Why are weekends sooo hard?!

I did the same thing this weekend. My intentions were good. I personally didn't really blow it until Saturday night. My excuse was a girlfriend asked me to go out to hear some music and dance (I had my husband's blessing of course!). I was afraid I may drink and not have enough heavy food in me so I made a frozen pizza since it was quick. I added extra cheese .. hence extra calories. The good news.. I didn't drink any extra calories.. stuck with diet pepsi and water..and I danced almost every set. I estimate about 2 hours of exercise.
But on Sunday.. I continued to eat heavier food... and I'm trying to get back on track today..I think what always happens to me is I think I'm doing good.. so I feel like i can reward myself. I know intellectually it is not really a reward but I know this will be a bad habit to break. Somewhere i have heard "Nothing taste as good as thin feels." I will try to keep that in mind as I battle my way back to a healthy weight.
Thanks for sharing.. I'm new to this and I need all the inspiration I can get!

It seems weekends are hard for almost everyone.....myself included. I log on to MFP, but hardly remember to log my food over the weekends....may not eat lunch or eat a late lunch and maybe a snack instead of dinner, so I tend to be a bad logger cause I know I am not eating right. At work, I bring what I am going to eat for breakfast, lunch and a snack so I'm good.....but when I get home I don't eat right....does this mean I should be working 24/7 cause then I would focus on eating correctly!

I think that with me it is just a "will power" thing. I have excellent will power when I am busy, but put me in a situation where I'm bored, and I'll eat.I have to keep busy. I do Zumba on Saturday morning, then go home and clean the house....Saturdays aren't that bad, but Sunday, I choose not to do any exercise. I go to Church and then come home eat and relax. I just have to keep myself from being bored, keep moving and I'll eat correctly! Good luck, it will get better.

Only been dieting a week and am already discouraged. I blew it over the weekend. Hubby was working, which is unusual. He makes me accountable, so since he wasn't around, I went over my caloric limit all weekend. Gah! But UI am learning something valuable about myself: I can't do this alone, and when I get lonely, I eat. And one more thing I've learned: I tend to "reward" myself on weekends for being good during the week. Comforting, I guess...until the guilt sets in. Ugh. During the week, I am soo good. Why are weekend so hard?

Don't give up and do not quit. I find most weekends harder. When I'm at work I stay a little busier during the week. More TV time and stuff on the weekends. I have found that having a glass of water nearby helps, or drinking a protein shake and trying to stay busy. That said, weekends were also meant to be enjoyed so don't get discouraged by it. Some may not believe in this but I do an extra 30 minutes of cardio usually on Mondays as a way to make up a little if I pulled in some extra cal's over the weekend. Hope something in here will help you.

I need more friends on here too. So send me a FR.

For starters, diets do that to you. Maybe start thinking of it as something other than a diet. Personally, I stopped thinking of it as a diet and things have been a LOT smoother.

Exactly!!! Diets don't work. Changing your lifestyle works.

Only been dieting a week and am already discouraged. I blew it over the weekend. Hubby was working, which is unusual. He makes me accountable, so since he wasn't around, I went over my caloric limit all weekend. Gah! But UI am learning something valuable about myself: I can't do this alone, and when I get lonely, I eat. And one more thing I've learned: I tend to "reward" myself on weekends for being good during the week. Comforting, I guess...until the guilt sets in. Ugh. During the week, I am soo good. Why are weekend so hard?

he he I reward as you say too much. I can be good for a week and then it all goes to pot, ive got no will power at all.I eat when im happy and when im pissed off too, so its a double edged sword for me.It doesnt have to be the weekend for me, anytime, if that feeling hits and i want to eat,I usually give in.

Hey, I agree, weekends are hard. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that the days are much less structured. To balance it out, I always start Sat and Sun mornings with a workout. That way, I still have room if I go over on calories. If I'm really bad on the weekend, then I make myself go back and workout for a second time. Seems to work for me. Good luck and add me if you'd like.

