The last couple of days I’ve had a severe bout of anxiety, a well-deserved relapse into this sucky disease. That’s what happens when you treat yourself too much. I struggle a bit with finding the balance my anxiety demands of me. It demands so much more balance than my body, and as I have just recently started to treat my anxiety myself (ie with food & healthy choices instead of anti-anxiety meds) I am not quite there yet.
I want to treat myself when I’m on holiday, I want to have a glass of wine at lunch if I feel like it and prioritize other stuff (incl. reading in the hammock and solving crossword puzzles…) instead of workouts. But I guess the problem, as with everything, is when I get too off balance.
So now it’s time for a few super healthy days before two of my close friends are getting married (to each other!) this weekend. Will try to stay reasonably on track there as well but when there’s champs…
Anyway, feeling a lot better now than I’ve been feeling for the past 48 hours so I’m happy. As always, a good, tough workout (today: 6k in ~37 min, new record for me!) helps a lot. Will try to get in a nice, stretchy and easy yoga workout tonight as well. And also I’ve learned to be nice to myself when this happens. I have anxiety and sometimes I manage to avoid it and sometimes I fuck up and bring it on myself, like now. But hey, I’m only human and what’s done is done – I can only try to do better in te future.
We all (well, most of us) have them, no matter how good our intentions are. My main consolidation these days is that they’re a lot further apart than they used to be. I remember in college when like every weekend was spent in bed due to hangovers. Not very healthy and balanced, I know. The past couple of years they’ve gotten further and further apart, and less and less bad. It’s a combination of not partying as often, not partying as hard, and when I do I am usually good at not drinking after like midnight (makes a HUGE difference the day after guys!!). Also, I feel like having a more healthy lifestyle the rest of the time (especially eating more organic and less meat I feel) really helps those times I have a bit too much to drink. It’s like my body is not taking care of all those toxins all the time so it has more bandwidth to deal with the alcohol. Anyone else feel like this helps?
So anyway, as I said – despite my good intentions every once in a while I have a bit too much. And summer, well, let’s just say most of those times happen in summer… So what to do? Here’s my guide to easing the hangover along with my most-essential hangover products.
Eat! I know you’ve heard this before but it is really, really essential – girl you have to eat! If you’re going out partying the biggest problem for your health & fitness & skinniness is not going to be what you eat before you start drinking. If you’re going partying and you know you will have a lot to drink, give yourself a night off and have something really carby before you go out. I feel like the carbs really soak up the alcohol and this helps you stay soberer & get less hung over. But don’t go overboard – if you usually never eat a lot of carbs then just have a little, otherwise, you will feel worse tomorrow.
Prepare! Also, make sure you have everything you have some healthy food in your fridge for tomorrow… and something to eat when you get home tonight.
During…
Drink water! Not a new one either, but please please please drink a lot of water! I always try to go for something non-alcoholic in between alcoholic drinks. If I am good I have a non-alcoholic beer, non-alcoholic sparkly or a coconut water and sip it. If I am bad I have a quick (but preferably really big) glass of water and then move on to the next glass of wine or whatever. Do try to stay away from sugary cocktails, even non-alcoholic ones, not mainly for the calories (however, extra bonus) but as they will dehydrate you even more (even the diet ones in my experience) and all the sugar will make your hangover even worse.
Have a plan! For me, i’s giving myself a stopping time. I ususally do midnight or when we go out to a club or something like that. I feel like I have a better time when having a cut-off time than when trying to pace myself all night – find what works for you.
When you get home…
Get sober! If you stop drinking at midnight you are hopefully pretty sober by the time you get home. Good, that’s the goal! If you’re not, busy yourself with something until you sober up (like cleaning is a good task), don’t go to bed completely wasted.
Eat and rehydrate! Make sure you eat something (more carbs the more you’ve had to drink…), have a coconut water and as much water you can stomach.
Treat your skin! If you are up to it, have a shower. Then clean your face meticulously and apply the Origins Drink-Up Intensive Overnight Mask. This mask seriously changed my life!! I used to wake up the day after even a few drinks and feel like my skin had turned into a desert, now I just sleep with this mask and wake up with beautiful, rehydrated and glowing skin. Don’t forget the eye cream as well! I swear by this quite rich cream from Clinique, it has literally made my giant bags go away completely – even the day after a big party.
