Weekend Eating: Break the Cycle

(c) liaarand Fotosearch_k82159456

Every Monday, I have clients who can’t believe they gained weight. “But I was 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑦 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑” (as compared to how great they are during the week) “over the weekend,” they’ll say.

Too many people get caught in an endless cycle of sticking to their eating (and fitness) regimen or dieting program during the week, falling off on the weekend, and then “resetting” again on Monday. Regardless of whether you’re eating to lose weight, to gain muscle, for better health, optimal athletic performance, to maintain weight (or a combination of all of that), you CANNOT do a complete 180 in the way you eat over the weekend without having significant negative effects to your progress.

When you’re making healthy, well-rounded food choices for five days of the week, with attention to your schedule and meal planning and portion control, etc., even in just two meals out — let’s say a dinner date on Friday and Sunday brunch with friends — you can effectively undo the slight calorie-deficit created over the entire work week! Couple that with eating later into the night, drinking alcohol, and/or mindless snacking due to lack of scheduled mealtimes, it’s easy to see how weight loss can slow under these circumstances.

Want to break the cycle?

Just as you have a well-structured weekday routine (you generally know what you’re going to do, where you’re going to be, and how you’re going to get there), you must create a weekend routine as well. A structured weekend does not have to be void of fun, and it can absolutely exist alongside a healthy social life.

The bottom line is that structure and routine breed good habits . . . and not just Monday through Friday. Calories 𝐃𝐎 count on the weekend!