 – Get Moving
Feeling fat and lethargic? I know that feeling too.
Get your butt off the couch and move.
Go for a brisk walk around the block. March in place in front of the television while you’re watching your favorite show. Self Magazine has a bunch of helpful exercises you can do right in the comfort of your home without all that expensive workout equipment.
I have a feeling you’re going to have more holiday dinners coming up soon. Make sure you’re prepared by heeding these 5 simple suggestions.
Want to talk about it? If you’re in a funk, sometimes it helps.
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Not into the group social media thing, set up a one-on-one with me and we can talk about what’s bugging you and how to get you on the right path.