Hi all,
Need some help/motivation!
During the week when I am at work I am so good with my food and exercise, I have a plan and stick to it! BUT during the weekends when I am out and about, with friends and family, I go completely off track! (which takes away all my good work during the week!).
I need some advice about how to stay away from temptation, and also how (and what) to eat when I am at other peoples houses or restaurants (I'm vegetarian).

Just want to hear if there is anyone else who struggles with weekends?

Yeah the weekends can definitely be tough. There are a few different strategies that people employ to help themselves through it:

1) Allow yourself one cheat meal. You can eat whatever you want as a treat but just for that one meal.

2) Indulge sensibly. If you're out at a bar with friends and they order cheese sticks, have one piece or a few bites and stop.

3) Order a healthy alternative at a restaurant. Many chains offer low calorie fare for people looking to lose weight.

4) Eat before you go out. If you are going out to dinner with family eat a light meal before, then just order a soup or side salad while you're out. Pack snacks with you in case you get hungry so when you're tempted to order popcorn at the movies you can stave off hunger pangs with carrot sticks.

5) Tough it out. Make a list of reasons you are losing weight and remind yourself when you are tempted to blow your diet.

...

I have had the most luck with number two. Hope that helps.

I try to eat in 1/2's over the weekend. For ex, for lunch if I have soup and sandwich I only eat 1/2 sandwich and 1/2 my soup then in a few hrs if I'm hungry again I'll finish what's left and I am still consuming the same amount of calories.

Maybe suggest to your friends less food driven get together over the weekend. This is hard because no matter what when you plan an event normally food is factored in, but if you could do an activity you can burn some calories. When I go out I also try to find restaurants with nice soup choices. You are vegetarian so I won't mention meats I'd also suggest doing your research about what restaurants work better for you, that way when you all decide "where do we eat" you are not sitting there with NO idea and can speak up!

I also ask myself all the time is a good really worth eating when you factor in all the exercising you have to do to burn it off. LOL I love cookies with my coffee but when they are 100 calories each and it would take me 45 min to walk 3 of those babies off I rethink my choices!

Also when you go to your friend's house to eat could you pack some of your own food...some fruit, raw veges, etc. If you contribute to what's there you'll guarantee to have something for you.

Good luck!

Thanks for the advice ladies!
It is easy not eating cheese and chocolate at home, because it is not there! But so hard staring at a plate of cheese and crackers and not eating any!
I am an Art Gallery Director so am around drinks and nibbles all the time, and tried having a small handful of almonds, only to find myself unknowingly polish off a whole wheel of Brie!
Vealcalf you are right! I need to weight up whether it is worth the amount or exercise it will take to burn off, and I bet 99% of the time it is not!
Unfortunately my friends and family are not the most supportive people. I often hear "Go on, just have one!", or "It's the weekend!", "It's a girls day, indulge!". I know they mean well, but I would rather have none than ONE!

Oh no it's tough when friends encourage over eating. I think they mean well, but they don't understand that just one misstep can be hard to recover from Friends at work like to offer me sweets, and sometimes I feel so preachy when I have to remind them I'm borderline diabetic and that my diet is what keeps it in control. Sugary things are definitely my poison!

BTW, I love Brie and YES I could eat the entire thing! It's hard to believe there are so many calories in it!

Maybe try having a heart to heart with your friends and let them know you are serious about this and while you appreciate their efforts to allow you a "break" on the weekend it's not really working for you and that you have to set those limits.

I'd definitely go to places prepared. LOL my purse has become a lunch box for me too! When I go anywhere I try to toss in an apple, protein bar, etc. to keep me on track. I try to plan ahead (all the time) and always keep these kind of foods on hand for emergencies. I find when I'm not prepared, that's when I'm lead to temptation! Hang in there!!!

Weekends are tougher - any social occasion is. The thing is that no one is going to care as much about your weight loss as you are. So, you have to be the one to decide what is more important. The food part of the social occasion or the social part. I have struggled with this. But, increasingly, I find that if I concentrate on the social part, I can realize that I don't have to have the food part to enjoy the social part.

If I am with someone who encourages me to eat more than I have planned to eat, I don't really have any problem just saying that I don't care to have any more. I don't let myself get pushed around. I don't have the calories to spare to eat what someone else wants me to eat.

When it comes to things like a plate of cheese and crackers, or even a drink, I find it is much harder to stop once I've started than it is to delay starting in on it for a while. So often in those situations, rather than hitting the cheese and crackers as soon as they are in front of me and telling myself I'll only eat one, I delay taking any for a while. Same with the bread basket on a table at a restaurant, bowl of chips, any of that sort of snacky appetizer food that looks tempting. Even if I really must have some I don't start in on it until as late as possible, so I don't need as much effort to stop myself eating more (either because the event soon moves on to the next thing or because there isn't any left.)

I use this tactic at parties and restaurants alike. It works great. Yes, it is difficult not to help yourself to a tempting tray of something in front of you. Exercising discipline is a necessary part of any weight loss plan, and the only way to get better at it is to do it. In that sense it really is a kind of exercise - the more you practice the less challenging it becomes.

I think it takes planning and practice. I joined a challenge and weigh on Monday morning. This has helped me over the weekends. I go out to dinner on friday nights with friends. I used to eat the chips and a a cheat meal. This ruined my monday weigh in. After much practice I skip the chips and researched the nutrition info and make a good choice. I never drink my calories ever. If I go some place where I don't have options I just don't go hungry and skip the food.
Last sunday we went to my mom's for dinner. She always makes sure to have something I can eat. However there was chocolate cake!!! Omg! I said to my daughter I want cake. She answered have some mom. I said no I can't tomorrow is weigh in day. That felt better than that cake would taste.

I have the same problem, kind of. But my problem isn't about the diet as much as activity. I'm a homebody, so I don't get as much movement in as during the week. I think it's about planning as well.

It honestly works so well in keeping me satisfied throughout the day! I noticed a few months back when I was on a plateau that I had gone back to eating full portion sizes and was mindlessly snacking in between. I went back to this method which encourages mini meals and started losing again. I also found it's a good trick during TOM...you know when you want to eat everything in sight! It keeps me on track and addresses my need to graze a bit Good luck, hope you find some methods that work for you! If you do be sure to share your ideas!

- shaping nz

A strategy for this is to say "thanks, I've had enough" it's a way of saying no without having to explain your weight loss plan or issues with certain foods (you can even practice saying it to yourself). It's actually a strategy from OA, I didn't invent it.

Best of luck to you

Gosh yes I have friends like that, but then they struggle with their weight too - I can tell based on what they say about their weight that it's definitely something hanging over their head, so I just shrug off the encouragement to eat whatever it is, and just tell myself that I don't want this unhappy weight hanging over my head for 8798273 more years!

I love good wine and my friends and husband always crush my efforts to be good. I've quit drinking during the week. I find crystal light lemonade kills the craving for wine because it's sour. During the weekends I'll allow myself a couple glasses but I alternate with sparkling water.