Whether you’re celebrating the holidays, you’ve been on vacation, or you just haven’t been able to prep healthy meals, eating rich foods for a few days—or weeks—can make it tough to get back into a healthy eating routine.
And that’s just fine. Successfully adopting nutritious, well-balanced eating habits isn’t a straight line, and it doesn’t require perfection. Rather, it’s a process, with twists and turns over time. After a break, the most important thing is to return to your healthy habits, says Matthew Metz, MD, a bariatric surgeon in Englewood, Colorado. Try these tips to help.
Don’t beat yourself up
Perhaps the most important tip for getting back on track after a period of overeating is this: Stay positive. “Beating ourselves up and just throwing the whole thing out the window is not the way to look at this. It’s a lifelong process, not just a short skirmish,” says Dr. Metz.
When you’re working to resume healthy habits, stay confident by remembering the eating or exercise goals you set for yourself and why you set them. Maybe you want to live a long, healthy life, or you want to feel good about yourself. Remembering why you try to eat healthily can give you the confidence to reset.
Drink water
If you’ve been having a lot of sugary beverages or alcohol, switch to water. It’s calorie-free and can help keep you hydrated, aid digestion, and prevent constipation. Try adding lemon or cucumber to your glass for flavor.
Recommended water consumption may differ from person to person, since exercise, weather, health conditions, and medications all play a role in how much to drink. People with certain kidney problems, for example, may need to be careful about having too much.
A good rule of thumb is drinking about 15.5 cups of fluid per day for healthy adult men, and around 11.5 cups for women. Since other beverages and hydrating fruits and veggies make up some of this, you may need about 5 cups of water each day. Speak with a healthcare provider (HCP) about the right amount for you.
Limit refined grains and added sugars
Refined grains are whole grains that have been through processing, during which they’re stripped of most of their nutritional value. Added sugars are sweeteners that have been added to foods as they’re processed. They’re also lacking in nutrition and are tied to weight gain and chronic health issues such as obesity and type 2 diabetes.
“I recommend that my patients avoid refined grains like white bread, white rice, pasta, and carbonated and sugary beverages," says Metz. “I also try to stay away from things like crackers and cookies.”
Instead, focus on complex carbohydrates such as whole grains, which are digested slowly and packed with important vitamins and minerals. Whole grains like barley, quinoa, brown rice, and oats have large amounts of fiber, as well, which will help keep you fuller, longer.
Work up a sweat
Regular exercise has lots of benefits. It can help boost your mood, reduce your risk of certain cancers, and lower your chances of developing conditions like diabetes and heart disease. In terms of resetting after a period of overeating, getting active can play a role in managing your appetite and motivate you to adopt other healthy habits.
Plus, says Metz, “There’s also data showing that exercising the muscles of the body helps propel us to do activities. If you’re utilizing those muscles on a regular basis for exercise, it actually helps your body burn calories more efficiently.”
Finding a class or workout you enjoy doing will help it become a habit, Metz says. You can also try squeezing in more exercise throughout the day: take the stairs instead of the elevator, do crunches during the commercials, and ramp up the frequency of common household chores like vacuuming, gardening, and raking leaves. (Yes, they count as exercise.)
Sources: Beacon Health System. Water after meals:... + 7
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- Beaulieu K, Hopkins M, et al. Exercise Training Reduces Reward for High-Fat Food in Adults with Overweight/Obesity. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2020 Apr;52(4):900-908.
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