How To Crush That Food Coma After Eating A Monster Buffet!
Food coma pays us a visit more often than we think.
I am willing to make a bet that we all overeat from time to time. Therefore, we are besieged by that post-meal food coma, sleep-inducing effect, each time we eat to our heart’s content.
It is happening to me right at this very moment. Just an hour ago, I ate a large bowl of spaghetti at a lunchtime event. I made things worse by drinking two big glasses of water because the noodles were salty.
Pro Tip: If we have to eat noodles for lunch, avoid drinking water immediately. It expands the noodles in our stomach and causes post-meal bloating that take forever to subside.
If we know that a food coma is inevitable, what can we do to cope with it?
First, let us begin with what not to do.
If we have had a buffet and we ate as if we’d starved for the past few days, then: -
- Avoid drinking many glasses of water.
- Avoid sweet snacks because they induce you to eat more (think desserts).
- Avoid getting back to the office immediately because the aircon will put us to sleep.
- Avoid heading straight into a meeting because no matter how exciting that presentation is, we will start snoring in public.
What can we do to bring back our focus and productivity after a hearty meal?
For one, I make a point to walk a longer path back to my desk. I am not a nutritionist, so I am writing based on personal experience rather than prescriptive science.
Walking helps to accelerate the digestion process and relieves the pressure we piled on our stomachs. I walk for 20 minutes before heading back to my desk, feeling fresh and ready for work again.
Next, I avoid heavy thinking tasks when I start my afternoon. The momentum is not there, and reading to be published, like business whitepapers, encourages post-meal sleeping at work desks.
I learned from my mistakes. What I do is focus on administrative tasks that do not require serious brainpower, first.
I will file my business claims, and write reminder memos indicating work items for clearance before the end of the day. I may also set up meeting appointments.
I proceed with the thinking tasks only when my attention and focus are back.
At this point, I caution against responding to or crafting emails. That is because our minds will be shrouded in a mental fog caused by the food gorge. No matter how we structure our messages in the emails, clarity will be lacking, and rewrite is inevitable.
Our superiors may not understand what we are saying. So, I recommend saving that effort for later.
Next, we may keep reaching out to our glasses of water repeatedly and subconsciously. I am not against drinking water. That is because we need it after taking big mouthfuls of salty, sugary, and oily foods.
I caution against taking big gulps of water that fill all real estate in our stomachs. That is because it invites food coma.
Take sips instead. When we do that, our stomachs can recover from the heavy food digestion efforts faster.
My Simple Takeaways.
We overeat voluntarily and involuntarily.
Most of us lament our folly (usually from a weight management perspective) against the food coma monster that has done its damage.
However, as I have proven, there are ways to go around the effects caused by food coma and spring back to life almost immediately.
We have to find out and know what works for us uniquely.
Defeat Food Coma!
Aldric
Related Stories from the Author.
About the Author:
As a content contributor, I write my observations from daily life and my business exposure.
Because our life experience is the bedrock of our unique perspectives.
As a Consultant by training, I believe in making the complex simple.
Because simplicity adds value.
And with clarity — We grow.
Follow me for my stories on Medium!
This is more “About Me”.