5 Steps To Cure A Food Hangover & Prevent Weight Gain
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Happy almost New Year! As the year comes to a close and we kick 2020 to the curb (Praise the Lord), the holidays are still in full swing. If you're like most people and overdid it, starting with those fun and festive holiday meals, drank a couple glasses too many of your favorite alcohol, or consumed more sodium than your body needs in a week in one day of holiday indulgence, don't worry! Here are some simple ways to recover from a holiday food hangover that will ease emotional stress and help you bounce back and start losing weight again.
Sadly, with lockdown, cold winter weather, stress, anxiety, boredom, and the depression we are all struggling with right now holiday eating and drinking only make overindulgence worse, making all kinds of reasons to justify it.
Don't beat yourself up for being human, and remember perfection does not exist. And, if you've been kicked out of keto, I've got just the plan to get you back into ketosis fast! Keto (ketogenesis) simply means fat-burning zone, which is the best way to lose weight. LynFit's plans have been a healthier form of keto 30 years, helping people lose weight safely, without excessive saturated fats or overloading your kidneys with the wrong kind of protein.
I get it. I’m human too, and spending time with immediate family over a delicious meal that everyone looks forward to is tradition for most people. Family and traditions are more important than ever after such a difficult year.
The problem is that allowing ourselves to eat too much sugar, carbs, salt, and fat (often followed by drinking excess alcohol) can wreak havoc on our bodies due to the blood sugar spikes they cause. This is followed by long term weight gain that makes you feel tired, bloated, and just generally unhealthy.
Excessive overindulging is often what's under our metabolic issues that make it feel impossible to lose weight and zap our energy levels, but don’t worry there is more hope than you think. The Metabolic Weight Loss System addresses all of the underlying issues and reboots your metabolism by gently and healthfully cleansing and detoxifying your body and jumpstarting your weight loss, making it faster and easier to lose weight without spending hours in the gym.
YES, a food hangover is real, and so is the “low carb/keto flu” that can happen when you start eating clean, and your body begins to detoxify. But don't worry, I've got a few solutions you can do to ease the pains, even if 98% of them are our emotions that pop up when we resist letting go of bad habits. Human nature causes us to push back against change, even though we know how beneficial they are.
Let’s be honest with each other; if you're like me and human, you’ve had food hangovers too. Those days you wake up feeling tired, bloated, and your pants don't zip up easily the way they usually do. You feel crabby, and your cravings are worsened, even though your mind wants to eat cleaner and get more exercise.
Food fatigue and hangovers don't make either easy. In fact, most people say they feel like the brakes were put on, and their body works against them, preventing them from losing weight and feeling better.
I've been there, and it's awful, but I have an easy protocol everyone can do to turn turn things around and jumpstart weight loss in 24 hours unless you've been overeating for a longer period of time. If so, 24 hours may be more like one week, but don't worry, these simple tricks work for everyone regardless IF you do them as suggested.
First, you must recognize your food hangover symptoms. They can include the following, but are not limited to:
- Bloating
- Weight gain
- Headache and brain fog (can't think clearly)
- Swelling of the face and fingers (puffiness under the eyes and dark circles)
- Fatigue and lethargy
- Nausea
- Acid reflux
- Stomach upset
- Diarrhea
- Feeling icky, blah, or downright awful, all mixed together
To me, it doesn't get any worse than feeling terrible, but not being motivated to do anything about it but eat more is even worse. That's sad but true, or at least it was before I learned what I’m going to teach you.
Here are the five BEST methods to help you cope the morning after to encourage your body's natural detoxification process and help you feel better fast (less than 30 minutes to relief after step one).
STEP ONE: Water, water, water with a shot of health-restoring Daily Power Shot
Our bodies are made up of 60% water. Water should be viewed as your lifeline and the core of your health improvements over all else. It's FAST, FREE, and EVERYONE can do this.
Water is one of the best ways to kick that low carb flu to the curb. It flushes toxins out of your body, or as we say in Sports Nutrition, “the solution to everything is dilution,” immediately helping you feel better.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that water is prescribed to treat the worst hangovers, whether they're alcohol or food-related after consuming too much salt, fat, or sugar.
Water is even more effective when you add a shot of essential nutrients. Our bodies need essential nutrients to survive and stay healthy. This Healthy Hydration Cocktail will help you feel naturally energized and flush out the excessive sodium and toxins that build up in our bodies when we overeat (like the bucket of popcorn we devour watching movies).
If you make sure to consume at least 6-8oz. of water mixed with 1oz. of Daily Power Shot, you can naturally relieve headaches, soothe gastric distress, reduce acid reflux, and more.
By hydrating and nourishing, you're on your way to feeling better in no time -- 30 minutes or less. Your daily goal should be eight cups of water minimum and one ounce of Daily Power Shot twice daily (as soon as you wake up and again midday, while detoxing or starting your weight loss program).
