keeping up at the weekend...

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slogan
slogan Posts: 14 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So, I have a great routine Monday - Friday in terms of excercising and healthy eating but am finding that come the weekend when I'm out of my normal routine I end up eating more and excercising less. I excercise a minimum of 3 times a week and stay away from junk food. It's normally meeting friends/family for lunch or going to friends for dinner that I slip. I find it difficult to track everything accurately on MFP when I'm not cooking myself :ohwell: In which case I just don't bother to track. I feel like I just keep ruining all my hard work come the weekend...

Anyone been in the same boat that can offer some advice or tips? My weight loss isn't going as well as I'd hoped and I'm getting really frustrated with myself...am afraid of giving up! Thanks :flowerforyou:

Replies

  • Aries03
    Aries03 Posts: 179 Member
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    Ditto...i really wish i had the answer, i have the same problem!!

    As with you, all week i am soooo good ,mine normally starts around Friday night when i have a glass or two of wine to de-stress from the week.

    Anyone got any answers...other than dont eat junk!!! :wink:
  • randa_behnam
    randa_behnam Posts: 488 Member
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    Why dont you make exercise your first priority at the weekend in the mornings? that way youve got it out the way and you wont feel so guilty when you indulge a little.

    at the end of the day, your the only one who can control your eating habits, but i am totally the same. i find getting some exercise out the way first thing leaves the rest of my day open to whatever i want to do.
  • maureak
    maureak Posts: 107 Member
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    I'm right there with you. I struggle with eating junk on the weekends. I might not go over in calories but too many of the calories are either high sugar or high sodium (or both). Come Monday, I'm up a couple of pounds (in water) and it takes all week to get back to where I should be.

    Something I starting doing last weekend, that worked really well: when I'm tempted to over eat, I get out a notepad and write down what I'm thinking. There's usually a reason for the craving - either I'm bored or I have to do housework and I would rather be outside. Once I write down whatever it is, I am no longer tempted to scarf down potato chips or cookies.
  • pearlof69
    pearlof69 Posts: 80 Member
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    I am so with you here. All week I stick to healthy eating and exercise but come the weekend it goes down hill fast even my water intake reduces.
  • MB_Positif
    MB_Positif Posts: 8,897 Member
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    I am a little more lax on the weekends, but I still log everything. The good, the bad and the ugly. Keeping a truthful food journal will be the only thing that gives you indicators of where you need to work harder :) Not the best plan of attack, but often on weekends I miss lunch, but then that gives me a little more wiggle room to have a bigger snack or dinner! You'll figure out what works for you!
  • emilybrittain
    emilybrittain Posts: 31
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    Could really do with some help on this... Ditto to everything that everyone has said so far.

    I like to meet friends on the weekends and go for drinks, and although I try to pick the healthiest option, I know I'm going way over my calories!

    Any suggestions would be great!
  • BerryH
    BerryH Posts: 4,698 Member
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    I realised I'd never be able to keep up the healthy eating quite as well over the weekend, so I burn serious calories on Saturday and Sunday mornings so I can enjoy myself the rest of the day :smile:
  • FTIM2015
    FTIM2015 Posts: 460 Member
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    if you're eating out, check the food date base on here, a lot of places have already had items added, and if the place you're eating has a web page, they sometimes have the nutritional info on it, or if you email them nicely asking for the NI for certain dishes rather than teh whole menu, they will usually respond :smile:

    Try to keep the exercise going with walking, cleaning, gardening etc at teh weekends. I like to walk so have been organising to meet a friend to walk in a morning for a couple of hours.
  • DefConJen
    DefConJen Posts: 20
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    I feel your pain, lol!

    For me there are 2 things to deal with...staying on track, and realising that if I do go off the rails that it doesn't mean I'm a complete failure (which leads to comfort eating...)

    I save up allowance to use, which means that I don't feel guilt, and I make sure that there are a lot of low-cal sweet things to grab - jelly (jello for our american cousins) is a life saver. As for exercise...err...errr... nope, beats me...
  • becka63
    becka63 Posts: 712 Member
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    I found this a struggle when I first started on here. I kept logging everything though, because as ugly as it looked, it made me aware of what I was doing wrong and helped me change it!

