Weekends!!!! ????

bfanny
bfanny Posts: 440 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm very good from Monday to Friday but then Saturday comes around and I forget all about my good intentions :noway:
I've lost a lot of weight over-indulging most weekends so I got used to it, however now that I'm closer to my goal is not working anymore :sad: I'm like a yo-yo down 1 lb up 1 lb like forever NO fun! So my question is: how do you guys keep it "together" on weekends/holidays... please HELP!!!!

Replies

  • becelephant
    becelephant Posts: 3
    I was having almost the same prob. I would give myself a cheat day every Friday. It was lovely, until I realized I was losing roughly 3-4lbs per week (total), but just on my cheat days I was gaining 2-4lbs. So, really, I was only loosing about a pound a week, if that. I decided that was crazy, why was I doing that to myself? So, now I measure by the pound not the day. Every 8lbs, I can have a cheat day. :) That way I can ACTUALLY lose about 5. I think you could prob make something similar work for you. I don't know you well enough to give you anything specific advice, but maybe set some minor goals as to when you can have a weekend off, instead of just taking it off. Or maybe tell yourself you can take a break every other weekend.
  • colors_fade
    colors_fade Posts: 464 Member
    So my question is: how do you guys keep it "together" on weekends/holidays... please HELP!!!!

    By not being restrictive in the first place. I don't cheat, I eat.

    Every day I eat foods that I enjoy (this includes alcohol on many days). I log everything and fit it within my caloric budget, and I exercise to help widen the caloric deficit on a daily basis.

    By eating foods I enjoy every day, I never feel "deprived", and thus weekends are no different than any other day.

    Binge eating behavior is a product of restriction and deprivation. Don't deprive yourself and you may end up seeing a change in your behavior.

    The only way to fix something is to identify the root cause of the problem and fix that. The root cause of overeating on the weekends is likely due to restriction and deprivation during the week. You're attempting to adhere to a diet that you don't really like, so on weekends you are even more tempted to eat food you DO like.

    So start there - eat foods you like during the week. In moderation, of course, within your caloric budget, and see how it affects your feelings toward food as you reach the weekend.

    Also - the weekend doesn't have to be an excuse to move less. Go for a long walk, or workout; do something to earn some of those calories.

    You can adapt and do this.
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,053 Member
    Totally agree with colors_fade! Fit the things you love to eat and drink into your weekend budget. Two things help me.

    1) I budget more calories on weekends, and
    2) I take it easy on the alcohol. After 2 glasses of wine, I care a lot less about sticking to my plan.

    Over time, I learned to eat less while enjoying it more. When I told my husband I needed to drink less and enjoy it more, he said maybe we need to buy more expensive wine. I thought that was brilliant! I really do enjoy it more! If you stay focused on what you enjoy the most, you will find what works for you.
  • Mar22ie
    Mar22ie Posts: 39 Member
    Great question. I could have written this post. I realize that I cannot have cheat weekends because it cancels everything out for the week and I don't lose anything. Doing cheat weekends doesn’t work for everyone. My co-worker does it, and she is able to lose. So I decided to try that route. My body doesn’t like it. She’s a lucky girl that she found her weight lost routine to factor in glorious cheat weekends! So what I am going to try and do is factor in a few bad calories during the week and stay within my calories and see if that helps. That way, when the weekend comes I won’t go nuts cause I didn’t deprive myself. The hard thing is finding exactly what your body responds too. Trial and error. You’ll get it. Hang in there!!!
  • keefmac
    keefmac Posts: 313 Member
    Maybe have a treat meal at the weekend, but a whole weekend of eating won't end well!.

    Moderation is key, if I have friends coming round I'll enjoy a nice meal and some drinks but not every Saturday and Sunday..
  • tracie_minus100
    tracie_minus100 Posts: 465 Member
    I used to do that on the weekends, and then it started getting harder and harder to "get back on the wagon" on Mondays. And I was eating more and more on the weekends. So I had to stop. So now on the weekends I will allow myself to eat at around my maintenance calories, so I'm getting a little bit more but not going over the top.
  • throoper
    throoper Posts: 351 Member
    I try to keep it to one cheat meal over the weekend, and I use the weekend time to get out for a significantly longer run or bike ride than usual...
  • pixelatedsun
    pixelatedsun Posts: 165 Member
    I weigh in on Fridays strategically for two reasons.

