NEED HELP AVOIDING TRASH WEEKENDS
HurricaneForce1
Posts: 17 Member
Guys I really need help. I workout every day during the week and do the best I can to count calories for now (food scale in the mail). But when Saturday and Sunday roll around I totally fall off the track - no exercise and back into excess calories. I am supposed to be at 300-400 deficit to drop fat and I totally derail and lose my progress at the weekend and this always happens when I get down to 200-203lbs. I'm trying to get to a lean 190 so this is crazy! Any tips on how to stop derailing over the weekend so I can keep my hard work?
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Replies
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I know I'm going to go overboard on the weekends, so I calorie cycle. My calorie goal is 1500 a day, so I eat 1200 Mon-Fri which leaves me 2000 per day on the weekend. All evens out at the end of the week, and I find it quite easy to eat low during the week.19
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My suggestions:
Decide (in general) what you're going to eat for your meals and make sure all those foods are in your house before the weekend. Eat foods that keep you full for hours so you will be less tempted to go off plan.
For example, oatmeal with some fruit for breakfast keeps me full for hours -- but I have to make sure I bought it. I don't like to cook, so I have instant oatmeal.
Make some food in batches so you can just heat some of it up. I make a big batch of low calorie vegetables and eat them with a protein.
If you eat out on the weekend, plan for those calories.
It looks like you might belong to a gym. If not, you might join one. The gym is so I can exercise in bad weather. I consider the gym one of the best investments I've made in my health.
Buy some new running shoes and exercise clothes to psyche yourself up.3 -
One last suggestion. Can you look for a class or fitness/sport event you can sign up for on the weekend? If you are in college, you could check there, or check out the local Y. It wouldn't have to be perfect, just to change your mindset.1
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Alatariel75 wrote: »I know I'm going to go overboard on the weekends, so I calorie cycle. My calorie goal is 1500 a day, so I eat 1200 Mon-Fri which leaves me 2000 per day on the weekend. All evens out at the end of the week, and I find it quite easy to eat low during the week.
This is exactly what I do. It works really well.6 -
That's interesting - I actually find it easier to stick to my calorie goal over the weekend, because of the following:
- during the week, I always have breakfast before going into work, so I always eat 3 meals a day. Over the weekend, I tend to skip breakfast and replace it with brunch or early lunch, followed by dinner only. So two meals compared to three over the weekdays
- I have more time to exercise over the weekend - in my case it's by doing lots of walking, and therefore earning some extra calories
- Are your extra calories maybe from drinking? I've mastered the art of slowly sipping a gin and diet tonic for a very long time, so I tend not to have more than one or two drinks per evening out. Yes, that usually means my friends are way tipsier than me by the end of the evening.
- If I am meeting someone for a meal out over the weekend, I prefer to meet them for lunch and have a large meal for lunch, followed by a tiny dinner at home. This is easier to stick to than having a tiny lunch followed by a large dinner as I'd be ravenously hungry by the evening if I was saving myself for dinner.
- Every now and then I will have a massive meal that's outside my calorie range. Just this Saturday, I went to a friend's wedding and ended up eating quite a lot (over 3,000 calories). In the overall scheme of things, that has set me back about a week in my weight loss progress, and I'm not sweating it. But this happens maybe once every other month, not more than that.
I know everyone is different, but I hope some of my tactics may help. I've lost about 17 kg over the last year, and my weight is dropping by just under a kilo per month at the moment - so my "method" may not be useful if you are trying to drop more quickly.4 -
Alatariel75 wrote: »I know I'm going to go overboard on the weekends, so I calorie cycle. My calorie goal is 1500 a day, so I eat 1200 Mon-Fri which leaves me 2000 per day on the weekend. All evens out at the end of the week, and I find it quite easy to eat low during the week.
Just viewed your diary HurricaneForce1. Agree with Alatarial75 & Cattofthegar...@leave more of an overage than you already do during your workday consumption where you're ending your days with calories remaining. Only, consciously guesstimate your likely spill-over during your weekends so that it isn't too excessive a distraction.
You've got this!!
ETA: Upon reading mlinci's post am I going to commit that if you are spending your weekends "throwing a few" back, then the recovery period from that could last up to 48hrs. This is where you will need to discern risk vs benefit towards your goals ... Your performance will be slightly affected and not likely to be as efficient, your calories however can be tweaked to accommodate the splurges as suggested by Alatariel75.
My sis and I risk the dip in performance, as we market major brand Wines,Liquors and Liqueurs for export from the USA ... We cannot sell what we have not tasted - had to for work.1 -
My advice:
•Cut out alcohol until you reach your goal weight/body fat percentage. Or at least severely limit it, like 1 drink only on the weekend.
