Struggling on weekends!๐ซ
cartersmom06
Posts: 68 Member
Ive been doing this CICO way of lifecfor a long time off and on. I find that I am compliant during the week and then come Friday evening I decide to 'treat' myself to pizza and beer and that leads to an all out weekend binge party. Sunday vomes and I hang my head in shame...Monday arrives and I do it all over again! How do I break this cycle??
3
Replies
-
Are you eating enough during the week? And are you enjoying the things you are eating? I find that when my calorie goals are reasonable and I'm enjoying the things I'm eating each day, I'm much less likely to feel like I should "treat" myself. Taking care of yourself all week can make the weekends much easier.
Your day-to-day life should give you more than just feeling "compliant."17 -
I'm a lot more loose on weekends, but I don't let myself go off the rails. Friday night is usually pizza night with the wife and kids...I have 2 or 3 slices and call it a night, not the whole pizza. I also like drinking beer on the weekends which I don't do much of during the week. It all seems to come out in the wash for me unless i go nuts, which I don't. I'm also a lot more active on weekends as I have more time for exercise and other general activity with the family or doing things that need to be done around the house or property...I'm on my *kitten* very little on weekends.3
-
cwolfman13 wrote: ยปI'm a lot more loose on weekends, but I don't let myself go off the rails. Friday night is usually pizza night with the wife and kids...I have 2 or 3 slices and call it a night, not the whole pizza. I also like drinking beer on the weekends which I don't do much of during the week. It all seems to come out in the wash for me unless i go nuts, which I don't. I'm also a lot more active on weekends as I have more time for exercise and other general activity with the family or doing things that need to be done around the house or property...I'm on my *kitten* very little on weekends.
OP, this is a really good point. Fun activity on the weekends is a big help for me too. The more time I'm doing exercise and general fun stuff on the weekends, the more calories I'm burning . . . and generally I'm less focused on food overall.
If food is your main source of enjoyment on the weekends, consider ways to shake that up.6 -
I found pre-logging to be a tremendous help. Before I ate anything, I logged it. Seeing the possible damage in black & white made it a lot easier to back away from the free for all.
You also might want to look at the way you think about that pizza and beer. Do you feel guilty that you are treating yourself? Do you actively worry as you're eating it that you are doing damage to your plan? You might need to deal with framing your treat as something perfectly healthy and normal that fits in your life.
Or is that pizza and beer a big blowout in itself? Maybe you need to tone it down a little so that it's less of a change from the rest of your week. Some people find a big calorie day every week helps them with compliance the rest of the week, but others find that the same big calorie day shoots their appetite and cravings into overdrive for days. Maybe try cutting back your portions a little on that treat meal (and eat a few more calories during the week) and maybe that will help.
Unfortunately you really need to play around with it a little and figure out "why" you ended up in this cycle in the first place. Good luck!13 -
cartersmom06 wrote: ยปIve been doing this CICO way of lifecfor a long time off and on. I find that I am compliant during the week and then come Friday evening I decide to 'treat' myself to pizza and beer and that leads to an all out weekend binge party. Sunday vomes and I hang my head in shame...Monday arrives and I do it all over again! How do I break this cycle??
Fit your pizza into your weekly goal. If it doesn't fit, you don't eat pizza.10 -
I found an eating plan that worked better for me and my life than the traditional "5 small meals a day." I also don't deprive myself. If there's something I really want, I fit it in to my calories for the week. Pre-logging helps you determine how much you need to "plan ahead."
Personally I can't put things off limits, and instead learned that I could be satisfied with a reasonable serving of the things I love.1 -
This will sound hash and I don't mean it to be - but - you have to decide how important losing weight is to you. I see nothing wrong with having pizza or beer; you just have to stay inside your calorie allowance. I've had the same struggles. If I know I have a big night out ahead of me I might go really light for breakfast and lunch in order to have room for a large evening meal and drinks.
I don't like to play this game too often, but exercise can play a big role. A 10 mile run or 50 mile bike ride frees up a lot of calories...
