How to stay on track over the weekends
For so many of my clients, weight loss seems to be easier Monday through Friday. There is structure and routine. During the week, it is easy to be focused but once the weekend comes, routine goes out the window! Here are five ways you can stay on track over the weekends: Make a plan While Saturday and Sunday might look different from the workweek, you probably have a general routine. Maybe you don’t wake up as early but you still get up around the same time every weekend. If you’re like me, you have kids that have sports the same time each weekend too. If you take five minutes at the start of each weekend day and brainstorm your commitments, where you will be for each meal time, and available options for food, you’ll be off to a good start in making a reasonable plan for yourself. Another important part to remember is making sure you stay hydrated over the weekend so make a plan for that too. Will you carry a water bottle around with you? Will you fill multiple water bottles and stash them around the house to remind you to drink water? Remembering to stay hydrated over the weekend will help you feel your best, have more energy and prevent snacking due to faux hunger (thirst). Anticipate the unexpected Weekends are more flexible and sometimes spur of the moment changes happen. That’s OK. You can be spontaneous and still make progress towards your weight loss goal. A spontaneous trip for ice cream doesn’t mean you have to order the largest sundae with extra chocolate fudge and whipped cream. In fact, a spontaneous trip for ice cream doesn’t actually mean you have to have ice cream at all. My 90 pound weight loss definitely included ice cream but sometimes it also included just loving the joy on my kid’s faces and being present in the moment without having any ice cream. Think about the past few months, what came up over the weekend that you threw you off your weight loss game? Make a plan for how you would ideally handle that if it came up again. Chances are those same challenges will present themselves again in the future. When you mentally rehearse for them, you’ve given yourself the instructions on how you want to handle it so you are better equipped for next time. Create a back on track plan Maybe you went face down into a pepperoni pizza and didn’t come back up until it was all gone. Maybe you’re feeling like you messed it all up and so you might as well eat whatever you want for the rest of the weekend. But hold on! Getting back on track is as much of an option as throwing in the towel is. You are a human being and sometimes you are going to make choices you wish you hadn’t. That’s OK. But don’t dwell there. Create a plan for yourself that helps you get back on track quickly. For me, I love to drink a glass of water and then go for a 15-minute walk. The hydration and moving my body really help to clear my mind. Plus it is two quick wins that I can feel good about! To create your back on track plan, think of one or two things you can do no matter where you are to help get quick win and get your head back in the game. Think something new So many of my clients like to say that the weekends are just harder. But says who? Sometimes we are just committed to the idea that they are harder simply because that’s what we always believed. How could they actually be easier? On the weekends, you may not have the structure and routine of the week but you might have a lot more time to workout, make a food plan or eat more slowly and enjoy your meals. Asking yourself how the weekends can be easier opens your mind to find more evidence that it actually IS easier. Encourage yourself to find ways that losing weight is actually easier over the weekends. Be patient with yourself If weekends have been a struggle for you, please be patient with yourself. Like learning anything new, these things take time. You won’t miraculously start going through your weekends flawlessly. You might still forget to drink water, make a food plan or move your body. That’s OK. The goal is progress, not perfection. If you do one thing better than the weekend before, cheer yourself on! Yay you! Then build on that winning momentum the next weekend. When you feel like you are winning, you keep trying. When you feel like you are losing, you quit. Look for your wins. Keep trying. And eventually you will learn to stay on track over the weekends and meet your weight loss goal. Your Coach, Andrea