Over break, I posted a picture of myself with a food baby belly, and while most got the joke, I got some concerned yet congratulatory texts about my pregnant state. While I enjoyed the feast, family hikes through the rain to explore northern New York, and binge watching the Harry Potter movies, I still saw the usual “burn after the bird” influx of messages on my social media.
While it is good to get moving after a heavy meal to make sure your digestive system has some help — and many times, it also helps with lifting more weight as muscles get an influx of energy! — it’s more important to keep eating.
Sure, you might feel bloated, and your hunger signals may be out of whack, but thinking of adding in some nutrient-dense foods rather than taking away food as a whole will help heal your gut, maintain your energy levels, and get you back on track rather than falling into another binge-purge cycle — however socially-acceptable it might be to use this kind of rhetoric online.
Some of my favorite things to do to show my body love after an eventful celebration is to drink water; personally, I hate it plain so I love flavoring it with natural citrus or an electrolyte fizzy drink tab to get an extra boost of vitamins. Then, switching to salads after casseroles is tough — so instead I start with some roasted veggies or put them in my smoothies and omelettes to sneak them in without them being the star of the show just yet. Finally, I check in on mindless snacking, so instead of grabbing a comforting, baby-sized bag of popcorn, I opt for a smaller size and a cup of tea to keep me cozy. Give it at least 3 days of this to start feeling back to normal — your body shape may not change, but it’ll feel better quicker than you think!
So if you find yourself thinking, “I ate a lot, so I don’t deserve to eat a normal sized meal just yet”, think again. You can eat, you can move, and you can treat yourself the way you deserve — your body will thank you for it.