Overindulged Last Night? How to Bounce Back and Get Back on Track: A Guide to Post-Party Recovery

This time of year brings about lots of parties, social gatherings and is typically very busy for most.

With that comes a lot of temptation to indulge in foods and alcohol, and though we always have the best of intentions, some times it just doesn't work out that way.

On the occasion that you overindulge in food or alcohol, lets take a look at the best ways to get back on track.

Lets lay out a scenario. You go out for dinner and drinks with friends or family with the intention of picking protein and veggies for dinner and limiting yourself to 1 drink.

You eat a healthy and nutrient dense dinner but the drink are going down pretty easy. 1 drink turns into 3,4,5 and you wake up feeling less than stellar the next day.

You've been working hard on your goals and along with your headache and sour stomach from last nights indulgence you are also feeling waves of shame and guilt.

Personally, I've always struggled more mentally than physically after nights like this so it is important to get a grasp on your mindset.

So the first step of getting back to normal is you have to remind yourself that you are a human and part of being a human and enjoying your life is going to come with some easy days and some not so easy days. Give yourself some grace and don't dwell on it. Its done and over with and sitting in your feelings for too long will just make things worse. What would you do different next time? (if anything)

Next, its time to make choices that are going to help you moving forward and not make you feel worse. Its easy, when you're not feeling well, to make choices in the short term to just make you feel better. Comfort foods become a primary focus to wash away all the discomfort from the night before, but it rarely works out that way. The only thing that makes a hangover worse is a full belly and too much food.

So you must focus on getting nutrients, food, supplements that can aid in getting over the hump.

1. Hydrate. Getting enough water the next day is key in rehydrating. Adding electrolytes like Liquid IV or LMNT are great ways to add in better hydration which will help with some of the physical side effects like headache and nausea. Try to stick to lower or zero calorie options here and avoid added sugars. 

2. Vitamin B and C. These help neutralize the damaging metabolic effects of alcohol and can aid in overall recovery.

3 Magnesium and Zinc. Alcohol depletes both of these aiding in the horrible symptoms you may be feeling. Adding these two into the mix will help symptoms disappear and balance out the bodies immune system as well helping ensure that a hangover doesn't turn into a bad flu or cold in the days following.

4. N-Acetyl Cysteine (NAC) NAC is believed to support the production of glutathione, an antioxidant that helps the liver process alcohol. Some studies suggest that NAC may mitigate hangover symptoms, but more research is needed.

Outside of supplements, I suggest getting outside and walking. This may be the last thing you want to do BUT moving your body is one of the best ways to help improve circulation, blood flow and release endorphins. All are mood boosting which is going to be the most important benefits.

As usual, the best way to avoid all of this is to not over do it to begin with but hopefully this can be helpful on the occasion that you over do it one night.