Feel like I’m going 1 step forwards 2 steps back on weekends

[Londonalf]

Hi everyone

I’m 65kg which is the heaviest I’ve ever been, ideally I’d only really like to lose 5-6kg... but I am my own worst enemy

During the week I’m really healthy, have between 1200-1400 calories per day which for my BMR is in a defecit (I’m 5 ft 6 and 28) and exercise 4-5 times, I really make progress on the weekdays.

Then comes the weekend and I will enjoy wine and when I have a glass of wine, it makes me snack and lose “care” for what I eat. Then the next day feeling groggy, I’ll eat rubbish and not think about what I’m doing to my progress.

Does anyone have any tips on how to stop eating food just because it’s in front of you? If crisps, chocolate etc are in front of me I can’t stop eating it. We are going for a family BBQ this weekend and so I can’t choose the food and make sure it is healthy but I’d love to eat enough to be satisfied and then stop... it just doesn’t seem to register with me and especially after even a glass of wine (but also without having wine).

I’m just feeling really frustrated with myself like I’m on a hamster wheel. I was doing so well until lockdown. Today broke a pair of shorts. How do I remind myself on weekends that this is the reason my progress is going in the wrong direction - 2 days ruining 5 days of work!

[vanillandhoney]

Sounds to me like wine is your trigger really - can you not cut it out for a while?

[YummyVeggie]

Don’t drink wine, I’d say

[cheezy]

I’m the same OP. I’ve gone up 4 pounds since Friday morning

[Panicatthegarden]

Are you accounting for all your calories? I use myfitnesspal and count what I eat daily. There's also a section for inputting the calories you burn from exercise but I save these to use on whichever day of the week I want. So for example if I know I want to have a wild time on the Saturday I'll do extra exercise all week and then "save" these calories burnt for Saturday's allowance.

The other thing I try and do (especially on days where I know I want a treat) is enter all my calories in the morning. So with the bbq I would guess what I would probably want to eat; 1× burger, 1 × bowl of salad, 2 × chicken drumstick ect and what I reasonably thought I might drink; 2× g&t, 1 x bottle of white wine... If there's not enough calories in my allowance to do this I will workout until there is or manage my expectations and limit the food e.g. only 1 chicken drumstick, no wine.

I find doing all this before the event means I can relax and not worry about counting calories whilst I'm out I just have to stick to roughly what I've said I will. And if you decide to change things you can always update the app, I always double check that I stuck to it the next day and make any updates. If you were under then all good and if not you can do some more exercise to balance it back out.

Lastly Sunday is always my end of the week, if I am under on calories on that day I cannot take them over to the new week and if I am up I'm not going to waste the new week stressing to "earn" them back. It also means that as long as I follow my plan I'm sticking within my weekly calories goals.

I started this maybe a month or two into lockdown and I have been loosing weight, I think I'm down around half a stone right now and got another one to go before I'm happy

[Londonalf]

It is partly wine for sure, it's hard when I don't want my social life impacted especially as it's been so impacted already this year... I can (and will) definitely cut down but i don't want to cut out.

It's not just wine being a trigger it's in general, if food is there in front of me, especially on a weekend it's like I don't register it as 'counting' if that makes sense?

[vanillandhoney]

@Londonalf

It is partly wine for sure, it's hard when I don't want my social life impacted especially as it's been so impacted already this year... I can (and will) definitely cut down but i don't want to cut out.

It's not just wine being a trigger it's in general, if food is there in front of me, especially on a weekend it's like I don't register it as 'counting' if that makes sense?

You can still have a social life without the wine, though. Cutting it out doesn't have to be permanent, but it's not the greatest thing to be drinking if you're trying to lose weight anyway, even if you don't snack afterwards.

A large glass of red wine is over 200 calories. Have 2-3 of those plus some snacks and you could easily go over 1500 cals in one evening alone. I remember watching an episode of Secret Eaters where someone's diet was great, but the amount they drank meant they couldn't lose weight.

The other answer is simply don't have the snacks in the house. Or do something to distract yourself. Easier said than done perhaps, but it's the only real way to do it. Cheat days are really bad for diets as it only takes one day of overindulgence to undo six days of hard work.

Can you buy low-cal snacks and include them in your daily allowance so you don't feel deprived?

[Gigia]

I was constantly like this but since I have stopped drinking I have lost the last 3kg I had been chasing for years. Honestly the wine just made me want to snack. It's been difficult but so worth it.

[Londonalf]

Thank you everyone, going to actively try and stick to G&Ts rather than wine, as I tend to get fed up of the taste of them after 1 or 2 and have a plan in my head before going to events.

I have used MFP but because it is really only the weekend that I'd need to I usually forget!

When I did dry January I lost 3kg too, so maybe just need to give myself a kick up the bum with drinking wine until I can get back in my shorts.