I did much the same yesterday. Out to lunch with friends - and the 1st course was filo pastry. As they'd made such an effort and it would be rude to refuse to eat it - I just got on and ate the food. Refused the base of the cheesecake though!

However, I had a rotten night with all symptoms of a severe cold and have spent half of this morning in the bathroom.

But a day or two of eating "clean" again and I'm sure all will be back to my new normal!

I couldn't help observing, though, that all of the other people at lunch - early sixties, just a bit older than me - were on all sorts of medication for high blood pressure, diabetes, pancreatitis, lupus and severe depression! The conversation was very medical biased, and while they all ate wheat products happily but took pills, I could tell that I was considered "faddy" for not wanting wheat - but was the only one there not on any medication!!!

I think one thing that helps me generally is fasting the day after the next day (do not attempt the morning you're hungover -- food helps with that). It seems to reset the yucky glycemic rollercoaster feelings and helps prevent cravings for more bad food. Just eat early the night before you fast, then when you wake up skip breakfast and eat a late lunch. Try to get in a morning work out too.

Basically I just treat the day after an indulgence as if I've bonked - just move on and eat like I usually the days following. The morning after I'll do more carbs and less veg, lots on water, and usually have an emergency natural soda in the fridge for: cold/bubbles/sugar and that usually brings me right back up. It's rare if I indulge to the point where I'm in a heap but happened to have that experience the night Irene hit. Neighbors, whiskey, rice rolls, not enough food because I eat enough for 11 people, and Apples to Apples = DOOM. I actually didn't realize how far gone I was until I was trying to text from bed and my iPhone was smashed against my face so I could see each little letter to press. No way was I going to admit that I was in the middle of a Brown Liquor from Hell experience because I'm veryvery rarely in that state nowadays since Paleo. Oopsies :)

Felt pretty shitey the next day but hit that soda, drank about 4L of water, made a big potato pancake using sweet and Adirondack blues, topped with poached egg and bacon and ate the concoction slowly with a spoon while watching old John Woo movies. All was good.

Like @happy now - no regrets and when it happens again, because I know it will - you just forget when you're having fun, I'll just roll with it :)

Don't stress over it at all, guilt leads to stress & cortisol release. Just Eat healthy again. Paleo is a lifestyle not a religion or cult, it is about freedom and choices, not perfection. In fact you should feel good that you had a good time ate some not so healthy stuff but have the intestinal fortitude to leave it in the past and move on doing paleo :)

The effects of these events are usually quite noticeable for me. I just wake up crappy the next day and stay strict until I feel back up to normal for a while. Also, I generally find carb-heavy binges to have an effect on my energy levels and such for a couple days, but gut irritating foods tend to give me a pretty good inflammation response, like a tiny little acne breakout or maybe a cold sore. Dairy will just make me a bit gassy and mess with digestion a bit. I figure if I save my garbage food cheats for an occasional awesome potluck or really nice restaurant, I do just fine. I try not to let myself have a cheat meal/day with everyday bad foods. If you're going to slip, make sure it's worth it. It only happens about once or twice a month for me, so I don't sweat it.

Overall, I'd say it's better to slip big once a month than slip here and there all the time.

I know it sounds strange and random, but after straying I always crave green tea and drink probably up to 6 cups of it. It tastes amazingly clean compared to whatever crap I had beforehand. Try it and see - Arizona diet tea of course does NOT count!