The weekend always lets me down. Need help!

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l3mmmy
l3mmmy Posts: 7 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey guys,

I'm not at all overweight, but my weight is slowly creeping up (I gained 6lb last year and about the same the year before) and I am desperate to lose at least 6lbs and then manage to maintain it.

The trouble is I just CANNOT diet at the weekend, I find it so difficult and every weekend without fail it goes straight out the window. Is it just me or does every fun social activity include alcohol or food? :neutral:

How can I get motivated and stick to my diet at the weekends without completely depriving myself?

To put it into perspective I don't binge all weekend, far from it. But I will have a few glasses of wine and most likely either go out for dinner or order a takeaway (one or the other). That's it! Surely it's not enough to ruin my whole week?
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Replies

  • MegaMooseEsq
    MegaMooseEsq Posts: 3,118 Member
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    It certainly doesn't have to ruin your whole week, but it does sound like it's putting you at a slight surplus of calories that's leading to the slow weight creep (I am extremely familiar with this phenomenon). If you don't want to go full on calorie counting, maybe just spend a couple of weeks logging your food, including the weekends, and see where you might have room to cut out a few calories. It probably won't take all that much given your rate of gain. Try not to think of it as a diet that you stop and start and fall off of, just think about it as eating healthy and balanced. Those six pounds are almost certainly going to take a long time to go - small amount like that always do - so be patient. Good luck!
  • l3mmmy
    l3mmmy Posts: 7 Member
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    heyjude345 wrote: »
    Have you been tracking your food every day? If you do, you can add in a little cushion for the weekend.

    I track my calories during the working week with all of the intention of tracking at the weekend but once I've 'fell off the wagon' I abandon it completely, something I really need to change.

    Could you recommend a calculation for how many calories I should be eating per day to lose weight? When I eat 1,000 per day I really struggle with a lack of energy.

  • MegaMooseEsq
    MegaMooseEsq Posts: 3,118 Member
    edited August 2017
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    l3mmmy wrote: »
    heyjude345 wrote: »
    Have you been tracking your food every day? If you do, you can add in a little cushion for the weekend.

    I track my calories during the working week with all of the intention of tracking at the weekend but once I've 'fell off the wagon' I abandon it completely, something I really need to change.

    Could you recommend a calculation for how many calories I should be eating per day to lose weight? When I eat 1,000 per day I really struggle with a lack of energy.

    1000 per day is really too low. Try putting .5/week loss in MFP and see what it gives you as a goal. Then if you have room to go lower during the week and stay healthy (generally 1200 is the bottom recommended for women), see what you can do to build in room for the weekend.

    ETA: I also like https://www.supertracker.usda.gov/bwp/index.html as a guideline. Click expert mode to get the full options.
  • l3mmmy
    l3mmmy Posts: 7 Member
    edited August 2017
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    Tacklewasher wrote: »
    Thinking here, 6 lbs * 3500 cals = 21,000 cals over a year. So ~400 cals a weekend is all you are talking about.

    I have never looked at it this way. So does this mean I need to cut down 400 cals per week?
    1000 per day is really too low. Try putting .5/week loss in MFP and see what it gives you as a goal. Then if you have room to go lower during the week and stay healthy (generally 1200 is the bottom recommended for women), see what you can do to build in room for the weekend.

    Thanks for the tips. I'll have a play around with my MFP settings/goals later and see what it comes up with.
  • l3mmmy
    l3mmmy Posts: 7 Member
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    MegaMooseEsq wrote: »
    It certainly doesn't have to ruin your whole week, but it does sound like it's putting you at a slight surplus of calories that's leading to the slow weight creep (I am extremely familiar with this phenomenon). If you don't want to go full on calorie counting, maybe just spend a couple of weeks logging your food, including the weekends, and see where you might have room to cut out a few calories. It probably won't take all that much given your rate of gain. Try not to think of it as a diet that you stop and start and fall off of, just think about it as eating healthy and balanced. Those six pounds are almost certainly going to take a long time to go - small amount like that always do - so be patient. Good luck!

    Only just saw this reply.

    Some really good advice here - so thank you! :smile:

    The small amounts really do take so much longer to lose, and those extra cals at the weekend are just putting the breaks on it I think. I'll give what you said a go and see where I can cut out a few things.
  • heyjude345
    heyjude345 Posts: 66 Member
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    If you are only eating 1000 calories during the week then that's not enough as it is. You can't cut from that to add to the weekend. Add in some exercise maybe and bump calories up to 1400 or so.
  • clayelliott847
    clayelliott847 Posts: 125 Member
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    Also if your take away is from a major chain, MFP will have nutrient information. So that makes logging easy.
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
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    l3mmmy wrote: »
    Tacklewasher wrote: »
    Thinking here, 6 lbs * 3500 cals = 21,000 cals over a year. So ~400 cals a weekend is all you are talking about.

    I have never looked at it this way. So does this mean I need to cut down 400 cals per week?

    I was more thinking how to avoid the gain once you've lost the weight. To lose the weight, you would have to cut out 800 cals a week (400 to prevent the gain and 400 to lose the 6 lbs) and it would take you a year to lose the 6 lbs. I was just trying to put into perspective how easy it is to gain 6 lbs in a year.

    Or put a plan together to lose the 6 lbs (it will take a while) and just keep in mind that it isn't that hard to gain a bit, but also not that hard to not gain.
  • MegaMooseEsq
    MegaMooseEsq Posts: 3,118 Member
    edited August 2017
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    l3mmmy wrote: »
    Tacklewasher wrote: »
    Thinking here, 6 lbs * 3500 cals = 21,000 cals over a year. So ~400 cals a weekend is all you are talking about.

