When your aim is weight loss you simply cannot ignore the weekend. Many people I’m sure can relate to the “I’ve been good Mon-Thurs” mentality. I mean it is pretty easy to stay on track with your nutrition whilst you are in routine and there are less distractions and desires to drink and consume a copious amount of junk food unlike at the weekend when temptation is at it’s highest.
I’m sure as you read this you will relate to what I’m about to say. You have what you deem a stressful job and by Friday (maybe even before Friday!) you are craving a beer/wine and a takeaway. Firstly I must make clear, there is absolutely nothing wrong with enjoying either of these things, but stay with me. People don’t fail because they drink beer/wine and eat takeaways. People fail because they lose all control at weekend.
You finish on a Friday, you convince yourself that you deserve that bottle of wine and junk food because, well, you’ve worked hard all week, you are stressed about something about you feel you have earned the right to let loose. I am not doubting that you work hard, I think must people work hard.
The reason that people fail is because they congratulate their success with their nutrition through the week, they have nailed it down, hit their calories, stayed off the booze and completed their exercise and steps. They feel good about that, but they reward themselves with junk food and booze, but the issue is, they reward themselves with an uncontrollable amount. With booze comes snacks, with booze comes the big breakfast the next day, the hangover and lazy day and so on.
The other thing that happens at weekend is that when you drink, especially on both nights, you end up destroying your body clock, your sleep quality and in turn your energy levels. You go to bed later and wake up later, which has a knock on effect to your circadian rhythm which is usually why most people are knackered on Monday morning, they are essentially jet-lagged.
Most people think that they have been good as I said so they have earned it, what they forget to realise is that the weekend (including Friday) makes up 3/7 of the week, nearly half! Therefore for nearly half of the week if you let loose then you can say goodbye to your weight loss.
WHY DO THE SCALES GO UP ON MONDAY?
The other thing that happens is that you weigh yourself on Monday and if you haven’t lost weight so you lose faith in the process thinking it doesn’t work and then sabotage the progress by going ‘off-plan’ . The truth is in most cases you are heavier on Monday because you are retaining water from the booze and junk you’ve consumed over the weekend. I would imagine if you weighed again on the Wednesday after ‘getting back to it’ the scales would have gone down. This can create an argument to weigh yourself 2-3 times over the week and take an average for a truer representation. The main fluctuation in your bodyweight is not fat but in fact water.
So with me telling you all this, what’s the solution?
Can you enjoy some booze and junk food at the weekend and still make progress?
The good news is, absolutely you can.
However if you don’t create some rules/non-negotiables at weekend then it’s unlikely.
I get it by the way, I also get to the weekend and look forward to a takeaway. At present I am following an extremely strict diet routine and enjoy a takeaway on a Saturday, I am still making amazing progress with my goal because it isn’t uncontrollable, it’s just one meal I allow myself to have and I don’t feel guilty for it because I’m still progressing.
What I suggest that you do is, the same way you probably do during the week, is create some rules that you will adhere to. You must have something you are accountable to. Cracking open the can or the bottle of wine is pretty much an automated habit you’ve built up and so to completely cut that out would be near on impossible and almost definitely result in failure and binging. The rules would be something along these lines…
- I will have no more than 2 drinks on a Friday and enjoy a home cooked meal
- I will have no more than 2 drinks on a Saturday and enjoy a takeaway (main meal only) of my choice
Chances are that’s an improvement over what you do right now, and chances are it contains fewer calories. If you are the type to go through a couple of bottles of wine over the weekend or a crate of beer, this is the perfect way to get a handle on your weekend.
It’s hard I know, because you have built the habit up for so long. They key though when trying to stop a habit is not actually to try to stop it, but to amend it to be more positive to your goal. You can’t stop something without starting something else.
(If you’d like to know more about habits and how they work, feel free to drop me a DM, I’d be happy to help.
@thedotheworkcoach
The key is to simply aim for slow, steady improvement, that you can track and ideally you would get the support of other people in your household. If your aim isn’t to be on the front on Mens Health or have washboard abs then this approach is perfect for you.
The truth is that most people don’t want to change their weekend habits, at least that’s what I’ve found to be one of the biggest stumbling blocks as to their progress, which as I say I totally understand. But as a coach who is big into habits and behaviour change, these are the tactics I encourage you to try if you don’t want to forever be chasing your tail and simply looking forward to the weekend because that’s your ‘reprieve’.
FOCUSING ON HABIT & BEHAVIOUR CHANGE IS CRITICAL, BUT YOU MUST BE WILLING TO BEGIN THE CHANGE!
You cannot do this without commitment and certainty however. This is something that you must hold yourself accountable to. To add to the accountability aspect it would make sense for you to hire a coach to not only hold you accountable but to simply be able to map out the entire journey for you.
I have a wealth of experience in helping people over the aged of 25 to achieve incredible results with their weight loss. It’s my passion to see people transform their habits & behaviour which provides them with the results and confidence they’ve been seeking for so long.
YOU CAN ACHIEVE THOSE RESULTS TOO!
If you’d like to enquire about working with me privately and also joining my winning community full of clients going after their goals, drop me an email today (info@dalewallacept.com) with the word ‘WEEKEND‘ as the subject so I know it’s from this blog and I’d love to talk to you about your goals.
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Dale – The DoTheWork Coach