Tips for Weekend Overeaters?

I don't know about everyone else, but I tend to completely de-rail my diet efforts on the weekends. Why is it that on the weekends I think I "deserve" to not pay attention to what I eat?? I either go to a really good restaurant and order something completely delicious and try to not think about how bad it is for me, or I eat way too many snacks throughout the day (which add up to practically another full meal!).

It is really hard for me to make good choices on the weekend. And with the possibility of going out to a bar and having 2-3 alcoholic drinks, it's hard for me to save up those calories throughout the day so I can use them on alcohol. I feel too deprived and weekends should not be times of deprivation (maybe that sentiment is exactly my problem...)!!

How does everyone else cope with weekend dieting?? Do you have any tips for the rest of us Weekend Overeaters?

Thanks for the advice!

Before eating ANYTHING, always ask yourself, "Am I really hungry? Why would I eat if I'm not hungry?"

And the main thing to ask yourself, "Is it actually WORTH it?"

This works well for you..good luck with the weekends! 

 

SO the weekend is upon us, ladies!!   ( :


Do you have plans to "do it better" or "movr more?" 

Personally for me, the exercise is easy (now -- wasn;t before).  It only takes 30 minutes.  I feel better afterwards.  I feel better about my eating, even if I slip up and go out, if I have had my cardio first....  

Here;s another hint someone smart told me...    Just like you shouldn;t grocery shop hungry, don;t wait to do until you don;t want to.  Now --  you know if you have no healthy food in the house and you also know that if you go out and have no food at home, you will be forced to eat out.  SO  get the groceries on Wed or Thursday in prep of the weekends...   I buy lots of salad bags, fruits and veggies, etc, make a huge crockpot full of yummy soup, precut, marinate and refreeze bags of two person portion bags of chicken, fish, etc, so that on weekends when I lazy, I can just whip something up easy or throw it in to defrost and still look like the gourmet I am so not.  ( :

That said, I still say changing up your routine helps too...  if you usually go out to eat both days, change to only once. FInd places you like that have healthy options -- chili's  delicious chicken enchilada soup and salad --400 cals (share the chips and salad that come with it -- appetixer for everyone) or applebee's -- cajun lime tilapia or teriyaki steak and shrimp skewers (both less than 400 cals)   ( :

My bf woke up GROUCHY since I have a second snow day today and he had to go to work, so we may not be going out any time soon.  =P   BOYS -- I swear...

You'll never believe this, I actually THOUGHT of this post string last night. I went out to an amazing meal with a couple girlfriends and had a terrible-for-you dinner and wine. I woke up this morning wondering if every weekend with completely reverse all the hard work put in Monday - Friday.

Are any of you girls finding that the weekend drinks or meal sets you way back from your goals? Does anyone allow for one free day? I was reading in O Magazine about a 'cheat day' - are these types of 'breaks' niave?

I also think I had too much wine last night ( ;

Ndag, I think cheat days are essential for us to feel like we're not completely depriving ourselves.  But I'm not sure about the "day" part.  It's probably wiser to have a cheat "meal".  Since the weekends are often the only time to get together with friends and family, big meals are hard to stay away from.  And it's hard to make good choices when everyone else is completely indulging and the bad food is so accessible to you.

Friday night wasn't a complete disaster for me ~ I had a good lunch at Panera (tomato soup & half grilled cheese sandwich; not the healthiest, but it was delicious!), then went to a comedy club for my dad's birthday.  Comedy clubs are notorious for having horrible food selections, and last night was no different.  My sister and I split the veggie nachos, which were little more than tortilla chips, salsa & cheese sauce poured over the salsa.  I was SO HUNGRY by the time I started eating that I ate a LOT of the nachos.  My sister probably had 30% and I had 70% of the whole plate (which really wasn't that big).  I also had 2 long island ice teas (there was a 2-drink minimum ~ I know I could have chosen non-alcoholic drinks, but the long islands just sounded so good) and a light beer afterwards.