NOTE: Vitamins in pill or gummy form won't work the way liquid Daily Power Shot does. Not only do they not contain enough of the nutrients you need they contain too many carbs, sugar, calories, and gums that can clog up your system. Lastly, they require digestion, and your system is already overloaded.
What about capsules like Accelerator Advanced/Keto Carb Edge and Cutting Edge? The capsules we make are easily digested, making the nutrients available when your body needs them, so they will work. Our capsules are in the most bioavailable easy-to-digest form. They work quickly and may be taken in addition to Daily Power Shot to help prevent weight gain by helping reduce and rebalance elevated blood sugar levels that can cause weight gain.
STEP TWO: Go on a micro-cleanse and detox for the next two to four days
Food hangovers are the result of overwhelming our body's digestive process, leading to those bloated icky feelings and problems. When we overeat too much food in one sitting, over the course of a few days, weeks, or months, cramming too much food (even if it's healthy) into our body, it puts it in crises mode, which can also trigger its inflammatory process and exacerbate aches, pains, and arthritis issues in addition to causing weight gain.
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When you overeat, your body diverts energy away from your organs and blood away from your heart, lungs, and brain. It diverts to your GI tract to help digest all that food, and you feel exhausted, cranky, weighed down, and usually, brain fogged and unable to think clearly. (If you drank alcohol, it's even worse, and you'll want to read the chapter in my book, The Metabolism Solution, called "Wine or Your Waistline.")
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The ABS SOLUTE (pun intended) thing you can do after overeating/food binge is to eat less and eat clean for the next 48 hours (more if you've been overeating for a longer period). The problem with this method is that skipping meals can also cause metabolic slowdown, which is what you're trying to avoid. That's where the Metabolic Complete Protein Shake comes in. It prevents metabolic slowdown by nourishing the body with exactly what it needs, in the right amounts.
Replacing your usual breakfast and lunch with a delicious Metabolic Boosting Complete Protein Shake makes it easy as it boosts metabolism 25% and helps restore gut and whole-body health, which is where all health originates. The premium protein in Metabolic Complete Protein is the only protein that also helps naturally detoxify and alkalinize your body.
It’s convenient and macro or calorie counting are required. You don't have to try to figure out what to eat, how much, when, and what to avoid when your cravings are triggered from excessive sugar and carbs that raise blood sugar levels and are responsible for the quick weight gain.
Our best-selling Metabolic Complete Protein Powder is the only protein that does all of this while helping to rebalance blood sugar levels due to the high-quality whey protein and delicately balanced with five grams of prebiotic fiber.
While whey is the absolute best type of protein due to its PER (Protein Efficiency Ratio), speeding healing and improving recovery (that’s why it's used in burn centers), most whey proteins are full of sugar and lactose. We specialize in weight loss, so we microfilter our whey to remove all traces of lactose. This is also why we are the only protein powder that can say it's metabolic and helps accelerate fat-burning.
Bottom line... Lactose is not good for fat loss, which is why we take that extra step and remove it all, so we can still enjoy the powerful amino acids it contains that are the very best when it comes to jumpstarting weight loss, preventing metabolic slowdown, and protecting lean muscle tissue. This is also why you need to stop adding milk of any kind to your coffee, or adding it to your shake. Yes, this includes any and all creamers, even the so-called keto creamers being sold today.
Metabolic Complete Protein safely and naturally boosts metabolism 25% and tastes delicious, helping to kick hunger and cravings to the curb. Your taste buds will be satisfied, making it faster and easier to lose weight since it is free of simple carbs, dairy-free, and replaces junk food and/or sugar-filled fruit or yogurt smoothies.
This is YOUR weight loss; adjust it to meet your personal needs. We are all different.
NOTE: If replacing two meals for this micro detox is too much for you, try replacing one meal instead. Your results will be slower, but one Complete Protein Shake is better than none as your body needs a “digestion break,” so it can focus on healing and repairing food and alcohol-induced damage.
STEP THREE: "KISS” (keep salads simple and slimming)
This step answers the “what should I eat for dinner, how many vegetables, what kind do I need to eat to lose 1 pound a day?" questions. Simply put, LOAD up on the nutritious, delicious leafy green veggies!
Leafy greens like romaine lettuces (and all leafy green lettuces) dressed with a blend of apple cider vinegar (if you need extra digestion support, some fresh crushed ginger and mint) can be a miraculous cure for digestive issues and boost immunity. And it tastes delicious.
This powerful combo of leafy greens and health-boosting digestive dressing can help reduce gas and the pain that often accompanies it. It also helps ease constipation, gas bloating, nausea, and sometimes the diarrhea that follows, helping to reduce food hangover symptoms.
