"My eatings habits are great Mon-Fri but go to s**t over the weekend"

My eatings habits are great Mon-Fri but go to s**t over the weekend. Any tips?

This is a story I hear over and over again and its a very relevant problem when trying to keep the momentum of a new fitness routine or work towards a body composition goal.

Here's 4 tips that might help if you are frequently blowing your progress over the weekends 

1. Plan your week

‍Don’t try to completely avoid socialising or the things you love but be pro-active in planning it and looking forward to it. Write it down on a calendar and make it visual, you’ll soon see that one or two occasions across the week is a small percentage of a much bigger picture. 

2. Identify your triggers

‍Try and be really honest with yourself here.
If you know that Friday night drinks leads to late night take aways and a Saturday full of convenience foods then you’ve got two options. Cut the behaviour off at source and reduce your alcohol intake on the Friday or be meticulous in your planning for Saturday and really exercise some will power to stick to your food plans and not reach for the take-away apps.
As soon as you know what triggers the behaviour then its a lot easier to adapt things around it.

3. 'Next meal mentality’

This concept ties into point number one. Try not to let one unhealthy meal or snack lead to a cascade of less healthy choices. If a healthy lunch goes out the window, have a healthy evening meal. Don’t let one meal lead to a steam of decisions that go against your goal. 

4. Try to avoid very restrictive ‘rules’ during the week.

Excessive restriction generally only goes one way…and thats overconsumption. If you are trying to stick to a difficult way of eating during the week this makes it more likely that you will go overboard on the weekend or feel that you have “ruined” your diet.

If you need help with your eating habits, relationship with food or body comp goals why not consider 1:1 coaching. For more information head to www.fitism.co.uk/nutrition 

Hannah