•if you are going to exceed your calorie goal, then only eat up to maintenance calories - you can eat more without actually gaining any weight this way. It might even have a beneficial effect on your metabolism to eat up to maintenance once or twice a week.
•train hard the day after going higher calorie - this is the perfect time to train legs. You'll have more energy and strength due to having more "fuel in the tank", so take advantage of it.3 -
This doesn't work for a lot of people but I set my week up so that I have a large deficit Monday-Friday so that I can eat in a surplus on the weekend but still have an overall deficit.5
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I usually just fast on the weekends, either full water or partial (with smoothies). The other option is just to follow the routine you have during the week, replace bad foods with good foods and eat until you are content.-1
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Its so strange to see how different things work for different people. FOR ME, eating less in the week and 'treating' my self at the weekend doesnt work. I find that I stick to MFP during the week and cut it out at the weekends and that come monday ive lost little weight from all my efforts during the week, I feel boggy and that its hard to go back to a healthy eating routine.
I am glad I came across this post though. This whole week (inc Saturday & sunday) I am sticking to the same schedule so getting up at the same time, eating at the same time, gym (if I get chance) and eating the same every day, this is just a personal test to see what the outcome is next Monday.
PLEASE NOTE: I don't intentionally eat LOW LOW CALORIES.2 -
My best advice for avoiding those weekends is... don't. Plan them into your week. If you know you're going to be eating out this coming Saturday night, but you're cheat meal is planned for this Wednesday, just rearrange your schedule. Losing weight doesn't mean you have to give up going out.2
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I look at weekly calorie totals vs daily totals. I eat less calories during the week and then eat higher calories on the weekend. I did a version of this during my weight loss phase and I continue to do it (with higher calorie numbers) now that I'm in maintenance.1
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The only suggestion I don't see here is to find fitness buddies, or a meetup, who have a similar lifestyle to yours and who inspire you to live a healthier lifestyle.0
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Alatariel75 wrote: »I know I'm going to go overboard on the weekends, so I calorie cycle. My calorie goal is 1500 a day, so I eat 1200 Mon-Fri which leaves me 2000 per day on the weekend. All evens out at the end of the week, and I find it quite easy to eat low during the week.
This! I do the exact same thing and it works beautifully.3 -
ShareeEmma wrote: »I find that I stick to MFP during the week and cut it out at the weekends and that come monday ive lost little weight from all my efforts during the week, I feel boggy and that its hard to go back to a healthy eating routine.
Nobody is recommending "cutting it out" at the weekend. You have to keep tracking or you can blow your whole week's deficit.
There's a big difference between these two ideas: on the one hand, eating a little less during the week and a bit more at weekends, so that your average over the week gives you the deficit you're aiming for.
On the other hand, eating "healthy" through the week and then totally abandoning your goals, giving up tracking and having a massive blowout every weekend.
They are not the same thing at all. The first is one of many good approaches to calorie counting; the other is a recipe for endlessly gaining and losing the same 2lb and, as you say, feeling rubbish.
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So I'm seeing a lot of people going with weekly deficits over daily ones. Is this something that seems to really work for the weight loss? What about its netabolic affect - does it slow it down over the weekend?
Right now, based on MFP's daily estimate for me, I am about 3-400 calories under for a daily deficit. Should I change this - go higher or lower? And if that's my daily, what should my weekly deficit look like? THANK YOU FOR THE TIPS. And feel free to look at my diary, note that many days are incomplete too though 0_00 -
Curious why you don't exercise on the weekends? If you make it a priority during the week, why not on the weekends as well?
What are your stats - height/weight/goal weight? What sort of exercise are you doing? Did you calculate a TDEE? What rate of loss did you set up with MFP? You clearly aren't logging everything you eat currently, and you aren't weighing your food as you mentioned. When you do exercise, are you eating back a portion of those calories?
There's lots of ways to improve the accuracy of what you are doing - I would focus on being more consistent and accurate in logging and also making exercise a priority on the weekend too - before changing your overall calorie goal.
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Your metabolism doesn't speed up and slow down like a car in heavy traffic. Your body also doesn't know whether it's Monday or Saturday.5
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I find it works fine for weight loss, I lose weight as predicted by mfp. The only effect I'm seeing is a lot of weight fluctuation - variations in how much carbs I'm taking in lead to variations in water retention. It's no biggie. Water is not fat and I fluctuate a lot whatever I do, so it's a price I'm more than willing to pay.
I don't have a definitive answer for the metabolism question, but my hunch is that the metabolism is not going to react to short-term reductions in calories (a few days) and that eating close to or over maintenance for a couple of days a week might make metabolic adaptation actually less likely than if you have a deficit every single day. But that is just a hunch, I have zero science to back it up.