Finally – make sure you have a big bottle of water right by your bed, and every time you wake up during the night/morning have a few (or many) sips.
The morning after…
Now how to handle this day will depend a bit on how much you had to drink and how bad you feel today. But no matter how hungover you are, try to follow it as soon as you can and you will be back in business so much faster.
Don’t stay in bed! My all too vast experience has shown me that staying in bed never does any good. The faster you get up and back to your routine, the better! If you’re too hung over to not lie down, move to the couch at least.
Don’t treat yourself because you’ve been bad! I believe the most important thing is not to let one bad thing lead to another, and another… So you had a bit too much to drink last night. All the more reason to take good care of your body today! You will be craving shit, but try to make the shit a bit less shitty, you know? Like, have pasta or sushi instead of pizza, and splurge on berries and nuts to ease your cravings for sweet & salty.
Have a healthy breakfast! Start with a coconut water and a green smoothie. If you’re a coffee addict make sure you have coffee, even if you’re not feeling it (I usually go for a cold brew or just iced regular coffee when I am hung over, can’t stand anything hot). If you don’t, you will get a headache and even more tired and you will think you are so much worse off than you actually are.
Get moving! Sure, treat yourself to an episode of your favorite show, but please don’t stay on the couch all day. Make sure to get a workout in (if you are in shape for it) or at least a nice long walk or a yoga class (this is a good one to do at home when you feel like shit). And rehydrate, more important than usual of course.
Stay on track! I am lucky because when I’ve had too much to drink I always crave really healthy food the day after, like Sashimi or Gazpacho or a nice Shopska salad (recipe coming). Make sure to cook or go out for something really healthy but also really tasty, or at least not an XL pizza with extra cheese, OK?
Be nice to yourself! OK so you had too much to drink last night and you felt like shit today. No biggie, it happens to most people sometimes. Try to drink less next time and take care of yourself today. And if this happens all the tim,e then maybe take a break from drinking for a while to reset. You will feel great after a month without alcohol and probably not feel like drinking as much after.
How about you, do you have any other good tips for curing/surviving/preventing hangovers?
WOW how the weather in Stockholm is spoiling us right now! I’ve just spent the morning on my balcony with a nutrition-packed chocolate & peanut butter smoothie (based on this recipe, but I make it without the dates and aloe and add fresh turmeric & ginger and some cayenne pepper) , a cup of french press coffee, the latest issue of TIME magazine and a book – like most Swedes I know to take advantage of the sun as soon as it shines… (Really. AS SOON AS. I mean if the sun is out for 5 minutes in February while the temperature is around zero you will find people shivering outside coffee shops – no joke. I’m not AS bad but well almost.)
I love the summer & the warm weather. Vacation mode (5 straight weeks for me, there are some perks of living in Sweden), sunny weather (if you’re lucky), cute clothes, new shoes, catching up on your reading, sleeping in, boating trips, daytime parties, barbecues & rosé… But having all the opportunities that summer brings is also detrimental to balance. And while I DO slack off when I’m on vacation (however I try to keep the full-on slacking to just a few of the weeks) I feel that with a balanced lifestyle the rest of the year it’s easier to maintain some kind of balance during even the most hedonistic weeks of summer.
The view from our window in Champagne
Like recently I had an amazing week in France with 4 girlfriends. The days were spent going around to different vineyards trying wines & champagnes and having foie gras for lunch, the evenings at Michelin-star or perhaps-soon-Michelin-star restaurants with 5-course-dinners and of course some more of the champagne/wine (While in the Champagne region they suggested Champagne for every course. Different kinds of course to match the food, but I mean… HEAVEN!). Not very balanced. But you know what?
