How to cope with weekends?

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Genie30
Genie30 Posts: 316 Member
in Motivation and Support
During the week I manage to eat well, get my nutrition right (mostly) and I do lose weight. The the weekend comes and it all goes out the window and I end up the same weight as I started the week. My ither half wants to go out for breakfast, then I go to the shop for our weekly shop and can't resist buying lots of sweets (which I promptly eat in the course of two days) and then in the evening when the other half says "takeaway?" to which I hear myself go "yeah, lovely!).

How do you guys cope with weekends? How do you break those cycles that destroy your hard work?

Cheers

Genie

Replies

  • mrsbuzz
    mrsbuzz Posts: 576 Member
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    I am the exact same way. I struggle with this every weekend. It's so frustrating. I do so well during the well and stay under my calories and workout a bit. But the weekend comes and we eat out like crazy and no workouts. I feel like every Monday I have to re-lose the weight i lost the previous week and then some. Never ending.
  • shelli1982
    shelli1982 Posts: 133
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    Weekends ARE tough. What i've tried doing lately is working out pretty soon after waking up so that I don't keep procrastinating and end up NOT exercising. Then, i'm in a better frame of mind, and I feel like I don't WANT to eat all of the sweets or sugar or junk because I know i've already worked out, and I don't want to ruin it. I also feel BETTER after working out and find I don't crave as much.

    However, I still get cravings like everyone else! So my husband and I have agreed to have ONE dinner out a week... take-out counts. I don't feel guilty about what I eat on that one night (I still don't go CRAZY... i.e. If I have a starter I don't have alcohol or a big dessert). Then I eat well the rest of the week (like you do!) and just look forward to my one night out a week.

    If one night isn't enough, try planning to exercise more on the days you are going to eat out so that you don't completely wreck your calories!

    Hope that helps :)
  • Ayre
    Ayre Posts: 15
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    My weekends are a bit of a challenge. My husband works most weekends and the frustration builds up (with three children ages 11, 9, and 3 and also I am an emotional eater), but I TRY to keep going with my "diet". Usually I can and will stay within my caloric range, but there are times that they DO GO OUT THE WINDOW. I try not to beat myself up and work on the next day like a clean slate. As far as "sweets", if I have enough calories at the end of the day I eat it. If not, I either make space with exercise or just say TO BAD :) Best of luck to you!
  • quara
    quara Posts: 255 Member
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    Keep logging and keep working out! If you can fit a workout (or a long walk) in, it will help keep your mind in the right mindset. Also, try to plan your meals beforehand. If you know what you're going to make for dinner, you'll be less tempted by take out... make meal plans for the week and avoid buying those sweets! Know that when you buy the sweets they're not going to last for 3 weeks like you tell yourself. Look at the calorie counts, multiply it by the number of servings and say "Do I really want all these calories in me by Monday?" Also on that note, don't shop while hungry!!

    I find on the weekend days that I settle down for a huge breakfast and newspaper read in the morning, it just kicks my day off on the wrong foot and it all goes downhill from there. Or if I start my day off at the gym, it's going to be a great day.

    The other tip is to make Monday your weigh-in day instead of Friday.... or weigh yourself Saturday & Sunday to keep yourself on track!!

    I know the problem with weekends all too well :) Good luck!
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
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    First off, don't buy sweets or junk food at the grocery store! Opt for healthier choices at restaurants. Give yourself a little freedom on the weekends but don't go crazy.
  • ShellyMacchi
    ShellyMacchi Posts: 975 Member
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    here's a trick..

    reward yourself/pay yourself.
    huh? *LOL*

    what i mean is... when you are shopping for groceries, everytime you go to pick up a package of 'treats'... make note of the cost of them, then put them back on the shelf. Keep a running tally. Then after shopping 'pay' yourself the money you woul have spent on those treats (put it in a savings acct or somewhere you cannot easily get at it)

    Do the same everytime you are tempted to order take-away food. Deposit the cost of that meal in a jar/acct etc...

    Determine a time somewhere down the road... a month? a minigoal weight level? whatever you like... and THEN take that 'treat' money and have a reward you earned! You will be surprised how much you have to spend *s*
  • gbtesq
    gbtesq Posts: 84 Member
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    I struggle with the same weekend issues. Lately, I have been promising myself to at least work out either Saturday OR Sunday at minimum, if not both.