    1) So that if I DO wind up eating something bad over the course of the weekend, I have at least 4 days to work off that sodium/those calories.
    2) Because odds are that I've lost some weight, and looking at that "minus X" number on MFP makes me not want to eat anything crappy at all for fear of undoing my hard work!

    I am also prideful, and knowing that if I were to eat crappy and then not log it would break my MFP streak devastates me! Haha.

    My -5 lbs treat is some pizza, and I'm pretty sure I'll hit that goal tomorrow. I'll probably go get a frozen one, chop it into quarters and cook them one at a time, and eat the entire thing over the course of the weekend, and go on some nice, long walks too. You can totally eat things you enjoy and still lose weight, I promise! Maybe try moving your weigh-in date around?
  • KylaDenay
    KylaDenay Posts: 1,585 Member
    I am the same way. I live my life. I do not stress about it over the weekends and do what I want. However, if you really want it, then you must commit to the weekends as well. I have been telling myself this. There is no getting around it. Maybe eat less during the week so that you have more calories to play with over the weekends.

    Like I always look at my weekly calorie intake. As long as you stay under for the week your good, so figure out what works best for you. Only you can make it work and stick to goal over the weekends.

    Good luck!
  • mochasmommie7193
    mochasmommie7193 Posts: 155 Member
    So my question is: how do you guys keep it "together" on weekends/holidays... please HELP!!!!

    By not being restrictive in the first place. I don't cheat, I eat.

    Every day I eat foods that I enjoy (this includes alcohol on many days). I log everything and fit it within my caloric budget, and I exercise to help widen the caloric deficit on a daily basis.

    By eating foods I enjoy every day, I never feel "deprived", and thus weekends are no different than any other day.

    Binge eating behavior is a product of restriction and deprivation. Don't deprive yourself and you may end up seeing a change in your behavior.

    The only way to fix something is to identify the root cause of the problem and fix that. The root cause of overeating on the weekends is likely due to restriction and deprivation during the week. You're attempting to adhere to a diet that you don't really like, so on weekends you are even more tempted to eat food you DO like.

    So start there - eat foods you like during the week. In moderation, of course, within your caloric budget, and see how it affects your feelings toward food as you reach the weekend.

    Also - the weekend doesn't have to be an excuse to move less. Go for a long walk, or workout; do something to earn some of those calories.

    You can adapt and do this.

    It's as if I said it myself!
  • mochasmommie7193
    mochasmommie7193 Posts: 155 Member
    I used to do this until I realized that starting over every Monday morning was going nowhere very fast. Getting up in the wee hours to work out before work, or working out after a long day at the office, only to binge on the weekends was pointless. I have learned to not deprive myself at all, and have convinced myself that there are no "bad" foods. If I want it, I log it, I eat it, and I enjoy it.
  • ssbobbyh
    ssbobbyh Posts: 19 Member
    My cheat day is also my double cardio day.

    I also limit my calories to 2500 on that day. I can have 2500 calories of carrots or cake, but as soon as cheat day is over, it's back to work.
  • squirrelzzrule22
    squirrelzzrule22 Posts: 640 Member
    I struggle with this. Long runs before brunch are the only thing that can really save me. I have to burn an extra 1000 calories above a typical TDEE to not gain a million pounds on weekends. I refuse to give up my boozy brunches!!! but I did totally give up weekday alcohol, which makes it easier to keep a strict budget M-F to allow for saturday shenanigans!
  • higgins8283801
    higgins8283801 Posts: 844 Member
    My cheat day begins with me doing math.

    I add up all my calories I ate all week. Add up all my burned calories. Add up my BMR. Then add all of them together. I then choose a caloric number and add that then divide it all by 3500. If it still gets me a loss then cheat up to that caloric number I do. If not, I just do some cardio, and recalculate at a lower number.
  • EmmaR35
    EmmaR35 Posts: 41 Member
    This is my problem too, strict during the week and then when Friday comes around it's as if I want to just relax and "reward" myself by not logging, etc, but I'm really just undoing all the good work:(
  • bigsistruck
    bigsistruck Posts: 125 Member
    I am the same way. I live my life. I do not stress about it over the weekends and do what I want. However, if you really want it, then you must commit to the weekends as well. I have been telling myself this. There is no getting around it. Maybe eat less during the week so that you have more calories to play with over the weekends.