It was one week
found myself not reaching for the car snacks we had stocked but instead waited for my meal
I bought healthy car snacks (love me some pistachios!) for when the cravings really set in
It was enough – after 5 days I started ordering salads, not because I should but because my body was craving it
It fueled my healthy lifestyle – I returned home seriously craving healthy food instead of foie gras and butter-dripping escargot, green smoothies instead of wine and tougher workouts than touring wine cellars and lifting the tasting glass to my mouth
I drank lots and lots and lots of water and did this mask every night – and didn’t feel dehydrated even once
The cheese plate of a life time at Michelin-star restaurant Château De Pray
The weekend leading up to the trip I went to a full-weekend wedding, so I gave myself two weeks off (wedding + vacation prep-days + French decadence week) from my workout schedule and my balance plan (will talk more about this in a later post, but it’s basically my way of planning when to treat myself). During this time I worked out if I felt like it but then settled for a 5k run instead of pushing myself to finish an exercise in my running schedule. Today, however, it’s back to balance! A bit easier than usual as there are still 3 weeks left of my vacation, but at least I want to keep up my workouts. In my book, there is no better time to work out a lot than during easy vacation weeks, and the rosé tastes so much more like a well-earned treat than cheating if you have run a 10 k before…
So apart from exercise then, during these 3 weeks?
Well, there will be more wine – but I will try to keep it to no more than 1-2 glasses every other day
I will keep off the red meat as far as possible but there will for sure be 1 or 2 steaks on the barbecue
Homebaked goods are as always OK with me during vacations (HOMEbaked, not CAFÉbaked mind you)
Usually, I don’t eat ice cream (taste rather than health decision) but in the summer time, I do indulge every once in a while…
Green smoothies continue every morning to ensure I get a good start and a lot of greens no matter what
Fruit & especially berries are some of my favorites – and especially in summer time (Have you tested Swedish strawberries? They’re INSANE!) so I will have LOTS of these
As usual, I will add healthy details whenever possible, instead of aiming to remove potatoes or yummy, creamy sauces. Lots of greens in my pasta dishes, lots of salad when available, berries whenever I find them, carrots and sugar snaps to snack on and lots of hummus with barbecues just because it tastes so amazing (and it’s good for you!)
What are your best tips for staying healthy(-ish) during summer?
Too much indulging in yummy but not-so-healthy food (if you’re me: most likely pasta), wine (Nebbiolo all the way usually but this time of year you’ll also find me reaching for a glass of Sauvignon Blanc (pref Sancerre or Pouilly-Fumée) or a glass of champs) and laying around reading a book or two (SO obsessed with Margaret Atwood atm!!) is not the most sustainable lifestyle. But then again, neither is focusing all your energy on being healthy.
If you’re anything like me (ie with an incurable all-or-nothing mindset) being healthy and getting your workouts in is not the problem. That’s the easy part. Cut the late-night wine and drinks, go to bed at 10 and get up to work out at 6. Meal prep and never eat out. Say no to everything and lose all your friends (jk not there quite yet). But the problem is that, again, if you’re anything like me, there is bound to be a rebound. For me, usually right when I start seeing really good results. I start slacking off, treat myself to a glass of wine (or seven) and realize how amazingly well my forest mushroom and truffle risotto goes with a San Pietro Nebbiolo d’Alba. And then it just doesn’t seem worth it anymore.
Enter: Balance.
That’s what this blog will be all about. I will discuss wellness – both physical and mental, clean eating, anti-inflammatory diets, combatting bloat, yoga, running, workouts and mean green smoothies. There will be lots of veggies and fruits, a lot of fueling my body (and yours!) for greatness, a lot of making smart choices and adding something healthy instead of taking something away. But I will also treat you to my favorite wines, my best wine trip routes, barbecue tips and perhaps (if you’re lucky!) even my famous recipe for the above-mentioned forest mushroom and truffle risotto.
I hope you will join me as I am beyond excited to share my view on balance with you.
We all (well, most of us) have them, no matter how good our intentions are. My main consolidation these days is that they’re a lot further apart than they used to be. I remember in college when like every weekend was spent in bed due to hangovers. Not very healthy and balanced, I know. The past couple of years they’ve gotten further and further apart, and less and less bad. It’s a combination of not partying as often, not partying as hard, and when I do I am usually good at not drinking after like midnight (makes a HUGE difference the day after guys!!). Also, I feel like having a more healthy lifestyle the rest of the time (especially eating more organic and less meat I feel) really helps those times I have a bit too much to drink. It’s like my body is not taking care of all those toxins all the time so it has more bandwidth to deal with the alcohol. Anyone else feel like this helps?
Balanced Bubbles 