But when it's all said and done you have to decide what you want. Permanent results require permanent changes. If you want to weigh less - you have to eat less. You can't escape that reality.22 -
Have you tried prelogging your food for the weekend? Also it's ok to have a treat, maybe if you scheduled your treat you would be less likely to binge as you would know you have another one coming again soon.4
-
I think you have to work really hard to get rid of the feeling of "entitlement" ("I've worked hard all week--I deserve this..."). I know--I've been there, and it sabotaged my results, too. We're empty nesting now, so we do tend to go out to eat on Friday nights, but my mindset now is to be very careful not to slide backwards because I'm really happy with my current progress. I either make very conservative choices on the menu, or I have at least half of my meal wrapped to go. And if I know that we're going out again on Saturday or Sunday, I make a conscious effort 1) to get a workout in and 2) to have much smaller meals for breakfast and lunch so that I don't go over my calorie limit.7
-
I think you have to work really hard to get rid of the feeling of "entitlement" ("I've worked hard all week--I deserve this..."). I know--I've been there, and it sabotaged my results, too. We're empty nesting now, so we do tend to go out to eat on Friday nights, but my mindset now is to be very careful not to slide backwards because I'm really happy with my current progress. I either make very conservative choices on the menu, or I have at least half of my meal wrapped to go. And if I know that we're going out again on Saturday or Sunday, I make a conscious effort 1) to get a workout in and 2) to have much smaller meals for breakfast and lunch so that I don't go over my calorie limit.
I agree about the challenge of feeling "entitled".
A suggestion for converting it to some other feeling that better supports our long term goals:
Look at this definition I found for Entitlement: "belief that one is deserving of or entitled to certain privileges".
Then, ask the question : "how is making poor food choices on the weekends considered to be a privilege?"
A privilege implies a positive of some sort.
Seeking positives could lead to the more sustainable idea of permitting ourselves small portions of foods that , in larger quantities, would be poor choices that hit our self-esteem later on.7 -
How about meal planning a few days in advance? I do 3 days or so, just in a notebook or app, what you plan to eat for each three meals and what you have on hand that will work for snacks. When I've written down that I'm going to have a vegetable stir fry and some gyoza, I've really no excuse to be all WHAT SHOULD I HAVE RIGHT NOW?3
-
Breaking a cycle means doing something different. What if you saved the pizza and beer for Saturday night and let Friday be just like Thursday? And what if you established a "weekly weigh in" schedule so that you always record Sunday morning as your reported weight for that week?7
-
cartersmom06 wrote: ยปIve been doing this CICO way of lifecfor a long time off and on.
There's this, too. It's not a way of life if you're not living it. And you're not living it if you're doing it off and on. That's what one does when one goes on a diet.
There is nothing contradictory about somebody living this 'way of life' who eats pizza on Friday night. But if you're living this way of life, you take the next step of figuring out how to adjust your other eating to accommodate the pizza.
Easy? Not necessarily. But doable.
7 -
Find other ways to treat yourself. I try to never use food as a reward because I want to break some of the emotional issues I've had with food in the past. If I want to treat myself I have a spa night or order a new book - anything but food.
It also helped me to completely cut eating out for a month. After the month was over I wasn't as tempted to order take out.
Oh and plan/buy everything you need for food for the weekend. It's harder to justify ordering food when you already paid money for food in the fridge.4 -
cwolfman13 wrote: ยปI'm a lot more loose on weekends, but I don't let myself go off the rails. Friday night is usually pizza night with the wife and kids...I have 2 or 3 slices and call it a night, not the whole pizza. I also like drinking beer on the weekends which I don't do much of during the week. It all seems to come out in the wash for me unless i go nuts, which I don't. I'm also a lot more active on weekends as I have more time for exercise and other general activity with the family or doing things that need to be done around the house or property...I'm on my *kitten* very little on weekends.
Yup, I'm more active on the weekends too. Makes it easier to fit in higher calorie meals.
@cartersmom06 I've also found it helpful to give my OH an extra slice of pizza instead of just splitting it with him, and having a large salad with it.2 -
I find that planning active things that further my fitness goals or have to be up really early for gives me a solid reason to eat right on Friday and Saturday night.
I'll plan things like a bike ride, an early morning fishing trip, dirtbiking, snowboarding - etc...these are things you want to be properly fueled and rested for.
On weekends I'm not doing those things, I keep myself in check by reminding myself that Saturday and Sunday are the only days I get to wake up with 8+ hours of sleep and go straight to the gym - my best lifting sessions are the weekends because I'm best rested - I can go harder, heavier, and do more than during the work week...if I choose to go out drinking or something, I'm sacrificing my best training days of the week. I REALLY like lifting, so that provides a lot of motivation to stay on track. That might not work for someone else though.