This apple cider vinegar, ginger, and mint can also be consumed twice daily in tea, or my favorite: sipping soup (I like to add a dash of garlic for flavor). When you combine it with water to make soup or tea, you get the healing benefits of the herbs faster as water moves quicker through the digestive tract, delivering healing quickly. Water also helps speed the detox process.
Micro-cleansing by replacing two meals daily with a Metabolic Boosting Complete Protein Shake instead of continuing to overloading your already overburdened system, combined with sipping the “boosting broth/tea,” and eating enough leafy green salads with the "be healthier, boosting dressing," is the most powerful way to feel better fast. It makes it easy to lose weight and burn more fat, specifically belly fat, and reduce the bloat while hydrating your body... a WIN, WIN, WIN for your body!
What about the protein at dinner?
For optimal cleansing and metabolic rebooting, it's best to eliminate protein at dinner, if possible, for 4-5 days (more of you have more weight to lose). If that's too extreme for you, have a small serving of white fish (see Metabolic Boosting Protein Food List). Or, if you're like me and insist on having desserts every day, have a cleaner keto, metabolic boosting dessert after your soup/salad combo instead. This is how I satisfy my cravings and it allows me to have dessert every single day, lose weight, and LIVE DELICIOUSLY.
NOTE: If you're very bloated, avoid over-blending your shake. Spoon stir instead until you're feeling better and digestion is improved.
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DID YOU KNOW that apple cider vinegar can help restore your gut ratio of good to bad gut bacteria that can lead to IBS, diarrhea, and all kinds of digestive discomfort and issues, including constipation?
Not a fan of apple cider vinegar? Me either! I hate how it makes my teeth feel, and as my daughter says, it's all you can taste on your salad. For that reason, I make the lemon and garlic dressing with a very small amount of virgin olive oil (as little as possible) or defatted chicken broth.
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STEP FOUR: Block blood sugar spikes, carbs, and fats to help buffer your binge damage, burn belly fat, and beat bloat
LynFit's Raspberry Ketone Cleanse & Restore to the rescue! While many people reach for the seemingly healthy fermented foods like kimchi, Kombucha, or sauerkraut, the problem is that our already overloaded bodies don't digest these well and can't utilize the nutrients very well after overeating. This is why the “KISS” approach is best, and there are more effective ways to feel better fast, especially if you're trying to lose weight and burn off belly fat.
If you're like me and need an easier solution that doesn't require shopping, chopping, or preparing, Raspberry Ketone Cleanse & Restore is soon to be your new best friend!
This all-natural yet powerful blend has probiotics (dairy-free, which are the best and cleanest kind) and digestive enzymes that work to restore and re-populate your gut with the good bacteria that helps reduce the damage caused by overconsumption of food and alcohol.
It also helps to increase hydrochloric acid in the stomach, which quickly helps eliminate toxins and break down food faster and more efficiently, so it’s utilized by our bodies, nourishing and protecting them, improving every aspect of our health. It prevents new fat cells from forming, so you won't have to burn it off later!
STEP FIVE: Know your triggers! An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!
I totally understand, and I get it! Avoiding slips and the food hangovers that can come with it can seem impossible! From quarantine boredom, family functions, parties, corporate events, weddings, celebrations, holidays, and even when gathering with your close friends and family, overeating can happen.
If you find that you're constantly mindlessly munching on a bag of chips or pouring yourself another glass of wine every night, or you're in the habit of eating scraps off your kid's plates, these may be signs you may have a deeper problem that requires attention.
If this sounds like you, it's important to identify the triggers, or trigger foods or drinks (alcohol is #1), and also what feelings that may be the root cause. Dig deep, ask God to show you or help you figure out if you're eating or drinking for hunger, or eating to feel better, for mood boost, or are feeling more stressed.
For me, it’s about not having enough personal time/alone time with God. This escalates my stress, and I reach for food to soothe myself, and it's not usually broccoli I reach for, which leads to my overindulging, almost always on junk food.
If you're eating because of stress, boredom, sadness, or loneliness, versus actual real hunger, it’s a good idea to start here and follow these steps. I've struggled with all of these issues and since I committed myself to following this leaner lifestyle/weight loss and detox protocol, I've been able to overcome these issues. Now, I'm here to help you.
The goal is to get back into balance and allow yourself to enjoy the foods you love in “moderation,” without totally losing control and binging on foods, sabotaging your hard work, and making you feel mentally terrible.
If you slip and fall off the wagon, IT'S OKAY! The most important advice I can give you is to get up, brush yourself off, and keep going. Forgiving yourself is key to overcoming this obstacle. If you're too hard on yourself, you risk continuing to overeat. But now you know exactly what to do the next time you slip up and fall off the healthy eating wagon. Remind yourself it’s temporary and will pass, and all will be fine. You can easily get back on track with these five simple steps!
Stay SAFE, be STRONG, and have a happier, healthier NEW YEAR!
Lisa Lynn