The initial drive to be fit and healthy + working out everyday is exhilarating. You never skip a gym session and you are motivated to push yourself harder everyday ! You’ve worked hard to build the body  you desire, and you are now ready to flaunt it. You either go on a holiday, attend a friend’s wedding, go for a weekend get away . All in the hopes of getting to show off that bod. Meanwhile you’ve let go off your ab and leg day and also done a bit binge eating ! We get it , you starved yourself from all these treats and now you are on a holiday and are enticed. We’ve all been there and done that

But the downside is that your fitness routine goes for a six. You want to enjoy instead of worrying when is your next run scheduled. You ought to relax once in a while and this is your time.

I was away for a whole month and ended up eating bread thrice a day. I don’t eat carbs, so you can imagine ! Also I was eating out every other day and once again I rarely go out to eat. My workout routine was sleeping . Suffice to say it wasn’t my proudest moment. But I assured myself that once I was back to Delhi , everything would be back to normal. I had planned my whole schedule. It had a time chart, a pie chart, an excel chart, it had all charts.

The very first week I fell ill so no workout. The next week was Diwali, so no workout again.

Finally, I dared my self to weigh, and I had put on a couple of kgs.

No more monkey business!

I followed these to the T. They worked for me, they may not work for you. But there is no harm in trying. Also nothing extreme is mentioned. Normal pointers that everyone knows but forgets to apply.

My super easy 8 ways to get back to the best version of yourself.

1. Mind over Matter

If you’ve set a date and time to workout, stick to it. Your head and heart will be at loggerheads. They will play games with you. Cajole you to postpone, or start the next day. Do not listen to them. They’ve reached a comatose stage and have no wish to budge, but you need to get going or don’t complain about packing those extra pounds

2. Crash Diets will Crash you

The first go to move after any binge episode is convincing yourself that from now I shall only eat veggies , soups , salads, skip a meal, do a juice cleanse, do a GM, cut out carbs and any such diet hacks. Take it from me , they don’t work ! I tried a juice cleanse after my month of eating junk through out the day. By mid day, I was definitely seeing stars. Juice cleanse and all these detoxing tricks are good when your body is accustomed to it. If you make a conscious decision to eat normal home cooked food, three times a day, your body will automatically go back to its original cycle and those Lbs will shed. Drink a lot of water to flush out the toxins, and also to curb that hunger. Most of the times we mistake thirst for hunger.

3. Don’t kill the crave, curb it

The best way to cut down on the food intake after stuffing your face for more than 3 days in a row, is doing it gradually. You’ve been eating chocolates after every meal; cut that down to jus after just one meal. Killing the crave will only make you more greedy. Control the crave, give it what it needs, but not all the time.

4. No outside food allowed

Well the title explains it all. Atleast for a month avoid going out every weekend and eating outside food. How much ever healthy options you choose while ordering in a restaurant, you still don’t know whats happening in the kitchen. Avoid it.  I am not stepping out for any meals in the month of November , because come December and wedding season, I know for sure that its going to be a hog fest.

5. Work it, don’t kill it

You’ve taken a back seat and been too busy during Diwali season to squeeze in a workout. We all do that once in a while. The initial feelings are guilt, which soon turns into “chuck it , I’ll do it tomorrow” and then out the window goes your fitness routine. Now you have to get back to it and I bet the first thing you do is go at with full force. First and foremost, you haven’t worked out for a while, body doesn’t remember what working out feels like, muscles and bones have become stiff and suddenly  you are bombarding it with heavy duty workout. All you are doing in reality, is injuring yourself. Take it slow ! You didn’t put on weight over night, and you are not going to lose that weight over night either, even if you go for a 2o km run. Start enjoying your sessions again. By going too fast, you’ll just end up hating your workout routine.

6. Weighing Scale Trickery

I am completely against the weighing scale concept, but this is the only time I approve checking your weight every day. Now don’t kill me for this. I do it, you don’t have to. I use it as a motivation. I set my self a goal, and every time I get on that machine, I use it as an indicator of how much further I need to go and sometimes it disappoints me, and sometimes it motivates me but once I reach my goal, I stop stepping on that machine. Please don’t let those numbers govern your life. That I do not approve !

7. Routine is the key

You sticking to your routine everyday for a certain period of time, will for sure shed those extra grams. But all you have to be is dedicated. You cannot stray  and you cannot have multiple cheat days in a week. In-fact I would suggest no cheat days for this period. Its hard, but doable.

8. Acceptance

You’ve put on weight ! You will lose that weight! Don’t worry or stress about it. Trust you me, you will go through this episode again, like the ‘Friends’ reruns. I for one end up going through this cycle almost 3 times a year. One minute I am my fittest self, the next month I have become a couch potato and eating uncle chips once a day. It happens to all of us. You cannot be your healthy and fit self all the time, there will be fluctuations. The sooner you accept that, the happier you will be.

Hope these tips very useful. These are all tried and tested by yours truly. All organic, no substance abuse.

Ta~