How do you handle the weekends?

I do okay during the week, but on the weekend it seems I undo all the good I did the other five days.  I'm so bummed because I had lost 3 lbs and when I weighed myself this morning I am back up 2 lbs!  I ate BAD this weekend and did zero exercise.  What makes it really hard is that I like to make a special breakfast for everyone on weekend mornings but am having trouble thinking of something that would be good/special but still healthy and not too fattening for me.  Any ideas/tips??

Thanks!

Beth

I know what you mean! Why is it that sat/sun breakfast is the fattiest meal of the day and week??? LOL.

Two weekends ago, I made a 600 cal breakfast...yikes! I did manage to stay at my weight because I do stay on track M-F, but it was dissappointing bc it still stalls the process.

Last weekend, I was smarter.  I ate around 1030/11 so I counted it as brunch. :) but I would do the same ealier in the morning too, just split my "breakfast" into 2 parts.

Eggs: Only white, about 3.  Added a little Feta cheese, Spinach and veggies. If you load the omelet with veggies, it'll keep you full longer from all the fiber.

Bagel: one half (gave the other to the bf...along with the yolks...he's much more active than myself).

Oj: measure the glass...no more than 12 oz. 

By the way: I notice I drink far LESS water over the weekend. I don't know why!>? .

Anyways: this breakfast comes to roughly 400.  I think that's super low for a saturday.

What is your target?

All I have to say is stay away from pancakes, unless you plan on using no butter and only jam and fruit (which still is high).

Hi Beth,

   You should start looking at food for energy and nourishment...not comfort. As long as you’re in the comfortable eating habit your weight loss will not improve. Now I’m no expert at weight loss or eating on the weekends. But still take your calories into consideration. For instance on your breakfast choices you could service fresh fruit, whole grain pancakes, eggs or French toast. Just look up the calories before hand and make smart choices. And you cannot deprive yourself of all good foods throughout the weekend you will just end up binging. Just eat smaller portions of the not so healthy foods. Also for your FYI I have been posting all my foods in my journals everyday, take a look at my profile. Hope this helps!

I struggle becaues hubby is home ! whilst he is at work i can contol myself very well, as soon as he is here i just cant help myself falling into the habit of eating stuff i know is wrong but because he is eating it i join in !!

Maybe you can just make the special breakfast, but either eat something else yourself or eat a smaller portion of the special breakfast.

The brunch trick also works for me. My weekend breakfasts are usually over 700 calories, but then I'm not hungry again until dinner. And I usually eat out on weekends. If you plan your weekend out ahead of time, it's not too difficult to balance out large meals.

+1 for the "brunch" concept.  I actually eat a lot less on weekends- a good filling breakfast about 10:30, then a bigger-than-weekday dinner around 5 or 6.

For the fancy breakfasts..how about some nice, pretty looking fruit salads? oatmeal with cinnamon sticks on top and fruit in it..egg white omelettes with colorful vegetables?

I'm no chef, but I'm sure there are ways to jazz up the healthy stuff so it looks and tases special for your dear ones without being too fattening for you to enjoy with them.

I use egg beaters and I get morning star sausage (I was afraid to try it because it veggie meat but its yummy) You can add ham, onion etc and make omelettes with some toast (whole wheat of course)

I tend to eat more during the weekends, just because I'm home all day.  I make sure to get a lot of exercise on the weekend to balance it out.  Even when things are pretty busy, I can usually walk at least 10 miles between Friday afternoon and Sunday night.  

I ususally make poached eggs on toast with fruit as a special breakfast, and the morning star sausages are amazing and easy.

sounds like food choices are going to take some thought? and then there is portion control. 

my strategy would be to make a list of the usual weekend breakfasts, and figure out the calories. once i have my starting place, i'd wonder about how to cut the calories. if your doing omletes, go with egg beaters or just egg white, or whatever for yours, and make everyone elses the old fashion way. if sausage is an issue, take the above replacement advice, or serve it only once a month, that makes it really special, and practice portion control. freash fruit salad is an excellent replacement for sausage the other three weeks of the month, or maybe every weekend, so you have something to fill you plate with. saute'd veggies are great with scrambled eggs. more veggies for you! look for lower cal breads, lose the butter on anything. maybe try some low cal sour cream (my new favorite thing) instead of butter. i put almond butter on my pancakes, so im getting protein with my fat. not just empty calories. there are lots of ways to make little tweeks and lower the cal content. 

and the above suggestions about getting in some exercise to create a higher deficit on the weekends is a good one, as well as brunch, or planning out lower cal but filling meals for the rest of the day. like a big salad for lunch. use balsamic vinegar rather than salad dressing to keep you calories down. lean meats for dinner. 

personally, i eat fish for breakfast. there is nothing quite as decadent as fresh halibut on saturday morning, but i realize that takes a certain kind of palate! 

best luck. you can do this. Because you want to, you can! desire for change makes all the difference in the world. 

BADLY....Thank God the week-end only lasts 2 days!!!

Well the actual food that I'm about to offer is not different from most answers on here, an omelet, but what I did to make it special is this:

It's called a ziploc omelet

We chop up all the possible toppings that you could want then each family member takes a Ziploc bag w/ their name written on it and cracks their eggs into it (I use the egg substitute) and the kids love to squish the eggs to scramble them, then each person adds whatever toppings they want into the bag.

Squeeze out all the air and seal the bag. Have a large pot of boiling water going while your filling your bags and then drop your bag into the water!

13mins cooking time for 2 eggs, 14mins for 3 eggs.  You can do about 6 bags to a pot.

When they're done, cut open the top, and let it slide out all perfect looking onto your plate.

Nothing special about the actual food, but the process is so much fun, that's what makes it special. We do these when we go camping with a bunch of people now, everyone gets their perfect eggs and no cooking dishes!

What a great idea:-)

Original Post by roylucie92:

BADLY....Thank God the week-end only lasts 2 days!!!

 I hear ya there!

Partially it's like mentally I can't get over the thought that weekends are for breaks! I ruin a week worth of deficit almost every weekend (I don't have a lot of free space to work with since I'm so close to my goal now).

 I am more likely to eat out more, or have events to attend where I'm not in charge of the food, or drink, or be on the road so I can't hit the gym. I am more likely to be polite and finish what is served to me. I am more likely to indulge in deserts.

It's the change in my typical everyday schedule that brings the biggest challenges to the weekends. All of a sudden the weekend hits and I'm cooking for two (at least) for meals I'd normally plan & eat on my own (bkfst & lunch) and that changes things!

I give myself a break on the weekends and try to work really hard during the week.  I try though, if possible, to get up really early at least one weekend day and get a good walk/hike in so that I don't feel so guilty for my eating and drinking on the weekend.  Just try to slow down when you are having those special breakfasts and enjoy the serving you have instead of filling up on lots of servings - I find if I slow down and try to savor those moments, and drink some water in between, I eat less.  Just remember why you're on this program - it's to feel better,not worse and it sounds like you're feeling worse.