How to make weekends work

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crystala2
crystala2 Posts: 6 Member
in Motivation and Support
Does anyone else have a hard time staying on track with your food goals on the weekends? I can manage to eat properly and stay within calorie goals during the work week, but as soon as Saturday and Sunday hit, I always go over. It's hard to have a couple of beers on a Saturday night without starving. Any good suggestions on how to make weekends work? I haven't been working out, I suppose I should get on that to gain beer calories back? Ugh.

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  • shaf238
    shaf238 Posts: 4,021 Member
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    I have a diet plan for the weekend too, but, I get that's not possible for everyone. Why don't you subsidise your calories during the week to give you some leeway to have a bit more over the weekend?
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,442 Member
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    I think pretty much everyone has this problem.

    One solution is to eat fewer calories during the week and bank the extra for the weekend.
  • crystala2
    crystala2 Posts: 6 Member
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    shaf238 wrote: »
    I have a diet plan for the weekend too, but, I get that's not possible for everyone. Why don't you subsidise your calories during the week to give you some leeway to have a bit more over the weekend?

    I didn't think of that. I generally do have calories leftover during the week, and I've either tried to eat them, or just get myfitnesspal telling me I didn't eat enough that day... but I'm full. Thanks for this!
  • emmies_123
    emmies_123 Posts: 513 Member
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    All prior suggestions are great, adding another to the mix.

    Can you skip a meal? Weekends I'm able to sleep in later and I try to have a brunch in place of two separate meals for breakfast and lunch. Then a healthy snack to hold me until dinner.
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,442 Member
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    crystala2 wrote: »
    shaf238 wrote: »
    I have a diet plan for the weekend too, but, I get that's not possible for everyone. Why don't you subsidise your calories during the week to give you some leeway to have a bit more over the weekend?

    I didn't think of that. I generally do have calories leftover during the week, and I've either tried to eat them, or just get myfitnesspal telling me I didn't eat enough that day... but I'm full. Thanks for this!

    Yeah, you can look at your weekly calories. For easy math, I going to use 2000 per day ( I know that's high). So, 14,000 calories for the week. If you eat 1500 Mon-Fri, that's 7,500. Leaving you 6500 for Sat-Sun. The example is a bit extreme (pre-coffee and early morning math is hard), but you get the idea.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,215 Member
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    crystala2 wrote: »
    Any good suggestions on how to make weekends work?

    Weekends are for lots and lots of exercise ... long walks or hikes up mountains, long bicycle rides, training runs for the next event, a couple hours in the gym, several hours out on the lake canoeing .... :):):)

    That's one of the reasons I like weekends ... I can get out of the office and into nature. Or at least be active instead of sitting much of the day.

  • emcclure013
    emcclure013 Posts: 231 Member
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    I typically shoot for maintenance calories on the weekends. It'll slow your weight loss by a bit, but to me it's worth not feeling deprived on my days off. I also try to go to a fitness class or at minimum get a good walk in first thing on Saturday mornings so that I have a little more wiggle room when it comes to calories. If I know it's going to be a bad weekend (social events, busy schedule, ect.) then I'll skip breakfast and eat as little as possible at home so I can enjoy myself when I'm out!
  • Kelley0519
    Kelley0519 Posts: 254 Member
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    I actually do better on the weekends :D I work full time during the week and I'm off on weekends so that gives me more free time to work out/catch up on errands that I've put off until then. I try to work out first thing in the morning for a long time so I can burn more calories than I normally could during the week. While I'm busy for most of the remainder of the day running errands, I will eat a healthy snack here and there through out the day. Then in the evening, I will enjoy my "cheat meal" that I've basically worked off before eating.
  • dhiammarath
    dhiammarath Posts: 834 Member
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    Weekends are hard because I either eat too little (I'm basically a slug, slugging around the house) or eat too much. I used to trim calories off the weekdays to give to the weekends, and then I got lazy. So now, if I eat more on the weekends, then I force myself to go out for a walk or go for a swim. Basically, be less of a slug. XD
  • tcunbeliever
    tcunbeliever Posts: 8,219 Member
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    As a general rule, I skip breakfast on the weekdays but skip breakfast and lunch on the weekends. That leaves me more calories for big weekend dinners and a few drinks.

    For me this works well because I'm typically sleeping later so the amount of time between getting up and being hungry is the same number of hours, but the clock lands me more like snack time than lunch time so I just have a small snack to tide me over to dinner. Plus, we typically eat later on the weekdays than on the weekend due to kids activities, so an earlier dinner and a few after dinner drinks lines up nicely with bed time.
  • gallicinvasion
    gallicinvasion Posts: 1,015 Member
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    Also, instead of beers, I've just been drinking vodka and seltzer. 96 calories per drink.
  • Snowflake1968
    Snowflake1968 Posts: 6,815 Member
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    I do well in Saturday’s for the most part, it’s my cleaning day. I found my struggle was Sunday because it’s the one day I make a big breakfast and a big dinner. I just changed things a few weeks ago and made Sunday my day to eat in maintenance. I still log and control but am not so strict with it. It seems to be working for me.
  • lks802
    lks802 Posts: 65 Member
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    I build in wine, pizza, and a sweet treat for Friday nights. On Sat and Sun, if I know I have plans, I will eat very clean so I can eat pretty much what I want at the event (within reason-I don’t gobble 2 cheeseburgers and down 10martinis)

    It’s all mental for me. The second I feel like I can’t have or do something it makes have an unhealthy relationship to it. So now, I stay as clean as possible during the week and I’m more accepting of having splurge on weekend. Since I know I have that “freedom”, I don’t feel compelled to eat all the things.

    As an above poster said, it certainly can slow weight loss. But I’m ok with that. I’ve worked so hard to try to change my relationship with food that adopting a style of eating that I can apply forever was more important than a race to finish.

    I’ve been on this journey longer than I care to admit. I just can’t “diet” anymore, I needed to find a way to change my mindset forever. I’m still a work in progress.
  • lks802
    lks802 Posts: 65 Member
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    Also, I stopped beating myself up if I screwed up. Having one bad meal wasn’t end of world. I’ve also had to be mindful of learning my emotional eating triggers and my binge food triggers.

    Instead of focusing on one meal that wasn’t in my best interest, I pay attention to trends. If I’ve noticed that I have been eating less healthy a few days over time.

    I know it’s sounds weird, but I just try to be present and pay attention to my behavior and choices.

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