Appeared in the October 2006 issue of Women's Health

So you went out for dinner with friends and ended up polishing off a fried appetizer, a mammoth entree, and a vat of tiramisu (along with a couple of cocktails). Don't panic. "Feeling guilty has never burned a single calorie, but learning from your error can save you thousands," Dr. Gullo says. Everybody slips — the key to success is to take it in stride.

To bounce back after a binge, the most important thing to remember is that all the effort you put into eating right before your little lapse was not in vain. "No one ever got heavy from one slipup. It's when you let it become a chain that you get in trouble," Dr. Gullo says. So instead of declaring that you blew your diet and cramming your face full of every high-calorie treat you see until nightfall (since you'll just wait and start fresh tomorrow), begin eating healthfully again with your very next meal — or snack.

And no matter what, don't step on the scale at the end of the day. "Weighing yourself after overindulging isn't healthy or helpful," Dr. Kearney-Cooke says. Depending on your salt intake or where you are in your menstrual cycle, your weight can fluctuate several pounds. Instead of trying to assess the damage every time a stray cookie slips between your lips, pick one day each week for your weigh-ins and stick to it.

You may think it makes perfect sense to cut your calorie intake drastically the day after a binge — but if you do, you're setting yourself up for disaster. "Depriving yourself throughout the day won't help you lose weight, because by 8 or 9 at night you'll be starving," Dr. Kearney-Cooke says. With no fuel in your system, your blood sugar will drop, and you won't be able to make healthy food choices. In fact, "you'll usually end up taking in more calories than if you had just eaten normally," she says. Stop the vicious cycle: Go back to your regular (healthy!) diet or reduce your calories by no more than 100 or 200 a day for a week to make up for overeating.

Same goes for exercise. "For some people, exercising the next day helps them get back on track," Dr. Kearney-Cooke says. For others, it can feel like punishment or lead to an unhealthy view of exercise ("I can eat this brownie if I burn it off immediately"). If you work out on a regular basis, go ahead and hop on the treadmill after a super splurge. But if you're not a regular exerciser, don't use it as a form of penance — you'll only start associating exercise with feelings of failure. And come on! You should be working out regularly anyway — it's good for your body and your mind.