Are you sabatoging your efforts on the weekends?

Here are some helpful tips I found from Kim Lyons (Biggest Loser trainer) on weekend eating.


I've often receive feedback from my clients who really struggle with staying on track over the weekends. One reason weekends are so difficult is because most of us fall out of our regular daily routines. People go out to eat a lot more often over the weekend, and there are often parties and other social gatherings that often times don't include the healthiest food choices. Sound familiar?

You can still have fun without sabotaging all your hard work. The key is to strike a good balance between effective, so you get good results, and enjoyable so that you'll stick with it in the long-run … and to plan this "effective/enjoyable" balance a head of time. Following are some good tips and strategies for the weekend. Keep it with you - in the car, on your fridge, in your purse - wherever you go.

1.) Keep a water bottle with you. This will serve as a good reminder to continue drinking water and will help you stay hydrated, prevent you from becoming too hungry, as well as help you resist the temptation to reach for a soda or sugar-packed beverage.

2.) Set some "weekend specific" goals that you'd like to accomplish, such as three cardio sessions for at least 30 minutes each.

3.) If you plan on being on the go, put together some healthy snacks in convenient places, such as the glove compartment of your car, your purse, or gym bag. Cut up vegetables and put them in zip lock bags. You might also put some peanut butter, cottage cheese, or humus in small containers as well.

This way you'll always have a healthy, convenient snack ready to eat whenever you start to feel hungry. This also helps to keep energy level up, your metabolism working efficiently, and will help you from getting so hungry that you lose control and make unwise food choices later in the day.

4.) Load up on vegetables first. At almost every social gathering there are vegetable trays and other veggie options. Eat a good size portion of these first before you tackle the potluck or buffet line. Unless they’re fried or drowning in dips or dressings, you simply cannot go wrong with vegetables; and if you eat these first and/or make sure they make up a large section of your plate, you'll do very well.

5.) Find someone to hold you accountable on Mondays. You are more likely to resist temptation and stay focused.

6). Also, plan ahead before going out to eat. Many people plan "cheat meals" on the weekend, and that's fine, but don't allow yourself to get carried away. Often times people use "all-or-none" thinking, meaning that if they are going to go out to eat and get a burger, they decide they might as well get extra cheese, fries, mayo, soda, etc …. when they could still enjoy the burger, but strike a healthier balance without going crazy.

Instead, ask for your burger without cheese or mayo, have soup or salad instead of fries, and have a diet soda or water to drink. And ask the waiter to bring your salad first and to go ahead and box up half of the burger. This way you'll begin getting full with the salad and the first half of the burger will be more than enough.

And whenever you feel you've "cheated," don't worry about it. Enjoy it and then get right back on track. Far too often people say, "I'll just enjoy myself now and then start over on Monday." Instead, have a "modified cheat meal" by ordering what you want, but make simple, small changes to eliminate the unnecessary unhealthy extras, and then get right back on track with your healthy, planned eating.

With the right mindset and a little extra effort and planning, you can turn weekends into an enjoyable experience, and still take steps towards achieve your goals. I know this will be a big change for many of you. You can do it!!!