Weekends off?

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adcbing
adcbing Posts: 10 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have read a lot of posts talking about eating more, eating less and changing it up in order to boost your metabolism. I am wondering if anyone takes the weekends off? What have your results been?

Me - I have a 2 year old and a very busy schedule (work full time, doc student). I know, these are my excuses, but I value my time with my family the most. I have found that I keep the most sane when I work hard during the week and let things go a little on the weekends. Typically this means that I stick to somewhere around 1200 calories daily M-F and I usually end up around 1800 on the weekends. I do insanity M-F and just play with my kid on the weekend - clean the house, yardwork, etc. I also wear a fitbit and I measure out most of my food.

So far, nothing. I know if you look back through my diary that I have taken weeks off here and there (sick 2 year old, final exams, etc. But I have never had such a hard time losing before. I usually easily drop 5 the first week of anything and then 1-2 the next few weeks before I plateau. Anyone have any advice?

Replies

  • vorgas
    vorgas Posts: 741 Member
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    My advice would be to eat more than 1200 calories per day. A quick search of 1200 on the forums shows post after post after post after post after post after post after post after post after post after post after post after post after post after post after post after post after post after post after post after post after post after post after post after post after post after post after post after post of people who are eating 1200 calories per day plus exercising and not losing weight. The advice is always the same. Eat more.

    The same search will show a large number of posts of people who used to eat 1200, then went up and started losing weight. So unless you're an incredibly special snowflake, eat more :)
  • coliema
    coliema Posts: 7,646 Member
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    I still watch what I eat on weekends, just not as strict as I do during the week, because I tend to be more active on weekends.
  • palmerar
    palmerar Posts: 489 Member
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    I try to stay within my allotted calories every single day. During the week, I usually eat something every few hours and limit my alcohol intake. I find that I am able to still remain within calories on the weekends, but I will usually have 1-2 bigger meals and I will drink more alcohol, but still within my 1750 per day goal (most of the time). So I don't go crazy eating whatever I want but I never feel llimited or like I do not get to enjoy myself.
  • leeroxboro
    leeroxboro Posts: 142 Member
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    I still watch what I eat on weekends, just not as strict as I do during the week, because I tend to be more active on weekends.

    ^^This, and am losing at a pretty steady rate....although with yesterday being Mother's Day, and eating a big lunch with my Mother-In-Law and an even bigger dinner with my son, I expect this week's weigh in is not going to look so good!!
  • mcibty
    mcibty Posts: 1,252 Member
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    Whether I mean to or not, I usually end up slipping at the weekend. Because of her hours, I don't see my partner too many evenings a week, so I find it easy to stick to my diet/exercise. When she's off, typically on a Saturday night and Sunday, we'll relax a little, not go to the gym, maybe have a drink and cook a meal together. Although in my head I am panicking about the repercussions of it, when I get back to the gym and weigh myself for the week, I find it's never really had a negative impact.

    My advice, don't go crazyyyyy at the weekend, but equally, don't kill yourself for enjoying yourself/your family time. Everyone has priorities.
  • newcs
    newcs Posts: 717 Member
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    I didn't take weekends off until I had reached maintenance. I'm currently trying to lose about 5lbs again due to slacking off and going on vacation but I'm still taking weekends off unless my progress slows. With that said, I don't go crazy on weekends and I usually have healthy meals in the freezer (home made) for stressful or busy times.
  • melb_alex
    melb_alex Posts: 1,154 Member
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    Cheat day Saturday night (not lately) and running, crunches, lunges and triceps on Sunday nights (whilst watching tv)
  • kbeech06
    kbeech06 Posts: 328 Member
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    I still watch what I eat on weekends, just not as strict as I do during the week, because I tend to be more active on weekends.

    This is me too...I don't get my M-F exercise, but I'm far busier and moving about constantly on Sat&Sun. I've been doing this the same way since January and have been losing pretty steadily.
  • sexymuffintop
    sexymuffintop Posts: 636
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    I found in the very early days of me joining Mfp I could 'take it easy' at weekends but as I got closer to my target I found I couldn't get away with it. There was less margin for slacking. But to be fair I think I slacked too much. It really depends on your idea of taking it easy I think.
  • 55in13
    55in13 Posts: 1,091 Member
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    I am a scale watcher, so I feel pretty free to take a day here and there as long as I make sure I make up for it in short order. The mix it up business is mostly mental, IMO. That doesn't mean it won't work; if you believe you are on track and stick to a good diet most of the time you will lose weight. As an almost obsessive scale watcher I can tell you that the less calories I consume in a given period, the more weight I lose. When I eat more, I lose at a lower rate.

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