    I have never looked at it this way. So does this mean I need to cut down 400 cals per week?
    1000 per day is really too low. Try putting .5/week loss in MFP and see what it gives you as a goal. Then if you have room to go lower during the week and stay healthy (generally 1200 is the bottom recommended for women), see what you can do to build in room for the weekend.

    Thanks for the tips. I'll have a play around with my MFP settings/goals later and see what it comes up with.

    If you cut 400 cals per week you'd stop gaining but would not lose. If you cut even 100 cals per day/700 per week, you'd end up with a 300 calorie deficit per week - it would take maybe three months to lose a pound at that rate, but it'd be a place to start, and I'd guess you could comfortably come up with more than that to cut out for good. It's easy to get impatient, but if you don't make some small, but permanent changes, you'll just be back here again a year or so having gained the weight back after finishing your "diet." Which I don't say to be mean or anything, but it's just what happens.
  • alondrakayy
    alondrakayy Posts: 304 Member
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    You're not gonna like this, but I've had to face the fact that my goals will not be reached unless I am consistent which means counting cals even during the weekend. I've had to turn down food (I don't drink so that's an advantage for me I guess), workout regardless of what's going on, and count cals. It sucks sometimes especially with my Mexican family having parties or gatherings almost every single weekend. One thing that has helped is zero cal drinks and fasting until 12 PM so I had more to play with for dinner when most of the social stuff was happening. For me, it came down to what it is I want more: the body composition I'm trying to get to or splurging over the weekend.

    If you'd like, you can also eat at maintenance during the weekend! Losing weight might be a little slower.. but at least you have more to play with. Good luck!
  • fiddletime
    fiddletime Posts: 1,862 Member
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    No easy way around it. You're going to have to eat less, in a healthy way. If you go to 1000 you'll be so hungry by the weekend you'll for sure over eat. You need balance and a long term plan. I need to lose 6# as well (have already lost 16). Its very slow. But if I stop, the weight will creep back.
  • bribucks
    bribucks Posts: 431 Member
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    Since you know you have social gatherings most weekends, just plan for it EVERY weekend. If I know I'm going out with friends on a Saturday night, I'll eat EXTRA low-calorie the rest of the day. Maybe a protein/meal replacement shake, snacking on fruits & veggies throughout the day, and if you aren't worried about sodium - a serving of chicken noodle soup is only about 80cals.

    If you log your foods ahead of time, you know what you're working with when you DO go out. I usually log my foods for the whole day, in the morning or even the day before.

    What do you typically drink when you go out? A vodka/Sprite Zero is a great low calorie option, or even a glass of wine. Avoid those tasty margaritas, as the calories add up quickly - or, like I said, just plan for it ahead of time.
  • bribucks
    bribucks Posts: 431 Member
    edited August 2017
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    To add more ... you MUST log what you eat on the weekend, even if (especially if!) you completely blow it. You have to know your starting point if you're going to make a change - turning a blind eye to the numbers won't help you any. Take a hard look at what you're eating on the weekends. Until I started MFP, I didn't realize that my favorite meal from a restaurant down the road is a whopping 1000 calories! Now, I only eat half of it and save the other half for another day.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
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    Honestly, the easiest place to cut back is gonna be the wine :(. You said you would have "a few" glasses - can you cut back on that a little without cutting it out? When you go to a restaurant, do you have a couple of rolls while waiting? And an app or two? Do you get dessert? Seriously, you could cut out one glass of wine and one roll every weekend and you're half way there. Just get a coffee rather than dessert, even better. Add smarter choices at restaurants/takeaways and you're there! You don't have to do anything drastic, just tighten up your logging and plan ahead on how you will keep the weekends from getting away from you.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    The hard truth is that most of us have to limit some of our favorite things when we're trying to lose weight. Your eating habits usually can't continue as they did before because those are the habits that resulted in you gaining weight.

    When I was losing weight, I would make choices on the weekend. If I wanted to go out to eat, I'd skip the drinks or limit myself to 1. If I stayed in and cooked my own dinner, I might drink more because I was having a simpler dinner. If I knew a special event was coming up, I would often "bank" calories (eat less each day during the week so I had extra calories going into the weekend). These aren't always fun choices, sometimes I would be the person at happy hour with a diet soda instead of the beer that I really would have preferred. But if you want to lose weight, you've got to do something. You can't just have everything that you want in the quantities that you want.
  • dani_1977
    dani_1977 Posts: 557 Member
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    Here is how I approach the weekend when I know I am to out a lot for events:
    Plan what I can - eat clean as I can when I can( which is usually Breakfast & Lunch), cut out snacks , work out hard, drink water, Track my food. 1/2 my plate when eating out, I try to research chain restaurants for nutritional info. Omit the unnecessary, ( bread, chips & gauc, cheese) .
    Also since you know the weekend is your trouble area, make sure you are accurate tracking during the week. Like weighing your food, its a pain....but if you can save yourself 300-400 cals a day.
  • fiddletime
    fiddletime Posts: 1,862 Member
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    I also guess what I'll be eating out and pre-log it. That's a big help. It isn't that hard to guess two glasses of wine, two wings, and ten chips, and log that if you're at a bar. You can substitute as you go. Once it becomes more of a habit it will seem like less work, and more routine. I also only eat half a meal out, and get a box for half when it's served.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,594 Member
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    It only takes a 100 calorie surplus over your TDEE on a daily basis for a year to gain 10lbs. And I'm sure many who blow the weekends exceed their TDEE by over 100 calories.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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