This morning (Saturday), I started the day with a bowl of oatmeal sweetened with honey & vanilla extract and added some ground flaxseed to it.  Pretty healthy & delicious!  So today is a new day.  I will try to make better food/drink choices today.  Maybe that should be my goal for the weekends: just make choices today that are better than yesterday's choices.

cheat days is often a hot topic on here. 

I do think that even tho I'm up on Mondays, its not as bad as having uncontrolled binging, which I had when trying to be too strict.   Tonight I'm having white potatoes, something I don't eat during the week anymore............oh I used to love my potatoes.

hey, ohio45!!!   from the walking post??   How are you, lady?  ( :

I try not to have any "planned cheating."  I try to make good choices where ever we go.  I do all my cal counting in my head nowadays, so I have to be smart about it. 

That said, I still say just move your butt more if you have a naughty meal.  This is a LIFESTYLE, not a painful, punishing, DIE-t.  You know?  Just balance everything as best you can, and now that tomorrow is another day...  I think linzylu has it right  -- make choices today that are better than yesterday's!  ( :

Here's to a great day, girls -- my kid brother is home from Iraq for the weekend!!!!!! 

Oliva77 - That is awesome, hope you enjoyed having your brother around ( :

I love the idea of linzylu's goal, I think taking it day-by-day is perfect for someone like me.

thanks, ndag!  We had a blast!  It just sucks it;s so short....  

I think I need to short and long term goals to shoot for --  I try to make a daily exercise and eating goal and then, right now, I am using our trip to LA and Vegas at the end of May as my long term goal.  Would like to be at my goal of 150 by then, but I would settle for 165 or a size 10 -- whichever comes first. 

I think it does come down to a few simple rules for me.

#1 - Don't sit around.  My wife and I work out and walk first thing in the morning.  Then we go food shopping.  (More guilt if you just worked out).  I even got a part time job on weekends to get me out of the house more.  I work out more on the weekends because I have more time and I like to see those results on Monday morning.

#2 - Plan your calories.  During the week, I have a regimented calorie intake at set times during the day.  On the weekend, that's a bit harder, but I'm still aware of how many calories I'm taking in.  I will indulge more on a weekend, but understand that it can't go past a set level.

 #3 - Set what foods you can eat.  I just don't keep crappy foods in the house.  No snack foods or "Diet Busters".  Because I do that at home, if I go out to eat on the weekend, I know that there are some types of foods I just shouldn't eat.  For example, yesterday I went out and had a Chicken Parm sandwich with a friend.  Was it healthy?  Not really, but I knew that I should only eat so much of it and maybe I should only eat a small meal later in the day.

 I don't know if this would work for others, but it works for me.  I've lost nearly 40 lbs so far since January 1st and I'm getting closer to my goal.

Dang!!!    First, good rules of thumb.  Great post. 

And second,   DANG --  40 lbs in 2 months???

I am wowed, jealous, and strangely proud all at the same time.  It took me all summer to lose 40 lbs.  sheesh

I am also impressed! Well done, I think I will definitely follow the counting a bit more strictly - especially on the weekdays for sure.

Olivia, I have the same exact goal (end of May). I feel confident but some times (like Monday mornings LOL) I get discouraged. Even the turkey burgers I made last night were higher in calories than I thought ( ;

Proteins are one of those things I struggle with -- is the cal count worth the nutrition?  You know...

Your body needs protein...   Dang it.  I make tuna burgers.  Or veggie burgers like Boca or portabello burgers....    Do you like fish at all? 

Hi all,

What I have learned to do is not to worry about what Im eating, but how much.  That means there is less I have to work off.   I went to IHOP on Sat.  Ordered what I wanted, but asked the server could they put half of it in to go containers.   As I see it, Out of sight, out of mind.  I usually bring the other half to one of my hungry teenagers, so I dont get tempted to finish the other half. 

I love IHOP.

Olivia I actually am making shrimp stir fry tonight, I love seafood but sometimes I have a hard time preparing it. A while back I did the no carb route, thats when proteins and the nutrition content became so obvious. I love love hamburgers too, which is tough cause of the 'rep' red meat has ( ;

I never had a tuna burger, it sounds awesome. Any recipes?

