Weekenditis!

Do you have trouble staying OP over the weekends? 

You do fine during the week, perfectly, 100% OP all the way Monday through Friday....and then, it's like a 'switch' gets set ON along around Friday night sometime...into Saturday morning, and 'something happens' to your resolve and you find yourself on that slippery slope DOWNHILL again. 

Eating off plan foods, eating too much food, forgetting your water or even to get your meals in on time, maybe drinking alcoholic beverages, a few snacks here and there, etc.....

And then come Monday morning you're FURIOUS with yourself...because you KNOW what you just did.

You just NEGATED whatever progress you made during the week by "blowing it" over the weekend!


Oh yeah....I hear you....'Been there, done that!'....it's very common.  There's nothing wrong with you, you're not 'stupid' or 'weak'....you're just suffering from Weekend-itis!

Here's what I think is happening with that:

1).  We have a whole different 'schedule' over the weekends than we have during the week, most of us.  In fact, there really ISN'T a schedule, is there?  And lack of really knowing what we'll be doing, when, leads to us 'winging it'....a LOT. 
TOO MUCH.
Spontaneity can sometimes = CHAOS! 

So what do you do?  Well, for me, PLANNING is key.  Not necessarily planning what I'll be doing every second of the weekend, but I do have a general idea, so I can at least plan my meals out ahead of time. So regardless I'll be prepared. Keeping in mind, of course, that push comes to shove, I always have MF bars and/or bites or pretzels available in my purse and car's console 'just in case'.
I save my MF oatmeal cookies for the weekend because they have to be baked.  And my MF mashed potato pancakes, too. (if anyone needs these recipes send me a PM).
Those feel like 'treats' to me, yet they are still 100% OP.
Anything that takes more time to cook? I save for the weekends. I use the bars and pretzels during the week when I'm on the go, but weekends is the time when I can take more TIME with my meals, because I'm not as rushed...so I save the special stuff or the complicated stuff for then. And that's because, for me, I'm usually spending most of my weekend at home, relaxing with my DH.

If I do anything or go anywhere, I usually know ahead of time what I'll be doing. If I'll be going out to dinner, I PLAN what I'll eat before I go.  I NEVER, ever 'wing it'. That's a recipe for disaster. I'll look up the menu if the restaurant is online (and most of them are nowadays).  If I can't find anything to eat at a certain restaurant, you know what?  I will suggest an alternative. And if that doesn't work? Then maybe I just forego it!  It's not the end of the world.

My DS works in an upscale restaurant, a little place, with a world-class Chef;  but he makes 'whatever he feels like making' when my family gathers there, 9 times out of 10.  And not only is it expensive, but I only had to have ONE time have a plate of lobster ravioli put in front of me (with no substitutions allowed!) for me to say "Thanks, but no thanks"!

There's no sin in saying NO.  Again, I always use the analogy of an alcoholic.  You wouldn't EXPECT a former alcoholic to go 'out drinking', would you?  Same thing. 
I'm a food addict, so certain foods are just off limits.  PERMANENTLY. 
It's not a hardship, it's not a deprivation, it's treating my body with the respect and attention it DESERVES. And my family has come around to my way of thinking, by the way. Now they always ask to be able to order off the menu!   So I think you have to decide, on a case-by-case basis, depending on how strong you are at that point in time (have you been losing steadily? Super motivated?  Confident you can order exactly what you want and NOT be tempted?  Then go for it!  I've done this, too, ordering say, grilled salmon and spinach with a large lettuce salad and had a WONDERFUL dinner with my DH). 
After all, it's not ALL 'about' the food. It's also about just sitting in a nice place, being waited on, and spending some quality time, uninterrupted by our jobs or families or whatever, to have a nice quiet meal together and talk. THAT'S what going out to dinner is all about for me now. It's not about an excuse to binge!

But if you're feeling a little unsteady, and like Fat Brain has been screaming at you and you're afraid you'll 'use it' as an excuse to indulge, then JUST SAY NO and don't tempt yourself. Why tempt yourself unnecessarily?  I mean, obviously there are a LOT of temptations at a restaurant...like the bread and/or breadsticks, the booze, the appetizers, desserts (ugh)...ALL of it.  You have to be pretty strong in your resolve....and be with people who will SUPPORT you...to get through all that successfully. 

So if you can't do it now?  Forego it!  It's not forever.  You WILL get stronger in time, and more resolved, as you see that scale moving downward....but worse comes to worse, maybe it's best to stay home this weekend and cook your favorite L&G.  Something that maybe you really love, or something that's a lot of food.  (Pssst...anything using eggbeaters or Morningstar grillers crumbles is usually a TON of food if you're really hungry!) 
2).  We have more leisure time, let's face it. More time to use food as entertainment!  More time to sit there and 'think' about how hungry we are....or how we could 'just have a little bit of ________' (whatever food you happen to be craving) and that will 'take the edge off' and even, (yes I've been guilty of this) 'give me something to do". 
Let's face it, food was "Edutainment" for me!  For a LOT of us.  We need to separate out that mentality.
If you're into watching movies at night with your DH (like I am), maybe 'save' your MF snack for that time and have a bag of MF cheddar or ranch chips. Or have your cheese pizza bites as your evening snack (these take a long time to eat, relatively speaking).

Have plenty of water on hand and your favorite non-caloric beverages like Crystal Light and Sparkling water (for cold drinks), and herb tea (for hot soothing warm drinks).  Sip at those to get you through. And keeping your fingers busy if possible helps, too. 
I surf this website and Facebook, I do my nails, answer emails, all while conversing with DH and watching a favorite movie. If it's really a great movie I'll put everything down and just concentrate on watching....but we AVOID commercials like the PLAGUE in my house because I have a tendency to THROW things at the food commercials LOL!

