How to stay on track during the weekend

by Carla Bolstridge in Nutrition | Training

Far too often I hear many people say “I’m ok during the week, but my nutrition goes to pot at the weekend.” I am a big believer in having a balance to still enjoy some of the foods you love and engage in social events whilst on a fitness journey.

The problem for a lot of people is an all or nothing mentality.  For example they sometimes feel that if they have one piece of chocolate at the weekend they may as well throw in the towel, go on a food binge and “start again Monday.” However, the problem with doing this is that they can soon put themselves out of the caloric deficit, meaning that they end up taking in more calories than they have exerted during the week. Just as a side note, a calorie deficit is needed for weight loss.

So what can you do if you want to enjoy foodie related situations that you normally encounter at the weekend but still stay on track? Read on for my suggested tips and alternatives.

Alternative Full English

This may be one of the things that people look forward to at the weekend, as for most people there is no morning rush to get to work so a cooked breakfast is something to look forward to. It is not necessarily what goes into a Full English Breakfast that is bad, but often how it’s cooked and portion size.

Instead of slathering your bacon, sausage and eggs in oil by frying them in unnecessary amounts of oil try grilling and poaching as cooking methods instead. Avoid fried bread too, as this just soaks up all the oil making it one big calorie bomb. Try having a slice of rye or granary toast with some avocado to up your fibre intake and get in healthy fats. Another great idea is loading your plate with grilled tomatoes, mushrooms and wilted spinach and replacing thick pork sausages with chicken sausages for a leaner protein source.

Cold coffee lover?

With it being summer, fancy cold coffees are often something I see people over indulged on at the weekends. The problem is that a medium size caramel Frappuccino WITHOUT cream can have around 379 calories and 56g sugar! Yikes! That is a meal’s worth in calories in itself but people don’t really see it that way and it is soon slurped up and forgotten about.

If you really do enjoy an iced coffee as a weekend treat, then try making your own, it’s just as tasty, cheaper and much lower in calories and sugar. Simply blend ice with cooled home brewed coffee, skimmed milk, almond milk or alpro coconut milk and add a few flavour drops, such as my protein flav drops, stick in a straw and enjoy. The best thing about it (depending on what milk you choose to use) it can only be around 35 calories! Result!

Movie night in

It is amazing how many bags of store bought crisps, chocolate, biscuits and popcorn that is consume between a couple or a family whilst watching a movie. I’m pretty sure that I don’t need to point out how goal preventing this can be. However, it is not to say that you can’t enjoy a little cinema style treat whilst watching your favourite film at home. You can, just think about portion control.

Decide on two treats that you would like and buy mini or individual portion sized packets. For example, if you would like popcorn and sweets, buy an individual packet of popcorn and a mini bag of haribos and stop there. Once they have been eaten at home there are gone. Chances are if you get the bigger packs or versions, you won’t just stop at eating a few, but actually end up eating the whole bag!

Enjoy an off plan meal, just work around it

If it’s a special occasion such as a party or a meal out then sometimes just avoiding the food all together can make you a little miserable and not fully enjoy the event. There is nothing wrong in having the off plan meal every so often, just be smart with the other meals you consume in the day and don’t have an “f*ck it day, I’ll eating everything and anything”.

Instead base your other meals around vegetables and lean proteins, such as chicken and eggs. This way you are not starving yourself to over compensate for the meal you’re about to have (which can just led you into overeating majorly), you will still be getting your fibre and nutrients from the veg and the protein will keep you fuller for longer throughout the day.