If you’re like me, when it comes to fitness, you stay pretty focused and work hard throughout the week. My schedule is more predictable--the food I eat, when I go to sleep and when I wake up. It’s just a lot easier to stay focused on my goals. When the weekend comes, I tend to relax and not think about my fitness goals as much. I sleep in later, don’t eat as well, and drink alcohol. If I drink, it happens on the weekend, and I’m usually not as active. Here’s the thing, the weekend is 28% of the week?! It’s 35% of the week if you count a half day for Friday which is probably more accurate since most of us consider Friday afternoon and evening the weekend. Knowing that, If you’re trying to lose weight, gain muscle or attain any type of fitness goals you can’t afford to let your weekend slow you down. Here are a few tips for making your weekend a fitness advantage.
1. Continue Eating Well
Having a plan for what you’re going to eat on the weekends will be much better than deciding what to eat when you’re hungry. If you’re going to eat out, choose the restaurant and what you’re going to order well in advance of being hungry and needing to find a place. We just don’t seem to make good decisions when we’re hungry. If you’re eating at home, try not to snack as much. With my work schedule I’m not able to snack hardly at all during the week, but at home, I have a ton of food at my disposal, and it’s hard to resist. So, plan some healthy snacks, like an apple or baby carrots and hummus.
2. Drink Less Alcohol
We usually think of the weekend as a time to reward ourselves for all the hard work we’ve done throughout the week and tend to drink more as a result. Try drinking alcohol only 1 day on the weekend. If you know you’re going to go golfing and have a couple drinks on Saturday, don’t drink Friday night or Sunday. Your metabolism will thank you!
3. Stay Active!
Use the weekend to do what you’re not able to do as much of during the week. If you resistance train during the week, work on your cardio by running, hiking, biking, canoeing, ect… It’s also a great time to work on your core. At Body Basics, we implement a lot of core exercises, but it’s the one area I think we should do more of. If you’re watching TV, work on your plank time, leg lifts, and crunches. Better yet, get outside and explore beautiful Idaho!
If you implement these 3 tips, you’ll be surprised how much more quickly your goals will be reached.