Oh No, it's the weekend!

Poods71

Been dieting on and off for too long lol, but just started tracking seriously this week. My big downfall though is the weekend as you see what everyone else is having and you want it. It is easier at work as I am busy and dont think about food so much. This weekend will be worse as it is the queens jubilee so it is a long weekend. Just hope I don't throw away all my hand work through the week by eating the wrong things at the weekend. Especially as the hubby is talking about camping where I wont have access to my tracker. Oh well, just have to do my best and remember why I am dong this :ohwell:

BerryH

Just track everything, however grim, as soon as you eat it and you'll stay in control. Even better, plan your day out in advance and tweak it as you go if needs be. For losing weight, there are no "wrong things" just too many calories.

If you know you do it every weekend, why not create a deficit during the week so you have extra calories for the weekend? Or as you have more time to yourself, have a longer or harder workout and only have treats out of your exercise calories, not your normal allocation.

Dipmom

Maybe doing the old-fashioned thing with a notebook and pen might help. At least it will keep you accountable, and then you can log it in when you get back. Or even better (but more work) would be to plan out what you are going to eat and log it in before you leave.
Good luck, and let us know how it goes.

Poods71

Just track everything, however grim, as soon as you eat it and you'll stay in control. Even better, plan your day out in advance and tweak it as you go if needs be. For losing weight, there are no "wrong things" just too many calories.

If you know you do it every weekend, why not create a deficit during the week so you have extra calories for the weekend? Or as you have more time to yourself, have a longer or harder workout and only have treats out of your exercise calories, not your normal allocation.

I don't really do any exercise at the moment, except a bit of walking :blushing:. I don't really want to start anything I can't keep up and then just put weight back on again when I give up. I try to stick to 1200 cals a day but if I saved some for the weekend would that not make me hang on to the fat as my body won't be getting enough calories. Find all of this calorie stuff really confusing lol

Poods71

Maybe doing the old-fashioned thing with a notebook and pen might help. At least it will keep you accountable, and then you can log it in when you get back. Or even better (but more work) would be to plan out what you are going to eat and log it in before you leave.
Good luck, and let us know how it goes.

Pen and pad is a good idea thanks, I just worry about some things that don't have a calorie content on them and I won't have a clue what to put or guess completely wrong lol. Oh well, I will just try and be sensible and try going for walks too to work off some calories

BerryH

I don't really do any exercise at the moment, except a bit of walking :blushing:. I don't really want to start anything I can't keep up and then just put weight back on again when I give up. I try to stick to 1200 cals a day but if I saved some for the weekend would that not make me hang on to the fat as my body won't be getting enough calories. Find all of this calorie stuff really confusing lol

1,200 is too few for most people. Go with what MFP gives you to lose 1lb a week, and 2lb only if you've got a lot to lose. You'll be more satisfied and find the weekends easier to keep within your target.

Walking's an excellent start. You can always use a free phone app like Cardiotrainer or Runkeeper to see how far and fast you go and how many calories you burn to give yourself a goal. There's no point in doing exercise you don't like, but do try a few and see what you enjoy. You could start my throwing in some body-weight resistance (squats, sit-ups, planks, push ups, triceps dips etc.) after your walk.:flowerforyou:

Poods71

[/quote]1,200 is too few for most people. Go with what MFP gives you to lose 1lb a week, and 2lb only if you've got a lot to lose. You'll be more satisfied and find the weekends easier to keep within your target.

1200 was what MFP gave me. Can't remember how I set it up, maybe I put how quickly I wanted to lose it and that is why the calories are so low. I am not finding the 1200 a struggle (most days lol) but it's good to know I could eat more and lose weight. I don't have a huge amount to lose now as I lost about 2 stone after having my daughter doing the Alternate Day Diet but since the doctor took me off Thyroxin (he says my thyroid is fine now :grumble: ) I have started to put weight back on and the diet isn't working. I decided to try an normal calorie counting diet to see if I was maybe overeating and not realising. I want to lose 7lbs and more importantly, keep it off.

