Weekends are my downfall

Zephalia

Hey guys - I'm in need of some motivation and support.

I'm really good food-wise during the week when I'm working but as soon as the weekend hits, I feel like I fall apart and eat junk - justifying it to myself like I earned it for being good all week.

I have had great progress since I joined here about a month ago (again) and I haven't stepped on a scale in over 2 weeks but I'm confident there is progress there. It's not that I'm not losing - it's just that the bad weekend habits can easily carry over into the week if I'm not careful and I guess I'm just needing a little encouragement right now.

Yesterday was a family bday party and I over ate. I had 4 pieces of pizza which I knew was a no no but I kept telling myself, "it's the weekend, you worked hard all week.". Then it was time for cream cheese icing covered carrot cake and I declined a piece but my family guilted me pretty hard for not partaking in the celebratory cake. It's frustrating because I have a hard enough time keeping up the willpower without people trying to convince me the other way.

Does anyone else get this kind of treatment from family and friends? It's just about every meal that I'm with someone and I decline their offer of food for whatever reason (last night it was apple turnovers that I did not need nor want) that I'm getting comments about how I need to relax and that I still need to eat. Hello people! I do EAT, a lot actually. It's just healthy and fried, sugary, fatty foods just don't have a place in my daily intake anymore. Why does that appear to my friends and family like I'm adopting unhealthy eating habits because I won't shove food in my face until I fall into a coma state?

I love how I feel during the week when I have my smoothies for breakfast and eat well throughout the day. Busy with work and then stuff to do in the evenings. It's on the weekends when I'm social and there's people and food involved that I'm having trouble staying on the straight and narrow. I'm all for having a cheat day and I don't mind eating more on those days I've done something physical (Saturday I moved my Sister all day) but I don't want to fall back into old habits and I'm having a hard time handling the pressure from other people.

HELP!

glasshalffull713

I totally understand. Just last week my BF was telling me to relax, "it's just ONE meal." No, it's not. Because tomorrow it will be some other occasion and someone else trying to convince me. You have to learn to tune those people out. They have no idea what they are talking about. You know what's best for you.

Secondly, take pride/pleasure when you are making a choice that SERVES YOU. Don't reward yourself with food. Food is not a reward. If you were good all week, treat yourself to a manicure, a new workout tee, or some mp3s for your workout playlist. Something that doesn't impede your progress.

Lastly, plan so you can fit "treats" in without sabotaging yourself. Try and look at your deficit for the week, rather than for the day. If you know you have a party coming up, do an extra walk or workout that morning, or eat a slightly larger deficit the day before. When you look at the week instead of the day, it helps put things in perspective.

Most importantly, when you do mess up, just pick up and keep going asap. DO NOT use it as an excuse to blow off the whole day or the whole weekend and "start over" on Monday. Just keep going and eventually you will get where you want to be

Zephalia

glasshalffull713 wrote: »

I totally understand. Just last week my BF was telling me to relax, "it's just ONE meal." No, it's not. Because tomorrow it will be some other occasion and someone else trying to convince me. You have to learn to tune those people out. They have no idea what they are talking about. You know what's best for you.

Secondly, take pride/pleasure when you are making a choice that SERVES YOU. Don't reward yourself with food. Food is not a reward. If you were good all week, treat yourself to a manicure, a new workout tee, or some mp3s for your workout playlist. Something that doesn't impede your progress.

Lastly, plan so you can fit "treats" in without sabotaging yourself. Try and look at your deficit for the week, rather than for the day. If you know you have a party coming up, do an extra walk or workout that morning, or eat a slightly larger deficit the day before. When you look at the week instead of the day, it helps put things in perspective.

Most importantly, when you do mess up, just pick up and keep going asap. DO NOT use it as an excuse to blow off the whole day or the whole weekend and "start over" on Monday. Just keep going and eventually you will get where you want to be

Thank you so much. This was just what I needed to hear - and spot on. It's not just one meal - because tomorrow I will hear the same thing from someone else. I will practice shrugging these attitudes off and trying not to let it bother me so much.

You make an excellent point that food should not be a reward. And that's what I have been doing - allowing myself these 'treats' because I've done well. It seems so simple and I had not thought of it to this point - so thank you for that. I am going to set some rewards for myself - clothing (which I desperately need anyway), for being good!

I do allot myself treats throughout the week and so that part I'm not worried about. I just adjust my intake for the day so I can fit it in. I wouldn't do well if I deprived myself of everything I really like. But in all honesty - I really do enjoy my meals when I'm watching what I eat. It's just more work to prepare the food, that's all.

I was doing really well for a while with not blowing my whole day because I made one poor choice but this weekend was different and I suppose I'm feeling guilty and ashamed. I really appreciate your response - really hit home for me.

LoraKay131

ugh, i know how you feel. ive been doing the same thing...eating and exercising very well during the week, and 'treating' myself with food over the weekends. i just started back counting calories two weeks ago, i was doing low carb for two months, and i ended up back at square one, i had just maintained the weight loss success i had created with tdee -20% before the low carbing. so....i am still adjusting i think, to eating carbs again, and am very prone to binging. i just wanted you to know that you are not alone. ive made the decision to pre-make all the meals for my weekends, and pack plenty of healthy foods to take on road trips. see, thats where i go wrong, my bf will suggest a short ride (smirk) and six hours later, im shoveling fast food down my gullet. WELL NO MORE!! im going to pack plenty of good food EVERY friday, so i have things ready to go. we can do this!

TeaBea

Zig-Zag your calories or use intermittent fasting during the week. This will leave you an extra cushion for the weekend. This may be a way of preparing for maintenance. Thanksgiving, birthdays....stuff happens. We all have to learn how to deal with it.

Don't beat yourself up. The main thing is you are more consistent....not perfect (none of us is perfect)....but log anyway and try for consistency.

Zephalia

loragraham131 wrote: »

ive made the decision to pre-make all the meals for my weekends, and pack plenty of healthy foods to take on road trips. see, thats where i go wrong, my bf will suggest a short ride (smirk) and six hours later, im shoveling fast food down my gullet. WELL NO MORE!! im going to pack plenty of good food EVERY friday, so i have things ready to go. we can do this!

Yes, we can. I get the same way except at times, I'm so busy that I barely have time to sit down for a sec, nevermind packing food ahead of time and this is where I falter because I will fall back on the fast food as a quick bite to eat when I'm in a rush.

Another area I'm going to have to put more effort into.