Mythbusters and binge eating.

No, really. This relates.

I’ve been in a whole snackaholic state recently, and I’ve been searching through the cupboards and shelves to see if there’s a bag of chips, a bar of chocolate, or a bag of chocolate chips that I may have missed on one of the dozen or so occasions that I’ve gone on a hunt for food. Given that Easter is just a few days away at this point, I believe that it is in the air right now.

As soon as I was able to stop the music from Must Snack from playing in my brain, I recalled an episode of Mythbusters that I had seen throughout the course of the previous year, while I was in the process of getting rid of excess weight. Because I don’t watch television very often, when I do, anything I see leaves an imprint on me.

This episode was devoted to putting the tried-and-true techniques of recovering after a night of binge drinking that are often shown in films to the test. (Stick with me for a second.) It was nothing short of entertaining to see them conduct the experiment to establish the efficacy of several methods, such as jogging on a treadmill, being slapped in the face, submerging their heads in cold water, and drinking coffee.

Guess what won? Exercise.

I had not been home for very long after the play when I went on another carb binge. I was sitting in my beached whale condition, feeling sorry for myself, and falling further and deeper into an unproductive hole of self-pity. I am aware that you have not visited that location. I’m sorry if you can’t empathise with this.

I suddenly recalled the experience, and a brilliant thought occurred to me. If physical activity was more effective than any other method in counteracting the effects of alcohol, one may wonder what impact it might have on an overdose of sweets.

I started my journey to better fitness not because I wanted a certain dress size or I was going to a high school reunion. I just wanted to feel better. I didn’t want to be a person who sat around mentally berating herself for having a muffin top and immersed in victim thinking.

I got off up the couch and decided that I would go for a walk. Nothing hard core or strenuous, mind you, just a walk. Ten minutes stretched into twenty, and I was feeling much better. I decided to go in the house, do a load of laundry and tackle the pile of dishes that was sneering at me.

The lesson for me here was that even though I had made the negative choice of eating too much, it wasn’t permanent, and all it took was a few minutes walking outside, pedaling on the bike trainer or doing a few core exercises for me to get back to the place where I felt powerful about my life again.

Here’s my gift to you. You have permission to forgive yourself when you binge and give yourself a few minutes to get back to where you want to be with your body. Take a minute to believe the best about yourself.