    Also, this is probably not the right approach but .... I allow myself a cheat meal every weekend BUT that meal still doesn't go over or too far over my calories for the day. I just limit or refrain from eating during the day to keep the calories for that meal.

    For example, yesterday hubby wanted Outback for dinner. I didn't work out but all day I only had 2 apples, water, and some raw veggies. That's it - leaving me 90% of my calories for dinner. Yummy. And, now today I did a more intense workout to cover yesterday.
  • littlemoron
    littlemoron Posts: 36 Member
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    Totally hear you. Weekends are my nemesis. During the week it's easy because of the routine, but because there is no structure on weekends, it's hard to stay honest. Plus, weekends tend to be party time, which means lots of beer calories.

    BUT THAT SAID, you can't let weekends destroy the work you put in during the week because then what's the point? So here are some ideas:

    Don't buy sweets on weekends. Not gonna lie, you're just going to have to resist.

    If your partner is enabling you to eat poorly, explain to them that you have goals to meet and you can't have take-out every Saturday night if you expect to meet said goals. Maybe offer to cook instead? Or get your partner to go for a long walk with you? Walk to the breakfast place? Take-out is ok every now and then, but if your weekend revolves around unhealthy eating, then something's got to change.

    Structure your weekends, at least a little. Is there an exercise class on Saturday or Sunday that you can go to? Or a hobby or activity you can take up? Structure you day around that. If you can't get any exercise in, try to load up on lots of fruits and vegetables and eat a little lighter.

    Some people say it has to be 100% all the time, but I'm not sure how realistic that is. If you like food, it's pretty darn hard. So maybe have ONE cheat-meal on weekends (like, have take-away instead of breakfast or vice-verse). That way, you'll have something to take the edge off, but it won't ruin all the hard work you normally put in.

    Good luck!

    :flowerforyou:
  • littlemoron
    littlemoron Posts: 36 Member
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    here's a trick..

    reward yourself/pay yourself.
    huh? *LOL*

    what i mean is... when you are shopping for groceries, everytime you go to pick up a package of 'treats'... make note of the cost of them, then put them back on the shelf. Keep a running tally. Then after shopping 'pay' yourself the money you woul have spent on those treats (put it in a savings acct or somewhere you cannot easily get at it)

    Do the same everytime you are tempted to order take-away food. Deposit the cost of that meal in a jar/acct etc...

    Determine a time somewhere down the road... a month? a minigoal weight level? whatever you like... and THEN take that 'treat' money and have a reward you earned! You will be surprised how much you have to spend *s*

    OOOOH, just read this, what an awesome idea!!!! :smile:
  • Genie30
    Genie30 Posts: 316 Member
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    Lots of good tips here! Thanks everyone.
  • 123456654321
    123456654321 Posts: 1,311 Member
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    I wish I had some magical type thing you could do that would help out, but unfortunately I think it boils down to learning to say no and sticking to it. If you want to go out to breakfast, order something light that will fit into your diet. When you are out shopping you simply have to tell your self NO NO NO to the sweets for a while. Its hard at first, but it does get easier. Later you will get to a point where you can get a treat now and again and you won't feel the need to binge on it....for now I think you just need to try and be more disciplined.

    Also, I think it would be a really good idea to sit your husband down and have a serious talk with him about your goals and ask him if he will support you. Maybe go out to breakfast once every other week instead of every week, or go to a place that has some healthier options for you? Compromise is good.

    Good luck!
  • taso42_DELETED
    taso42_DELETED Posts: 3,394 Member
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    You might consider giving yourself 1 "free day" per week. In your case, sounds like a weekend day would be best. Saturday or Sunday. But not both (although another possibility is to have 1 free meal on Saturday and 1 free meal on Sunday, but stay disciplined the rest of those days). If you're doing a 500 calorie deficit per day, then you should be losing 1 lb per week. Now let's assume that on your free day you do a 500 cal surplus instead of 500 cal deficit. That means that instead of losing 1 lb per week, it would be 1 lb every 9 days.

    Is that a reasonable compromise in terms of reaching your weight loss goals and enjoying life? That's for you to decide.
  • Genie30
    Genie30 Posts: 316 Member
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    Just wanted to say thank you for all your support and good ideas guys. This weekend I not only kept of the weight I'd lost in the week but I lost an additional 2lbs as well!

    I couldn't have done it without you <3

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