One of the things about weight loss is that, to truly be successful, you have to be consistent. You need to be on top of things, day in and day out. While you don’t want to beat yourself up over a single bad choice, the fact of the matter is that you need to make good choices much more often than not if you’re going to keep up with your weight loss.
An area of struggle for many folks is weekend weight gain. You get to feeling like you’ve done so well all week with your weight loss plan, and so you relax on the weekends. Soon, the weekends become something of a free-for-all, and before you know it you’re packing on the pounds every Saturday and Sunday, then struggling all week to try to lose those same two or three pounds over and over again.
Here are some things you can do to combat weekend weight gain:
- Keep stocked with healthy foods. If you don’t have food in your pantry to make a healthy meal on a Friday night, chances are you’re going to go out or to call the pizza delivery guy. Stop on the way home from work on Fridays to get loaded up on your staple healthy foods and snacks.
- Don’t save up calories. If you skip breakfast and lunch in anticipation of a night out in the evening, you’re going to face an insatiable appetite and you’re going to totally pig out at dinner. Eat your normal meals earlier in the day, and make sure you focus on counting calories as well as portion control at dinner.
- Start the weekend right. After work on Friday, take a moment to reflect on your weight loss progress for the week. This will help set the tone for the weekend, as you don’t want to spend all of next week losing those same couple of pounds.
- Keep busy and active. Avoid the temptation to lounge around in your PJs for the weekend. Go window shopping, visit a library or go somewhere else where you can spend some time (without, of course, the temptation of food).
- Get involved. Weekends are a great time to spend on volunteer projects. Join a neighborhood cleanup effort, or get involved in a home building construction project with Habitat for Humanity. Not only will you be helping others, you’ll be keeping yourself active and busy, avoiding the temptation to sit around and eat.
