MonteCristo - I will try that. I usually do the opposite - strive for the Friday weight. Work hard and see the progress and since its always lower than Monday's, it is usually what I consider my "official" weight. Many times, if I over do it onthe weekend I will skip a Monday weigh in and go for Tuesday. (a bit of TMI here... the system gets irregular on the weekends from my change in routine, so I usually spend Monday's drinking more water and going to the bathroom to clean the colon out and flush out any water retention) No matter whether I'm maintaining, losing or gaining - Tuesday's weigh in is always less than Monday's.

When I was actively dieting several years ago, I had my official weigh in on Tuesdays. It did not leave me as discouraged. If the Monday weigh in was equal to or less than Friday, I knew I was making progress.

The trick is focusing on the food this weekend so that Monday's weigh in is equal to or less than today.

You see this is why I liked to weigh EVERY day when I was in the losing portion of my journey. There was no *escaping* the scale. I had to *own* that number each and every morning. No sticking my head in the sand. I had to face the scale each and every day, regardless of what occurred the day before. Just a way of letting myself know that what I eat has consequences. There is no way around it.

And to make sure my weekends were just as *tight* as the other days of the week, though I weighed every day, MONDAY was the day that I recorded it.

gahhh... i just had a really bad weekend... 2 servings of fries in one day! and beer! and a reuben sandwich at a bar! and ice cream cupcakes (thanks a lot, joy the baker!) so I definitely know what you mean about going off plan on weekends... for me it is the only time i get to relax, and the only time I see my boyfriend (who likes to drink, and go out, and eat). and i just had started seeing my weight move from a loooong plateau.

next weekend i'll pre-plan... i swear! really good tips by everyone!

what a friend of mine does because she struggles with weekends is.. makes her weigh in day MONDAY then she thinks "OMG i can't eat that garbage! i've gotta weigh in tomorrow!"

Lisa - I know how you feel!

Well, I made it thru the weekend. But again, the scale is just as frustrating. I know it is physically impossible to gain 5lbs in one weeked, so I know it is just water weight. But still....

So - Friday night was good. I went for a bike ride in 100 heat. Can't recall what i had for dinner - may have skipped it, as the heat was a bit much to stomach food. Maybe I just had a yogurt. We were busy around the house.

Sat am - breakfast was a low cal shake (1 cup fruit, 1/2 scoop protein powder, 1cup apple juice) and bagel thins with margarine.
Lunch was a sandwhich and a small bag of cheezits.
Dinner was the problem - off to Sweet Tomatoes for salad, small bowl of soup and the Apple crisp w/ icecream. I didn't go way overboard, but the icecream and crisp were more than I should have been allowed.

Exercise was a large amount of work around the house all day long again in 95+ temps.

Sunday, Breakfast was the same shake and bagel thins as Sat.
Lunch was 1/2 sandwhich and the same bag of cheezits. (I think they are the 120cal single serving bag).
I had a chocolate chip cookie late in the day and dinner was baked chicken (1/2 breast with cheese on top) and a corn on the and a bud light lime beer.

Exercise - again, construction work around the house in 95+ temps. (lots of lifting heavy stuff and moving things around)

So, Sunday am when I stepped on the scale after Sat's dinner - I was back to where I started on Monday (152). And today, stepped on the scale and its 1/2lb less(151.5).

This is the frustrating part. Like I said - I know its just water retention - between the icecream Sat and the beer last night - that will do it to me. But mentally, that is the hurdle to get over.