    I started off having a rest day from my exercise routine on a Saturday, I would burn calories through gardening and walking. If I went over, I went over. I went through a few weeks of cancelling the rest day and doing exercise, so I could eat & drink what I wanted, however, I think my body got tired because I wasn't giving myself enough time to recharge.

    So now, the rest day is back on, I supplement my calorie burn with gardening / walking / vigorous cleaning and I watch what I eat on a Saturday. I also changed my goals so that instead of wanting to lose 1lb / week, I am now wanting to lose 0.5lb / week. This has given me a couple hundred more calories to play with, which has taken the anxiety of having to exercise on a rest day, or knowing from the start that I will go over on a rest day. I also make sure I up the exercise on a Sunday!
  • slogan
    slogan Posts: 14 Member
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    Why dont you make exercise your first priority at the weekend in the mornings? that way youve got it out the way and you wont feel so guilty when you indulge a little.

    at the end of the day, your the only one who can control your eating habits, but i am totally the same. i find getting some exercise out the way first thing leaves the rest of my day open to whatever i want to do.

    That's a good idea! I do try excercise at the weekend but really find it so much more difficult to get motivated. What kind of excercise would you recommend for an early start that burns lots of calories? I have no plans this weekend so no excuses for me! Haha.
  • pinksherbert
    pinksherbert Posts: 38 Member
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    I totally struggle with the weekends too - mainly because we are out and about visiting friends or on nights out which involve dinners and/or drinking.

    I am no expert, but I try to ballpark-plan how many calories I am having on saturday at the start of the week (add in the foods I might be eating if I know which restaurant we are going to and add a whole load of drinks which I am bound to have!) and then try and burn some 'credits' to that surplus during the week. I track how I am doing by looking at the app which gives me a weekly average and how I am doing (above or below target) based on the number of calories I am allowed.

    That, and I do a class at the gym on a saturday morning or go for a run or do a DVD at home so that I get a bit more credit before the fun begins!

    My biggest trouble is resisting the urge to boredom-eat as often my boyf works on saturday leaving me to browse the fridge for hours!

    HTH x
  • Lissaannco
    Lissaannco Posts: 39 Member
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    My husband and I start our weekend mornings with an hour long walk at our local park. After our exercise it just seems that we are more mindful of trying to eat clean for the rest of the day. We also weigh-in on Saturday mornings, so if we do have a "cheat" day or eat a little more, we have all week to work those extra calories off before we weigh again :wink:! If we are planning to eat out I try to look at the restaurants menu online before I go and know what I'm going to eat before I get there. It seems easier to me if I can decide what I want to eat before I go. I feel pressured to make too many quick and unhealthy decisions when I'm actually at the restaurant!
  • Laurab_1986
    Laurab_1986 Posts: 32 Member
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    Don't feel guilty - reward your healthy week with a day off!

    I'm using the 80% and 20% rule = this can be 1 small treat a night or as I do 1 day off a week!

    I weigh in on Fridays, have Saturday off MFP (although I still log but don't restrict what I crave) and back on track Sunday with a hearty breakfast!!!

    Over time you will become more obsessed/conscious of the calories that you are in-taking that you will walk past krispy cremes and not want that donut because you can then have more cals with your evening meal!

    Good luck with your losses and don't give up MFP really does work!!!
  • Laurab_1986
    Laurab_1986 Posts: 32 Member
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    Gardening is a good weekend activity, burns loads of calories without you realising and can get a tan at the same time weather permitting bonus!
  • FredFredrickson
    FredFredrickson Posts: 1
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    The only way I stay on track on the weekends is to get up early and hit the gym. An hour of eliptical can get me close to 500-600 calories (sometimes less). Then it's off to endorphin city the rest of the day. If I miss the gym, my entire day is off- and I never get the gumption to go later. What's worse, is that if I sleep in, my schedule gets messed up and I have trouble waking up all next week!
  • curlyelm
    curlyelm Posts: 73
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