    Like I always look at my weekly calorie intake. As long as you stay under for the week your good, so figure out what works best for you. Only you can make it work and stick to goal over the weekends.

    Good luck!

    ^This is exactly what I do! I keep lower Mon.-Fri. so I know I can have treats over the weekend, you are right looking at it weekly is SO much better!
  • CathReese33
    CathReese33 Posts: 112 Member
    I have one cheat meal per week with max 2 glasses of wine. Cheat is limited between 5pm and 10pm so cannot do too much damage. I cannot 'cheat' anymore than that or I undo all the good work. Whereas this way the weight gain is usually off again within a couple of days. I think it is important to have this 'reward/cheat' meal so that your body does not get too used to dieting and restricting calories. I read a lot by John Keifer about carb nite and carb back loading and love the science behind this - although I cannot eat half as much as he suggests.
  • janey0328
    janey0328 Posts: 7 Member
    i've noticed that on the weekends when i have much more free time, i scarf my entire kitchen!! this last weekend i was determined to keep my diet in check. i planned hiking and bike rides, all fun weekend-y type activities and they distracted me from indulging in delicious foods that i eat too much of! also i felt a little better in the evenings when i drank wine with my girlfriends!
  • ExRelaySprinter
    ExRelaySprinter Posts: 874 Member
    I just do more exercise to compensate.
  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,961 Member
    Honestly, if I could eat a bunch of food all weekend and still maintain a +-1 difference.. and were only 3 pounds away from goal... I'd just keep doing what you're doing. It sounds rather good to me!
  • janey0328
    janey0328 Posts: 7 Member
    I refuse to give up my boozy brunches!!!

    amen sista!
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    So my question is: how do you guys keep it "together" on weekends/holidays... please HELP!!!!

    By not being restrictive in the first place. I don't cheat, I eat.

    Every day I eat foods that I enjoy (this includes alcohol on many days). I log everything and fit it within my caloric budget, and I exercise to help widen the caloric deficit on a daily basis.

    By eating foods I enjoy every day, I never feel "deprived", and thus weekends are no different than any other day.

    Binge eating behavior is a product of restriction and deprivation. Don't deprive yourself and you may end up seeing a change in your behavior.

    The only way to fix something is to identify the root cause of the problem and fix that. The root cause of overeating on the weekends is likely due to restriction and deprivation during the week. You're attempting to adhere to a diet that you don't really like, so on weekends you are even more tempted to eat food you DO like.

    So start there - eat foods you like during the week. In moderation, of course, within your caloric budget, and see how it affects your feelings toward food as you reach the weekend.

    Also - the weekend doesn't have to be an excuse to move less. Go for a long walk, or workout; do something to earn some of those calories.

    You can adapt and do this.
    +1
  • LessHeavyVeggie
    LessHeavyVeggie Posts: 208 Member
    I do my weekly weigh ins on Mondays for this reason, every weekend weigh in day is just around the corner so that keeps me mindful when I go out. (Not that I'm spending the whole time worrying about it, but I know I'm more likely to be over generous with myself (or 'reward' myself) on the first couple of days after I've weighed in, and on a Monday and Tuesday there's not much harm I can do to my week!)

    Also as others have said there is more time for exercise at the weekends. Something I do to slightly counteract nights out is to walk to and from the town centre, which takes about 30/40mins instead of catching the bus/taxi - saves money too!

    I've also been drinking less, and not at all throughout the week, it wasn't really a conscious decision, it just makes sense calorie-wise. And when I do drink I try to stick to vodka/diet coke to keep the calories down - I live in SW england so I'd usually have a few pints of cider, but I realised I could drink 5/6 measures of vodka for every pint calorie wise! :drinker: (I don't actually drink a dozen vodkas, just illustrating the calorie saving!)
  • bfanny
    bfanny Posts: 440 Member
    Thanks everyone for the tips :flowerforyou: but me???? Restrictive? NO way!!! I'll open my diary :blushing:
  • K3nda
    K3nda Posts: 12 Member
    i like weighing on Fridays too! Its inspiring not to overdo it on the weekend :)
  • pixelatedsun
    pixelatedsun Posts: 165 Member
    i like weighing on Fridays too! Its inspiring not to overdo it on the weekend :)

    I'll say! I hope you got the results you were hoping for this morning, K3nda!

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