Here's how to best recover from a junk food binge

If we're honest with ourselves for once, we all have to admit that any of us would go weak in the face of juicy burgers, golden brown chicken wings and crispy fries. Yes, junk food can be a true revelation for many of us who all too often mortify ourselves when it comes to nutrition. However, as soon as the feast is over, we become aware that we have betrayed our principles from Clean Eating and make acquaintance with the resulting remorse and shame. If we are not careful at this point and surrender to our frustration, the path to the junk food spiral is already mapped out. To prevent this from happening in the first place, in this article we would like to introduce you to six measures with which you can easily escape this fate after a binge.

Action 1 - Throw your guilt overboard

The worst thing you can do after a junk food binge is to fully surrender to your guilty conscience. Stop doing that and just learn to forgive yourself. Even when you have criminally betrayed the credo of bodybuilding. Be aware that it's never too late to break bad habits and make a fresh start in terms of a sensible diet. Every one of us has experienced such a point, you are far from being the only one. So, throw your guilty conscience overboard and press the restart button.

Action 2 - Get your butt up

It's obvious that after a junk food binge, you're sure to crave things other than exercise. But that's the key to getting back on track as quickly as possible. So get off your butt and get moving. Go for a run in the fresh air, or at least try a longer walk if you don't feel like exerting yourself. If it's been a few hours since you've been on a binge, there's nothing wrong with a HIIT workout or some bodyweight exercises. Any kind of exercise will get your circulation going again and help you clear your head. You'll see, after you've done a little exercise, you'll feel a hundred times better.

Measure 3 - Eat!

This measure may seem strange at first glance, especially since food is responsible for your mental and physical agonies. At this point, you must not make the mistake of trying to compensate for the past junk food excess by extreme starvation in order to clear your conscience. You cannot change what has happened. So finish with it and provide your body with all the important macro and micro nutrients it needs to function optimally. This is the only way you'll get enough energy to train hard, and slowly but surely work off the extra calories accumulated during the binge. Be sure to use high-quality proteins, but don't skip fruits, vegetables, and other fiber-rich foods.

Action 4 - Get your digestion going

In order to feel good in your skin again, it is important that you actively support your digestion so that you feel less bloated. The best way to do this is to eat foods rich in fiber, which are also beneficial for the detoxification of your entire organism. Lentils, chickpeas, avocados, oatmeal and flax seeds are particularly good. In turn, however, it is also of great importance that you avoid all foods that could interfere with your digestion. Among others, coffee, gluten, high-fat dairy products and of course alcohol fall under this category. Alcohol, in particular, causes further problems that are understandably not beneficial for your physical condition.

Measure 5 - Drink enough fluids

In order to optimize the effect of fiber-rich foods, you should remember in a second step to supply your organism with sufficient liquid. In addition, the intake of liquid promotes the activity of the kidneys and thus also the production of urine, with the help of which toxins and waste products are eliminated from your body. Because of the importance of hydration for the human body, you should make sure you drink enough not only after a junk food binge, but every day. The guideline is to consume one liter of fluid per twenty kilograms of body weight. Of course, this is a lot, but you can rest assured that this value does not refer exclusively to pure water. Alternatively, you can also drink tea, flavored water, fruit spritzers and, in small quantities, sugar-free soft drinks.

Action 6 - Stay clean for a while

To avoid the risk of relapse, you should try to eat as cleanly as possible in the first few days after a junk food binge. In plain language, this means that industrially processed foods and convenience foods are taboo, as are foods with added sugar or other additives. Instead, eat fresh and wholesome foods like green vegetables, potatoes, rice, lean beef and salmon. This action will help you get back on the path of virtue more easily. And the best thing is, once you've reached this again and successfully walked it for a while, you can also treat yourself to a cheat meal or two again. However, you should avoid junk food binges wherever possible.