The idea is that you stick with the same deficit you would otherwise have, but you look for that deficit as a weekly average, not a daily thing. I don't know your numbers, but I'll explain mine to you. My maintenance is about 2000 net, and I am aiming to lose 1lb per week, so my overall goal is 1500 net. Instead of setting my goal to 1500, I set it to 1200, and I try to stick to that Mon-Thurs. Then on the weekend, I stop looking at my daily goal and start looking at the average (in the Android app it's under Nutrition on the left-hand menu). I want that average to stay under 1500 - I can eat quite a lot without pushing it over that. The ideal is to hit 1500 average on Sunday night, then I can go back to 1200 on Monday and the process starts all over again. Remember all these numbers are net, so if I exercise more, I eat more.
That's if I'm having a very regular, consistent week, which I often don't. In actual fact I'll often go over the 1200 a few times during the week and I don't worry too much as long as the average is still looking healthy; I just know that if I eat more during the week I'll have to eat less (or do more exercise) at the weekend. It's flexible, which is what I like about it, and the fact I can eat over maintenance every now and then makes a huge difference and stops me feeling deprived. And if people bring doughnuts into the office, I don't have to be sad about it.3 -
HurricaneForce1 wrote: »So I'm seeing a lot of people going with weekly deficits over daily ones. Is this something that seems to really work for the weight loss? What about its netabolic affect - does it slow it down over the weekend?
Right now, based on MFP's daily estimate for me, I am about 3-400 calories under for a daily deficit. Should I change this - go higher or lower? And if that's my daily, what should my weekly deficit look like? THANK YOU FOR THE TIPS. And feel free to look at my diary, note that many days are incomplete too though 0_0
I go on weekly deficit and cycle my calories. I've done it for 4 months and I'm losing a steady 2 lbs a week, so if you need to make the change to fit your lifestyle or social calendar you can and it doesn't affect your weight loss.
I'll let others look at your diary and help with other stuff:).
ETA- I do look at my average daily deficit.1 -
Not sure what your weekends look like, and if it's food or drink that is causing the overage. Here's what I do, Fridays stick with my M-F plan and no drinking. Saturday - run 10 miles early morning to set myself up with a nice deficit and eat all calories back. If I'm going to drink, I do it on Saturday. Sunday is my rest day and I focus on keeping 250 under my goal to set me up with a buffer for the week.0
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WinoGelato wrote: »Curious why you don't exercise on the weekends? If you make it a priority during the week, why not on the weekends as well?
What are your stats - height/weight/goal weight? What sort of exercise are you doing? Did you calculate a TDEE? What rate of loss did you set up with MFP? You clearly aren't logging everything you eat currently, and you aren't weighing your food as you mentioned. When you do exercise, are you eating back a portion of those calories?
There's lots of ways to improve the accuracy of what you are doing - I would focus on being more consistent and accurate in logging and also making exercise a priority on the weekend too - before changing your overall calorie goal.
Currently at 6'1", 206lbs trying to get to 190. I was down to 203 and the last two weekends have been full of travel and stress. What's a TDEE? And MFP has me at 1.5lbs/week. I was losing 3 though for the first two weeks and I plateaued at 203. Hopefully when my food scale arrives today I'll be on a better track.0 -
Not sure what your weekends look like, and if it's food or drink that is causing the overage. Here's what I do, Fridays stick with my M-F plan and no drinking. Saturday - run 10 miles early morning to set myself up with a nice deficit and eat all calories back. If I'm going to drink, I do it on Saturday. Sunday is my rest day and I focus on keeping 250 under my goal to set me up with a buffer for the week.
Mostly food does it. There's no alcohol in my diet so that's not my issue. I typically am up late Friday and sleep in on Saturday so my first meal is anywhere from 11-1. I'll have to just work on upoing my expenditure during the weekend and slowly cut back.
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CattOfTheGarage wrote: »I find it works fine for weight loss, I lose weight as predicted by mfp. The only effect I'm seeing is a lot of weight fluctuation - variations in how much carbs I'm taking in lead to variations in water retention. It's no biggie. Water is not fat and I fluctuate a lot whatever I do, so it's a price I'm more than willing to pay.
I don't have a definitive answer for the metabolism question, but my hunch is that the metabolism is not going to react to short-term reductions in calories (a few days) and that eating close to or over maintenance for a couple of days a week might make metabolic adaptation actually less likely than if you have a deficit every single day. But that is just a hunch, I have zero science to back it up.
The idea is that you stick with the same deficit you would otherwise have, but you look for that deficit as a weekly average, not a daily thing. I don't know your numbers, but I'll explain mine to you. My maintenance is about 2000 net, and I am aiming to lose 1lb per week, so my overall goal is 1500 net. Instead of setting my goal to 1500, I set it to 1200, and I try to stick to that Mon-Thurs. Then on the weekend, I stop looking at my daily goal and start looking at the average (in the Android app it's under Nutrition on the left-hand menu). I want that average to stay under 1500 - I can eat quite a lot without pushing it over that. The ideal is to hit 1500 average on Sunday night, then I can go back to 1200 on Monday and the process starts all over again. Remember all these numbers are net, so if I exercise more, I eat more.
