I hope you enjoyed a relaxing and fun Labor Day weekend, if you’re in the United States!  Long weekends can be the best, but can also leave you feeling less than your best.  If you’re having a hard time bouncing back to feeling amazing, here are my top 7 tips to get back on track after a holiday weekend.

1. Don’t beat yourself up (about anything). First, be kind to yourself.  Life is too short to spend time feeling guilty or demeaning yourself because you ate a second helping of your mom’s lasagna or enjoyed a cupcake at a friend’s birthday.  Second, it doesn’t help – what’s done is done.  Third, spending time feeling guilty is actually demotivating, and tends to lead to even more unhealthy decisions because we get stuck in the “black and white mentality.”  So if you find your hamster wheel brain agonizing over your “misgivings,” realize that you do not have to be perfect, and you’re not helping yourself out.  And by the way, this tip applies to anything … not just food on a holiday weekend!
2. Recommit to your routine. We all get out of our routines from time to time, but the key is to snap right back to action and not let the feeling of sluggishness from a holiday weekend linger.  Now is not the week to forget your meal prep, skip your workouts, or IV drip coffee into your veins and forget about water.  At the same time, there’s no need to try to overcompensate with more exercise or less food (that doesn’t actually work, and often leads to binge eating later on).  Just jump right back in, as soon as possible.  Yes, that means no snooze!
3. Drink tons of water. Extra hydration will help you flush out toxins, increase your energy level, get your digestion back on track, and get you standing up and walking throughout the day (to use the restroom)!  Aim for half of your body weight (in pounds) in ounces, or more, especially if you’ve accumulated some extra inflammation from the weekend.
4. Strive for an anti-inflammatory diet. Load up on plenty of dark-colored vegetables, and reduce anti-inflammatory foods like added sugar.  For more on inflammation, see last week’s blog post!
5. Breathe. Literally. Taking several deep breaths throughout the day can reduce anxiety and make you feel more in control.  I’m a big fan of meditation (here’s more on my morning routine) or specific breathing exercises (here are 4 of my faves).  And figuratively breathe, too … know that you won’t feel out of control forever, and that be back to your healthy self in no time.
6. Get moving. Exercise picks up your energy, encourages water consumption, makes you feel empowered and in control, increases your metabolism, improves digestion, and helps get rid of bloating. Exactly what you need post-long-weekend!
7. Prioritize sleep. Hopefully, you got plenty of rest over your long weekend, but regardless, prioritizing sleep when you return to reality is important. Sleep helps you feel more energized (obviously), but also helps the body clear toxins and reduce inflammation.  So encourage yourself to get to bed on time, even if you don’t feel exhausted (yet).  Here are some tips to help improve sleep naturally!.

Never want to feel the need to get “back on track”? My Revitalize Health Accelerator helps people strategize for special events like holiday weekends in Pillar 7, and helps people solidify ALL the health habits they need for an overall wellness program so that they never even have to think about whether they’re “off” or “on.”  I’d love to have you join in – more info here!

Now it’s your turn … What is your best tip to feeling back on track after a long weekend?