How did you get rid of your "weekend eating" mentality?

fumblerdog · April 2011

I'm not sure I'm totally RID of the mentality, but I'm feeling much better about it. I am NOT going to sacrifice going out on date night with my husband, but I don't need to drink (I mean, come on, if you need to get wastyface to spend time with your spouse, that's kind of a problem, lol), and I can order intelligently. Like last Friday night, we went out for Mexican, and instead of a cheesy goopy enchilada or something, I had grilled chicken with rice - and it turned out to be delicious! It was also a huge portion, so I only ate half and saved the rest for another meal. And I only drank water!

I exercise a lot more on the weekends, too, because I have more time.

And if there is a good opportunity to eat at home, I take it. For example, hubby wanted to go to a Braves game on Sunday afternoon, so I made him promise that we would eat a healthy lunch at home first. Yes, I had two beers and a bit of ballpark food later in the day, but it was WAY less than I would have eaten/drank before MFP.

For me, as much as I want to get to my goal weight, there's no point being skinny and miserable. So, I try to find balance in everything that I do. There are good days and bad days - I try to celebrate the good and let the bad go.

outersoul · April 2011

It's my struggle too. I'm usually gone all weekend shuttling around my kids to various games and tournaments and we tend to eat out a lot between games. I think I just need to be more prepared.

Chicka_Boom · April 2011

Honestly, it's an ongoing struggle for me.

I am great all through the week, thanks to my routine. I pretty much just do the same thing every day: wake up early, eat a banana, work out, get ready, eat breakfast, go to work, have a snack around 10, eat lunch, have another snack around 3, go home, have a snack if I'm hungry, do a little cardio or something, eat dinner, unwind, sleep. Repeat. I tend to stick to similar meals - small, nutritious, & frequent - and I keep healthy snacks on hand at the office. For breakfast I tend to have a banana and either rolled oats or almond butter on whole grain bread; for lunch I like vegetarian chili or leftovers; and for dinner I usually have some variation of grilled chicken or fish with veggies and brown rice. I snack on greek yogurt with honey, apples, granola, and almonds. I rarely deviate from my schedule, I work out every day, and I stay around 1400 calories.

But on the weekend.. it's a different story entirely. I tend to oversleep (because I can), my fiancé tempts me with junk food (I keep telling him he can't buy it, but he does anyway!), my day isn't as busy or as regimented so I wind up grazing on snacks rather than sticking to my eating schedule. I often put off my workout because I can do it whenever, and then I either don't do it or it's late when I do.

I am really working on shaping up on the weekends! Number one priority is to try and keep myself on a similar sleep and workout schedule - maybe sleep in a little bit, but avoid way oversleeping and napping. It's really hard for me to make myself wake up when I don't have to, though, and it's hard to make myself work out first thing when I can just do it any time during the day. Number two priority is to stick to my eating schedule of small, nutritious meals and snacks so that I avoid getting hungry and engaging in mindless snacking. I would love to hear any advice you guys have about those issues.

One trouble area I HAVE gotten under control is the dreaded night out at a restaurant. I allow myself some leeway from time to time - I don't have a "free day" or a "free meal" but sometimes I just allow myself to indulge, within reason. I'll have another glass of wine, split a dessert, or have an entrée with a rich sauce. For me, the key is to let myself relax about my intake from time to time so I don't feel deprived (if you feel deprived, chances are you won't be able to sustain what you're doing and risk a relapse into bad habits) but I don't write the meal off as a free for all. I maintain the healthy habits I've developed - ordering veggies instead of fries, avoiding fried foods, skipping the bread basket - while giving myself permission to enjoy something that I really enjoy, like the aforementioned second glass of Pinot Noir.

You should figure out what "bad" food you truly love and miss - be it fried chicken, tiramisu, or pasta - and let yourself enjoy that from time to time. Just be aware of the caloric content of what you're eating, and stick to just one indulgence while keeping the rest of the meal healthy.

