weekends kill me

Honestly, to lose weight you have to make decisions and realize what is important to you. Starting out you might want to limit maybe to one meal or something and then eventually just do "cheats" every couple or every few weeks. But with 138lbs to lose, you might need to stick to some normal days for a while.

Weekends used to kill me too. Sometimes they still do! Saturday I binged and ended the day with 2100 calories eaten, although I did exercise extra to compensate for the 600 over I was. A lot of what I ate was high sodium and just garbage, though, and my scale shows me 4 pounds heavier today. I know that's impossible, because I didn't eat 14000 calories, but it's discouraging. What I found works really well for me is to set aside one meal that you'll allow yourself as a treat if you must have a cheat day. Dinner alone blew my calories on Saturday because it was nearly 1200 calories with sodas and whatnot, but I told myself that it was date night and I deserved one meal per month where I don't worry about calories. Now if I did that for every meal over the weekend, I'd be really, really regretting it on Monday, you know? But I can work off one meal. I try to do a little more exercising on the weekends than I do during the week in anticipation that I will be off on my goals. I also try to make better choices--drinking water if we eat out, skipping an appetizer and dessert, etc. I've found after 6 weeks of living my life on a calorie budget that I'm not as hungry as I used to be, and I don't eat as much. Did I actually eat 1200 calories at dinner on Saturday? Who knows, because I didn't finish my meal so I can't accurately gauge how many I did eat. Sub out items...get a side salad or a baked potato (without all of the extras!) instead of fries. Choose chicken instead of a burger. Grilled instead of fried. If you want to go out drinking, allow yourself one drink and then drink water or be the designated driver. If you know you're going to blow it on Saturday, exercise a bit more during the week--3500 calories per pound, if you exercise 500 calories more per day, you have a bit more 'wiggle room'.

Even though it is the weekend, try to plan your menu ahead of time. If this includes foods and beverages you won't allow yourself during the week, so be it, but make it a conscience choice, one you are willing to feel good about. Bynsky, carl1738 and others had some good advice: make your excercise sessions slightly longer or more intense on the weekends and be aware of portion sizes.

If all of that seems too daunting, try this plan: record everthing you eat and do on the weekends without reservation. Do it on paper separately from MFP if it seems too embarrassing to be completely honest with yourself. Then the next weekend, commit to yourself that you will change just ONE thing only. See how that goes and when you are ready, try to change just one more thing until you are happy with your choices.

I also had a hard time on the weekends. So I made my "weigh in" and "measuring" on Mondays. It just gave me more incentive to watch myself on Sat and Sundays.

Baby steps. Face each decision and do a little better each time. Instead of having french fries with your burger, have a salad and notice how you feel after. Have one beer and nurse it for a LONG time instead of having two or three. Park at the other end of the parking lot so you walk more. Little changes add up and doing things slowly takes away the jarring part of eating healthy and makes it SO much more sustainable!

Changing your lifestyle can't be a black and white thing. You've got to slide through all kinds of shades of grey to get from one place to the other!

I also had a hard time on the weekends. So I made my "weigh in" and "measuring" on Mondays. It just gave me more incentive to watch myself on Sat and Sundays.

I "weigh in" every day and just watch the scale go up and down most weeks by approx 2lbs. This must be hurting me more than I realized.

In order to have gained 2 lb over the weekend, you would have had to eat an extra 7000 calories on top of your maintenance calories. If you didn't do that, it's probably just water retention.

Plan everything out as much as possible - look up restaurant menus ahead of time or mentally think about what type of food they serve and what you can order that shouldn't be too bad. Stick to the plan, and say NO to appetizers/free bread/etc.

If you're going to a social gathering where you don't know what will be available (tailgating, parties, etc.) then just remember: only YOU control what goes in your mouth. I know it can feel awkward to say no to delicious food at gathering like that, but it's entirely mental. If other people have a problem with your food choices, then that's THEIR problem, not yours. Learn to say no. Try to snack on the heathier choices in situations like that - veggie trays, salads, etc. Try to stay away from dips/sauces. Stick to water, or make a single beer/non-water drink last for a long time. It helps me when I keep a cup/bottle of water in my hand - I don't feel as weird when I have something in my hand.

Other people suggested upping your exercise - this is a great idea when you know you'll be going out that night, or if you overdid it in the morning then you can workout in the evening. Earn some of those extra calories!!

Learning to say no is like exercising a muscle - the more you use it, the stronger your saying no muscle will get. The more you ignore it, the weaker it will be. Exercise that muscle!!!