The Dreaded Kraft Dinner Hangover
I did something really stupid yesterday.
It was just one of those days where I was:
- short on time
- running low on healthy food
- hungry as a bear
- and in a bad mood (crappy day, don’t even ask)
As a result of my crappy day, my stress levels were sky high and my serotonin levels were down in the dumps.
As a result of that, I began to have a wicked craving for carbs and was experiencing a generally crappy mood which also caused a craving for a great big dietary hug from Mom.
So, in a moment of emotional weakness, I ripped open a dusty old box of Kraft Dinner from the pantry.
And I ate that glow in the dark orange, mushy, creamy, full of chemicals, pasta slop.
And I loved every spoon/shovelful.
Unfortunately, for the rest of the evening I was craving carbs like a heroin junkie craves heroin.
And this morning, I woke up with everything aching…my head, my back, my muscles feel stiff and sore and I am still craving carbs and feeling generally like crap.
So, what did I do to get rid of my Kraft Dinner hangover?
- Exercise – at 4:30 this morn, I woke up and did 30 minutes of joint mobility and muscle flexibility exercises. Nothing too intense – just working the stiffness out of my body
- While exercising, I drank a serving of Athletic Greens
- I also choked down a Vitamin B Complex pill and another herbal adaptogen product to help get my hormones back in order.
The result:
At 6:30 this morning, I started writing this post and…
- my headache is gone,
- my craving for carbs is 82% gone,
- my muscles feel normal – not optimal, but okay.
.
Overall, I feel 91% less crappy and ready to go train another 6 clients.
Conclusion
Just Say No to Kraft Dinner
.
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blinky
January 21, 2011 at 10:33 am
The only thing that truly cures a Kraft Mac and Cheese hangover is a big mac. Sad but true
Kim Heaslip
January 21, 2011 at 12:18 pm
Great post!!! Well said! Most people don’t realize the effect that food has on how they feel!
Henway
January 21, 2011 at 9:13 pm
Everytime I get one of those cravings and fall to the seduction, I always feel so awful a few hours afterwards.. physically and mentally. Kraft dinners are evil, pure evil!
Nancy
January 22, 2011 at 2:26 am
When I first read this, I thought, “cool.” Obviously it feels validating to know this happens to the best of us and it’s great to see how you actually deal with it. I was so amazed that despite eating that junk, you picked up and helped yourself recover with healing techniques so that one bad decision didn’t turn into a week of bad choices. As someone who’s lost a lot of weight a little more than a year ago, I live in fear of the day that I pick up a donut and end up gaining 60 lbs. but this post reminds me not to be afraid, since I can regain control if I make one bad choice (not that I should use that as an excuse to make bad choices, btw!) I guess for myself I’d also add in an element of being forgiving to myself, bc harsh emotions would only fuel further bad food and exercise choices, in my case anyway.
Also, not necessarily calling you out on this bc I really understand, but this is a good reminder not to keep this stuff in your pantry. At worst, it wouldn’t have hurt to mix a packet of tuna or ready made tuna salad (I have these in my pantry all the time just in case) to control how much carb you got vs.percieved carbs.
Vicki Kron
January 22, 2011 at 2:24 pm
Thanks for a great post. We know we are not alone in answering the “Carb Call”.
Sadly, we have all been there at one time. But the best thing is knowing exactly what to do when you are in the midst of the muscle-body ache, guilt-shame cycle, foggy-brain thinking that might lead to more and more carbs.
Just get up and start moving, eat or drink something healthy and get on with life.
Matt
January 23, 2011 at 8:50 pm
But it has a green “Sensible Solution” banner on the front! It has to be good for you, right?
JK lol.
I think intermittent fasting has made me a little more immune to the carb crashes, I at least think my body handles any carb splurges a lot better. My free diet days on Saturday contain a lot of carbs, sometimes a lot of bad carbs in the thousand calorie range, but I get full and seem to keep my blood sugar level and balanced.
Before IF, if I had even 400-500 calories of carbs I was foggy headed and ready for a nap. Of course this also could be because of my current diet, and that my body is in deep need of glycogen by the time Saturday rolls around also. But I really do think my body handles carbs a lot better just due to IF, because I just feel a lot more balanced out and I felt this way when I first started and was not really dieting (I wasn’t eating massive carbs at that point, but was still eating quite a few).
healthhabits
January 23, 2011 at 10:41 pm
Funnily enough…that’s their own banner.
No 3rd party – just Kraft
Mary-Jo
February 6, 2011 at 3:02 am
Relapses suck but they remind us that fitness and health depend on our commitment to CHOOSE our healthy lifestyle and habits every day — even after a day or 2 of succumbing to all the ‘crap’ — be it fast foods, being a coach-potato, or over-indulging in any way. Those of us that are really working at it and even in a position to share the knowledge and all the tips, feel the awful effects very quickly when we relapse. Sadly, people that live a lifestyle of ‘crap’ eating and poor physical activity don’t know all the ill effects until morbidity sets in.
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Cynthia
February 21, 2011 at 12:47 pm
ha ha ha…… I did the same thing last week but it was Velvetta mac n cheese…. and I wrote an article about it too…
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