HELP - weekend trouble!

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Becky011
Becky011 Posts: 384
in Health and Weight Loss
I have been on my fitness pal for about 3 weeks and loving it so far. I have been working out about 5 days a week consistently and watching my food intake consistently . On a normal day I stick close to the recommended 1200 calories, maybe getting closer to 1400 or 1500 when I work out ( typically still have quite a few calories leftover from exercise.) but weekends are the worst challenge for me - Friday through Sunday I struggle big time with the worst calorie dinners of the week and on Sundays breakfast is a little higher calories because we go out for Sunday breakfast. I work out all weekend but it's definitely not enough to make up for taking in like 2500 calories or more.

I know I need to fix this problem to successfully reach my goal weight (40 pounds to go).

Any suggestions ? Best bets for these struggles?
Do you give yourself 1 or 2 days a week to eat anything? One meal? I have heard before that this somehow jolts your metabolism but I know I am currently overdoing it... Please offer help if you can. I need support.

Replies

  • baffled111
    baffled111 Posts: 10
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    Hey,

    What is it that is causing the weekend troubles? There seem to be two obvious problems: family/social commitments that usually involve not-good eating, OR boredom that leads to unscheduled and unhealthy eating.

    We can offer better advice if you give us some more detail about what is going on. :)
  • ivyjbres
    ivyjbres Posts: 612 Member
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    Maybe average it out so you still hit your goal for a weekly period? if my math is right, you should be averaging around 1800 a day. So if that's less than the calories you'd need to maintain, you'll still loose weight, just maybe slower than you want. If you want to loose X number of pounds a week, just lower you're calorie intake through the week by 100 or so calories to give you room for the weekends.
  • ryanmelissa09
    ryanmelissa09 Posts: 36
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    Everyone has their days . Mine happens to be late at night when I typically get hungry due to a hectic work schedule. You can definitely allow yourself to "let go" occasionally as long as you do it in moderation. I always portion everything out. I have a small cermaic cup that is equivalent to 1/2 cup. I usually eat out of it because to me it helps with portion control. Moderation again is key, and if you do over do it one day, just remember that you can start fresh the next morning :)
  • travelgirl96
    travelgirl96 Posts: 68
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    I know - weekends can be tough. just stick with it. as far as going out for breakfast - make it a big breakfast, followed by a walk and then skip lunch and have a mid day snack. my other trick at restaurants is splitting one entree with someone or just ordering the soup and an appetizer. if you get dessert, split it and choose a number between one and eight and make that the number of bites you will take of that dessert. when you have reached it, put your spoon or fork down, away from you and announce that you are done. hope these suggestions will be helpful. keep up the good work! marya
  • fun_mom
    fun_mom Posts: 54
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    I tend to indulge more on the weekends but I work out as much as possible so I have the extra calories to play with. It's probably not what you want to hear but either work out and get the extra net calories and then eat those calories OR simply stick to your calorie count. I've been on maybe two months now....not sure....and I have only not tracked my food/exercise for a week while in Vegas. Other than that I treat every day as any other day, weekend or not. If I want to indulge I know I need to move my butt and get those extra calories. You can't just throw it all away over the weekends. You can certainly indulge A LITTLE but you can't double or triple your calorie count and expect to lose the weight. Maybe work on your portion sizes....that way you can have some of what you want but maybe cut your normal portion in half so you having a taste of what you want but not over doing it.

    If you go nuts on the weekends all you'll be doing all week is working that off only to do it all over again. Make sense? I was that person. I ate anything and everything on the weekends and then starved myself all week. It did nothing but help make me obese! Good luck. I know how hard it is but keep working at it and you'll find what works best for you.
  • Becky011
    Becky011 Posts: 384
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    I think I tend to go overboard because it's going out with my boyfriend. We have more leisurely dinners on the weekends versus more dinner for the purpose of dinner during the week. We eat out usually all 2 of 3 weekend nights. I work out all of the weekend typically but I know I'm still overdoing it.

    For example: Friday night we went to chili's. I had a burger ( not good)
    Tonight: tried a new restaurant , food was amazing and just ate too much.
    Looking back at the last three weeks I screw it up at dinner on the weekend . The rest of the week im pretty much ok.
    Workout is typically 1 hour of card 5 days a week animi starting to work in some strength training now too.
  • mariloulav
    mariloulav Posts: 6
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    You could identify what is the worse element in your meals on the week-end and focus on reducing these.

    For example, we usually have french toast and mapple sirup on the week-end, well maple syrup is a killer so I try to moderate it. I also usually skip lunch on those days.

    It is true that week-ends are a killer. They can flush your whole weeks effort down the drain. Make smart choices, reduces portion, that's my advice :-)
  • Becky011
    Becky011 Posts: 384
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    Thanks! That is good advice :) funny the breakfast thing is something I already started doing because I didn't want to eat my whole days worth of calories at Sunday breakfast

    I defonately will look at how I ruin it in these weekend dinners. The types of food vary quite a bit but maybe I can find safe entrees and reduce the calories in sides and desserts
  • Banner1375
    Banner1375 Posts: 25 Member
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    I've been in a similar situation. We eat out two or three times on the weekend with friends.

    Here are a couple of suggestions.

    If possible know where you are going ahead of time and look up the nutritional menus on the Internet. It's helpful to find low calories items on the Internet menu, before going to the restaurant. If you can't find anything that will work, ask your wife or girlfriend to split an order with you.

    Order salads, with fat free dressings. (Watch out though not all salads are created equal).


    Good luck.
  • Becky011
    Becky011 Posts: 384
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    Thank you for the tips! :)
  • Paige1108
    Paige1108 Posts: 432 Member
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    I do two things if I'm going out to eat.

    I plan ahead. If I decide, like banner1375 suggests, based on the nutritional info I'm less likely to make an impulse food choice at the restaurant.

    If I look at the info and decide I can't live without the 1000 calorie avocado cheese burger. I will:

    Cut it in half or split the meal. I cut everything on my plate in half and only eat half and get the other half to go. I find just telling myself "I'll only eat half" isn't good enough. Cutting it in half really keeps me from eating the other half. Or ask my boyfriend if he wants to split a meal with me. He's also on MFP so this is usually a good way for us.

    Good luck with this, it's a tough one.

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