5 Tips on How to Avoid Weekend Weight Gain

I have to admit: I fall into an unhealthy eating blunder on the weekend more often than I would like. Weekend weight gain!


Appies & Brunch on the Weekend


This past weekend there were a bundle of events happening and I didn't want to fall into the trap of wasting all that hard work exercising and eating lean and green to go to waste. Sometimes we can get caught in the moment of having fun with friends and family and get carried away with our food choices. I've learnt how to make minor adjustments and plan ahead. I wanted to share with you how I'm making changes to avoid the weekend weight gain.

On Saturday evening we decided we were going to have an "appy night" so I knew I had to get in more exercise than normal to counter the calories I would be taking in later on. We went for an hour hike along the lake on Friday evening and woke up early Saturday morning to fit in some tennis before the sun was too hot to handle. Knowing how much work I had just done helped me be conscious of what appetisers I chose and how many I consumed. Your appetite may increase from doing more exercise so be careful not to eat more as you actually may not need that extra food and it may just be your body craving some protein or even water.

Stay Active - Get Outside

Sunday came around and that's always a hard day to push through for me. I had brunch planned with a girlfriend and I created a plan in my head before I left. Okay.. what am I going to eat? What is a healthy choice that I will find to be delicious? This let me look at the menu in a different way when I got to the restaurant. Instead of feeling limited, I now was excited to find exactly what I had planned on eating. No last minute decisions and no stomach winning over the brain. My girl friend and I decided to split a fresh veggie eggs benedict. It had just a touch of sauce on top and was placed on a whole wheat english muffin. To go along with the one egg, we split a crisp seared ahi tuna salad - more protein and vegetables = perfect.


Being honest here: I love to have a couple drinks on the weekend (really.. who doesn't?). Well I've noticed over the last few months that if I go over my "selected amount" of drinks, well.. I can see it in the mirror and it ain't pretty! There's the bloating, puffy face and the weight around the mid section that sneaks in. So I decided I needed to take control of this nasty habit. Not eliminate completely but just take control and give it some guidelines. I've set a limit for each day and I don't allow myself to exceed it or if I do... a big warning goes off in my head reading : "Muffin Top Growing". I've also found "Skinnygirl Cocktails" and love the Lime Margarita one over ice. Fits right into my "healthy liquid" plan for the weekend.

Here are 5 tips to help you avoid weight gain over the weekends:

• Set your day off right and rev up that metabolism by eating a healthy breakfast meal full of protein and fibre. This keeps you feeling full and prevents you from grabbing for those munchies

• If you're heading out to eat and being a good girl by eating a salad or veggies: avoid creamy dressing/sugar dressing and ask for a balsamic dressing. Calories saved instantly.

• When choosing an alcoholic drink: think simple. Less ingredients and fresher the ingredients the less it will stick to the body. Try a vodka soda with a lime. Avoid those sugar blended drinks. It's a meal in a drink!

• Water, water, water - you may think you are hungry but it may just be that your body is needing some water to keep up with you on the weekend. Try to have a glass of water between each special drink you have. Frappes included!

• Stay active - you may not want to hit the gym on your weekend but find another way to exercise. Maybe even take the dog out for an extra long walk in the morning. Just don't do nothing, find something fun.

Do you have any tips to staying on top of your healthy eating lifestyle over the weekend? I would love to hear about them in the comments below or you can find me on twitter @mishy_moe and tweet me your smart tip for keeping lean through the weekend.

-Michelle