I really struggle on the weekends.

im the same, though my weight doesnt fluctuate so hard... maybe .5- 2.5 pounds give or take any events on the weekends haha. i hit the gym 5 days a week and meal prep mid week, but friday night to sunday night its allllll forgotten.

SueInAz wrote: »

Have you given any thought to eating different calorie allotments on weekdays vs. weekends? Sure, you could just eat at maintenance on the weekend but you could also choose to eat 100 less calories each day on the weekdays, since you have the discipline to meet your goals those days. That would then give you an extra 500 calories for the weekend. You'd still have to maintain a little discipline but it would give you a little more wiggle room for some weekend fun while still working toward the same goal.

This^

Zig-zag your calories. If you eat small a couple days a week....you can bank those calories for the weekend.

Everyone slips up. Everyone has a day that they go over. But I try to limit those to maybe once a month. The other weekends, I just try to make the best choices I can in the situation I'm in. Even if that means having a large breakfast with my family and then working out extra and eating light the rest of the day. If going out and drinking is as important to you as the weight loss, you'll find ways to work around it.

pmm3437 wrote: »

Generally speaking, going below 1200 cals short term is fine ( day or 2 at a time ), but not for extended periods. Your cal and macro counts are much more important averaged over a period of time, than day to day.

Just for clarification, that 1200 floor is gross calories, to support metabolism, not net. If you want to add some more exercise to arrive at a net below that, its generally safe to do so, assuming your getting proper nutrition ( macro and micro nutrients .. ).

Agreed. The general reason for the 1200 calories has to do more with nutrition rather than the caloric content. If you're still averaging 1200 per day for the course of a week, and getting proper nutrition every day, it shouldn't be a problem.

It might be worth taking a look at that 1200 and the reason you're eating that little, though. Unless you're a very small person, 1200 calories as an MFP goal is usually a good indicator that you're being too aggressive with your per week loss goal.

Just a thought, but any chance you could change your official weigh-in day? It sounds like you know you're going to have a few days buffer after a weekend, so you can work off what you've done, making you feel a little more comfortable doing it. What about trading your weigh-in day to Monday or Tuesday? It'll up your accountability a bit for your choices... Also, try tracking your calories as a weekly goal... and try pre-logging if you can for those outings... Know you're going to your favorite bar for beers and nachos? Try logging those portions and plan the rest of your day around it... or lower the amounts you eat/drink there to fit a little better within your day (and then stick with them!)... It ends up being a whole lot of trial and error to figure out what works best FOR YOU. Good luck!!

@some_loved I think maybe for a bout 6 months you should do whatever you're doing during the week and the only have one cheat weekend a month for 6 months and see what happens that way you can gauge your progress and choose the times you cheat more selectively as apposed to every week end but you can also still have you're fun also changing to wine or making sure you don't do very sweet drinks if you go more than once a month and already planning something not so fattening to eat after you have fun i.e. egg whites and turkey meat from ihop which is always open maybe safer!

omg i do this too. the only way i've ever beat it is to eliminate alcohol completely, but who wants to do that!

What has helped me is knowing I have a "cheat day" but knowing I still have to log in my calories makes me a little more picky with what I eat...another thing I tell myself is a moment of self gratification worth days of guilt? Think about it good luck

petstorekitty wrote: »

Heh. I could have written this post. I have similar problems.
I've gotten better by making a priority to do at least 1 active thing in the weekend. Fun exercise. Making a concious effort to at least make healthier choices on the weekend helps.
Not so much "dieting" just healthier.

I think part of the problem might be that sometimes i go overboard on healthy during the week that I freak out after a while. Like OMG Ive eaten veggies all week i need 6 tacos NOW!!! and 2 burgers and 6 beers. Then im sad.

Im more successful when i think about what i eat (on the weekends) and how i want to feel afterwards, before i do it.

This is exactly me. I do double work outs during the week because I teach zumba so my body is used to the high calorie burn that it stopped being an effective tool for weight loss. So after class I have to go to the gym. Ever since I started doing this I've seen results. I do the same thing on the weekends but I've been eating more healthy (like instead of eating this bacon pizza I ordered this white pizza with spinach and tomatos instead) so I still have a burn on saturday and Sunday but I don't think it registers for my body anymore. So it's like just talking a walk now. I try to get outside and go hiking or take the dog out or go swimming. Every little choice you make will help you. You don't have to deny yourself a rest day but just be careful. I love beer too... believe me. But now instead of 4 blue moons I'll do two light beers. Not as delicious but I saves me hundreds of calories. It's just small things that you might be able to tweak. Just remind yourself on the weekend how good you were feeling Wednesday when you're scale lost another lb.

I totally get it though. It's not easy when everyone has cheese fries and you have a salad. I'm constantly working on saying no to bad foods. MUCH easier said than done.

Alternate in a glass of water or soda water and ice between each alcoholic drink - 50% calories saved right there!

Holy *kitten* I totally get this! In fact you kind of pulled me out of my depression tonight, sometimes it's nice to know people are exactly like you!

I had exactly the same problem! I was living with eight housemates, all of us 22-23 years old, and all of us working 9-5 during the week. Needless to say, on the weekends we tended to go a bit overboard and treat ourselves. What I found worked for me was scheduling exercise in for reasonably early (like, before lunch... not too early!) on Saturday and Sunday mornings. I'd go to a spin class on Saturday at 11am, and then all of us would go walking in the park near us on Sunday before lunch. This made me more conscious of what/how much I was drinking on the Friday and Saturday nights as I knew I had to be up early, as well as helping to burn off the alcohol calories. And it gets you out of the house so you're not tempted to just sit around eating junk all day! We also started going to spin on Friday evenings after work, to kind of 'bank' a few exercise calories before the night out.

Of course, the ideal thing would be to tone it down to only drinking one night per weekend (or even every other weekend) and not getting takeaway afterwards/eating hangover snacks the next day. But it's easier said than done!