Friday – Sunday is 42% of your week!!

So, even though you can diet extremely hard from Monday – Friday you can completely cancel out all of that dieting in one sitting if you wanted over the weekend!!

See the graphic below showing how you can create a deficit from Mon – Thursday..

Overeat on Fri – Sun and then end up putting yourself into a calorie surplus for the week as a result you end up gaining fat opposed to dropping fat.

Now there are strategies we can apply like calorie cycling to counteract this if you have a very social lifestyle.

But, for today I just want to give you some simple ideas you can do to help avoid this common mistake.

Tip 1; Planning

One aspect of the weekends is we lose our usual structure.. We are not rushing out the door in the morning for work so we have more time for breakfast usually resulting in eating more for breakfast...

We also don’t have the same routine which means eating at irregular hours and potentially over-snacking…

So, to overcome this we can plan our days to suit what we are doing.

When you wake up in the morning jump onto MyFitnessPal & plan your day ahead! Log the foods you’re planning on having and a result of creating a mini-meal plan to follow for the day.

Once you plan the day, ensure you are within your calories and make an effort to prioritise protein consumption.

Then you know once you follow this day plan you have set yourself you will stay on track and not ruin your progress.

Tip 2; Alcohol & Take-Aways

Again this ties into planning…

If you know me, you know I hate the term “Cheat Meal” you will also know I don’t look at foods like good food & bad foods.

It is completely fine to have a takeaway or to have a few drinks, all you need to do is account for the calories.

Now, the issue is alcohol and takeaways are high in calories so it means sacrificing a bit during the day to have room for these foods/drinks..

So, how can we do this?

Skip breakfast, if you’re not hungry when you wake up…

At lunch leave the main carb out.

For example;

You usually have chicken in a wrap at lunch, now change to chicken and some mixed leaves saving calories by leaving out the wrap but still filling up with some mixed leaves and protein from the chicken.

Having a protein shake as a snack opposed to a higher calorie snack like a protein bar.

So, if you’re having drinks or a take away simply log it on MyFitnessPal in the morning time.

This is now going to leave you with a new calorie allowance for the day and you know once you stay within the calories you can have your drinks or take away and still adhere to your overall calorie allowance.

Tip 3; Don’t over restrict on weekdays

Part of the reason we fall apart on the weekends is that we feel like we need a break from our diet.

This is due to over restriction on weekdays. You know when you think about dieting you think “Ok, I have to give up chocolate, crisps, etc and only eat greens” then when the weekend comes around you’re like a lunatic craving every high-calorie snack imaginable!!

This is why I encourage you during the week to allow yourself to continue eating foods you actually enjoy and love.

By doing this you will prevent that feeling of “I need a break or a treat on the weekend”

Don’t over restrict yourself on the weekdays and still include foods you love daily in your diet.

All you have to do is account for the calories..

Remember we can gain fat from overeating sweet potatoes or fruit just the same as we can gain fat from overeating chocolate..

Control your portions and adhere to your calories.

Tip 4; Recovery

If you log your calories and realise you have gone over your allowance for that day, don’t panic!!

We can reclaim our deficit..

For example say you go over by 600 calories…

For the next 4 days, you can log your calories and ensure you stay an extra 150 calories below your current allowance

4 x 150 = 600

You have now reclaimed your deficit and are back on track for making progress.

These were just 3 simple little tips that you do to enjoy your weekends but help ensure you stay on track with your progress!