Weekends. Anyone else fall off the wagon?

KaylaMack013

Hello!

Anyone else completely fall off the tracks during the weekend? I meal prep on Sunday so I have food prepared for the whole week but my husband and I are out and about and always end up grabbing food to eat and then of course I need a beer. I do so well over the work week and then the weekend ruins all of my hard work but I still can’t seem to break the bad habits!

What do you all do to keep on track and not completely go off the rails?

Thanks!

Kayla

jflongo

I bowl on Friday nights, so usually Friday morning, I add 3 or 4 beers in MFP for calorie tracking to try and help with that. Another example, last night we were doing a fundraiser for boy scouts at a pizza restaurant so I ordered a Salad with Chicken and vinegar and oil, instead of pizza. But yes, sometimes that does happen to me on weekends. I try and be strict Sunday - Thursday, and do my best Friday / Saturday, but sometimes fall of a little, not too bad though.

hesn92

You could try to eat a bit less M-F to try and save up a few hundred extra calories. I don't really have a "trick" for not going off the rails on the weekends, it just comes down to how committed you are to reaching your goals. Not a very helpful answer, sorry.

Caralarma

If you eat out with your husband, just factor that food in after you have it. Have your beer but try not to go crazy and stuff your face. Then log as accurately as you can and it will probably mean just eating less later that day. It may still result in going over your calorie goal but at least it wont be disastrous 😊 we all have to live a little and cant eat 'clean' all the time so in situations like that I think thays where portion control comes in.

flippy1234

Yep, almost always...I eat super well during the week and then on the weekends I relax a bit. Have a few margaritas, beers, whatever. I don't log on the weekends either. I don't go crazy but I also just give myself a bit of a break.

RelCanonical

I do relax more on the weekends when it comes to food, sometimes eating at maintenance, but since I have more time to workout on weekends, it kind of balances out.

born_of_fire74

I'm recovering from an injury ATM. Everything is all out whack and I've put on a bit of weight however, when things are normal, I try to bank some calories during the week so that I can get a little crazy with it on the weekends. Something to the tune of 100-150/day maybe even 250/day if I'm having a good week.

I don't drink so that is super helpful. I can't imagine trying to fit empty calories like that into my budget but there's no point in depriving yourself of the things that bring you joy either. Tough spot.

AustinRuadhain

I have gotten my husband excited about getting healthy, so he is now game for the big salad lunch on the weekends. (This works if you are careful about what is in and on the salads. Easy to underestimate salad dressing amounts.) If we are going out, we plan around that (eat before or pack food, generally).

mitch16

Kind of. My husband and I are empty nesters and are both working on losing some weight right now. During the week is easy because we have a defined schedule (work, gym, dinner at home), but weekends are a little trickier because we run errands, do work around the house, watch some college football... By the time dinner time rolls around I have no urge to cook so we will go out... We have started doing just 2 meals a day on Saturday and Sunday--breakfast at home and then an early dinner out--so that we don't go way over on calories. Seems to be working well for us.

ejg1010

I "bank" calories during the week so that I can enjoy higher calorie things at weekends (such as wine!) without undoing all my hard work. I still log everything and just go from my weekly totals. At the moment my target is to lose 1/2lb per week so as long as my average calorie intake is 250 under maintenance per day, that's all I'm looking for.

dhiammarath

I don't consider myself on a wagon, really, largely because 'falling off' of a wagon frames an action as a failure. So I try to work hard to understand what it is that I want, and how what I want will affect my long-term goals. In this way, I try to make sustainable changes for me while balancing want (living/enjoying/etc) with what I need (counting/exercising/etc) to be healthy.

I generally want to have more flexibility on weekends, so I try to balance that with stricter limits during the week on average. Some weekends, I will have that delicious caramel popcorn at the movies without having "purchased" it from the week's savings, and that's okay. That is also not failure, that is a conscious choice I make that this one day I am going to go over my calories. In the grand scheme of losing weight, it is a small blip, but it makes me happy.

Ultimately, my goal is to be able to balance enjoying life with being responsible in regards to my intake and health. I do my best to frame everything I do as a choice that I make. I have the power and I have no intention of giving that power up.

But, no matter what, I log everything. Historical data is a good indicator of future trajectory.

TavistockToad

I save a few calories Monday to Thursday, and my biggest exercise day is at the weekend.

Look at your weekly goal, not daily.

KaylaMack013

Thank you everyone for your insight and tips! Truly appreciate it!!! 🙌🏼❤️

ApolloDj2018

Weekends are the toughest time to diet in my opinion i don't know why but you need all your will power to hold off 🤐

vanityy99

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ericpiccione

Same here, I’ll hit my goals every day within a 100 calorie limit then when weekends come I “reward” myself. When I was in incredible shape I would log all my meals before my day started if I Had a clue on what I was going to eat. If not, before eating I would log all that I had in front of me (it takes commitment) then I would eat. Obviously not a lot of people like to be logging on the weekends but I still like to feel good about staying within a relative amount every day

JeromeBarry1

Being somewhat retired, every day is a weekend. I was under my calorie budget each day this week so far.

Breakfast: I have coffee first. After 8:00 a.m., I fix my breakfast. My daughter is busy getting ready to go to work so I stay out of her way.

Lunch: I plan this around noon or 1:00 p.m.

Dinner: I start cooking around 6:00 p.m.

There's usually calories left over for a small snack in the afternoon.