That's if I'm having a very regular, consistent week, which I often don't. In actual fact I'll often go over the 1200 a few times during the week and I don't worry too much as long as the average is still looking healthy; I just know that if I eat more during the week I'll have to eat less (or do more exercise) at the weekend. It's flexible, which is what I like about it, and the fact I can eat over maintenance every now and then makes a huge difference and stops me feeling deprived. And if people bring doughnuts into the office, I don't have to be sad about it.
So what can I do to keep my water intake up but not retain the weight?
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HurricaneForce1 wrote: »WinoGelato wrote: »Curious why you don't exercise on the weekends? If you make it a priority during the week, why not on the weekends as well?
What are your stats - height/weight/goal weight? What sort of exercise are you doing? Did you calculate a TDEE? What rate of loss did you set up with MFP? You clearly aren't logging everything you eat currently, and you aren't weighing your food as you mentioned. When you do exercise, are you eating back a portion of those calories?
There's lots of ways to improve the accuracy of what you are doing - I would focus on being more consistent and accurate in logging and also making exercise a priority on the weekend too - before changing your overall calorie goal.
Currently at 6'1", 206lbs trying to get to 190. I was down to 203 and the last two weekends have been full of travel and stress. What's a TDEE? And MFP has me at 1.5lbs/week. I was losing 3 though for the first two weeks and I plateaued at 203. Hopefully when my food scale arrives today I'll be on a better track.
TDEE is your Total Daily Energy Expenditure. It is the sum of the calories you burn in a day - including your BMR (amount you need to sustain your basic bodily functions), your regular daily activity excluding exercise (this plus BMR is called NEAT which is what MFP works off of) and an estimate of calories burned through purposeful exercise. You can calculate it using an online calculator like: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
or by analyzing your actual data (but without tracking everything consistently and accurately it will be impossible to estimate).
MFP has you at 1.5 lbs/week because that is what YOU put in as a goal. It doesn't set that goal for you - you select a rate of loss. With what you are aiming for - losing approximately 15-20 lbs, that is way more aggressive than needed. You should be aiming for 0.5 lbs/ week.
I would also take the time to read the stickied Most Helpful Forum Posts at the top of each forum section - but in particular in the Getting Started section these are very helpful for understanding how to set up and optimize your approach using MFP.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10260499/i-like-old-posts-and-i-cannot-lie/p1
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1
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Yeah, do weekly calories, so eat less on weekdays, giving yourself a few 100 extra for weekends.
Pre-log your calories. If you know you are going out to dinner, and going to have a few beers, enter your dinner estimate that morning. And plan the rest of your day around that.
Make sure you get your exercise even on weekends. I like to make sure I have a good bike ride or run in the morning if I know I am going out that evening.
Try to limit over indulgence to one night, so only go out Saturday and be good on Friday.0 -
HurricaneForce1 wrote: »WinoGelato wrote: »Curious why you don't exercise on the weekends? If you make it a priority during the week, why not on the weekends as well?
What are your stats - height/weight/goal weight? What sort of exercise are you doing? Did you calculate a TDEE? What rate of loss did you set up with MFP? You clearly aren't logging everything you eat currently, and you aren't weighing your food as you mentioned. When you do exercise, are you eating back a portion of those calories?
There's lots of ways to improve the accuracy of what you are doing - I would focus on being more consistent and accurate in logging and also making exercise a priority on the weekend too - before changing your overall calorie goal.
Currently at 6'1", 206lbs trying to get to 190. I was down to 203 and the last two weekends have been full of travel and stress. What's a TDEE? And MFP has me at 1.5lbs/week. I was losing 3 though for the first two weeks and I plateaued at 203. Hopefully when my food scale arrives today I'll be on a better track.
With only 16 pounds to lose, you should be aiming for a loss of 0.5 lbs/ week.
I don't run a weekly deficit - I both eat more and exercise more on the weekends.0 -
Got a tape and calipers in the mail today. Measured at 22mm or 20% BF. Tape was at 36. Am currently 6'1" at 206lbs and trying to reach 190lbs. With these values how should I approach the last 16lbs?0
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And my MFP daily goal is 2,700 calories?! Why?0
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HurricaneForce1 wrote: »And my MFP daily goal is 2,700 calories?! Why?
Because you're tall, have a high lean body mass (and possibly are young). I'd be shocked if your TDEE was less than 3000 calories/day if you get any activity at all. So, if you set a reasonable weightloss goal of 0.5 pounds/week, MFP is going to give you a fairly high calorie intake.1
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