Today’s post is part advisory guidance and part confession…..

You see on Sunday this week I had a blow out… I was having a celebratory lunch with a girlfriend. We had planned it months in advance and so I knew it was going to be a feast of a lunch. Somehow….no additional questions please ;-) … my planned lunchtime indulgence cascaded over into the entire day.

The Belly Busting Food Diary
Breakfast : Large bowl of Bran Flakes
Mid Morning Snack: Slice of home made Pork Pie
Lunch: Crab Tiane with Smoked Salmon, Roast Pork & Mash, Baileys Creme Brûlée, Sauvignon Blanc
Supper: Vegetable Crisps, Smoked Mackerel Crostinis, Garlic Prawns, Garlic Mussels. 2 Cosmopolitan Cocktails

Unsurprisingly the next day I felt ROUGH…. now I cannot blame the cocktails or vino as I actually drank in moderation… what I didn’t do was eat in moderation. I was overcome by the “What the heck, it’s a celebration” voices in my head and had over indulged at every stage.

It wasn’t just the amount of food I ate but the type of foods. Just the amount of processed carbs alone was enough to throw my digestive system out of balance and left me feeling bloated, uncomfortable, groggy, with a fuzzy taste in my mouth. The next morning I felt sluggish and really quite down and unhappy. My entire mood being affected by how I felt physically. My stomach was stretched and felt as tight as a drum. Physically and emotionally I was not in a good place. To be honest I felt so bad that all I really wanted to do was lie on the sofa. I was very thirsty and because I felt so sluggish I was craving sugar to give me an energy boost.

It’s a Slippery Slope!!

Does this sound familiar?  This is the point when in the past I would have given in the physical craving for sugar, carbs and diet coke and hit the corner shop… but now I know that only leads to a serious downwards spiral.  One that ends up with about an extra stone around the middle.  I’ve been there.  I know only too well how slippery that slope is!!!

I also see it with my clients, time and again I see the same self destructive behaviour the day after a blow out.  Its as though the blow out wipes out all good intentions, cancels out any good work gone before, confirms that you can’t do this healthy living stuff! They worry that this over indulgence will stop their weight loss.

But Im here to tell you that is just the cravings talking….like any addiction this is when you are at your most vulnerable.  So now is a time for action…but mostly now is a time to be kind to yourself.  Pick yourself up, accept that the blow out happened, but just more forward.  No looking for excuses, no guilty recriminations , no negative self talk…the blow out was yesterday. Today is a new day and you can make a new choice right now.

The question is…what choice do you want to make?

To help you get back on track I’d like to share with you my tried and tested Belly Busting Blowout Recovery Plan. Just five simple steps to having in you feeling like yourself again in now time…and more importantly to stop you slipping down that slope into daily over indulgence.

The 5 Step Belly Busting Blowout Recovery Plan

1. EAT
Yes I know this might seem a contradiction when feeling over indulged. But it is important to keep your metabolism moving  and your blood sugar levels stable. So today it is important to eat but EAT LIGHT.

Belly Busting Recovery Food Diary

Breakfast : Detox Greens Juice (You can find the recipe in our blog or on our FB page)
This will set you up for the day, flooding your system with goodness while at the same time being very light to digest.

Lunch: Green Eggs & Ham
A great protein based lunch, add chopped spinach to two scrabbled eggs and serve with a a slice of ham. The ham helps to satisfy salt cravings.

Afternoon Snack: Apple & Walnuts.

At the apple with help to keep you hydrated while irving natural sugar and fibre and the walnuts really pack a nutritional punch as the oils also help to balance your insulin levels.

Supper: Chicken & Barley Soup

Again keeping it really light and hydrating this tasty soup helps to satisfy your hunger which will have begun to build during the day. Again you can find a great recipe for Chicken soup on our blog.

2. DRINK
Water, water, water. Today it is especially important to drink lots of water, aim for about 2 litres in total of fresh plain water. If you really feel like you need something bubbly (I know I did) then avoid carbonated soft drinks. Instead add the juice of one whole lime and one whole lemon to a large glass of sparkling water. This will refresh you instantly.

3. WALK
You really need to get moving and not become a couch potato…even though every part of you will be urging you to just sit it out and wait for the discomfort to pass. Get outside into the fresh air…regardless of the weather. Walking for an hour is great, half an hour is good and 15 mins is the absolute minimum. This walk will lift you physically and mentally.

4. SUPPLEMENT
Having consumed a large about of dairy, sugar and proceed carbs my system was totally acidic. I was feeling totally backed up and very uncomfortable (if you know what I mean!!). I needed to get my system back into alignment as soon as possible. Gentle exercise and light eating both help to achieve this but you can super-charge this process by adding supplements into your diet right now. Both Julie  and I always have Alkalising Salts at home. (I take them for Gastro Oesphical Reflux Disorder and Julie  for an energy boost when she feels sluggish) Making up a glass of alkalising salts morning and evening will help to

Also if you have them take 2 probitotics before you got to bed at night they will also help to bentley get things moving regularly by morning.

5. TREAT YOURSELF
The day after a blow out is usually when the guilt and negative self talk sets in. I was disappointed in myself. I hadn’t meant to over indulge…it sort of crept up on me!! My mood was so low that I found myself ruminating on negative thoughts….. in short i was beating myself up for my behaviour the day before. This isn’t helpful. Instead, acknowledge that you perhaps didn’t stick to you plan, but also acknowledge that this one day doesn’t make you a bad person. There is no reason to be guilty and punish yourself. Instead lift your mood by treating yourself to something you really like to do, maybe its have a massage, a manicure, run a bath and take a magazine to enjoy a whole chunk of you time. Whatever is going to lift your spirits.

Let me know how you get on with the plan…it never fails to make you feel better fast.  Follow this plan and you will undo that over indulgence in no time and find yourself back on track.

Please leave me a comment in the box below, I’d love to hear how you get on.