You ate too much. Way too much.
“That cheesecake looks. so. good… just… just a little morsel.. to see if it tastes good. hmm. oh, it does taste good. I guess a slice won’t hurt… here it goes down. down into my belly…
Oops. I just ate the whole thing!”
…We’ve all been there.
The ability to recover quickly after a binge is absolutely essential to success in building and maintaining a healthy body (and mind). And once you realize that an occasional binge isn’t the end of the world, you can even use the extra energy to your advantage.
Using these strategies, I limited weight gain to just 2 pounds after (…accidentally) eating like a pig for a 7-day cruise with luxurious desserts that often followed breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I was easily downing 4000-5000 calories a day for a week straight. But the 2 pounds I gained were gone in a day. And just one week after I stepped off the boat, we took this picture:
How? I used the excess energy (carbs, mostly) to refill my glycogen stores and fuel some absolutely killer workouts.
But – more importantly, I went back to my normal healthy eating plan the second I stepped off the boat. And after a full week of binging on desserts, I was glad to have a salad-fest when I returned home. Kale never tasted so swell.
And before you say, “But Abel has perfect genetics and that’s why he can get away with eating like a pig!” remember that I was fat, sick, and broken in my early 20′s. My before picture below is what a calorie-restricted, low-fat, veggie heavy diet combined with 20-30 miles of running a week looks like…
I like my after picture better. But, more importantly, my health has improved more than any of my (ex) doctors would have believed. I feel better, and that’s why I eat and live this way.
Important note: don’t let any of this encourage binging. As Spider Man’s Uncle Ben said, “With great power comes great responsibility.” These techniques should not be habits but strategic emergency measures for mitigating the negative effects a temporary divergence.
4 Tips to Bounce Back After a Binge
Firstly, understand that overeating every now and again can actually upregulate certain hormones (like leptin) that keep your metabolism working properly, especially if you’ve been restricting your food intake.
Secondly, ditch the guilt. Reflect on why it happened, enjoy the moment, accept it as a temporary divergence, and move on. No one will remember or care that you ate a cupcake. You can’t change the past, but you can influence your future. Here’s how:
- Manage your false hunger: During the 24 hours following a binge, your blood sugar will fluctuate wildly. This will cause false hunger and a powerful desire to eat more sugar and/or carbs. Don’t. Sip on some black coffee. Go for a walk. Do meaningful work. Just keep yourself busy and forget about food.
- Fast: If fasting is in your wheelhouse, do it. And it’s also a super effective way to negate any extra caloric effects from the overeating as well as shed the extra water weight (and bloating) that accompanies a carb-fest. It doesn’t need to be an extended fast, either – a skipped meal or compressed eating window might just do the trick.
- Engage in high-intensity exercise: Get out to a field or track and do some wind sprints. Hop in the weight room and lift like a maniac. Jump into a vigorous game of pickup basketball. Do anything to get your heart rate up and have fun. You’ll have a ton of energy to put in a solid workout. Use all that glycogen to your advantage!
- Resume normal eating habits: This is the fastest way to get back to a ‘happy place’ and leave the binge in the rearview. Don’t sweat it. Just move on. And if inspecting yourself in the mirror causes issues, don’t look in the mirror. It’s simple. As long as your long-term habits are dialed-in, you’ll be back in action in no time.
You Don’t Have to be Perfect
So if you drop the ball and polish off a slice of your boss’ birthday cake, it is fine and even expected from time to time. We’re all human.
That said, if you’re not consistently sticking to healthy habits, make sure you aren’t making excuses. Genetics are not an excuse. The past is not an excuse. Your present condition is not an excuse. You can either make excuses or get results, but you can’t do both.
If you indulge regularly, it’s not really indulging anymore – it’s just poor decision-making and a lack of commitment to success. Make great decisions the majority of the time and you’ll be able to afford the occasional hiccup.
Being lean isn’t about being 100% perfect all of the time. It’s not what you eat from meal-to-meal. It’s how you live your life. Once you know how to avoid binges but handle (as well as enjoy) indulgences when they occur, you can be lean, healthy, and happy. Never give up!
So what do you guys do when you “accidentally” eat a slice of cheesecake?
Great article, it must have been hell experimenting with all that eating!! Ha ha… I think you’re right, when you fall of the wagon it’s so important to not view it as defeat. Every journey has a bump in the road, all you need to do is negate the effects the best you can and then carry on with your journey. Better still, plan your bump in the road and you can even build muscle in response your cheese cake binge. Win-win
Thanks Ed, glad you dug the article!
Eating a cupcake or slice of cheesecake is not a binge for me. I wish it was. A binge is usually thousands of calories of several pcs of cheesecake AND cupcakeS.
Hi Liz, I hear that. One thing that helps me is only having a little bit around. For example, if it’s a cheesecake you made at home, leave a little in the fridge (a moderate indulgence) and freeze the rest. The more steps you need to take to eat something “bingeworthy,” the less likely you’ll fall off the wagon!
Home ice cream is a workout in itself to make with a hand crank dasher.
Ha, totally.
Good suggestions though! Thanks for posting this. I will keep these things in mind.
You bet! Thanks Liz.
Me and the Mrs like to go to a movie and we get popcorn. But never go back for seconds and I get unsweetened tea to drink. We eat it and move on. I don’t seem to gain weight from it and it use to make me pee out the back end, but that doesn’t happen anymore. So I think some popcorn once a month if that is not so bad.
Popcorn is a good treat every once in a while. Enjoy it!
Just out of interest – how often is it ‘exusable’ to have a feast? Many of us seem to have a cheat day per week. Is that too often — and how much of a treat should you allow yourself?
Hey Jonas, it really depends on your body / your metabolism / training regimen / etc., but a feast once a week or two should be acceptable and welcomed, especially if you cycle overeating days with undereating days.
I do the fasting thing. Which ill be doing tomorrow since I pigged out this weekend. (I needed it for my dietary sanity. Everything in moderation. Even moderation)
I took the idea from the HCG protocol. It’s called a “steak day”. Don’t eat anything all day. Moderate exercise is a bonus. Drink TONS of water.
That night, get yourself a monster steak and an apple. Thats it.
Get plenty of sleep.
Typically you’ll wake up.
Pee for 2 minutes straight.
Bam! Back to weight.
Resume normal healthy life.
ha, sweet!
Your post is well timed. My recent binge has been ice-cream for breakfast on and off for the past four weeks, lots of nut butter and to top it off, cakes and sweets – I have been struggling to get back off of the sugar and although I know the consequences of weight gain, water retention and it killing my mood, I haven’t seemed to be able to get off this roller-coaster. However, even before reading your post today, I promised myself that today is the day to stop this ride. Screw the guilt! Here’s to feeling well again. Thanks for the tips!
PS – I so want to try the steak day just to see what a two min pee is like.
Cheers to that! Screw the guilt! Good luck with getting of the darn roller coaster
- Emily, FBM Team Coach