4. Go For A Walk
A little bit of physical activity after a heavy meal can be a great help to your overall feelings of lightness. While you should never engage in even moderate activity when you feel this full, a bit of a slow walk can help you feel lighter more quickly. Here’s why:
· It Helps Your Stomach Empty Itself Faster
Walking can accelerate the digestion process, allowing bloatedness and discomfort to fade more rapidly, say studies. It’s also suitable for burning a couple of additional calories if you feel that you need to; don’t do it in excess!
· It Helps You Burn Fat
Extra calories that the body can’t use are often stored as fat. This builds up over time, though, so it won’t come barrelling out of anywhere after a single heavy meal. Still, walking can help you burn off some extra energy so you don’t wind up storing as much of it, as we can infer from specific studies.
· It Makes You Feel Better
Are you feeling a little bad about eating a lot? Some walking can aid that emotional stress. Physical activity, even of a mild kind, releases hormones that contribute to positive thinking like norepinephrine and serotonin. This helps reduce feelings of anxiety, depression, and stress, allowing your mood to be improved so you can overcome the discomfort more quickly.
5. Eat Something With A Digestive Bonus
The last thing you probably want to do when you’re feeling bloated and full from a heavy meal is to eat some more. But if you’re concerned about digestion, it turns out that eating certain things may help you feel lighter a little more quickly. Here are some options that could work for you:
· Digestifs
A digestif refers to an alcoholic beverage typically served post-meals to aid digestion. If you’re happy to drink some alcohol, you can get benefits from drinks like sambuca, cognac, sherry, and Jägermeister. Some, specifically herbal-liqueur ones, are especially beneficial thanks to their carminative effects. This means that they fight gas and encourage digestion, helping you feel lighter more quickly.
· Aromatic Bitters
These work on your digestive system almost as well as a digestive enzyme supplement. Have some in a club soda or a plain glass of water, and your stomach will thank you, especially if it’s been experiencing discomfort from the meal.
· Ginger
It’s up to you how you want to eat ginger to feel lighter. It admittedly seems a little strange, but research has proven its effectiveness. It works by encouraging salivary flow, contractions in the stomach, and emptying of the gastric systems.
6. Sleep
You probably know all about the drowsiness and grogginess that pops up when you’ve just eaten a hefty meal. Your body goes into a shut-down mode in an attempt to process everything you’ve just put into it. Why not give in to its desire for rest?
The jury’s out on whether sleeping after a heavy meal is right for you or not. Some people claim that it just slows down digestion and therefore shouldn’t be done. But others state that sleeping can help your body focus entirely on the digestive process, allowing you to sleep through the worst of the discomfort from fullness, so you wake up feeling lighter.
While we’re at it, if you often overeat, make sure you’re getting enough sleep! Studies have found that sleeping too little can make you eat more because the brain needs to release additional neurotransmitters to stay alert and awake. If you need to fight cravings, sleep at least eight hours every night – or however many your doctor recommends.
[embedded content] [embedded content]Final Thoughts On Some Things You Can Do To Feel Lighter After A Heavy Meal
It’s normal to eat a bit more than necessary every once in a while, so don’t beat yourself up over it! Instead, focus on doing what you can to feel a little lighter as your digestive system works hard to handle what you’ve eaten.