It helps to count your calories for these "indulgence" meals so that I keep everything in check and don't go over my maintenance calories. If you think you might have trouble with a certain restaurant, you should absolutely check out the menu in advance, decide what you'll have, and go ahead and enter in your calories. Eat frequent meals and snacks with small portion sizes so that you aren't ravenous when you go out. Consider in advance what you may want to indulge in - a certain dessert, appetizer, or wine - and go ahead and check out the calories for those things. You can indulge, but do so mindfully and with intent.

I'd love to hear what advice the rest of you have for weekend lapses!

popsicle33 · April 2011

I am right there on the weekend diet cheating. The things that help me the most are:
1. Plan a special weekend meal that is healthy and satisfying and makes you feel special. My boyfriend and I will plan all of our other weekend meals around it. For example, I have been planning 1 nice big healthy meal, like last weekend it was a chicken, brown rice and veggie stir-fry. A few weeks ago I planned a tasty, low-sodium pot roast in the slow cooker. Knowing this tasty meal was coming (and we could smell it for hour!), we watched everything else we ate that day!
2. Make up for cheating with more exercise! Weekends give us the chance to go for long walks, especially now that it's springtime here in New Mexico. We walk for an hour or more, and make it also quality time for us, since we don't see each other much during the week.
3. Cut out sodas! I don't drink them at all, except maybe once every 2-3 months. They are a waste of your sugar allowances.
4. When you do cheat, enjoy it to the fullest and then regard Sunday night/Monday morning as when you get right back on track!
5. Distract yourself from your temptations. When you're feeling tempted, write it down in your MFP blog! We'll write you back to support you.

angryguy77 · April 2011

I allow one day where I don't bother counting the calories. I'll eat my normal calories for breakfast and lunch and then have whatever I want for dinner. Allowing one cheat meal a week does wonders. Basically it comes down to allowing yourself to live a little.

Even if you are out more in the weekend, you can eat healthy without blowing the week. If you go to Mcdonalds, get the grilled chicken w/o mayo and a cheeseburger instead of the fries. The chicken isn't that bad for you and you are allowing for something a little tastier at the end.

Mentality is hard to change and I struggle with that as well. But when I'm tempted, I remind myself that the guilt and bad feeling I get from cheating makes eating the burger etc not worth it. This is coming from a guy who could eat pizza fri and sat w/o blinking. For me it was just a matter of changing habits and remembering where I want to be.

olyrose · April 2011

This was what always kept me from actually losing weight (take it off during the week, put it back on over the weekend, give up til next attempt).

I've had two good weekends in a row now, so this is what has helped me:

Plan meals out in advance first thing in the morning or even on Friday, so I know how many calories I have to splurge (I plan out small breakfast, reasonable lunch, then give myself the rest of the calories for whatever I want)

Have a "splurge" only for one meal, so I keep everything else consistent with weekday portions except for the thing I really want

Try to think of the weekends themselves as a treat rather than what I get to eat during them

Remember that my calorie allowance is set for trying to lose weight, so if I go over a little, I'm still not likely to gain (takes the guilt away because you SHOULD enjoy your weekends!)

Remember the overall goals, and why I don't want to sabotage myself, find alternatives to snacking or high calorie food

Bviera · April 2011

I don't usually exercise on weekends, so I have to be careful not to binge it. It can be tough, not because I want to, but because I spend weekends with my boyfriend and our friends and everyone just wants to go out all the time. If I can help it, I'll have a good filling breakfast, and then graze throughout the day and save whatever calories I can for dinner. If I can, I'll squeeze in a bit of walking to get a few extra calories. But I usually end up going over anyway. The trick is to not go over by tons. So, yeah, I'll have a cheat meal and over eat by about 200-300 calories, but in the long run, that's really not a big deal. I just make sure to stick to healthy choices (salads with dressing on the side, fish, grilled chicken, avoid or limit fried stuff, have water with my meals, etc.) and log it all.