Weekend Sabatage

Luvs_Rage_Phish

So I'm getting frustrated. Lately I have been on my MFP game all week long - I weigh everything, log, us my UP24 to have a better sense of my TDEE, drink water and whlie I don't exercise as much as I should I still get to the gym an average of 3x a week. However, I have been stagnant in my weight loss for just over a couple months now. I go over and over little things I could be doing with friends and my fiance (who is a MFP rockstar - 80 lbs lost) and the only thing we can really come up with is that I could be sabataging my efforts on the weekends. I don't always have bad weekends but I certainly do much worse than I do on the weekdays - especially if there's a party or an event I'm going to. I can't help but feel I'm great all week but have nothing to show for it cause over the weekend I am not creating enough of a deficit (if at all) and I'm not always logging every little thing like I do on the weekday. I thought for a while that I should be creating enough of a deficit over the course of the week that a weekend day or two couldn't do too much damage but I'm pretty sure I'm wrong about that.

Any advice on how to stay on point when the weekends roll around? I know most might say - "just do it" but anything a little more specific like tips and tricks to not letting the weekends destroy my efforts would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Samby_v1

I thought for a while that I should be creating enough of a deficit over the course of the week that a weekend day or two couldn't do too much damage but I'm pretty sure I'm wrong about that.

If you've got no willpower over the weekend I'd go with that! You'll need to do it safely though - you don't want to be starving yourself during the week to live for the weekend. In time you're going to have to learn how to indulge in moderation, as it were, if you want good habits to form. All the best to you!

_HeartsOnFire_

Are you going by your TDEE% number or going by what MFP says?

If you are using TDEE-% every day, it has your workout level already included in that number so you shouldn't eat back exercise calories on TDEE - you SHOULD if you are using MFP.

I'm using TDEE-%. I eat 1800 every day. If I went way over that on the weekends 1-2 days consistently then my weight loss would stall.

Are you eating things high in sodium?

alpine1994

Weekends are rough. When I was losing I used a weekly calorie goal, instead of daily. This way, I could eat a little bit less during the week (and exercise more) and then on the weekends I had more cals available for drinks/meals out. Continue to log on the weekends too so you can see if you really are sabotaging the whole week's deficit. Calories in drinks and restaurant meals add up really fast. On that same note, I really think you have to treat yourself every now and then, just not all weekend, every weekend. It takes time to break old habits so don't beat yourself up and celebrate small victories always!

corgarian

on weekends I try to limit myself to one bad meal a day (so one saturday, one sunday) rather than just letting the whole day go. Or like this weekend, I had a party i wanted to go to saturday so instead of giving myself one bad meal, I was good all day and more lax at the party.
But in the end its self control. At that party this weekend, I had ONE brownie, not 5. If you're a drinker (I'm not) then you will need to choose between the alcahol or the snacks. Some people here will say "its your weekend, eat what you want!!" But if you are not happy with your progress you maybe shouldnt think about it that way. It's always choices.

lighteningjeanne855

Logging my intake really slows down my indulgences.
I suggest that you sigh heavily,
and then start logging EVERYTHING
you ingest on the weekend, too.
Best wishes!

CJ_Holmes

I'm struggling with this same issue. I have been stalled out for months. For a while, I didn't log accurately on the weekends, but now I'm logging it all, embarrassing as it can be! Actually seeing that yes, my partying, events and brunches completely erase my defict has motivated me to make some changes. I think your first step is to actually log it all honestly, so you can see what changes will work for you.

I work in a political sphere with lots of receptions after work, travel, and events. In order to change my results, I need to drink less, avoid the cheese and cracker table, get my workout done in the morning, and make better choices at all my restaurant meals. The longer days and nice weather will also help, because I hate cardio machines but thave no problem with 3 hour bike rides. If the scale doesn't start moving, I'm going to have to re-evaluate again!

Log it all, then see where you can make changes. It may help to focus more on your weekly averages. I don't think there is anything wrong with eating less during the week and eating more on the weekend as long as it averages out to a reasonable amount and your energy is good. But if you don't log it, any results (or lack) will be shrouded in mystery.

levitateme

I "let everything go" every weekend and have been losing .5-2 lbs every week for the past 9 weeks. I log everything, but I eat whatever I want Saturday and Sunday. If I stay on point for the next 2 days, my deficit for the week (Thursday to Wednesday) will be 4,600 calories. It really doesn't matter on a day to day. Look at your TDEE for the whole week (mine is 16,800) and eat 3,500 less than that spread out over 7 days and you will lose 1 pound.

maroonmango211

Logging my intake really slows down my indulgences.
I suggest that you sigh heavily,
and then start logging EVERYTHING
you ingest on the weekend, too.
Best wishes!

agreed. even if you have indulgences if you log it before or right after each 'cheat' then you will more likely still consider portion control and/or make the decision to choose one or two things not ALL.

Francl27

Log everything, decrease your goal for the week... it's what I've been doing pretty much. I keep a low goal, and try to reach it most days, to make up for the days I eat too much.

Luvs_Rage_Phish

Are you going by your TDEE% number or going by what MFP says?

If you are using TDEE-% every day, it has your workout level already included in that number so you shouldn't eat back exercise calories on TDEE - you SHOULD if you are using MFP.

I use what MFP sets as my goal to lose 1 lb a week then I have auto positive or negative adjustments to that number via my Up24 - they talk to each other so I don't eat my calories "back" exactly - I just keep in line with my adjusted calories.

To double check I've taken the estimated total burn from my Up24 (essentially my TDEE) and reduced by 20/25% and it was basically the same number thats being generated on MFP.