[adidab44]

Just wondering if anyone has any tips for staying on track I feel like when the weekends come I splurge then come mon I've put on like 2-3 lbs probbably from eating salty foods during the weekend but it's the same cycle every week any tips on how to brake it or what helps you stay focused

[srmb60]

I'm going to get in trouble for multiple posts soon but ... somebody liked this one ....

I come to 3FC every day.
I subscribe to Oxygen magazine.
My elliptical machine is in the livingroom where I cannot disregard it.
I come to 3FC every day.
There's a resistance band right there on the sofa.
There's a pair of dumbells on the coffee table.
I come to 3FC every day.
I read at stumptuous.com
I study at exrx.com
I come to 3FC every day ... I may have mentioned that already?

[Shmead]

A plan you can't stay on is not a good plan. What do you splurge on? Is it a matter of wanting to eat more, because you are bored or hungry, or are you craving certain specific bad foods?

If you just want to eat more, I'd try cutting your weekday calories by 100 and then eating more on the weekends.

If you are craving very bad things, you need to find good things that you actually like. This takes a fair bit of trolling the grocery store with a very open mind, checking out other people's fitday links, reading recipe threads, etc. Most people are in eating ruts: we look on a menu of 100 things, and there are only 4 things that even look like food--the others aren't the type of thing we order. You've got to find new foods.

[rockinrobin]

I treat the weekends like any other day of the week. I plan them out IN ADVANCE. I don't leave my food intake to chance. Just winging it is a recipe for disaster. So I plan out each and every food item I will eat - breakfast, lunch, dinner and multiple snacks.

You can also plan out activities - to keep yourself busy.

If you want to be a health minded person, than you've got to actually BE it - 7 days a week.

What helps me to stay focused? Remembering the above line &

Remembering what I want the MOST. The food or the weight loss/good health? There has to come a point where the health is more important to you then the *foods". But by all means make sure you've got good, delicious, yummy HEALTHY foods on hand. This way you won't feel *deprived* about not eating *junk*. Though it really isn't any deprivation what so ever to pass up on junk. The deprivation comes from EATING the junk. You're depriving yourself of the very best possible you.

Another way to stay focused. You bite it you write it - no matter what. Become accountable to yourself.

Make a vow, a pledge, a promise, a commitment, a something to get through the weekend - stick to it like glue and you will feel MARVELOUS come Monday morning. You'll get that one weekend under your belt and then you will see that it IS possible (because of course it IS) and that will give you confidence for the coming weekends.

You CAN do this. You've got the ability to do it. Set the wheels in motion and MAKE it happen.

[Eliana]

I try to treat the weekends like any other day as well. I say try because I have the opposite problem of eating too little on the weekends.

I eat six meals a day, every 2-2.5 hours. Because I sleep in a bit, I have a hard time getting them all in.

But the foods I eat are not different. I eat healthy foods around the clock and I plan for any splurges. I try to keep my splurges to my evening meals because that is when I am weakest. Also, if say I splurge on a donut in the morning, it will set me up to crave more sweets for the rest of the day. I am not strong enough to resist and eat lite for the rest of the day. But if I had a bowl of ice cream in the evening and I started to crave more...I could just go to bed and let my body repair the damage while I slept.

Works for me.

[Kirjava]

I think you need to have a plan for your weekends instead of just winging it. Decide during the week what your meals and snacks will be on Saturday and Sunday and stick to it. I portion all of my meals and snacks into individual containers so I won't overindulge. If I had a big bag of pretzels, I'd keep eating until the whole bag was gone. If I have a small individual bag of pretzels, I'll eat it and then be done.

If you're eating really salty things, you might not be gaining 2-3lbs... you might be retaining 2-3lbs of water. If you drink a lot of water, you can flush it from your system and you're less likely to retain. On weekends, I keep a big mug in my bathroom. Every time I go to the bathroom, I make myself have a full mug of water. Then because I'm drinking more I'm going to the bathroom more often, and because I'm going to the bathroom more often I'm drinking more.

[stargzr]

I noticed this is a common problem, so don't feel too bad.

I changed my "official" weigh in day to Sunday. This keeps me more on track Saturday in anticipation of my weigh in and more on track on Sunday because I had a positive weigh in. I also second kirjava - it could be water if you're eating salt. I actually took her suggestion of water in the bathroom and it really works! I like the idea of planning out your weekend also. I have a bit of a problem with this myself because my husband and I tend to wing it with the plans on the weekend, but it helps to have foods portioned out so if we decide to leave I can just take it with me.

[WildThings]

Weekends are difficult. People tend to be in more situations were they are tempted by off-plan foods. On the weekends I am more likely to go out to dinner or a movie...out shopping with the dreaded food courts, and just a different schedule. Through the week, I get up at 5:30 for work. I eat breakfast usually at 6:30. I can guarantee I am not getting up at 6:30 to eat breakfast on the weekends. It's usually almost 9 before I get around to making breakfast on the weekend which I tend to skip because lunch is in just a few hours. Skipping breakfast is just setting me up to over eat later though, so I make myself eat breakfast and if that pushes my eating schedule a little later, or if breakfast and lunch are closer it's fine. I will eat lighter through the day though if I'm going out to dinner so I have a little more room but I also just plan ahead. Scope out menus etc before planning my meals for the rest of my day.