When Friday night rolls around, you worked hard all week and you feel like celebrating! The tendency is to stay on track all week and then go nuts on the weekend [1]. If you find that you're not reaching your weight-loss goals, here are some tips from personal trainer and strength coach Susan Niebergall [2] (@susanniebergallfitness [3] on Instagram) to help prevent weekends from sabotageing your goals.
Don't Be So Restrictive During the Week
"When you are so restrictive during the week [4], the tendency can be to binge on the weekend. Sometimes we convince ourselves 'I worked hard this week, I deserve this entire weekend of eating and drinking myself into oblivion.' Maybe not," Susan wrote in her Instagram caption [5].
Avoid being so strict Monday through Friday that by Friday night, you feel so deprived that you can't help but overindulge. Allow some treats and your favourite foods throughout the week while still maintaining your daily calorie and macro goals.
Bank Calories During the Week
"If you reduce your calories by 100 M-TH you will have an extra 400 calories to play with on the weekends," Susan suggested. You'll be able to eat a bigger meal or indulge on your favourite foods.
Registered dietitian Leslie Langevin, MS, RD, CD, of Whole Health Nutrition [6], also suggested stopping once you've eaten half your meal to take a 10-minute break [7]. This allows your body time to digest a little, so your brain can catch up with your tummy and give it the "I'm full" signal before it's too late. It forces you to be more mindful and assess whether you're actually hungry for the second half of your meal.
Fuel Up Before You Go Out
Going out with an empty stomach [8] will put your stomach in charge, and that's a recipe for overeating. Fuel up with protein to leave you feeling full and satisfied before you head out shopping, to an afternoon party, or to dinner at a restaurant. Susan suggested a protein shake, like this chocolate almond smoothie [9]. You may feel less likely to overindulge if you don't feel ravenous.
Drink Water With Your Alcohol
For every drink you order, have a water with it, Susan suggested. "Don't allow yourself to order another drink until your water is gone." The water will fill you up, and drinking them together [10] will make the alcohol last longer. So instead of pounding down four drinks, you may only have two. You'll not only save calories from drinking less alcohol [11], but we know that drinking a little too much can make us more likely to order (and eat!) foods we wouldn't normally, so you'll save calories there as well.
Eat Light During the Day
If you know you have a party or dinner out Saturday night, eat light all day Saturday. Have salads, broth and veggie soups [12], fresh veggies with hummus, or yoghurt with fruit. This will give you a little wiggle room to eat more later.
Get Right Back on Track
Susan said that if you do overindulge and get off track (even wayyyy off track), just hop right back on the healthy train and into your normal routine. That's it. No beating yourself up about how many slices of cake you ate, no punishment, nothing. Just get back on track [13] and keep going.