trying to figure out maintaining weight

brenn24179

I have been maintaining since July. This is what I do. I eat good during the week but weekends I have time to get pizza, Chinese, fast food. We are always going and eating out. So then I gain 3-4 lbs and have to work like the devil at the first of the week at the gym to get it off and eat less. I love my pizza and Chinese and don't want to give it up but have a hard time overdoing it. I guess skinny people over eat also but then scale back. But I tend to really overeat if ya know what I mean, these are tempting foods. Maybe I should have them during the week some so I don't go crazy over them on the weekends. Potlucks,buffets are always weekend stuff.

I have heard some people do 5-2 thing. But eating so much less on the 2 days would be hard. Any suggestions, how do ya do it, manage some junk food or pizza on the weekends.

AverageUkDude

Moderation?

Only have it once a week?

Balance it out, when I cheat, say i go over by 800 cals, that means the next 4 days ill go under by 200 a day. Probably not ideal, but works for me.

PaytraB

I keep an eye on my intake but look specifically at my weekly average of calories consumed, just as AverageUkDude is doing.

It could be that the 3-4 lbs of weekly weight gain is mostly water from the sodium in pizza and chinese food. It may come off quicker if you flush your system with lots of water, especially over the weekend.

melsinct

You can let a little loose on the weekends...I do the same thing. However, there is a difference between having a serving of some unhealthy Chinese in moderation, like General Tso's chicken (all fried and crispy and tossed in that sugary sauce...YUM) vs. going whole hog at the buffet, having multiple servings of General Tso's and fried eggrolls and shrimp toasts and crab rangoon AND....on and on. If you do pig out regularly, something has to give. The math needs to work at the end of the day or week (calories in/out).

Brandolin11

I have been maintaining since July. This is what I do. I eat good during the week but weekends I have time to get pizza, Chinese, fast food. We are always going and eating out. So then I gain 3-4 lbs and have to work like the devil at the first of the week at the gym to get it off and eat less. I love my pizza and Chinese and don't want to give it up but have a hard time overdoing it. I guess skinny people over eat also but then scale back. But I tend to really overeat if ya know what I mean, these are tempting foods. Maybe I should have them during the week some so I don't go crazy over them on the weekends. Potlucks,buffets are always weekend stuff.

I have heard some people do 5-2 thing. But eating so much less on the 2 days would be hard. Any suggestions, how do ya do it, manage some junk food or pizza on the weekends.

First of all, congratulations on the maintenance and for keeping it up for five months - that is seriously admirable!

I like all the practical suggestions people are making. Great ideas. I'd like to add a psychological/emotional component to it, in the form of a question: So why do you think you're over-doing it so much on the weekends?

Are you restricting so much during the week that you're ready to go crazy the moment you give yourself a little freedom?

Do you have extra stress on the weekends (or possibly on Monday which would mean the weekend leads up to that day) and you're trying to soothe the stress?

Did you never really deal with the yo-yo diet mentality of the bingeing/feeling guilty/restricting/bingeing cycle and you're just hanging on by your fingernails?

Those are just a few suggestions, but perhaps you have your own. Sometimes I think when we sit down and really try to figure out the "why's" of our behavior, it helps us tackle the "how to deal with it" better. In other words - fix the disease, don't just put a band-aid on the symptom. Does that make sense? Just my 2 cents.

BusyRaeNOTBusty

Just watch serving size. Pizza is just as good 2 slices at a time. Eat half your chinese for dinner and save the rest for lunch during the week.

crazie4lulu

I don't do the 5 to 2 thing. what I do is the 8 to 16 thing. that is I eat for 8 hours then stop for 16. works great for me. I have been able to maintain.

deksgrl

This is what I do. I eat good during the week but weekends I have time to get pizza, Chinese, fast food. We are always going and eating out. So then I gain 3-4 lbs and have to work like the devil at the first of the week at the gym to get it off and eat less.

It's probably water weight from the sodium. Are you really eating 3,500 x 3 or 4 over your TDEE? If not then it is water weight.