Overeating: How To Bounce Back Fast!

Overeating means eating more than your body needs at that point in time. I’m sure we’re overexcited that the month of December is finally here and we can smell Christmas in the air! There are a lot of activities and delicious dishes that are already being anticipated.

Many people are used to eating so much during the Christmas festivities that they often end up feeling the symptoms of overeating and resorting to herbal concoctions to ‘detox’ the body. Other people feel compelled to throw up after the meal, which is a very unhealthy practice.

Instead of going too far, let’s look at ways to recover from overeating so that you can enjoy the holiday to the fullest!

How Do You Know When You’re Overeating?

There’s lots of food available during Christmas and because of that giddy feeling that comes with being on holiday, most people tend to overindulge in more food than they normally would eat. Eating more food than you would normally eat, even though your stomach is full may cause a lot of discomfort at the end of the day. You’ll know that you’ve overeaten when:

• You feel uncomfortably full that you may even be short of breath.
• You feel nauseous.
• You feel gassy or bloated.
• You feel sluggish or sleepy.

What To Do After Overeating

If you find yourself feeling bloated, ‘heavy’ or uncomfortable after overeating, here are a couple of things that could help:

• Get active: Instead of taking a nap, which will only make it worse, take a walk or do some light exercise. This will make digestion faster and level out your blood sugar. Try not to do anything too strenuous so that the digestive process can go on without any disturbances.

• Take some water: Don’t try to take a huge bottle of water at once. Sip a glass of water instead. This will help dissolve any salt that you may have ingested and prevent constipation which is a notorious side effect of overeating.

• Don’t take carbonated drinks: Reaching for that chilled bottle of coke may seem like something you would want to do, to wash down the food right? Unfortunately, taking carbonated drinks will only make you fuller and those bubbles will make you bloated. Swap that bottle of soda for a bottle of water instead.

• Forgive yourself: Instead of feeling like you’ve gained 5kg in one day, which isn’t possible, by the way, forgive yourself for eating so much and make actionable plans to avoid making this mistake again.
• Avoid taking a nap: Lying down or taking a nap can slow down the digestive process and may even make the food go back up. It can even cause acid reflux and heartburn. Skip the nap and go for a walk instead. You could also do some light yoga.

• Eat light: It’s easy to decide to starve after overeating but that’s not the answer. Ensure that your next meal has lots of fruits, vegetables, and protein. You could also have a light soup so that you don’t overwork your digestive system. Plan to eat a healthy breakfast the next morning.

If these tips have been helpful, please leave a comment with more suggestions or questions!

Click here to find out about snacks that could help you curb overeating!

Till my next post,

Dr. Omotola Oke.