Another thing I remind myself of is that a night out at the bars is around $100 blown that could be put to much better use. This is not to say I don't cut loose, I just do it less than once a month.3 -
What do you normally eat during the week? Eating within your calorie goals shouldn't feel like a chore. You should eat food that you like but that are within your limits. That would make you less likely to feel like you need to "treat yourself."
Also, I think if you do decide to eat something on Friday that causes you to go over your calorie limit, you just need to think of it as a one time thing specific to that day. It seems like if you get a little looser on Friday, you get in the mentality of "well I already failed, I might as well just do whatever I want," and that causes the weekend binges. Don't think of food and trying to meet a calorie goal as something we win or lose or that is worthy of shame, etc. If you eat something you don't think you should have, then just try not to eat that on the next meal, or the next day, etc. Or try to only have one slice of pizza instead of two.
As an example, I had a really rough day on Friday, and it caused me to want to emotional eat. And I knew that it was something I was going to do. But instead of leaning into it hardcore, I gave myself permission to do it, but I still put a limit on it and made better choices. In the past, my go to emotional eating choice was a 3/4 pound triple bacon cheeseburger from Burger King. However, instead of getting that, I got the 1/2 pound, non-bacon cheeseburger from Wendy's. Was it a "good" choice? Certainly not. But it still saved me several hundred calories from my other choice. Sometimes we find ourselves in a situation where we need to choose between the least bad of two options, and that's okay. So try to make the best choices you can under your circumstances, even if they end up being not as ideal as you would like.4 -
I just budget more calories on friday/saturday. The belt is tighter during the week, then friday/saturday I allow a couple of hundred more. my weight loss is not fast (nowhere near fast) but at least this way I dont feel deprived and sad.
3 -
Thank you all! I am going to try to implement some of your strategies this coming weekend and let you know how it goes!
Thanks for being there!๐5 -
Someone once posted here that the weekend (Fri-Sun) is 3/7 days of the week. That's HALF the week not being on track. Really put things into perspective for me.
Also I still have pizza and drinks and whatnot, but am more careful in the mornings, and make sure to get some kind of exercise in before going out. Dominos has a flat bread pacific veggie and for half a Large, it's only 880cal. My usual dinner is around 700 so it's really not so bad.1 -
Oh yeah - on the weekend I also put into place another strategy which is different to my normal - I wait as long as I can before having breakfast, then I have a slightly bigger than normal breakfast (my normal is just under 400 cals, on weekend I bump it up to the 400-450 mark), then I have a solid lunch (again in the 500 region, which is more than my usual 2 lunches of 300 and 350-400 each) and that leaves me with more calories to play with for dinner which means I can fit pizza or whatever in there.3
-
I am working on my weekend habit of eating something every now and then so I know what you feel ๐
Do you overeat while watching telly - I have chosen to watch, weight loss related documentaries
Could you order smaller portion of pizza and beer - I still eat multiple snacks on weekend but they would much smaller portion of my old habit.
Can you come home by walk - which will put you in healthy mindset.
Set your weight in on weekend ๐ . You will probably eat less in fear of showing big number. I am mostly careful in eating and exercise before weigh in day.
You will need to analyse yourself and find your own solution. There are great ideas from everyone to take inspiration ๐๐ผ. All the best.1 -
Hi there, I couldn't tell from your message if the pizza and drinks are at home or out with friends. No judgement either way -- it's just much harder to manage when you're trying to socialize and don't have any control over how the food is prepared.
