Staying on track over the weekend??

TAngnakak
TAngnakak Posts: 3 Member
edited July 2017 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi all! I am hoping that someone can provide some (any) advice to help me 'stay on track' over the weekends. I have this mentality that weekends are a free for all and not only do I indulge in wine etc but I also just tend to eat whatever the heck I want. I am fairly active as I have two small children (walking, hikes, swimming etc) but I don't work out as I feel like I have other priorities (clean the house, cook, entertain...). I feel like I wreak any progress I made the week before and I am back to square one. How does everyone else stick with it and how do you treat yourself so you don't feel like you are depriving yourself...any help would be greatly appreciated!
TIA :)

Replies

  • MommaGem2017
    MommaGem2017 Posts: 405 Member
    Pre-plan, pre-plan - that's the biggest help for me. I wear a FitBit, so I can track all forms of activity (walking up and down the stairs, cleaning house, chasing the kids), then sync it with MFP so I know what the calorie adjustment is. The I prep and eat the meals I have planned. If I have been especially busy and have gained more exercise calories, then I have a few pre-planned snacks to fill that out.
  • animatorswearbras
    animatorswearbras Posts: 1,001 Member
    Hi, I have the same problem and can never stick to a deficit at weekends so I compromise and go for maintenance weekends and log it, during the working week I try to be a little bit better to make up (some of) the difference, so I basically aim for a weekly deficit of around -2000 cals (1/2 pound loss a week). I rarely go under 1300cals though, I hate feeling miserably hungry. The best thing is to find something that works for you whether a daily or weekly deficit and always be honest with your logging even when you have a day where you go quite a bit over, pre-logging is really useful at the weekends, the days I log after the fact I'm usually well over maintenance. x
  • kgirlhart
    kgirlhart Posts: 5,145 Member
    You kind of have to change the mentality that weekends are a free for all. For me logging everything I eat is the best way to stay on track. It also helps me to work treats in every day so I don't feel deprived and I have no need for a free for all. I pretty much eat whatever I want all the time, I just limit my portions so I don't go over my calorie goal. Then on the weekends I don't feel the need to eat stuff I have been deprived of all week. A lot of people will eat lower during the week and bank some of their calories for the weekend so that they can eat more on the weekends.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,404 Member
    Could you maybe save a couple hundred calories over the course of the week?

    Depending on how much weight you need to lose and where you have your goals set, there are endless ways to free up some extra calories if you look at it from a weekly viewpoint.

    I think a lot of people have trouble on their weekends, and alcohol always caused me to eat more or eat things I normally wouldn't if I wasn't under the influence. I'm retired and I had to quit drinking - partly for that reason. Every day became the weekend!
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
    I made Sunday morning my weekly weigh-in time.
  • princeofmind
    princeofmind Posts: 95 Member
    Shave a few hundred calories over the week for the weekend and scrap the mentality of weekends are a free for all but instead for the extra calories that you saved for yourself.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    I eat more on weekends...I'm also way more active on weekends, so it all works out.
  • ladyhusker39
    ladyhusker39 Posts: 1,406 Member
    You keep saying "I feel like". Track your calories and weight and you'll know for sure how it's impacting your progress. Then you can make wise decisions about what you want to do from there. If you have the calories you can enjoy that glass of wine (or 2) guilt free.
  • nyponbell
    nyponbell Posts: 379 Member
    I struggle with this as well. I meal prep for the weekdays as I will need to bring food with me to university/work, but weekends are far more difficult to plan in advance (but then, I don't have children so I only have to think about feeding myself). I do think that incorporating treats in your weekday plans is a way to go, and to still log during the weekend. Even if you don't know far in advance what you will be eating on the weekend, since you have children you are probably thinking of snacks etc for them anyway - just make snacks for yourself too (in advance) so that when the hunger hits, or you decide last minute to take the family out for a hike, you have "convenience food" ready to go. Even something as simple as small bags with nuts would help a lot.

    As I said, I struggle with this as well. I focus on logging the food and at the very least not going over my maintenance calories. I am planning on becoming better at meal prepping for the weekend too (at least snacks and post-swimming food, even if I can't prep lunch and dinner) but it is harder than weekdays when the days are free.

    Good luck!
  • lbuxx17
    lbuxx17 Posts: 8 Member
    Also make sure you're drinking enough water on the weekends. I tend to be super busy on the weekends and forget to drink water and it shows up on the scale.
  • AEC50
    AEC50 Posts: 124 Member
    I have this issue, too! The best thing I have done is make the healthiest choice I can in each moment. A healthy breakfast and lunch is usually easy enough, but when my family orders a pizza for dinner, it's rough. I have a 4 and a 2 year old and I like to model responsible and healthy eating, so I indulge a bit, but always do it in moderation. If I backslide a bit, I step it up the next week at the gym.
  • Will_Run_for_Food
    Will_Run_for_Food Posts: 561 Member
    Agree with all the advice above. In short, plan as much as you can in advance (both meals/snacks and exercise) and log everything if you're concerned about staying on track. Someone said something on one of these forums that, while obvious, stuck with me: Even if you don't log it in MFP, your body will!

    Personally, I try my best to do well during the week in both the food and exercise department (stay within calorie budget, exercise at least four weekdays). I also go for a long run on Saturday mornings to get it out of the way and have a healthy brunch and then snack on fruit or vegetables during the day if I can't wait until dinner. Saturday nights are kind of my treat night where I will allow myself to have a few drinks or a snack with a movie. I almost always go over my calorie budget on Saturdays but as long as I do well during the week, I am still losing (albeit slower than if I didn't allow myself the odd pleasure here and there). But you can't go through life denying yourself the joy of a little chocolate or glass of wine every once (or twice) in a while.
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,053 Member
    edited July 2017
    This used to be my downfall, too. All of the advice above -- planning meals, banking calories during the week so I can eat/drink more on weekends, using a food scale to count it all -- have helped me.

    What helped most, though, was changing my mindset and my habits. I just had to get used to the idea that weekends are not a free for all. In actuality, it all counts whether I count it or not. And I had to stop the habit of grazing or eating out of boredom.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    cmriverside wrote: »
    Could you maybe save a couple hundred calories over the course of the week?

    Depending on how much weight you need to lose and where you have your goals set, there are endless ways to free up some extra calories if you look at it from a weekly viewpoint.

    I think a lot of people have trouble on their weekends, and alcohol always caused me to eat more or eat things I normally wouldn't if I wasn't under the influence. I'm retired and I had to quit drinking - partly for that reason. Every day became the weekend!

    This^

    A couple lower calorie weekdays can give you some wiggle room.
  • ck2d
    ck2d Posts: 372 Member
    What helped me was doing a 30 day exercise challenge that had no days off. It really got me to have the mentality that I work toward this every single day.

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