What do you call a one legged waitress?

IHOP

WHat do you call a cow lying in the grass?

Ground beef

What do you call a cow with epilepsy?

Beef jerky

LOL  (sorry)

I love shrimp --  I get medium, cleaned ones at Aldi's for like $3 for 2 lbs...    ( :  YUM

Ever tried buffalo or ostrich burgers?  Where do you live again?  Do you have a Trader Joe's or any kind of mass market health food store?   LOL, recipes....  Um.  I open cans of tuna, drain all the water.  Mix in a few crackers and seasonings, smush into patties.  TA-DA  -- tuna burgers.  lol   ---I am no Rachel Ray. 

Here's a link from the National Body Challenge Website that makes sense, as far as why we overeat.
http://health.discovery.com/national-body-cha llenge/poll/mood.html

Apparently I am lonely and sexually frustrated. ( Which is true! ) lol

As was said in another thread, fix the basics and the rest will fix itself!

Can you be all of them on different days?

That's scary...  

My number one way to not screw up on the weekends?  I weigh in on a public forum for the group I run, so that all 200 members as well as anyone who visits our website can see my weight every MONDAY.

Knowing that I'm weighing in Monday really helps to keep things in check over the weekend.

And it's just not as much fun to have a cheat meal on a Monday afternoon, so I stay on plan the rest of the week.

Think of it this way.  Many average restaurant meals, due to portion sizes, beverages, appetizers, etc equal between 2000-3000 calories.

So, if you're burning around 400-500 cals a day during the week working out, that ONE MEAL can wipe out an entire week of hard work.  That's one of the few things that had me going "ah-ha" during the course of my own weight loss journey this past year.   I wasn't about to lose those hours of blood, sweat and tears in the gym because I felt left out when the rest of the people at the table ordered the Mile High Mud Pie.

No thanks, I'd rather keep on truckin and save those splurges for down the road, when the effects of them won't be so devastating.

Linzy-

It is okay to go out and eat at Restaurant on weekends but make sure you don't forget to do proportion eating, meaning not overeat.  Most of us have a bad habit of overeating because when our eyes wonder and see food we liked we order them; what works for me is if I order hamburger I usually break them in half...unless I am starving then I eat the whole thing.  I save the other half for dinner and usually drink water vice soda's or alcohol.  

It's probably difficult at first to adjust but you'll get use to it if you happen to watch the calories intake you put in your body....

 

Does anyone else have issues noticing when they are full after eating??  I have trouble feeling full when I eat ~ and I know the whole saying of eating slowly because it takes your body 'this long' to feel full (I forget what the actual time frame is); but I seriously think I don't feel full like most people do. 

Ever since I was little, I always felt like I could eat more than what was on my plate and I ate a LOT as a child.  I was never overweight, but I was never thin, either, due to my eating habits.  There are certain foods that I could eat and eat and eat without feeling full: bacon, pizza, baked Doritos (just to name a few).  And when I was little, I didn't know that I should have stopped after just a few pieces ~ I didn't know that I was supposed to restrict myself ~ I knew nothing about moderation and didn't want to stop eating until I felt full (which took me a while to reach that point).  In fact, I didn't think there was any problem with eating this way until my dad mentioned I shouldn't eat so much food when we went to eat at Burger King (I was about 10 years old and ordered a regular Whopper value meal; my dad suggested I order a kids meal instead because I shouldn't be eating that much at my age).  Definitely a scarring, pivotal moment in my life!

I don't know if other people feel this way, but I'm starting to think maybe this isn't normal.  I do restrict myself from eating like a bottomless pit NOW (I eat pretty normally, in my opinion ~ about 1300-1500 calories per day), but it's really hard for me.  Some people can stop eating when they are full, but I seriously have problems noticing when I'm full when there is still food to be eaten on my plate, if I'm at a buffet, at family dinners were seconds are encouraged...  It would be nice to know if other people felt this way or not... responses welcome!

Wow, I feel like I just had a therapy session and got some things off my chest!  Thanks for reading through it all!