Your body is prepared for these extras if you take care of it afterward
Cada septiembre, millones de personas regresan de las vacaciones cargando algo más que el peso de los excesos: cargan la culpa. El nutricionista Pablo Ojeda propone una lectura distinta de este ciclo humano tan antiguo como las estaciones mismas: los placeres compartidos de la mesa veraniega no son fracasos morales, sino una forma legítima de salud emocional y social. Lo que define el bienestar no es la perfección sostenida, sino la intención con la que uno regresa a sus hábitos cuando el verano termina.
- La llegada de septiembre desencadena en muchas personas una espiral de culpa y autocrítica por los excesos del verano, confundiendo el disfrute con el fracaso.
- El cuerpo responde con señales concretas —hinchazón, digestiones pesadas, fatiga inusual— que se interpretan erróneamente como castigo en lugar de como una simple llamada a la recuperación.
- Ojeda rompe con la narrativa del sacrificio: los excesos veraniegos tienen valor real, porque la conexión social y el descanso mental son pilares de la salud tan válidos como la dieta.
- La propuesta de recuperación es práctica y sin dramatismo: alimentación antiinflamatoria, cenas ligeras, buena hidratación y comidas sencillas como ensaladas con proteína o sopas de verduras.
- El horizonte que se dibuja no es la privación sino la intención: volver a los hábitos no para huir de la vergüenza, sino para avanzar hacia más energía, mejor sueño y mayor bienestar.
El verano tiene sus propias reglas, o más bien, suspende las habituales. Las comidas se alargan, las porciones crecen, los postres se multiplican, y cuando llega septiembre muchas personas miran atrás con una sensación familiar de culpa. Han abandonado el ejercicio, han comido sin medida, y ahora sienten que han fallado en algo importante.
Pablo Ojeda, nutricionista de referencia, lleva tiempo cuestionando esta narrativa. Su argumento central es sencillo: el cuerpo está preparado para adaptarse. Lo que importa no es el exceso en sí, sino lo que uno hace cuando la temporada termina. Las cervezas antes de comer, los helados de la tarde, las sobremesas interminables no son, según él, lapsos de disciplina. Son formas de salud. El bienestar emocional que surge de compartir una mesa con personas queridas, el descanso mental que proporciona alejarse de la rutina, la conexión social que ocurre alrededor de la comida: todo eso también nutre.
Lo que suele seguir al verano es una serie de molestias físicas —hinchazón, digestiones lentas, cansancio— que muchos interpretan como un castigo merecido. Ojeda propone otra lectura: escuchar lo que el cuerpo pide y dárselo. La recuperación que recomienda es práctica y sin dramatismo. Alimentación antiinflamatoria, no como penitencia sino como restauración. Cenas ligeras que mejoren el sueño y reduzcan la pesadez: una ensalada con pescado o huevos, una sopa de verduras, una tortilla cargada de vegetales. Hidratación constante. Unos pocos días de este enfoque, asegura, bastan para recuperar energía y bienestar digestivo.
El principio que subyace a todo esto es que la recuperación no tiene que ver con la privación ni con la culpa, sino con la intención. Volver a los hábitos no para escapar de la vergüenza, sino para avanzar hacia algo concreto: más energía, mejor digestión, sueño más reparador. Lo que Ojeda defiende, en el fondo, es que el verano está diseñado para ser diferente, y que ese ciclo de expansión y retorno es precisamente como estamos hechos para atravesar el año.
Summer arrives and with it comes a loosening of the usual rules. The days stretch longer, the weather cooperates, and suddenly you're sitting at a table with people you care about, a cold drink in hand, the afternoon dissolving into evening. The meals are heavier. The portions larger. The desserts more frequent. By the time September arrives, many people look back at those weeks and feel a familiar weight—not just physical, but emotional. They've stepped away from their exercise routines, their careful eating habits have dissolved, and now they're confronting what feels like failure.
Pablo Ojeda, a prominent voice in nutrition and health, has been pushing back against this narrative of summer shame. His argument is straightforward: your body is built to adapt. What matters is not the indulgence itself, but what you do when the season ends.
Ojeda reframes summer excess as something other than a lapse in discipline. The beers before lunch, the afternoon ice cream, the long meals where time disappears—these are not dietary failures. They are, he argues, forms of health in their own right. The emotional nourishment of being surrounded by people you love, the mental restoration that comes from stepping away from daily routine, the social connection that happens around a table—these things matter for your wellbeing as much as what you put in your mouth. "Your body is prepared for these extras if you take care of it afterward," he says.
This reframing is important because what typically follows summer is a cascade of physical discomfort. People report bloating, heavy digestion, unusual fatigue. The natural response is to feel guilty, to see the body's signals as punishment for indulgence. Ojeda suggests a different approach: listen to what your body is actually telling you and give it what it needs to recover.
The reset he recommends is practical and measured. Anti-inflammatory eating becomes the focus—not as punishment, but as restoration. Light dinners that digest easily will improve sleep quality and reduce the bloating that makes people feel sluggish. He suggests simple meals: a salad with fish or eggs, a vegetable soup, a French omelet loaded with vegetables. Hydration matters enormously, both for reducing inflammation and for basic bodily function. A few days of this kind of eating, he notes, will help you feel more energetic and capable.
The larger principle underneath all this is that recovery is not about deprivation or guilt. It's about intention. Set a clear goal for what you want to feel like, then build eating habits that serve that goal. Limit processed foods and added sugars where you can, but do it because you're moving toward something—better energy, clearer digestion, sounder sleep—not because you're running from shame. A varied, balanced diet is not a punishment for summer; it's a way of taking care of yourself.
What Ojeda is really saying is this: summer is supposed to be different. The fact that it is different is not a problem to solve. The problem would be carrying that guilt forward, letting it convince you that you've failed at something that matters. You haven't. You've simply lived through a season designed for connection and rest. Now you return to your routines, and you do it with intention, with kindness toward your body, and with the understanding that this cycle—the loosening and the tightening, the indulgence and the restoration—is how we're meant to move through the year.
Notable Quotes
The summer is made for disconnecting, and that is emotional and social health. Your body is prepared for these extras if you take care of it afterward.— Pablo Ojeda, nutritionist
Give your body what it needs: anti-inflammatory eating, hydration, and rest. A small reset to return to your best version.— Pablo Ojeda, nutritionist
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does summer feel like permission to abandon all the habits we've built the rest of the year?
Because it is permission, in a way. The structure changes—you're not at work, you're around people, the days are longer. Your body and mind are responding to actual environmental shifts, not just making excuses.
But doesn't that make it harder to get back on track in September?
It can feel that way, but Ojeda's point is that the difficulty comes from guilt, not from the eating itself. Your body knows how to recover. The problem is when you're also fighting shame about what you ate.
So he's saying summer excess is actually healthy?
Not exactly. He's saying the emotional and social parts of summer—the connection, the rest—are genuinely healthy. The food is just the vehicle for that. And yes, you might eat more than usual. But that's not the enemy.
What happens physically when you go back to normal eating?
Usually bloating, heavy digestion, fatigue. Your system has adapted to a different rhythm. Anti-inflammatory eating helps reset that—not as punishment, but as a way of listening to what your body needs.
Is there a risk of summer indulgence becoming a habit that doesn't end?
That's where intention matters. The reset works only if you actually reset. You have to move from summer mode back into your regular rhythm consciously, not just drift and feel guilty about it.
So the real skill is the transition, not the summer itself?
Exactly. Summer is fine. It's supposed to be different. The skill is knowing how to come home to yourself afterward.