You'll get through it. Look at the clock....you ate dinner at 6 pm and worse comes to worse you go to bed a little earlier....that's only a few hours...you can do it. 

And I MAKE SURE to have my last MF meal right before bed.  That way I never go to bed on an empty stomach.  When you think about it, if you eat dinner at 6 pm, 3 hours later is 9 pm, so from 9 pm on you can have your last MF meal and then go to bed! 

If I'm home alone and bored and/or stressed, I'll indulge in my favorite, a long hot bath.
Or read a great novel. Or write in my journal.  Obviously I love to write so I do it as much as possible!  If you find something you LOVE, do MORE of it.  (except eat LOL)....
3).  We attend lots of 'events'....parties, barbeques, family dinners, etc.  And it can be hard to get through those OP -- IF we don't have a plan and IF we don't prepare properly beforehand.

Again, planning and preparation are KEY.  And so is "rehearsing" in your mind's eye what you'll be doing!  It works!  You just sort of close your eyes and imagine you're sitting there, and the food pushers are passing the chips or whatever to you....imagine yourself saying 'No thank you' sweetly with a smile, and passing them ON!  Imagine yourself asking for what you need when they offer to get you a drink "I'll have a seltzer water with a lime wedge, please!"  (when someone says, "What? You're not drinking?" You smile nicely and say "No thanks, my stomach's a little upset" or "No thanks, don't feel like it" or "No thanks I'm driving".  WHATEVER WORKS.  You do NOT have to have a drink. The world won't end if you say NO.  And you do NOT have to have a piece of cake or whatever goodie everyone else is chowing down on. Imagine that goodie covered with ANTS or something. It's TOXIC.  POISON to your body.  So you stay away because YOU are smarter than Fat Brain and YOU 'drive your own bus'!!!!
4).  Fat Brain is at her loudest over the weekends, because she's got one very strong argument she can -- and does! -- use....and that is, 'It's the WEEKEND I DESERVE IT!'....LOL...oh yeah, been there, my friends, I hear her, too, sometimes (still!) and it's a very persuasive argument, depending on how stressful the week ahead was or how much work you did!  It's up to YOU to reassert yourself and tell her who's in charge.  And that's YOU, the INTELLIGENT you, not Fat Brain's leftover primitive instinct to eat everything in sight PLUS do what you 'always did'. 
(The simplest way to view Fat Brain?  She's the embodiment of your OLD HABITS.  She just wants you to give this all up and go back to doing what you did before.  She HATES changes. DESPITES change. Especially change for the BETTER!)

So OUTSMART her with a plan and preparation.  Don't even GO there with her. Don't get sucked into an argument....think of it like that game that 4-year-olds play....you know the one where they repeat everything you say to the point of driving you to distraction?  LOL....that's what Fat Brain is all about. She's THAT immature.  So don't even get sucked in....just tell her to "Sit down and shut up" and MEAN it. 

Don't think about the scale, by the way..fixate on your behavior instead..

I find that works even BETTER than the scale. Because as I've said a million times before, the scale is simply PROOF that you stayed OP and you're DOING IT, you're changing your eating habits.  But the ultimate GOAL is to change our eating habits, right? 

...How's that for a concept? .. in other words, the GOAL is what you're doing every day when you're staying OP.

So your GOAL this weekend is to STAY OP.  Just like you did during the week, you can do over the weekend with a few minor 'tweaks' here and there, allowing for the fact that you may be going out or on the road somewhere, visiting, shopping, whatever...or you may have more time home alone to 'think' about food (in which case USE that to your advantage...plan really tasty MF meals...maybe try a new L&G that just might become a new favorite!)

And remember this.  Eating off program over the weekend is going to throw you out of ketosis. Even if....listen to me here....EVEN IF YOUR CALORIES ARE LOW.
That's because without the specific, 'perfect' combination of nutrients that are in the MF meals combined with an OP L&G, ketosis is all-too-easy to fall out of. 
And what happens when we fall out of ketosis?
The weight loss STOPS.  COLD.
So that means....all the GOOD you did during the week?  Will get NEGATED by what you did over the weekend, EVEN IF you didn't eat much but what you ate wasn't totally OP.

So now...come Monday morning, what happens?

- First of all the scale won't be where you want it to be. 
- Secondly, you'll find yourself coping with HUNGER all over again...and maybe another HEADACHE...the whole bit!....because now your body has to get BACK into ketosis AGAIN! 
- Thirdly, you'll HATE yourself. Again. "You failed AGAIN".  Over and over again like a broken record. Beating your head against a brick wall.

This is a seesaw that - trust me - just isn't worth it. 
It can take 3-5 DAYS to get back into ketosis.  See the attached article on ketosis.  So....bottom line?  My best advice, if you tend to suffer from "Weekend-itis", is to:

- Make a PLANand then- STICK to it like GLUE, for at least one weekend and preferably more than one, totally 100% OP.  It won't be easy that first weekend, but just getting through it will give you an emotional, motivational 'boost' to your PRIDE that you CAN do it.  Plus you'll see the results on the scale. And THAT will spur you on to stay OP another weekend. And another....and pretty soon, you will have retrained your BRAIN to think differently over the weekends. Instead of thinking 'It's time to EAT!' your brain will just think "It's time to RELAX! which doesn't mean overeat or go off plan!"

Our brains DO learn when we keep doing what we WANT to be doing, because we're TRAINING them. And repetition COUNTS.  Every time you get it right, your brain feels 'rewarded' because you feel like a million bucks!  And that can help to make the NEXT time, just a little bit easier.

And pretty soon, 'Weekend-itis' will become a thing of the PAST!

Keep on!