Surviving the Weekend- Keeping your Health and Nutrition in Check

Most people do great with the training and nutrition Monday-Thursday and maybe until lunch time on Friday. As humans, we crave structure and for most adults our job gives us the structure we need through the week to create a schedule around eating and exercise. Making adjustments Monday through Thursday will be beneficial for a while, but mastering our weekend habits will be like fuel to a fire. Saturday and Sunday make up 29% of our week which makes it difficult to make significant changes when we’re only 70% in line with our goals. The great benefit to creating a weekend plan that works us individually is we can create it as flexible as we want or need. If we feel the need to completely let loose in every regard on the weekend, we might need to examine our lifestyle during the week from a larger view to see if there are some on going lifestyle changes that need to happen. The weekend is designed to be a time for relaxation and connection not escape. Here are some work arounds that can help us build a successful weekend and drive our progress instead of feeling like starting over every Monday. 

1- Plan an Active Outing. The weekend has become a great time for me to connect with friends by Mountain Biking or getting quality alone time with my wife by going on a longer hike. Both of these have looser time frames on them than when they’re done during the week. The longer duration gives me a larger chunk of exercise and connection time with people that are important to me. If you find you have a responsibility free weekend, try going somewhere special a little further away. For us this could be hiking at Hocking Hills or somewhere we don’t get to go very often. These events will also encourage us to stack other healthy habits like hydration, proper nutrition before and after the event. 

2- Front Load your Nutrition. If I know we’re going to a special restaurant or a sporting event in the evening where I’ll likely indulge in unhealthier items I will choose one of two approaches leading up to it. 

1- Protein load meals. I’ll try to hit a majority of my protein goals for the day before we leave using lower fat protein options. This will help keep me fuller, have energy, and pick less of the junk food later. 

2- Small Fast. This just involves moving my first meal back a few hours to eliminate one meal that day and getting the calories closer to the event. Instead of eating breakfast at 8am, I might wait until 12pm to eat. 

With both of these approaches make sure to eat things like vegetables and fruits. 

3- Hydrate. Many people will forget to hydrate on the weekends because we simply are off routine. And in alcohol and it’s a plan to really throw us off. Think about one glass of water upon waking, one glass with each meal, one between each meal. If consuming alcohol have one water between drinks. Aim for at least 1/2 of your bodyweight in ounces of water. 

4- Limit the “Weekend Only” Mindset. Like everything else, moderation is the key. We can go off the plan to enjoy some things some of the time, but when it becomes more frequent than sticking to the plan we have an issue. Use your weekend to connect and also reflect on what’s working and what isn’t working for you. Planning times during our week where we can have little snacks can help us avoid going overboard on the weekend. 

5- Keep 80% Routine. One of the best decisions I made for myself was to keep the same bed time schedule every day of the week including Friday and Saturday night. This helped my body create a better schedule and improve sleep quality. This helps us keep a regular appetite and energy level as well. We don’t have to be a slave to our routine, but we should understand that staying as close to routine as possible helps it become more fluid and less like an uphill battle when the alarm hits on Monday morning. 

If you struggle with the weekends, you’re not alone. Begin to use the weekend as a chance to check in with yourself instead of a chance to get a week of things scheduled. Free time is a blessing and shouldn’t add stress to your health and fitness goals. If you need help with creating some structure in your weekend to achieve your health and fitness goals, our coaches can help. An outside view can give an unbiased opinion and help to find easy spots to create positive moments. 

‍