How to prep for the weekend?

chompmonster

I'm unsure how I should prep for the weekend.

My catch 22 is that I enjoy weekend festivities. The meals and spirits that accompany it = good times. However, this type of enjoyment typically destroys a full day or 2 of hard work with just 1 night out.

How do you guys balance out having fun? How do you make the necessary sacrifices to have a good time and not be a party pooper but still stay somewhat mindful about protecting your diet.

If a 10 is equivalent to staying 100% on track on your diet during the weekend and a 1 is staying 0% on track on your diet. I'm somewhere around a 1 to a 3 and am looking at figuring out ways to bump this # up.

Any help, motivation, or hard advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

runlaugheatpie

I also enjoy weekend festivties. I have already given up a lot (which is perfectly fine!) to be healthier, I am not going to give up the few drinks I have or a meal out with my husband or friends. So what I've been doing lately:

1) enough exercise through the week to keep my numbers down (being mostly under the daily goal 5 days a week if possible)
2) exercise on the day of the evening that I'm going out for festivities (to add some cushioning to my cals available)
3) eat lower throughout the day that I'm going out (so keep the cals low, drink lots of water and get my fruit/veg in)
4) when I'm out remove mentally any guilt or negative thoughts, make sensible choices
5) between alcoholic beverages, water or diet pop in between

Mind you I'm only on this track now the last few weeks but I feel good about it. I hope that helps you a bit.

emmarose1990

Before I started to watch what I eat, I also really let go at the weekends. Because of jobs/other responsibilities I rarely see friends during the week, so I justified it by the weekend being my only real "socialable" time. Since I joined MFP however I know that I can't just do that - like you said, it can seem to ruin a whole weeks worth of being good!

I have to admit I have no special tricks, I just try to stay focused! I make sure I input whatever I eat onto here using the app, I have no excuse - my phone is always with me! I always make sure I have a good breakfast - muesli is a big favourite of mine and it keeps me going. Like lowfatpie, if I know I'm eating out that night I just have a super healthy, almost nothing in it salad for lunch. By this I mean packed with veg - mainly cucumbers, tomatoes, different leaves, carrotts. If it's colourful it's always more appealing!

I tend not to do any 'proper' exercise at weekends, but I do walk everywhere unless it's impossible. Small things like this can make a difference, and let's you still enjoy the weekend without the massive guilt at the end!

xx

chompmonster

This is really encouraging to hear your stories. I like the comment about "small things making a difference" -- I think this can really apply during the weekend.

On a side note: I actually didn't gain any weight during that time! Lucky me.