Weekends and Weightloss Progress
One of the biggest challenges my clients face is managing their weekends while on a fitness program.
Week after week and email after email the story is the same; they are "good" all week, eating to plan and training hard but when it comes to the weekends the wheels fall off.
I know that if many of my clients experience this then the rest of the general population is experiencing it too so here is my little bit of wisdom to help you get through it.
1: Use the weekend for your free meal and ideally use this on a Saturday night - Friday nights we are usually so pooped after a big week our defences are down and after one glass of wine and it is all over.
2: To cope with Friday night make sure you have a pre-prepared meal at home ready to heat up and also be sure to have had your afternoon snack so you don't head home famished. Eat your pre-prepared meal and brush your teeth - end of food for the night.
Remind yourself that you will be waking up Saturday morning still on track and without the guilt - know you can look forward to your free meal because you earned it.
3: Train Saturday morning. Hit the gym or head out for a run as soon as you get up - do not laze about or sleep in and eat a late breakfast because this just sets the day up for failure. Often your eating gets off track on the weekends because you have an extra coffee then you aren't hungry then by the time you do eat you are starving and eat crap food you know isn't good for you and the downward spiral begins.
When you wake up get dressed in your workout gear right away - this will help you get moving out the door.
4: Enjoy your free meal without going nuts. Have a lovely meal (not 3 courses) and a glass or 2 of wine and let that be the end of it. Enjoy the meal without guilt because you know you earned it (assuming you did) and that this is part of the plan and not a blow out.
5: Sunday morning is the same as Saturday, get up and dressed in your workout gear so you get moving and out the door.
I like having my rest day during the week so that I have the routine of training on the weekend unless I have something scheduled that means I don't get to train.
Spend some time on Sunday looking at fitness magazines or sites to be inspired and spend some time planning your week, shopping and pre-cooking as much as you can so you head into the week ahead of the game.
6: The most challenging part is being out of routine so you need to create a different routine for the weekends. A routine that keeps you moving forwards towards your goals.
You don't want to head into every Monday needing to undo the damage you did over the weekend or you will never get anywhere. It will continue to be 2 steps forwards and 1 step back.
7: You cannot out train a bad diet so it is crucial to stick to your nutrition plan over the weekend apart from your free meal.
8: Imagine yourself waking up Monday morning without the guilt of eating and drinking too much. Imagine starting your training week knowing you don't have to undo any damage and that any training you do is moving forwards not getting you back to where you started.
If you can manage your weekends well your results will come so much quicker.
Remember nothing good can ever be achieved without sacrifice and that if nothing changes nothing changes. You need to create change and live it to see a different result.
Be strong and start implementing the changes you need to make this weekend.
Week after week and email after email the story is the same; they are "good" all week, eating to plan and training hard but when it comes to the weekends the wheels fall off.
I know that if many of my clients experience this then the rest of the general population is experiencing it too so here is my little bit of wisdom to help you get through it.
1: Use the weekend for your free meal and ideally use this on a Saturday night - Friday nights we are usually so pooped after a big week our defences are down and after one glass of wine and it is all over.
2: To cope with Friday night make sure you have a pre-prepared meal at home ready to heat up and also be sure to have had your afternoon snack so you don't head home famished. Eat your pre-prepared meal and brush your teeth - end of food for the night.
Remind yourself that you will be waking up Saturday morning still on track and without the guilt - know you can look forward to your free meal because you earned it.
3: Train Saturday morning. Hit the gym or head out for a run as soon as you get up - do not laze about or sleep in and eat a late breakfast because this just sets the day up for failure. Often your eating gets off track on the weekends because you have an extra coffee then you aren't hungry then by the time you do eat you are starving and eat crap food you know isn't good for you and the downward spiral begins.
When you wake up get dressed in your workout gear right away - this will help you get moving out the door.
4: Enjoy your free meal without going nuts. Have a lovely meal (not 3 courses) and a glass or 2 of wine and let that be the end of it. Enjoy the meal without guilt because you know you earned it (assuming you did) and that this is part of the plan and not a blow out.
5: Sunday morning is the same as Saturday, get up and dressed in your workout gear so you get moving and out the door.
I like having my rest day during the week so that I have the routine of training on the weekend unless I have something scheduled that means I don't get to train.
Spend some time on Sunday looking at fitness magazines or sites to be inspired and spend some time planning your week, shopping and pre-cooking as much as you can so you head into the week ahead of the game.
6: The most challenging part is being out of routine so you need to create a different routine for the weekends. A routine that keeps you moving forwards towards your goals.
You don't want to head into every Monday needing to undo the damage you did over the weekend or you will never get anywhere. It will continue to be 2 steps forwards and 1 step back.
7: You cannot out train a bad diet so it is crucial to stick to your nutrition plan over the weekend apart from your free meal.
8: Imagine yourself waking up Monday morning without the guilt of eating and drinking too much. Imagine starting your training week knowing you don't have to undo any damage and that any training you do is moving forwards not getting you back to where you started.
If you can manage your weekends well your results will come so much quicker.
Remember nothing good can ever be achieved without sacrifice and that if nothing changes nothing changes. You need to create change and live it to see a different result.
Be strong and start implementing the changes you need to make this weekend.
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