weekend diet struggle

What you can do is try to add some great calorie burning workouts on Saturday and Sunday. This can help you in two ways, the first being you feel great and will not crack later and eat those treats because of your hard workout or it will give you a few extra 100 calories to eat and it should affect the scale later on in the week.
Good luck!

Plan ahead as much as possible. When you go out to eat, try to check out the menu/nutritional information before you go, so you know what to order and what to avoid.

just get out and go for a walk

Weekends are ALWAYS a struggle. But for me, I changed my weigh-in day to Monday. That way all weekend long, I keep reminding myself that I haven't weighed, yet. And it keeps me in check.

I agree with CGG - take some time to do extra exercise! I go swimming both Saturday and Sunday mornings plus I have the walk to and from my local pool (a 50 min round trip) so I know I have extra cals to eat if I want them. I always have a chocolate treat on the weekend but I go to the local quality chocolate shop which sells handmade chocs which you can buy individually. I get 4 every Saturday and that is my treat Saturday and Sunday evenings when I sit down to relax.

I also love jacket potatoes with grated (cheddar) cheese and if I'm going to have this I have it on a Saturday for dinner as I have the extra calories to cope with the fat and calorie content of the cheese but I restrict the amount of cheese to 2oz.

So although I do have treats I restrict and enjoy more than stuffing my face with lots of 'naughty' foods. I am lucky that I don't really drink alcohol so I'm not bothered about not having 'drink' at weekends.

Weekends are ALWAYS a struggle. But for me, I changed my weigh-in day to Monday. That way all weekend long, I keep reminding myself that I haven't weighed, yet. And it keeps me in check.

Great idea! Thank you!

Something interesting I learned from my last Weight Watcher leader... When you go out to eat, don't think of it as a special occassion (unless it is), think of it like any other meal. Special occassions are 2-6 times per year: anniversary, birthdays, retirememt party, what have you. Meals are every day. Just becuase you're not making the food, doesn't mean you should go crazy and have whatever you want. Also, many of the chain restaurants have nutritional info, or you can guesstimate by finding similar dishes on this and other calorie website in order to plan ahead.

I definitely agree with trying to get some extra exercise in on the weekend if you can. When I have the time, I'll take really long walks and get some great calorie burns in so I don't have to worry so much about my food (and drink) for the weekend.

As time has passed, I've decided it's also a lot easier to eat about the same Saturday and Sunday as I do Mon-Fri. Homemade breakfast sandwich or oatmeal, sandwich for lunch, fruit and yogurt for snack and maybe an 100 calorie popcorn and a reasonble dinner.

Point is, you need to make the same changes in your weekend diet as you have for you weekday diet. Find things you like that aren't too bad and stick with those. Try to keep everything else out of reach and only allow one treat. If you're having dinner out, you can't have the chocolate (unless you exercise to earn it).

I struggle with this too. I believe i've found the source. boredom/ lack of schedule.

Being at the office for breakfast and lunch, i have designated times i eat M-F. 8:30m for breakfast and 12:30 for lunch and usually around 2:30 or 3 i'll have a small snack.

Sounds all good right? It is, you know why? Because i only bring enough food to the office for me to eat at those designated times. In fact, i'm writing this on my break and I just ate my 3 o' clock snack because I was still hungry. So now, i'm going to spend the rest of the afternoon battling the vending machine. Sometimes that happens and i just deal. Gum helps.

Anyway, to battle the weekend i think the first thing i think makes the weekend a problem is the fact that you keep food in your home. Obviously, who doesnt. Point is, you have more food on hand and at ease Saturday and Sunday than you do M-F. Am I right? I know for me, that's the truth. Secondly, different sleep patterns. I sleep about an hour or so later on weekends and stay up about an hour or so later. Which throws off my typical 8:30/12:30/2:30-3/6 schedule for food. I dont make myself stick to this, this is just the way it happens for me, just times i've noticed when i'm hungry. It does change and I change with it. So, over the weekend you now are at home, relaxing, you have more food than you need on hand and you're sleep pattern is off. All of this can and often does without us noticing wreck havoc on our goals.

My advice to stave off the weekend muchies, is try your best to stick your M-F routine for meal time. if that's not capable, say you go out to dinner instead cooking at home. Eye the menu for something you know is going to make 3/4 your plate veggies and 1/4 your plate pure protein. Okay okay, that's the "ideal" plate but for me and im sure for most of the HUMANS out there it's more like 1/2 and 1/2 or even 3/4 grains 1/4 protein.. LOVE LOVE LOVE me a big fat burger with fries so you're out to eat, spot the best meal for you, sub it if you have to. You may irritate your waiter by doing so, but seriously as having had previous experience as a waiter with many many customers who did this. We secretly commend you on choosing the veggies/fruit/salad over fries. Then once you finish your meal, decided how hungry you are, and if you're feeling good, which i bet you will be. Knowing you ate healthy makes everyone feel good and accomplished. So you want dessert. Order one, share it, go for the smallest item on the menu. I know that's difficult with Chili's MOLTEN CHOCOLATE CAKE that weights like 5 pounds and is literally heaven in my mouth. sure, in that case get the waiter to put the ice cream in a separate dish. it's blue bell vanilla ice cream, sure it's still chock full o' calories and ladled with fat but it's a lot better for you than that brownie. So Split the difference, take half the ice cream and 1/4 the brownie. And the SECOND you see your waiter walk by to check on you, grab them and insist they take away the dessert even though you haven't really made a dent in it.

Lastly, remember watching your weight fluctuate on the scale doesn't have to be a bad thing. The 1-2 magical pounds, tend to be more water weight than anything else. Consider this: most restaurants deceptively add a ton more salt, sugar and butter to their meals during preparation because it *tastes* better (causing cravings=repeat customers), So you're eating significant amounts more of sugar, salt, fat than you typically do and then you drink a lot of water. Your body's going to hang on to that water with all it's ever-loving might because of all that salt/sugar/fat from that ONE meal. Yep. that's how the pounds roll on and off. Refrain from as much salt/sugar/fats you'll see those 1-2 pounds disappear.

So don't get discouraged by the 1-2 pound flux, fluctuation is better than permanent.

Lastly, follow all the other advice, exercise. but don't call it exercise, that sounds like a chore. Call it "movement". sounds better.

I have the same issue, except it's not food that gives me a problem... It's beer! I like to have a few beers on the weekend and it totally messes things up for me. But last week I decided to try doing some really hardcore workouts on Sat & Sun to earn the extra calories, it seemed to work I didnt go over on my calories and I didnt end up gaining any weight. Good luck!

WATER... drink lots of water to help keep you feeling full... Extra workouts too, if you can work them into your schedule...

Plan ahead as much of your meals as possible... I make a full week of meals in advance (that's how I grocery shop) and this is really helping me to keep on track... I don't want to go out to eat as much, because I see the difference in the calories...

Good Luck!!!