Returning to the track with the diet of a slip - when lack of sleep invades!

There are many factors that can cause slips of a diet, among which I personally rank lack of sleep the number one trigger. Mirroring myself: When I don't have enough sleep, my metabolism is dragging, my appetite surging and I am dying for extra sugary or starchy food to calm myself down from any irritation or cheer myself up from a dark mood. With the combination of slow metabolism and all the extra calories, I would literally feel swelling by the end of the day! To resist food temptation is double difficult when one is sleep-deprived, but not impossible. There are a few tips on the way of thinking and simple Do's that might be helpful for you to get back on track.

Thoughts:

1, go easy on yourself. Most of us feel guilty after a binge, especially when you are supposed to follow a diet or a healthy eating plan. But being overshadowed by the sense of guilt doesn't do any good to bring you back, as it simply drags you down further and even leads to explosive renounce of appetite or radical remedies, such as resorting to laxative, self-induced vomiting or excessive exercise. All they do to you is temporarily bringing away the guilt while simultaneously setting you on the start of a vicious circle. Acknowledge and accept the fact that we all have slips from time to time as normal human beings. Take a deep breath and be gentle to yourself, and we will take it from there. Yet don't confuse the idea of tolerance with indulgence and still feel good about yourself while eating your life away.

2, there is got to be a turning point. Unless you are determined, resolute and strong-willed to reach the final destination-morbid obesity, brake the car when you are still in control! Do realize that no matter how you long you let yourself go after a slip, be it the following two days or two weeks or two months, there has to be a turning point. So instead of letting go for too long and consolidating the extra calories into added kilos, why not just getting back within one or two days, while all the seemingly gained weight may only be the fluid retention.

3, it's not the beginning of serial disasters. Instead of dreading the slip as a beginning of a whole series of failures that jeopardize you long term battle, treat it as a singular case, a mere accident, unbound to domino effect, because such association always adds extra pressure on oneself, making it harder to resume the original plan.

Do's

4, take a good shower or a bath. When getting back home, instead of digging in the fridge or food storage cupboard, jump in a shower or bubble bath, quickly! Treat yourself with natural herbal shower/bath product, which helps you relax and tickles your feel-good nerve. My favorite is orange blossom, as it just makes me cheerful! Take your time in the shower or bath, try to get things out of your mind, EVERYTHING! Immerse yourself in the warm, soothing water and the natural aroma. Mostly after that, I would feel so much refreshed, gone my irritation or low mood, and noticeably dropped my extravagant appetite I had had throughout that day.

5, make a light dinner. Don't let go this golden opportunity of switching you back into the normal mode. Rather than clinging to the deepest remorse for your wrong doing on food during the day and punishing yourself by snatching away the dinner altogether, make yourself a fresh vegetable salad, a glass of water with honey and a splash of freshly squeezed lemon juice, as the brain will send out the satisfying signal and you will feel heartened for your right doing. Please don't belittle this step, because the fiber in vegetables and honey accelerate you bowl movement and make it much easier to get the extra out the very next day! I used to remedy a badly behaved day by skipping dinner altogether, but the sense of deprivation only drove me mad and led me to horrible midnight snacks, leaving me in another round of guilt!

6, get sleepy for bed. After a sleep-deprived night, it is much needed to catch up on sleep. Having a good sleep helps burn calories. When you wake up refreshed the next morning, your metabolism engine is repaired to speed. Make yourself a nice caffeine free tea with a spoon of honey (camelia my first personal choice), herbal, mint, rooibos, whatever suits your taste buds. Do some simple stretching, watch a funny TV show or listen to some soothing music. When you are yawning for bed, don't forget to hint yourself that "I've just scored the last point of today for a brand new tomorrow".

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Start increasing your traffic today just by submitting articles with us, click here to get started. Liked this article? Click here to publish it on your website or blog, it's free and easy! MegMeg - About the Author:

I contribute articles on various subjects: relationships, diet, fitness, beauty, health, self-improvement, etc. For no commercial purposes, as I finally get to write something I am genuinely interested! I am no expert with a Dr.title in either of these fields to give professional advice. All I have is my own experience led by an urge of expressing and sharing. Hoping what I contribute here might shed some light on or draw a little laughter from the readers who bump into my articles and who may have been experiencing the same things.

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