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Have you ever overeaten at a family get-together and regretted it shortly after? We’ve all been there before. The pain of overeating is often forgotten when we’re surrounded by tables of delicious food. But for some of us, the struggle with binge eating goes beyond special occasions. Here’s what you need to know to recover from a binge as soon as possible.
Moving On After You Ate Too Much
The first thing you need to do after you ate too much is to forgive yourself. Binge eaters often feel guilt and anger when they give in to their binge cravings. Having an eating disorder is not easy to deal with and beating yourself up won’t change what’s been done.
Make a mental promise to yourself that next time, you’ll stop eating sooner. Take this promise seriously. Go over the scenario in your head and think through how you’ll handle the situation when the need to binge happens again. This will be much more productive than getting mad at yourself.
"In order to heal, we must first forgive…and sometimes the person we must forgive is ourselves." – Mila Bron Click To TweetHow to Recover from a Binge
Here are 7 helpful on what to do after a binge:
- Find a comfortable position, while remaining mostly upright. Try your best to relieve the pain from the bloating. It’s helpful to have a body pillow to lay up against. Also, if you need to lay down, laying on your left side can help relieve acid reflux. It will take time for the discomfort to go away. During this time, find a distraction to keep your mind off it.
- Put on loose clothing, like sweatpants and a t-shirt. Tight clothes, especially waistbands, can promote bloating and increase discomfort.
- When you can, go for a walk. You may feel sick thinking about it, but mild exercise helps stimulate movement in the gut. This will speed up your recovery.
- Have some water or herbal tea when you feel like you can drink something. This will settle your stomach and help you digest. Peppermint tea helps to relieve gas and indigestion. Also, don’t be afraid to burp! That will remove some of the pressure for you.
- Take this time after the binge to figure out what happened. Why did you binge? Did you use some excuse to convince yourself to give in? Identify the problem and think of how you’ll tackle it next time.
- Don’t take drastic measures to try to reverse the binge. This includes any method of purging, including vomiting, overexercising, and using laxatives. Binge eating disorder is one step away from becoming bulimia, and purging can seriously harm the body.
- Feed yourself the next time you’re hungry. Starving yourself today because you ate too much yesterday is not a healthy way to cope with a binge. Accept that you overate and move on. Eating a healthy diet is a form of self-care that shouldn’t be overlooked.
Making it Easier to Recover from a Binge
There are a few precautions you can take during a binge to mitigate the pain afterward. If you know you’ll eat a lot, drink water while you do it. This will fill your stomach and make you feel “finished” sooner. It will aid in digesting the food as well. If possible, avoid foods that are hard on the digestive system, like fatty meats, alcohol, sweets, or chips.
Also, carbonated beverages can make the discomfort worse by filling your stomach with gas. Avoid them if you can. If you’re going to binge, promise yourself you can eat what you want, as long as you stick with water or tea to drink. Little compromises will help you out in recovery.
Lastly, you can take over-the-counter medication during the binge to help out later. Taking an anti-gas pill or antacid can reduce bloating and soothe the stomach. If you know a binge will happen, it’s best to prepare for what comes after.
Preparing for Next Time
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Now You Know What to Do After a Binge
Everyone’s overeaten at some point in their lives, but for people with binge eating disorder, it’s a constant struggle. Once we’ve forgiven ourselves for binging, we need to recover from overfilling our stomachs. If, of course, we haven’t already taken precautionary steps towards relief. Knowing what to do after a binge and during a binge makes a huge difference.
To recover from a binge, there are several ways to ease discomfort and encourage better digestion of the food. Getting ourselves comfortable with a body pillow and drinking peppermint tea are great ways to do this. Once we’ve done that, we can focus on learning from our mistakes and preparing for the next time.
Do you have any unique ways to comfort yourself after overeating? Let me know in the comments!
That’s it for now everyone. If you’ve found some value in this post, please share it to inspire others too! Thanks!
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References:
- https://food.ndtv.com/food-drinks/
- https://www.livestrong.com/article/
- https://healthblog.uofmhealth.org/digestive-health/
- Featured image credit: Prostock-studio/Shutterstock.com
Love the post, Ang! Forgiveness is so important. You can’t start working on what’s next till you’re able to do that! And walking can so help relieve the bloaty feeling.
Definitely, feeling angry at yourself never helps anything 🙂
When I’m having digestive issues, I use a fennel-based aromatherapy roll-on, Whether the fennel actually helps or is just a placebo, who knows, but rolling it all over my tummy certainly feels nice.
Hey, placebos still give you the desired result, and that’s what matters in the end.
Informative post.
Thanks!
Ang, well said. The unbuttoned pants picture from over eating is a good reminder. My wife and I have reduced our portions, but that modus operandi is sorely tested during holidays, especially with all of those high carb casseroles. The only thing I can say is walking after eating is our friend. Again, good post. Keith
Special occasions are the worst and test all of us! Thanks
My wife finds drinking coffee helps her digestion. It doesn’t really do anything for me, but the caffeine is claimed to have laxative effects. But then, it is claimed to be a diuretic also, which is suspect
Good thoughts and great helps here!
I’ve had coffee work as a laxative but also promote constipation, so that’s something I can’t say I know 🙂
This is a really helpful post for people who are looking to work through this. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks!
Wow such a helpful post that does not shame at all. I love the big sister feel, because I know how shameful binge eating can be. My go to is tea ~ mint is great like you said, but I also like lemongrass or ginger tea for bloating.
Thanks! Great suggestions Shelly 😊
Forgiveness is key!
I also remind myself that fat doesn’t grow over night. Just like fast weightloss due to an unhealthily restrictive diet, next-day weight fluctuations are purely water weight related. No irreversible damage done by a day of enjoying more food than usual🌺
Well said! One bad meal doesn’t derail your progress, and isn’t worth the stress of being ashamed.
Great tips! I don’t binge eat or suffer with a binge eating disorder but of course there have been times where I’ve eaten far too much and felt awful after. I’ve definitely had times where I’ve felt super guilty so I need to put that feeing to bed asap.
Absolutely! No meed to feel ashamed with ourselves
Great post! I agree forgiveness is important. So is feeding yourself properly even after a binge. I also agree that bulimic behaviors won’t help. Been there and it’s not good.
I have too. It just takes you deeper into disordered thoughts.
LOVE this post! Thanks for sharing these 🧡 So true especially with the “moving on after you binge”, no point in dwelling in it which I do too often, making myself feel guilty.
Thanks! Forgiving yourself when you make mistakes is super important.
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