How to Recover From an "Oops" Eating Day

By Sarah Jio, Glamour magazine

My healthy eating routine was going well until ... Mother's Day, when I found myself staring at a dozen luscious vanilla bean cupcakes with beautiful butter cream frosting. Here's how my nutritionist recommended that I recover from my "oops day".

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You all know that I'm OK with the occasional splurge. In fact, life requires it! But, my cupcake indulgence over the weekend was a bit more than a splurge. I also went out to dinner and loaded up on the bread basket. While celebrating mothers day, I went a little overboard. How to get back on track?

My nutritionist, Stephanie Middleberg, said it's all about clean eating the day after an "oops." "Try to drink tons of water, have green tea with your afternoon snack (instead of coffee) and have warm water with lemon post dinner," she suggested. "Also drop to one carb if possible and try get a little run in, even for 20 mins."

Here's what she suggested for my eating plan for the day after big indulging: 

Breakfast:
Start day off with protein and fruit (for example two eggs any style plus a fruit). If no time for eggs, Greek yogurt plain plus fruit works. Or perhaps most convenient: smoothies made with yogurt, 1.5 cups fruit, cinnamon, non-dairy milk, 1 tbsp flax and cinnamon

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Lunch:
Choose a protein plus veggie (i.e. tuna salad, egg salad, veggie omelet or grilled chicken salad, veggie burger, etc.)

Snack:
1 oz nuts plus fruit and green tea or smoothie option above 

Dinner:
Protein plus veggie and baked potato 

Nighttime snack:
Fruit and water with lemon (if hungry have a yogurt)

Stephanie encouraged me to move forward. "Most importantly take a deep breath and try not to replay the previous day," she said. "Don't step on the scale today and remember it takes more than what you ate to gain a pound!"

I love the idea of "clean eating" after an indulgent day. Do you practice this technique?