But if you're eating pizza at home, I like to get a frozen pizza -- a cheese Skinny Pizza is a good one -- and load it up with frozen veggies like broccoli, zucchini, carrots, squash and red peppers. You can usually find a mix like that in the frozen aisle. It's not the same as takeout for sure, but a much better choice. If you check labels, you can find a whole frozen pizza you can down for ~600 calories (or less) and have your pizza night without the guilt. (And bonus: no leftovers, so pizza night doesn't become pizza weekend.)2 -
Oh, I also like to throw a skillet dinner together that might satisfy your pizza craving. Here's what I put in it:
- 1 lb. fresh sliced mushrooms (like portabella)
- 1 can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic & oregano - no salt added (I use Hunt's)
- 2 - 1 lb. (16 oz.) bags frozen zucchini slices
- 1 large jar of marinara sauce (look for something low sodium, low added sugar like The Silver Palate brand)
- 4 links of chicken Italian Sausage, sliced (the Boar's Head is good)
- 1/2 - 1 lb. (16 oz.) bag of frozen fajita veggies (onion, green and red bell peppers)
- shredded 2% mozzarella or parmesan (or both!) cheese for the top
Just get a big skillet, cook the frozen veggies and mushrooms until they are unfrozen and look a little cooked, drain out the excess water, add the tomatoes and sauce and sausage, and simmer covered until it all looks cooked. Top with the cheese. It's basically pizza without the crust, and around 300 calories a serving. (This is for ~5 people ... I like to dish out the extra and freeze it, take it out the night before and it's lunch at work.) And you can use fresh veggies. I like the frozen stuff because it's already chopped and I can have it on hand.2 -
Try making the Friday pizza and beer a part of your plan.
It sounds to me like it's not the pizza and beer on a Friday night that's the problem and more the fact you're seeing the Friday pizza and beer as a "failure" and you think "Screw it. I've failed may as well just go nuts for the rest of the weekend".
It's all the calories you're eating AFTER the Friday pizza and beer that's doing the real damage so plan to have Friday pizza and beer, then Successfully have Friday pizza and beer then you won't have anything to hang your head in shame about and can get on with your weekend without the all out weekend binge party.
you can either save up some extra calories during the week for the splurge or keep things the way they are just accept that enjoying, say, an additional 700 calories of pizza and beer each Friday is going to slow your progress by about 1/5th of a pound per week and 1/5th of a pound per week slower weight loss isn't a huge price to pay to enjoy pizza and beer guilt free.2 -
Thanks to everyone that posted! Alot of great tips! ๐0
-
cartersmom06 wrote: ยปIve been doing this CICO way of lifecfor a long time off and on. I find that I am compliant during the week and then come Friday evening I decide to 'treat' myself to pizza and beer and that leads to an all out weekend binge party. Sunday vomes and I hang my head in shame...Monday arrives and I do it all over again! How do I break this cycle??
Here is my idea for you to consider trying:
Start with a decision that this next weekend coming up will be different.
For example, wait til Saturday to treat yourself and feel good about about one less day than usual on an old habit you want to break.
The following weekend, stick to the sat/sun party line but this time try to cut back on the beer and pizza by a pre-determined amount (1/3 to 1/2 less), and feel good the next day with less toxins lingering in your system.1 -
I have a similar issue. I stay up much later on weekends which seems to inevitably result in late night snacking. So I decided to eat very little early in the day so I could bank extra calories for the evening. I'm not into IF but I do find that I'm not quite as ravenous until I actually start eating each day. Sometimes I have no breakfast and then just a cup of soup or something similar for lunch. That seems to give me enough extra calories for my evening.2
-
There is a bunch of good advice here. One thing that I do is instead of trying to 'save up' enough calories Mon-Fri before the weekend is to 'repay' any extra calories I've eaten the Mon-Fri after the weekend. In other words, if I go over my calorie goal by 700 calories on the weekend I'll have to reduce my Mon-Fri calories by 700 the following week so that I can reach my average daily calorie goal. The app makes this really easy by using the average calories/day by week function - just move the week so that it ends on Friday. Thinking about it this way keeps me in check because I know if I go over by quite a few calories during the weekend I might have some awfully hungry days the following week. On the weekends where I don't go over I love having the 'extra' calories each day.2
-
well..the good news is you know how to maintain. I say this because my husband has done this since the beginning of summer. He loses all week long..gains it back on the weekend..and then loses it all by the next Friday. Rinse and repeat.
I keep telling him if he could just get to his goal weight.. he could do this forever and maintain. He just can never get all the weight off and get to goal. ...and I am starting to think he never will.0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.4K Introduce Yourself
- 43.8K Getting Started
- 260.2K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.9K Food and Nutrition
- 47.4K Recipes
- 232.5K Fitness and Exercise
- 426 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153K Motivation and Support
- 8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.7K MyFitnessPal Information
- 24 News and Announcements
- 1.1K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions