Honestly, if I had a dollar for every Monday I woke up and gained at least one more pound than I had lost the week before I’d be a millionaire. It is amazing how many weeks and weekends can go by with the exact same behavior and the exact same unwanted result Monday morning and I still didn’t make a change.
Change is hard – but at the end of the day the only thing we can count on is that things change, but if we want something different than we have to DO something different.
Weekends became like a weekly emotional and physical trauma. I would try to eat healthy (which used to mean very little or very restricted) during the week and then eat with reckless abandon on the weekend. This rollercoaster I was on for decades was horrible for my self image, confidence, mood, my gut health, and overall well-being.
It wasn’t until I hit 40 that I knew I didn’t want to be on this particular ride anymore. I was so tired of being tired and feeling bloated and never having anything to wear.
First, I needed to figure out how to start eating normally again and implementing some sort of regular movement into my life. Once I conquered that I knew I needed to extend these habits into my weekend so that I could truly start feeling my best and reach my potential.
Now here’s the thing, you’re not going to like all of these recommendations because you’ve been staying up late, drinking all the drinks, and sleeping in but if you implement as much as you can you will like the results. Here we go:
- Stop Sleeping In! – Honestly, waking up before everyone else is even better on the weekends because you don’t have to rush people around right at 8am. Getting to bed at relatively the same time every day + getting up early will have you sleeping better, give you more energy during the day and more time for exercise. The list goes on.
- Use your Weekends to Extend Your Workout! – Choose a longer workout prioritizing moving your body on the weekends and have your body burn fat all day long! This is also a perfect time to walk with a friend. Two healthy ways to boost your happy hormones instead of using food to bring you temporary joy.
- Plan One Meal a Day to be a Big Deal Not All of Them! – You know on the weekends we roll from one ridiculous meal to the next. We have to stop doing that. Start by choosing one meal to splurge on and keep the rest tight. Make a late breakfast as a family and then be disciplined about lunch and dinner. If you’re going out to eat, choose a light breakfast and lunch. 3 overindulgent meals for 2 days will quickly undo everything you did the last 5. Sad but true.
- Limit Alcohol – This is huge because alone it adds pounds and reduces mental clarity but it usually also leads to lots of extra eating. We all have nights, occasions, vacations where we want to drink more so the days when it’s not a thing then don’t make it a thing.
We’re all about progress over perfection over here so don’t get too worked up about implementing all of these at once. It will take focus on both nutrition and movement on the weekends if you really want to see change and want to regain your energy on the weekends!
Cheers to not letting the weekend be your “weak” end 😉
