How to stay on track with weight loss over the weekend
Hellooo weekend….Goodbye healthy habits? Sound familiar? That used to be me!
Table of Contents
P.S. This site contains product affiliate links. We may receive a commission if you make a purchase after clicking on one of these links – at no cost to you!
Starting on the struggle bus
For years while on my weight loss journey, I struggled to stay on track with my plan on the weekend.
I would eat “super healthy” meals during the week and then binge over the weekend – literally starting on Friday night and continuing through Sunday morning. Fast food, alcohol, followed by anything else I “couldn’t have” during the week, most of which I mindlessly ate with no purpose or plan. (See my post on how to do the opposite – MINDFULLY EAT for weight loss here.)
Not only was this keeping me from my weight loss goals and negating the hard work I put in throughout the week, but I would head into every next week feeling horrible, beating myself up and telling myself I needed to stop.
For the longest time I thought it was just me who had this challenge, but in coaching clients, family and friends on weight loss for years now – I know a lot of people struggle with this. So if you do too – you’re not alone.
Related posts: Weight Loss and Leftovers (How to Stay on Track!) andHow to Stay On Track with Weight Loss over the Holidays (10 Tips!)
How I made the shift: Transitioning from healthy during the week to healthy all the time
I made a decision and committed to it
It always starts with a decision! I heard recently the word decide means “to cut off” in Latin, we have to cut off our old behaviors, habits and identity and commit to pursuing a new one.
Eventually I decided I was done with this all or nothing and binge and restrict mentality. I wanted to feel better and improve my overall health every day, not just on the weekdays.
I stopped focusing on perfection
I realized it didn’t have to be all or nothing—either all healthy or all unhealthy. There was a middle ground. I literally remember saying to my husband one Friday night – what if we just didn’t go all crazy this weekend. Like what would that look like? What if we didn’t have to focus on perfection, but just progress?
What if we could have drinks, pizza or a piece of cake, and still start the day with a green smoothie – If we choose too? And you CAN! (Use whatever example works for you). From there we decided to keep the majority of our weekend eating and daily activities (exercising even when we didn’t feel like it!) similar to those during the week, and left room for the extra calories from the not so traditionally “healthy” foods. The weekend stopped revolving around these foods, but we allowed them IF we wanted them.
I also started reminding myself that one “unhealthy” meal or food choice didn’t mean I had to throw the rest of the weekend days away. That’s what my 3-Day Debloat detox is for 🙂
I stopped relating the weekend and “relaxing” to overeating and over drinking
This was a hard one because it’s how many of us are programmed to think. We think about the weekend and just “letting go” and “relaxing” and many times that includes also relaxing or letting go of our eating and healthy habits. I had to decide what else I wanted to look forward to on the weekend, if it wasn’t eating and thinking about food all the time. What did I really want to be spending my time and energy on? How else could I relax?
I started thinking about how I would feel the rest of the day versus just in the moment.
Each time I was faced with a choice – order the takeout, have the big dinner, alcoholic drinks , etc. I thought about (and visualized) what I wanted MOST in addition to in in the moment. Was it REALLY worth it? I would think about how I would feel in an hour, the next morning – and make decisions based on that.
I started paying attention to WHY I was eating or drinking, and made sure I liked my reasons
Whenever I work with clients on healthy changes for sustainable weight loss we incorporate mindful eating into their plan – I ask them to decide the reasons they want to be eating, and the reasons they don’t.
For me – I want to eat for fuel (I’m hungry and my body needs energy) and/or it’s a rare occasional food experience (I’m at a food festival, someone brings me cookies for my birthday, etc.). I don’t like to eat for emotional reasons (I’m stressed, tired, sad, etc.) or mindlessly (because everyone else is, I’m not paying attention, etc.). I encourage you to decide what yours are, and start paying attention and make sure your actions align! Check out my post on mindful eating tips here.
I decided what I wanted my “weekend routine” to be and committed to it, even when I was tempted to fall into old habits.
Typically for me, this is “regular” dinner Friday night (see what I mean on my sample meal plan and eating guide here) sometimes a dessert, gym on Saturday morning, a green smoothie or other healthy breakfast, salad for lunch and takeout or dinner out on Saturday night, regular eating routine and walking on Sunday. Sometimes I’ll have dessert or wine, sometimes I won’t.
During the week when I occasionally think about binging or going crazy on the upcoming weekend (because sometimes I still do!) I remind myself – “I don’t do that anymore.”
Helpful tips that help me stay on track with my with weight loss goals over the weekend (or anytime!):
- Keeping at least two meals a day the same as my weekday routine (you can grab my sample meal plans and eating guide here) to see what “normal eating” looks like for me here. (It’s basically whole, unprocessed foods and balanced plates).
- Not emotional, mindless or overeating – although I am tempted ALL the time – when we set our guidelines like I mentioned above, and decide to follow them, it’s a whole lot easier to allow the urges and temptations and continue on with our plan.
- Water, water water – I take my water bottle with my everywhere! If I’m ordering a coffee or drink out, I’m always getting a water with it!(I always joke – if you see me, you likely see my water bottle)
- I’ll eat what I love, leave what I don’t – EVEN if we paid for it. I always say we are way worth more than the $2, $5, $10, $20 we pay for food.
- Eat when I’m hungry (feel physical hunger – deep in pit of stomach and would eat chicken and broccoli or the most boring basic food) and stop BEFORE being full.
- Get in movement, walking, exercise, any kind of regular physical activity almost every day – I focus on reaching my step goal regardless of what day it is, or how tired I am.
- Monday morning jump right back into my normal routine of whole foods, balanced plates (protein, fruits and veggies, healthy fats) and watching portion sizes (not overeating, eating when hungry/stopping when full) even when we don’t feel like it and our brain is giving us ALL the excuses. I promise – that’s normal!
- I grocery shop Sunday with instacart wherever I am, even without a shopping list or meal plan!
- Never, ever, beat yourself up – just make the next best choice!
- If you are feeling a little extra puffy, bloated or just want to reset and refocus on healthy habits, check out my The Easy 3-Day Debloat Detox
There’s always a way to make it work! Need help with this?! Let’s talk!
Questions to ask yourself to go from struggling to successful
- What if it didn’t have to be all or nothing?
- What are a *few* specific things I can do continue to carry my healthy lifestyle through The Weekend? (Some examples, maintain a healthy breakfast, move for 15 minutes each, day, etc. etc.)
- What would it look like to “meet in the middle” between ALL in or ALL out?
- What am I willing and able to do, to get me from where I’m at to where I want to be?
- How much better would I feel, come Monday morning, if I wasn’t starting alll the way back at the beginning again? (Or felt like you were?)
- What would I like the weekend portion of my healthy lifestyle to look like?
- What do I want my reasons for eating to be? When do I not want to be eating?
Don’t be afraid to start as small as you need to – it’s all about building consistency and gaining momentum!
Want more tips? Watch my video with more tips to stay on track with weight loss over the weekend.
This is what I consider a true healthy lifestyle, and what contributes to a healthy weight where we look and feel our best, long term. And you can too.
