Are you ruining your progress at the weekend?

From experience working with clients and also from my own perspective the weekend can either make or break your progress.

As much as I want my clients to treat the weekend like any normal day as well as practice ‘finding the balance’ the reality is, from experience many treat it like 2 days off, and it can blow all the good work done during the week.

If we bring Friday into it we are speaking 3 days where temptations are greater and habits can change.

That’s 43% of our week.

Here are 10 practical tips for those who struggle to achieve a balanced approach at the weekend and want to continue to see progress with their weight loss goals.

1. Ditch the takeaway for a home cooked meal that you love! Although I can’t say for certain my guesses are you are likely going to consume less calories by doing this.

2. Set a sensible limit to the units of alcohol you will consume – ask why you are drinking and can you go without ?

3. Up your steps. If you average 8-10k on a weekday push for 12-15k. Consider a long walk on at least one of the days particularly if you have more free time.

4. Make one of the days a training day. When I schedule a training session for either a Saturday or Sunday morning it encourages me to get an early night and not consume that extra glass of wine.

5. Start the day with a positive action, you are more likely to continue making positive actions throughout the day. For example having a healthy breakfast.

6. Take the opportunity to get an early night versus a long lie. Late night long lie – productivity and movement may be lower. Early night, up earlier – productivity and movement may be greater.

7. Switch off from work and social media and instead spend time with the people you love and experience real life. This may help you mentally.

8. Remind yourself each day of your goals and how important they are to you and also remind those closest to you that you require their support.

9. If you do have a calorific evening ahead of you then consider cutting back through the day a bit to compensate. Have a smaller breakfast and lunch for example.

10. Track your calories at the weekend. I have had some clients track just at the weekend vs through the week or all week. This has helped to give them some control and accountability on the days they tend to go a bit wild. Many people track Mon-Thurs pretty well, days they generally have good habits and control anyway, then take the weekend off from tracking on days they like to let loose a little. Try flipping it round and see if that helps you to make better progress across the week.

Above all these tips though, remember to regularly remind yourself of your goals, the reasons why you are wanting to achieve these goals, and how it is going to make you feel when you get there. Having this connection to your goals can be a powerful motivator.