We’ve all done it. We finish the jar of peanut butter or the bag of chips and then we go….oh fuck. The stomach is distended…we have a nice sugar crash and anxiety sets in. It’s fun while it lasted but now we feel guilty.
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I want to explain not only how to handle this situation, as we all go through it at some point, but also explain what goes on during this binge on a physiological level. I find when we know exactly what is going on in our bodies it makes things a little easier to handle.
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First let’s address the issue at hand and then we can talk about exactly how we handle it as trust me when I say – it’ not the first or last time it will happen. When on any form of a restriction diet this can happen. Keep in mind this is life so theres no real end date so this means- yes, we will have these times, yes we will get sick, yes we will go on vacation, go through break ups, lose jobs, get in relationships, get jobs, etc! It’s all part of life and life happens non stop.
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So! you splurged. Will it effect this weeks check in or weekly progress? Yep. But! That is all it will affect and it will not make a bit of difference long term. Not if we don’t let it and are proactive now.
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When we over eat what happens is there is glycogen restoration first. Those glycogen stores, which get depleted through our resistance training need to be filled and thats what gets filled first. Now, This reflects the scale.
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There is also much fluid retention from the extra food and carbs as well. Let’s face it ,when we binge we do it on good shit and not protein and not low carb/fat foods. Lots of carbs, lots of fats and lots of sodium. To binge on veggies would be futile as you’d get extremely full before you even took in enough carbs that are in one cookie. Again, This all reflects the scale.
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THIS IS NOT BODY FAT. Not yet. However if you jump on the scale it will be up a bit. First things first. DO NO JUMP ON THE SCALE AFTER A BINGE. You’re just asking for trouble. You’re up. You know you’re up. Why bother and it’s only going to fuck with you. Now, It takes a sec to deplete this, but many times, especially if in a caloric deficit , it can come down fairly quickly so long as we get back on our plan.
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Not only will we come back down ,but we will continue to progress .We just have to wait it out. Here is the real key to handling a binge episode successfully.
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All it takes is immediately jumping right back on our plan. If you don’t have a specefic meal/macro plan it just means getting back to whatever your normal regiment is.
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I do not care how bad you or anyone slips up , binges, or overeats- all it takes is getting back on immediately afterwards and just being patient. You didnt do any long term damage and it will come back down.
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Here is where people fall short. One episode turns into another and then yes, over time there will be back tracking ,however if its a one time occurrence there will be no issues. If binging gets repeated and if the body adapts to a nutritional program it will negatively effect the dieting process in the long run. We must avoid binge after binge ,so just make sure that you don’t fall into this cycle.
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So here is how we handle it. WE DONT CHANGE A THING. What’s done is done and there is absolutely no point in laboring over it as we cannot change it.
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Where I don’t want you to beat yourself up or feel guilty what I do want you to do is learn from this. We want to learn what to do when these times come up and how we handle them as again, it’d be unrealistic to say that it wont ever happen again. We’ve all done it, even the pros. As long as this isn’t a regular occurrence and as long as we jump right back on the plan this will not be a set back and will by no means affect our long term progress and plan. Its Simply just a side step and part of the never ending fitness process.
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If ever you feel like you may be risking a binge, on the verge of one or just are feeling like you’re ready to throw in the towel you can message me or email at any time and I will guide you through it.
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