Struggling with unstructured weekends

skinnytacular
skinnytacular Posts: 159 Member
edited September 2019 in Health and Weight Loss
Hello everyone! I'm really struggling with weekends. Anyone have any great tips for staying on track with sensible eating habits?

I do really well on weekdays where there's a lot of structure and routine to my day (and for which I shop, cook and prepare in advance), but I seems to have a pattern of binge eating on weekends, and, really, alcohol isn't even a factor. Anyone else struggle with this? Do you have any tried and true strategies that work for you?

Edited to add: and I'm not talking about "splurging" on the weekend where I deliberately plan to have a splurge meal that I've saved up for, but more bingeing or mindlessly grazing and feeling out of control.

Replies

  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,753 Member
    I bank some calories for the weekend.
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
    I eat up to maintenance calories on the weekend.
  • skinnytacular
    skinnytacular Posts: 159 Member
    edited September 2019
    I guess my issue isn't necessarily that I'm using up points or calories--I don't mind deliberately splurging--I'm more talking about out of control bingeing because my structure and routine is not in place. (ETA: sorry I wasn't clear about that. I edited that into the OP.)
  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,753 Member
    Have you set your calorie goal to lose too high? Do you eat your exercise calories back?
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    Go hiking.
  • skinnytacular
    skinnytacular Posts: 159 Member
    Good question. No, I don't eat my exercise calories back... I'm usually right on track or out of WW weeklies by the time I hit the weekend though.
  • 4legsRbetterthan2
    4legsRbetterthan2 Posts: 19,590 MFP Moderator
    pre-log food - if you are going out to a restaurant with friends pick put and log food ahead of time. Log other stuff before you eat it so you face the decision before you make it, not after
  • Womona
    Womona Posts: 1,776 Member
    Keep logging! I used to get lackadaisical on weekends, especially with tidbits and apps at parties, or restaurant meals. Then of course my weight would be up on Monday. Do the best you can. Logging on weekends really helped me combat the “weekend gain-back”.
  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,753 Member
    Why don’t you eat exercise calories back? I would be chewing my arm off.
  • skinnytacular
    skinnytacular Posts: 159 Member
    I do pretty well on the dining out "splurges" that I've planned for. I always look at menus online in advance and make pretty good choices. It's when I'm hanging around the house doing laundry and chores and prepping meals for the week, etc. that I struggle with.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,463 Member
    Keep low calorie items in the house to graze on. Get rid of the hi cal and addictive stuff. Drink water before you eat anything and wait 15 min.
  • skinnytacular
    skinnytacular Posts: 159 Member
    I wish I could go hiking--how to fit that in between the sports fundraiser on Fri, the book group, martial arts and kids birthday party on Sat, youth group, and youth football on Sunday... Not to mention chores and laundry and grocery shopping...
  • Bedazzled35
    Bedazzled35 Posts: 50 Member
    I plan my weekends too. I add in (a lot of) alcohol for Friday night and a bigger breakfast/brunch on Saturday to deal with the post drinking munchies using calories I've banked during the week. Otherwise my food and mealtimes are just as structured as during the week. If I allowed myself to be unstructured for 2 days out of 7 I could easily undo my deficit
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    I'm on the go a lot on weekends. I sit behind a desk most of the day all week...weekends are my time to get outside and play. I can get out for a few hours and do some trail riding on my mountain bike...or go for a longer road ride...or go hiking with the family...or go rock climbing...or spend the afternoon working on the yard and landscaping, etc...

    A couple benefits of this...1) I'm active and moving more and therefore expending more energy (calories) than I would on a typical weekday; 2) I'm busy and not sitting around the house bored and using food as a cure for my boredom.
  • skinnytacular
    skinnytacular Posts: 159 Member
    edited September 2019
    Lots of great ideas in here, everyone. Keep going, if you can. Maybe I need to allow/plan for an increased level of splurge on the weekends over and above my dining out.

    As far as getting rid of the hi-cal and addictive stuff, I have a young child who needs to put weight on, and he's a picky eater, so we (unfortunately) keep some high cal stuff around for him. I try to keep it somewhat out of sight, but I know it's there, if you know what I mean I can usually stay out of it during the week, but on weekends I find myself in his food and snacks.

    I wonder if I need some equally appealing "splurge-worthy" but still somewhat healthy snacks on hand. Maybe snacks that are higher in calories/points than my regular weekday snacks, but better than salami, pizza or meat-sticks, cheez-its, or Dove bars.

    Anyone have some good ideas for appealing snacks? So, maybe not the super healthy cheese-sticks, yogurt, nuts, cottage cheese, fresh fruit and fresh veggies, hummus, edamame, popcorn that I might eat during the week, but something that's a level up splurge-wise? Does that make any sense?
  • skinnytacular
    skinnytacular Posts: 159 Member
    edited September 2019
    Cwolfman--I am super busy on weekends (I may have mischaracterized that in some of my responses saying I binged while I was hanging around the house, which is true. But I'm not idle--I have a young child! I think I got 8000 steps this weekend just doing chores--I stopped counting at 8000 because I took my pedometer off so I could wash what I was wearing and now I can't find it!) Here's a snapshot of this past weekend: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/44222581/#Comment_44222581 And I left a few things off, like church, my child's baseball game, taking my kid for a haircut, and attending my WW meeting. The child's birthday party was in the pool and I was also in the pool playing games with the kids.
  • skinnytacular
    skinnytacular Posts: 159 Member
    edited September 2019
    Ooops. I see I missed a couple of posts, probably cross-posted.

