How to Stay Consistent on the Weekends with Nutrition  

One of the most common reasons for inconsistency on the weekends is due to the fact that you have no routine. This can complicate your food choices. 

For example, you may stay up later in the evening and be tempted to snack while watching your favorite show. Or you may go out for an impromptu dinner with a friend and drink way more margaritas and chips and queso than you intended. 

To give yourself the best chance at sticking to your healthy habits over the weekend it’s important to establish a routine. This could be going to bed and waking up at the same time on weekends, it could be making arrangements to go on a walk with your friend every Saturday morning, or setting aside 30 minutes on Sunday to plan out your meals for the upcoming week.

I think it’s safe to say most of the excess calories we consume on the weekend aren’t coming from our own kitchens. According to research conducted by the USDA every additional meal or snack eaten away from home adds an average of 134 calories to your day compared to preparing the same meal or snack at home. So if you eat 3 meals or snack away from home on the weekend - you could add about 400 calories to your diet.

If you know you are going to a particular restaurant whether it be fast-food or a sit-down restaurant, it's important to review the menu ahead of time, check to see if nutrition information is available, and then pre-decide your order.

You are much more likely to stick with the choice you’ve already thought about if you considered not only what options look appealing but what foods are aligned with your nutrition goals.

If you aren’t already pre-logging your food, I’d suggest starting. While staying consistent during the week is easier because you may be  eating similar foods from day to day - weekend food choices tend to be more unpredictable. To keep yourself accountable to your goals, prioritize pre-logging what food you plan to have while dining out. 

For example, if you know you are going out for pizza that night - log what type of pizza, how many slices, and if you plan on having anything else with it (i.e. a glass of wine or a side salad). Then calculate the remaining calories/macros for your budget and decide how you want to allocate those calories for the remainder of your meals. I’ve used a variety of apps for tracking but LoseIt is my favorite. 

Tracking what you eat in advance is a great way to not only stay more cognizant of your food choices, and educate yourself about nutrition, but it’s a great way to budget your calories/macros throughout the day. In fact, it's one of the most helpful strategies for tracking your macros. 

On the topic of budgeting calories, let’s talk about how intermittent fasting (IF) can be used to your advantage on the weekends. While not everyone is a good candidate for intermittent fasting (e.g those with a history of eating disorders or those pregnant or nursing) it can be beneficial for weight-loss.

A popular approach to fasting is the 16/8 method where you fast for 16 hours and have an 8 hour window of time for eating. Most people who implement this approach eat between the hours of 12 pm to 8 pm which allows for a more active social life.

Weekends are especially convenient for fasting because many people sleep in a little later - so skipping breakfast doesn’t seem like that much of a chore. It allows them more flexibility with your food choices between lunch and dinner which is helpful if you plan to eat out. 

And if you think that IF may backfire on you and cause you to overeat during your fasting window, most research on IF disproves this. Unless you are prone to binge-eating, it’s difficult to compensate and eat more than you normally would. To learn more about time-restricted eating check out the following blog post

Maybe you ended the week by delivering a stellar presentation to your work colleagues or managed to workout every morning and avoid eating out - woohoo! While it always feels good to accomplish a personal or professional goal, don’t let it be a reason to use food as a reward. Weekends tend to be times when we let our guard down and are prone to more self-indulging activities like overeating and watching tv.

While there is nothing wrong with occasionally having a treat to celebrate your success, food shouldn’t be the ONLY way you choose to reward yourself or cope with a stressful situation.

If your health is a priority, it’s important to figure out other ways you can reward yourself that don’t involve food. Consider getting a massage, a pedicure, putting money aside for a vacation, or simply enjoying the company of a friend.

I get it. It can be tempting to want to stay-up late and binge watch your favorite Netflix series or sleep until noon - but it’s important to think through how your sleep habits impact your day's activities. 

Cutting your sleep short on the weekends may make you less inclined to do much of anything productive which means you may skip your workout or avoid going to the grocery store to restock your fridge.

That said, if you can make an effort to go to bed and wake-up at similar times as on the weekday, maintaining healthful eating and exercise habits will be much easier to maintain. 

If doing your typical 30 minutes on the treadmill or weight lifting circuit seems boring to you, take advantage of the extra free time you have on the weekend and switch things up! Try out the new spin studio that opened up near your house, try your hand pickle ball (this is similar to tennis and on my list of things to try), or grab a friend and explore some new hiking trails.

Also consider using the weekend as an opportunity to challenge yourself! I typically use the weekends to really up my step game! Since I’m not sitting at a desk all day (like during the week) I try to fit in multiple walks with my dogs and keep active running errands or cleaning the house. 

Admittedly, I love nothing more than staring down at my AppleWatch at the end of the day and seeing that I clocked in over 10,000 steps!

But it doesn’t even have to be 10,000 steps. A recent article in JAMA revealed that middle-aged adults who walked at least 7,000 steps per day on average were 50 to 70 percent less likely to die of any cause over the next decade compared to those with fewer steps.

I know we are talking about staying on track on the weekend, but chances are if you set-aside some time to plan your meals for the upcoming week you’ll reap the benefits during the weekend too! 

One of the easiest hacks to eat well all week is to batch cook a couple recipes. In other words, make leftovers! Making several servings of the same meal to eat throughout the week is not only efficient but also can be more cost-effective because you can buy the ingredients in bulk. 

If you are new to meal planning, check out my top 10 tips for successful meal planning  and be sure to download my FREE easy weekday meal plan. 

If you have the perception that eating right and moving is "work" then you are going to treat it like it is a job. In the same way, you stop working once 5 pm on a Friday hits - you are likely going to have the urge to push pause on your health goals if you are not enjoying the process. 

If your nutrition or exercise program feels extremely hard, ask yourself why?

Are you eliminating all of the foods you love on Monday through Thursday and by the time Friday rolls around are you hankering for a drink or craving a carb-overload?

Are you forcing yourself to do a 5:00 am bootcamp every morning during the week which leaves you feeling exhausted and wanting to nap the weekend away? 

If what you are doing is not sustainable, step-back and figure out what a more sustainable routine looks like. 

If you found these strategies helpful, make sure to check out my program Eat Fit for Fat Loss where I teach you everything you need to know about how to lose weight and actually keep it off! 

Thanks for being here!

Alisa Via-Reque

Registered Dietitian & Nutrition Coach