Have a strategy for the weekend, it’s essential to achieve great results!
When Friday comes around, it would be easy to relax your standards simply because ’its the weekend’, however, this 48 hour window equates to 29% of your overall week and what you do still matters.
If nutrition is unaccounted for and you frequently use this time to over indulge, it could be the difference between seeing the results you work hard for during the week and not.
As personal trainers we see clients work so hard for 5 days. Only for 1 or 2 days at the weekend undoing all the hard work.
Often the same nutritional habits you have set up in the week should carry over to the weekend.
Diets that are too restrictive may have an increased failure rate, a degree of flexibility is great, but too much and you risk losing sight of your goals.
Every person requires a different nutritional approach, and it would be difficult to suggest a generic nutritional rule that will work for everyone.
All that can be said is that if you’ve worked hard for 71% of the week, don’t undo the potential results by going off plan at the weekend. Keep your goal in mind!
If your nutritional approach isn’t compatible with the weekend then one of two things may need to be assessed.
- You may need to adjust your approach to be less restrictive, one that allows for and plans for eating out or a glass of wine with a friend etc.
- You may need to track the amount of calories being consumed at the weekend and, in the week and adjust. Knowing how many calories you need to hit your goal, makes things run smoother, it also can allow a degree of flexibility.
- Create a plan in advance. If you roughly know what you’re up to at the weekend then you can base your weeks calorie intake around it.
- If your eating at a restaurant check the menu beforehand and plan out your meal. If left to my own devices I will be having the highest calorie meal and dessert. When I plan, I know exactly what I’m eating and it takes the element of randomness away from the menu choices. It’s much easier to stick to a planned meal than go with impulse when your hungry or led into desert by your friends.
- If drinking, research some low calorie options, if drinking beer or lager swap pints for bottles. If wine go for smaller glasses or switch to slim line Gin and tonics.
- Alternatively, be the designated driver. This avoids any chance of drinking.
- Make plans for the day after, that way you won’t want a hangover to spoil your nice plans.
- Even better than the above point of making plans the next day, perhaps schedule to do some form of exercises, a walk, cycle or run. This will make it less likely that you drink as much the night before and you’ll expend some calories through movement, which can give you a better safety margin if you do end up over indulging.
- Smarter food choices - a typical Sunday consists of films / tv and lazing about - tendency to eat comforting snack foods with this such as ice cream, bags of chocolate etc... Rather than these, start making a point of having some healthy snacks or low calorie options ready, for when you watch a film or TV. This is called habit stacking and the more you make yourself eat better when watching movies, the more you will automatically associate films with your new healthier, low calorie routine.
- Have someone hold you accountable, often these things are easier said than done. Having someone on your side, like a partner, family member, friend or even a coach, can help problem solve and motivate you to adapt and apply these ideas to your lifestyle.
At TWPT, our trainers are dedicated to creating autonomous plans that cater for flexibility meaning that you can still include the food and drinks you enjoy without compromising the goals you have set out for.
We fully understand the importance of enjoying the weekend and we are here to help you plan your nutrition around them without you missing out on the good stuff.
To find out more or if you would like help achieving your goals contact us to speak to a TWPT Personal Trainer. Get in touch.