Stellamom2018

I spent at least 5 years binging on weekends and eating okay during the week, and effectively gaining 50lbs. Then I changed to the "I've already ruined the diet today, I'll start Monday" for about 2 years. Are you going to remember the Saturday meal out in one month, or are you going to be 5-8 lbs lighter?

Lillymoo01

I normally have a treat meal for tea on a Saturday night and I simply pre-log what I want (online menus are fantastic) in the morning so I know it will fit into my budget and I can adjust what I can eat for other meals during the day. My calorie allowance is always higher though as I have more time on a Saturday to exercise.

TavistockToad

Lillymoo01 wrote: »

I normally have a treat meal for tea on a Saturday night and I simply pre-log what I want (online menus are fantastic) in the morning so I know it will fit into my budget and I can adjust what I can eat for other meals during the day. My calorie allowance is always higher though as I have more time on a Saturday to exercise.

In what way is it a cheat meal if it fits in your calories?

SabAteNine

Some people do well with sticking to a constant calorie number throughout the week, others do better if they squirrel away some calories Mo-Fri to compensate for the weekends. Nothing wrong in that. You can lose a lb by being in a 500-cal deficit for 7 days straight, or by being in a 700 cal deficit for 5 days and eating at maintenance for the other two, without falling off any wagon. Do whatever works for you!

Lillymoo01

TavistockToad wrote: »

Lillymoo01 wrote: »

I normally have a treat meal for tea on a Saturday night and I simply pre-log what I want (online menus are fantastic) in the morning so I know it will fit into my budget and I can adjust what I can eat for other meals during the day. My calorie allowance is always higher though as I have more time on a Saturday to exercise.

In what way is it a cheat meal if it fits in your calories?

Pretty sure I wrote TREAT ..... yep I did. Nothing cheating in having a special meal once a week.

Machka9

I often do better on the weekends because I exercise a lot more.

MelanieCN77

I do a long run Saturday partly to have at least one day where I can eat a few extra high calorie items. It doesn't add up to a whole pizza or anything, but I can maybe have a big dessert or butter my toast with abandon

AnnPT77

There is no wagon; there are no rails, no tracks. You can't fall off anything. You can be at a stage where you haven't quite figured out how to accomplish all your goals - weight management and social life together, for instance.

Averaging calories for the week (calorie banking) is one strategy. Hard thinking about your true goals, and how to accomplish them realistically is another.

Are you willing to sacrifice nutritition for weekend treats? Accept a higher maintenance weight? Switch to lower-cal drinks (like vodka/soda instead of beer, say)? Drink less alcohol? Prep some easy to grab foods? Research the nutrition data from your favorite fast-food (or restaurant) web sites to find some alterative grab'n'go options that better support your goals? Prep some easy-to -grab foods and keep them in the freezer for when things get frantic? Do some extra workouts either during the week or on the weekend? Just be more active as a social activity (which might involve making some new friends in addition to old ones) rather than eating/drinking as a social activity?

There are lots and lots of options, of which I've listed only a few. But you're the one who's going to have to do the planning and accomplishing, so you need to find an option that works for you.

clynds

I struggle with weekends too, but find if I check restaurant menus online before I go to the restaurant and decide what to have ahead of time... I make better choices. It also gives me more time to enjoy my company without scrutinizing the menu

jo_nz

I find weekends tricky too. My husband is over a foot taller than me, and has an active job while I have a desk job, so his calorie target is almost double mine!
So weekends when we spend more time together can be a juggle to eat together and meet both our needs.

I have slowly learned to just say no sometimes, or just have a small serving. Plus as others have mentioned, I try to save a few calories during the weekend to give me a bit of a buffer.

Or sometimes I indulge and just don't worry about it - not too often, and I try and save those for special occasions.

MelanieCN77

I go over calories Sundays usually because I take a break from my usual rigorous workouts and eat normally and likely also some kind of calorie splurge if I'm doing something social. I've learned that the key for me is to log anyway. Here and there I am trying to have normal days off logging, but they cannot be combined with non-exercise or those days I intend to eat over. One or the other seems to work well, logging for me will ALWAYS slow down excess.

AliNouveau

Ugh then husband likes to order in and go out for brunch. We have curling Friday nights which means drinks and chips. I should be more vigilant but it's kinda nice to relax. I try to get the family out doing something active but usually one weekend daybis spent with my mom. We managed to get her out for a short walk yesterday so better than nothing right?

But ya I can be great all week them blow it

Blythmag

Today was my first real "cheat" day.i had no intentions of it but wss out with my stepson and had a couple of bits of his KFC a small portion of his fries.no nibbles inbetween, light breakfast but dinner i treated him to a pizza, mine had 1,300 calories taking me to 2500 for the day for the first time in 6 weeks and im a bit annoyed , however i found my exact pizza on here and was glad it amounted to just those calories, ive only had a cup of coffee tonight so again no nibbles and i will be back at it Monday.all calories logged, not hidden.

Little blip

TavistockToad

holycrosser wrote: »

Today was my first real "cheat" day.i had no intentions of it but wss out with my stepson and had a couple of bits of his KFC a small portion of his fries.no nibbles inbetween, light breakfast but dinner i treated him to a pizza, mine had 1,300 calories taking me to 2500 for the day for the first time in 6 weeks and im a bit annoyed , however i found my exact pizza on here and was glad it amounted to just those calories, ive only had a cup of coffee tonight so again no nibbles and i will be back at it Monday.all calories logged, not hidden.

Little blip

A light breakfast and a bit of KFC was 1200 cals?