This is a great way to handle it. :drinker:

Weekends are hard for me too.. My husband works out of town and daughter usually goes to her friends...So I am tempted to eat out...Remember, it's not a DIET as you called it, it is lifestyle change!!! Allow yourself one cheat day, maybe like Saturday, then after you do that a while...drop it down to one cheat meal...

Weekends were really tough for me in the beginning too - and still can be if there are parties or girl's days involved. As others have pointed out, we have this mentality of the weekend being "off'" days so it's easy to think that applies to our diets as well. But really there's no reason for it. Here's some things that have helped me:

Plan to eat the same thing you would on a weekday. Planning is a great asset to anyone trying to clean up their diet because you have set meals for the whole week, shop for just the things you need for those meals and only allow one deviation (like you were busy today and you're tired so you're going to get take out instead of making that casserole).

This one involves some tough love, please take it with the good intentions it's written with... STOP depending on your husband to be your accountablility. It's great that he's supporting you but don't make him be your excuse for failure - that's not fair to him or you. You're doing this for you right? Then put your big girl panties on and do it! If you're doing it for him, trust me, it won't last.

Log before you eat it if you're not sure it'll fit in your calorie budget.

Exercise to earn calories.

Do not keep bad snacks in the house!

And look, I get lonely and bored are eating triggers, they're my big ones too, and I too have weak moments when Hubs is gone all day. So when you get that feeling like you want to eat your emotions, find something else to do. Come up with a list of possibilities and tape it to the fridge and/or cupboard. Here are some ideas to get you started: go for a walk, run, bike, hike (walk in the mall if raining), read a good book, call a friend, take a bath, do that chore you've been putting off, just go for a drive (as long as you won't be tempted to go to any drive thrus), do some window shopping, take up a craft to keep your hands busy.

Good luck to you!

P.S. Come up with other rewards for yourself besides food. Not sure what you're into but buying yourself a movie or book or getting a manicure and/or pedicure would all be nice.

I think weekends are more difficult because since we were children in grade school, we've been 'conditioned' to look forward to the weekends and just let loose and have fun. Weekends are for carefree play and fun.. is typically how we've learned to view them.. The key is remembering who you're getting fit for-yourself- then you can have the carefree mentality in a fit-wise way

I fully think this is what it is. And the fact that I get bored. I tend to not want to do a lot on my days off so I just sit here and watch tv and relax, and just break it up with food here and there. And for me, this past weekend, I actually went out and did things which included alcohol and food, so yea.. I kinda let loose this weekend. lol

Pls add me if you'd like.. always lookin' for new friends.


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There's a train of thought that suggests we should "undereat" for 5 days then eat "normally" for the other 2. I try to really watch it during the week then let myself go a little on weekends. If Friday turns into a weekend day, which it often does, then I start back to lower calories on Sunday. Some weekdays are really difficult, too, and I just want to eat eat eat. It's a balancing act, really, but the bottom line is to feed ourselves better foods which will help with cravings in the long run.

I like this - wish MFP had an option to have lower goals for eating on weekdays

You could always use "quick added calories" to add the amount of deficit you want during the week.

I tend to stay away from my computer on the weekends, so weekends didn't get logged at all. I finally broke down and got a smart phone just so I could have the mfp app and be able to track all the time. It's made a huge difference! I would've gained all my weight back by now if I hadn't done it. That being said, I also pre-log, and that makes a big difference as well.

:happy: Great advice.I will follow it

Start giving yourself rewards that aren't edible. Not only will they not throw you off track, you get to keep them longer!

Weekends are especially hard for me because my family tends to throw parties that have food for days. I am very consistent when I am busy monday through friday (work, gym, kids, etc). My days off I've got errands that leave me hungry and away from my diet. My best advice for you would have to be to stay consistent most of the week and have a little bit of play on the weekends. I used to binge on the weekends but over time I got better and better. Instead of a "cheat day". I usually have a day in the week were I give myself an "earned meal" were instead of eating junk from morning to night I give myself a couple hours during my cheat/earned meal. Its hard for everyone to forgive themselves after eating junk but in my opinion everyones human. This is coming from a guy who loves cupcakes and donuts.