Carol_27

I have a similar problem - what has helped me alot is when I am seeing all the delicious food, I drink alot of water and keep myself busy doing stuff until everyone is starting to eat, then I go for the salads (no heavy dressings becuase then its meaningless) and protein (lean meats) dont look at the bread/pasta/rice - if anyone offers you anything just let them know that your being 'good' over the weekend and dont want to lose focus, if someone gives you a hard time about or tries to talk you into eating something (becuase they love food and want you to enjoy it too, all well meaning but you pay for it in the end) just be strong and drink your water and eat those veggies/salad/lean meat and let them know that they are sweet but really you need to stay focused.

If the deserts are your weakness (def are for me) then what you do is eat a smaller portion of the salad/veggie/meat meal and allow yourself ( a sliver) of that desert (seriously SLIVER, which means enough for 2 real bites or 3 small bites) then make sure to walk after you eat and be social and friendly all while drinking your water.

it works for me everytime, it takes mental discipline but well worth it later.

BerryH

The closer you are to your goal the smaller your target loss should be. For the last 7lbs, you should really change your settings to lose 0.5lb a week. Slow but steady! Check out the "Eat more, weigh less" group for inspiration, many ladies there eat over 2,000 every day and look amazing!

Poods71

I have a similar problem - what has helped me alot is when I am seeing all the delicious food, I drink alot of water and keep myself busy doing stuff until everyone is starting to eat, then I go for the salads (no heavy dressings becuase then its meaningless) and protein (lean meats) dont look at the bread/pasta/rice - if anyone offers you anything just let them know that your being 'good' over the weekend and dont want to lose focus, if someone gives you a hard time about or tries to talk you into eating something (becuase they love food and want you to enjoy it too, all well meaning but you pay for it in the end) just be strong and drink your water and eat those veggies/salad/lean meat and let them know that they are sweet but really you need to stay focused.

If the deserts are your weakness (def are for me) then what you do is eat a smaller portion of the salad/veggie/meat meal and allow yourself ( a sliver) of that desert (seriously SLIVER, which means enough for 2 real bites or 3 small bites) then make sure to walk after you eat and be social and friendly all while drinking your water.

it works for me everytime, it takes mental discipline but well worth it later.

I like all food lol, but desserts are a big downfall for me too. I find I am better not to have one at all as I can't do sliver, it just put's me in the mood for more :laugh:

donniesaurous

I always go wrong on the weekends and even more on bank holidays!! but this one I'm starting over, today is 'Monday, tomorrow is 'Tuesday' so on and so on. it sounds silly but it just might work! my son is already on half term today and I do tend to eat better when he's at home. I want to lose a stone before September and the only way I think this could happen is by having a double week and cutting out the weekends!!

Poods71

The closer you are to your goal the smaller your target loss should be. For the last 7lbs, you should really change your settings to lose 0.5lb a week. Slow but steady! Check out the "Eat more, weigh less" group for inspiration, many ladies there eat over 2,000 every day and look amazing!

Thanks for that, I think I will have a look at my settings and see what I have got just now. I have seen the posts about eating more but find that really scarey as I worry the weight would fire back on again and I would have more to lose than I have now.

Eleanorjanethinner

If you're going camping you can go walking! And you'll only have the food that you've brought with you, so take plenty of yummy healthy foods and you should be fine.

If you're not camping then, as others said, log everything.

I could only stick to 1200 with at least 100-200+ extra calories from exercise (mostly walking) a day. 1200 just doesn't give you much food to eat but if you do it right and you're lucky you can lose at a steady rate on it. I lost about 14 pounds over a few months... bumping it up to 1310 a day slowed me right down 'cos somehow that lead to me generally being a lot less rigourous with logging, food choices etc.

Poods71

Changed my settings and it is still telling me to eat 1200 :ohwell:. Not finding it too difficult as trying to eat much healthier food like fruit and veggies with much fewer calories so I can eat more lol, so will see how I go for a few weeks and then see if anything needs changing.

Thanks for all the helpful replies everyone