Ever find yourself following your diet routine perfectly during the week and then the weekend comes around and all you do is eat. Well your not the only one many dieters have this problem. What happens with so many dieters is what I like to call “the perfect rationalization.” We are perfect for a good amount of time, and we rationalize our perfect behavior, with a cheat. The problem is that our simple cheat turns into 3 days of cheating, at anywhere from 2500-4500 calories per day. Those 3 days of innocent cheating can more than cancel out your days of perfection…and we get frustrated.
I think that most of our dieting woes can be solved with a simple tool called personal responsibility : ) If we really want to be healthy and fit, we HAVE to put in the energy and the focus to do so…7 days out of the week. No more cheats, no more excuses, no more rationalizations!! So, if you are sick and tired of being a weekend weight gainer, follow my simple strategies below and we will all be on our way to the sexy, slim weekend dieter.
- Plan your Weekend in Advance: Take a look at your schedule and make sure to book an appointment with yourself! Schedule in your yoga class, trip to the farmer’s market and weekend hike before you find reasons to skip it! Put it in writing and star it off once completed for extra motivation!
- Set Reasonable Limitations: Staying healthy on the weekends does not mean you have to suck out all the fun! Just set realistic goals to ensure you aren’t going overboard. For example, limit yourself to one night of restaurant dining and invite friends and family over to your place for the remaining social events (where you can control the menu with healthy, delicious entrees and appetizers)!
- Plan Spontaneous Activities: So much of our cultural norms revolve around food…that we easily forget how to enjoy activities without food!! Get creative during your weekends…plan a bike ride, a game of baseball with friends, a day at the beach, or attend an outdoor summer concert or fair. Being outside and away from food will keep you from snacking and munching on high-calorie items due to boredom. These activities also promote a bit of physical activity and can be a ton of fun!
- Pamper yourself a Bit: The weekends are meant to restore and relax from the hectic nature of the weekdays. Don’t forget to indulge in a little “you time” to recoup from the stresses of everyday life. Get a massage, a manicure, practice yoga and/or meditation exercises, read a novel, write in your journal, etc!
The reason we are successful on the weekdays is because we have a routine…so, in order to have a happy weigh-in Monday morning, you can’t lose sight of scheduling the important things (workouts, healthy meals, etc)…even on the weekends!! Test out some of these weight loss strategies and keep me posted on your results! Have a healthy weekend!!
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