Don’t let the ‘Weekend’ ruin your progress

First of all, let’s address one of the major factors resulting in many people not being able to achieve their goals when it comes to fat loss...how they define a ‘weekend’ and the lack of discipline or amount of nutritional flexibility they give themselves over this period of time. 

We’ve all heard ‘I’ll be good in the week but I’ll allow myself a treat at the weekend’ now fundamentally this shouldn’t halt progress, the issue comes when the weekend includes Friday, Saturday and Sunday. 3 days out of 7 equates to approximately 43% of the week!! Anyone who thinks they are going to make significant progress towards a goal when 43% of the week they are ‘treating’ themselves or allowing flexibility with their nutrition and lifestyle choices is going to be bitterly disappointed.

Let’s run through an example;

If I am trying to lose body fat it is essential that I work out how I can be in a negative energy balance more commonly known as a ‘calorie deficit’ 

I calculate that by eating 1500 calories per day this puts me in a 200cal deficit per day which over the course of the week that equates to 1400cal deficit and a weekly total of 10500cals.

I then decide that because I’m being strict in the week I can afford to treat myself at the weekend (Friday/Saturday/Sunday). 

I enjoy a few drinks on Friday night, I have a baked treat from a cafe, take away and bottle of wine on Saturday night. Wake up to a Sunday brunch or maybe a roast accompanied by a glass of wine on Sunday. 

My weekend calories end up looking like this;

Friday - 1800

Saturday - 2200

Sunday 1900

Now let’s add up my weekly calories and see the impact it has had on the calorie deficit I was looking for. I end up consuming 11900cals for the week so In fact, all I have done is break even and therefore haven’t made any progress for that week. 

Obviously, this doesn’t take into consideration any form of calorie expenditure but I hope it starts to paint the picture that this isn’t really going to help you take those steps towards your goal.

I’m not for a second saying that you shouldn’t have some flexibility with your nutrition, in fact, it’s important you do. But you do need to be mindful of how it will impact your goals and make allowances to fit whatever you choose to do into your diet while still making progress. 

I personally like the approach of not having a defined period of time, such as a weekend, designated day or meal when you ‘treat’ or ‘cheat’. In my opinion, this can lead to more of a binge mindset which often leads to overconsuming and blowing your deficit for the week. 

I much prefer the approach that if you come across something that you really want whenever in the week that is, allow yourself to have it but don’t waste calories on food/drink that you aren’t really bothered about and allow for that item you really wanted to ensure you don’t go over your calorie target.

This controlled consistency will ultimately lead to fantastic long-lasting results and a healthy relationship with food.