Changing it up a bit and looking for advice...

Hurleyjer

Changing it up a bit and looking for advice...
I feel like I do good during the week. I'm pretty disciplined, and tend to stay right around my calorie goal (FYI - I weigh 254lbs and have a calorie goal of 1610 which is 2lb/week). I log my weight once a week - on Fridays. Then the weekend hits, and even though I have the best intentions, I tend to overindulge, then spend the rest of the week trying to get rid of the bloat from the weekend and lose a pound or two from the previous week. A lot of what I read on here says to treat the weekends like every other day, but that is very difficult. My weekends are very busy, and some of that revolves around food and drink. I'm much better than I used to be on weekends, making better choices, eating less, drinking a lot less... My approach going into this (based on lessons learned from an adult life of yo-yo "dieting") was to take it slowly, find something that works for me, and something that I can do for the rest of my life. So far this has worked, I'm down about 22 pounds from the start of the year, but lately that has been plateauing and I have no doubt it's due to the weekends... I plan on starting to weigh in on Mondays, instead of Friday, because I know that having the check-in looming in the back of my head will help to keep me a little more honest over the weekend. I'm also searching my area for a gym to join. Putting off exercise to this point was a conscious decision to start small and go from there, so as not to change too much at once, get overwhelmed and quit everything... I think I've reached the point to start adding in some lifting though. Comments and critiques of any of the above plan as well as any more advice would be greatly appreciated.
Also, feel free to send me a friend request... Previous attempts to lose weight were done solo, and I find that having a support system is critical. I've currently logged in for 65 days straight (which is by far a record for me), and log my food most days, except most weekends - hence the issues...

jemhh

I don't think that you really have any big issues right now. You've lost 22 pounds in just over two months. You haven't been exercising but plan to and that may create more of a caloric deficit, depending on whether or not you eat all of those calories back.

The only possible issue is your weekend eating and, considering your loss so far, it may not be as big an issue as you think. You must be eating in a deficit to have lost weight. If you get to the point where you are not losing or where it becomes a very slow loss (at your current weight, the loss shouldn't be as slow as what you tend to see when you're really close to goal) you will have to decide whether your weekend indulgences are worth it. You might need to budget your calories a bit more (maybe eat slightly less during the week so that you have extra on the weekend or decide to indulge just one day rather than two) or you might decide that slower loss is okay with you.

Overall, though, I think you are doing a good job of things. It's kind of refreshing to see a relative newcomer take things slowly rather than trying to cut down to 1200 calories and do an hour of cardio 5 days a week straight off the bat. Good work

AmyRhubarb

What if you moved your weigh-in day to Mondays? Might make you think twice over the weekend, knowing you're recording weight the next day.

STLBADGIRL

Have one cheat meal...not a cheat WEEKEND. Food prep. Challenge yourself to go a weekend of clean eating and test your results, your energy level, and your happy spirit of feeling accomplished and in control vs, when you indulge over the weekend. Also, add a healthy physical habit to do over the weekend that would take the place of your normal habit of drinking and eating like basketball, hiking, joining a fitness class, bike riding, or spinning, etc. Just have fun!!! Hope it works out!!!

futuremanda

I'd start by just resolving to log your weekends. You've already been doing fantastic, and if you're still losing 2 lbs / week, then although your weekend eating habits seem to affect how you *feel* for a few days after, it doesn't seem to be affecting your actual progress. Logging them, though, will put you in a better position to make more changes down the road, and help keep you mindful.

I'm not sure about changing your weigh-in day. Even if you eat within calorie goals, you may bloat. Will you get discouraged and change your behaviour if the scale says something frustrating every Monday?

brisingr86

I have similar challenges with the weekends, and sounds like you have a reasonable plan. I think the advice of maybe try to leave an extra hundred calories during the week could help leave you a little more deficit to play with as well as adding some exercise (if you're planning to start with lifting, find a good structured program and make sure you watch the videos on form/have a trainer to teach you, to prevent injury; there are tons of threads on lifting with lots of good advice). If it helps keep you honest, then the Monday weigh-in may be useful, but also be careful not to get discouraged. If your poor diet includes more sodium on the weekends, you may have more water retention and allowing a day or two to come back to normal may be a happy medium (weigh-in Tuesday or Wednesday). Good luck on your continued journey and congrats on the progress so far!

msbanana

Personally, I TRY to treat the weekends just like any other day of the week. I don't deprive myself but I don't go whole hog either. Can you work to find a better medium? Plan a cheat MEAL for which ever day is the "food and drink" day but otherwise go about your day normally...

My plan of attack is usually, start my day with my normal healthy breakfast (overnight oats, smoothie, 2 egg one banana pancakes or an omelette) and if I know I'm going to be out and about I pack snacks so I won't make bad choices (an apple, some nuts, maybe hard boiled eggs and a cheese stick in a cooler bag if I'm going to be gone a particularly long time). I hit the gym and go about taking care of whatever needs to be done after. I eat a decent lunch and if I know I'm going out with friends for drinks will eat dinner before I leave so that I'm not tempted to order bar food.

If I've planned to go out to eat, I will make sure I'm well fed during the day so I'm not starving when I get there and usually will try to scope out the menu online before I leave so I know what I already know what I'm going to have before I get there.

Also, I try to make sure that I'm drinking plenty of water on the weekends. I do tend to get carried away with whatever I'm doing and drink far less water on the weekends than I do at work during the week. Which, if you're also doing that, can add to the bloat of booze and restaurant food.

Hope any of this helps... Congrats on the 22 you've lost so far and when you finally join the gym adding exercise will be a game changer.

lcyama

jemhh wrote: »

I don't think that you really have any big issues right now. You've lost 22 pounds in just over two months. You haven't been exercising but plan to and that may create more of a caloric deficit, depending on whether or not you eat all of those calories back.

this. adding some activity -- even just walking during your lunch hour -- might boost your metabolism and get you through that plateau, even if you eat your exercise calories back. be wary, though, that adding exercise might also make you more hungry.

i was most successful when i preplanned my meals, even on the weekend. if i'm going to have a couple of glasses of wine, i burn more calories through exercise.

good luck! you're doing great!

Hurleyjer

Thank you all very much for taking the time to reply. I really appreciate the wealth of knowledge on these forums... I am happy with the 22lbs so far, but the last few weigh-ins have been pretty stagnant, which is probably the motivation behind the post. I think a lot of it has to do with an increased salt intake on the weekends, as I'm certainly not just throwing caution to the wind and eating everything in site. I stay pretty sensible with the exception of a meal or two, which certainly don't have enough calories to justify the extra few pounds I see when I step on the scale Monday morning. Like I said before, I started this with the mindset of taking it slow, changing one or two things at a time and going from there. I've spent the first couple months getting my eating under control, logging my calories on MFP most days, but making sure to log in to MFP even on days I'm not logging my food to read through the forums and keep my mind on the process. Maybe what this is telling me is that it's time to move to the next step, which I would see as adding in some exercise and being sure to log food on weekends too. Thanks again to all for your valuable advice.