Don’t Let the Weekend Derail Your Diet

Monday through Friday, you are diligent with your diet – you fill up on fruits and veggies, drink plenty of water, and power through your workouts. Then when the weekend finally comes, you shift into relaxation mode – and enter the diet danger zone, where healthy eating and exercise fall to the wayside.

One thing is clear: people eat very differently on the weekends than during the week. The less structured, more relaxed schedules are welcomed, but they can wreak havoc on your diet. Between Friday night happy hour and Sunday evening snacks, a lot of damage can be done.

Fortunately, your days off don't have to undo all your hard work during the week. Here's some advice to help you relax and enjoy the weekends while continuing to make progress toward your weight loss goals.

• Plan ahead. Don't load up your kitchen with lots of tempting, high-calorie snacks. Keep fresh fruit, vegetables, healthy dips, whole grain crackers, light popcorn, and yogurt on-hand for nutritious snacking.
• Be careful with alcohol. Alcohol is one of the top sources of extra weekend calories. Not only does alcohol contribute calories, but it lowers your inhibitions, making it harder to resist big portions of high calorie foods. Try to limit yourself to one or two drinks per night, and stick to wine and light beer; both of these have fewer calories – about 100 – per serving than mixed drinks, which can have as many as 400 calories depending on your drink of choice.
• Use the 80/20 Rule: 80% of the time, stick to a healthy routine; the other 20% of the time you can indulge just a little. Basically to follow this strategy, you stick to a healthy diet and get to the gym daily during the week, so that when the weekend comes, you can splurge a little. Now, this doesn’t mean going all out and eating 3 giant cinnamon rolls smothered in frosting for breakfast; it means enjoying some of the calories you've saved during the week, maybe in the form of a cocktail or a small piece of your favorite dessert.
• Eat Breakfast. People who eat a healthy breakfast take in less overall calories than those who skip breakfast. Start your day with a breakfast full of fiber and protein. Try a bowl of whole grain cereal topped with fresh fruit, and skim milk. Or maybe you could have eggs, lean ham, fruit salad, and whole-grain toast.
• Stay busy. Avoid vegging out on the couch for hours on end. Stay busy with healthy activities that you enjoy and keep you moving; try a new workout, get outdoors and take a walk, or just run a few errands that get you out of the house - giving you less of a chance to just sit home and eat.
• Be careful with shopping trips. Eat a healthy lunch or snack before you go shopping. If you go hungry, you are much more likely to give in to the temptation of unhealthy foods at the food court, at the grocery store, etc. You can even take a healthy snack with you, so if you get hungry while out and about, you’re not limited to giant pretzels, candy bars, or ice cream.
• Tame the snack factor. Planned healthy snacks are fine (and can actually keep your hunger in check), but unintentional "because it's there" samplings will add up very quickly. Think about it: grabbing a few extra handfuls of chips can add up to a few hundred calories just like that.
• Enjoy your lazy Sunday…but work in some sort of activity. Find one hour on Sunday when you can do something physical, whether it’s walking the dog, going to the gym, or playing the WiiFit with your kids.
• Make a healthy Sunday evening dinner that can last all week. Sunday night is a good time to make a huge, healthy meal. Not only will you end your weekend on a good note, but by keeping leftovers you will be giving yourself something healthy to grab during the week. Just freeze individual portions for microwavable lunches or dinners all week.
• Give yourself a small treat or two during the week. Any diet that leaves you feeling deprived will ultimately fail. Enjoy a small piece of dark chocolate or one scoop of ice cream during the week.