    I don't eat my fitness points because WW suggests you don't (of course you can, but it's not their recommendation), but maybe I should, eh?

    And, yeah, I do slack on tracking on weekends. It's easy to track during the week because I'm at my desk and it's part of my routine. But maybe I'd better step up the tracking. Great point.

    Also, I've just thought of something as I was listing above all of the fattening things we keep around the house for my child. It's all not only fattening, but high in sodium. I follow a pretty low-sodium diet (doctor's orders). It's easy to do during the week as I just don't have that stuff around the office. But we do have it at home for my child. I think I might be craving sodium which is why I can't stop once I start.


  • skinnytacular
    skinnytacular Posts: 159 Member
    edited September 2019
    Oh boy, although it's certainly tempting, I'd better not skip breakfast. I swear that's what keeps the wheels on the bus. This weekend I had coffee mug eggs on the run on Sunday and a nice frittata with spring greens at the cafe for book group on Saturday. Plus coffee with skim milk.
  • kiddycat73
    kiddycat73 Posts: 67 Member
    I try to follow the same (or as close as possible) eating schedule as I do during the week. Usually everything is a bit later in the day (like breakfast is at 9 rather than 7) but basically eating at the same intervals throughout the day. If I don’t, I’ll do exactly what you described. I also pre log my meals a week in advance...I do that for grocery shopping purposes, but it also helps keep me on track by knowing what I’m going to eat ahead of time.
  • cbihatt
    cbihatt Posts: 319 Member
    I eat the same way on weekends as I do during the week. If my kid has a baseball game, I pack food for lunch and eat it there. When I eat out, I don’t drink my calories (unless I have planned in advance for alcohol consumption).

    My husband and teenage son eat a lot, and we keep a lot of calorific snacks in the house. But, I make sure to buy stuff that I don’t like to eat. Since I do the grocery shopping, it is easy to control what is coming in to the house. For my own snacks, I choose things that I find satisfying in small serving sizes and/or things that are low in calories.

    If you are having trouble with dinner, try making crockpot meals on the weekends. You can get it ready in the morning and let it cook while you are gone all day.
  • Danp
    Danp Posts: 1,561 Member
    Weekends only exist as a result of the industrial revolution and Henry Ford anyway so just don't have weekends, at least where food is concerned.

    Treat Saturday and Sunday no different than any other day of the week and stick to the same routine/schedule
  • COGypsy
    COGypsy Posts: 1,353 Member
    I don't allow food in my house unless there is a specific (day/meal) plan for eating it. So, if I overeat now, I won't have that food later. If I have 2 ice creams tonight, I won't have any to eat when I watch a movie on Saturday night. I rarely go to the grocery store and a container of ice cream is below the amount that qualifies for delivery, so it's easiest to just stick to the plan. When I was married and/or had roommates, I didn't eat anything that didn't belong to me. Really once I started buying food according to a plan and not just what sounded good at the time, it became pretty easy.
  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
    I started structuring my weekends - going on hikes, playing with the kids, DIY projects, camping, etc.

    I watch much less TV and read more.

    My week points are inactivity and I mindlessly munch, so my solution is to keep my mind and body active.
  • funjen1972
    funjen1972 Posts: 949 Member
    Just a hunch, but it seems like your weekends are grab and go. You're busy so you might eat whatever is available since you're rushed and possibly over scheduled. Have you considered storing snacks in your car for events? I always have several pantry stable lower calorie options in the trunk, enough to make a meal if needed. Also, if fast food is an issue, pick items out ahead of time that work for you. For example, I order grilled chicken snack wraps and maybe a small fry. I know this fits into my eating plan. Also, most gas stations and convenience stores have fresh fruit. I'll get a banana or apple to help curb the hunger.
  • scarlett_k
    scarlett_k Posts: 812 Member
    skinnytacular wrote: »
    Good question. No, I don't eat my exercise calories back... I'm usually right on track or out of WW weeklies by the time I hit the weekend though.

    If you're prone to binge eating I would recommend avoiding any "diet" like weight watchers (assuming that's what you mean by WW) as the restrictions on types of foods can really perpetuate the binge eating. I'm currently working through "overcoming binge eating" second edition by Dr Christopher G Fairburn and it's proving so helpful to me and helps you to maintain structure and plan for your day. Perhaps it could help you.
  • skinnytacular
    skinnytacular Posts: 159 Member
    Thanks all! I appreciate you sharing what works for you. I have a lot to sift through here, but I think there are some definite workable solutions!

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