The workweek and weekend are those complementary parts of the week devoted to labour and rest, respectively. The legal working week (British English), or workweek (U.S. English), is the part of the seven-day week devoted to labour. In most Western countries it is Monday to Friday; the weekend is a time period including Saturday and Sunday. A weekday is any day of the working week.
Who doesn't like the weekend? To most people, a weekend means not having to go to work, visiting friends, going out to eat, spending time with the family, doing fun things. But, to someone who is working hard to stay on a healthy plan.....weekends can be pure torture.
Not going to work = less structured schedule
Visiting friends = tempted with off plan food/drinks
Going out to eat = unwelcomed fat, sodium, and can we say bread basket???
Spending time with family = see visiting friends above**
Doing fun things = again, loads of off plan foods/drinks
To top it all off, we place weekends up on a pedestal...we look forward to it all week, and treat it like a mini holiday. So when faced with all of this "rest", we think we "deserve" something special, especially when we spend all week planning our meals, cooking healthy foods, drinking gallons of water, avoiding desserts and chips like the plague. We have a piece of bread, we take a taste of the nachos, we have one drink.....next thing we know, we fall off plan. Why did we fall off plan? Well, it was the weekend (like that makes it ok).
I have been noticing a pattern with my weight loss....it seems as though I lose weight, maybe 3 or 4 pounds, then I gain those pounds, lose them again, gain them again, repeat for the past few weeks. I remain the same weight for the whole month.
Why is that?
I think I know. Actually, I know I know.
But I LOVE weekends! It can't be that? No, it is not the actual weekend, it's how I treat the weekend. When you are an emotional eater, you feel that any time you do something good, you need to reward yourself with food. When you are an emotional eater and you have a really stressful week, you need to give yourself a treat because you deserve it. When you are an emotional eater, you will find any excuse possible to find a reason why you should eat something off plan.....one piece won't hurt, we are going out with friends so I can have it this once, she made this dish just for us and it would be rude not to eat some, my friend is eating off their plan so I can to....the excuses are endless.
I seem to make those excuses easier on the weekends than during the workweek, but the possibilities are still there. This weekend.....well, I did great...to start. My in-laws were visiting for the weekend to see my daughters dance recital Saturday afternoon, but I stayed on plan all of Friday night. For Saturday, we were planning on going out to eat after the recital. I planned my meal ahead....grilled chicken salad, dressing on the side, no croutons or bread. But then, my husband ordered nachos. I had a few...telling myself that a few are ok. No big deal. I then found myself nibbling on the crust I cut off of my daughters grilled cheese sandwich. OK...not so good, I need to stop. We get home, I grab a blueberry muffin my mother had made us (they came up for the day). I ate one, then asked myself, why did I do that? I know that was not a good choice. My daughter and I ended up going to a dance recital that evening to see the older girls....I forgot to bring a bar or something on plan (different purse). Very soon, I was making one bad choice after the other....and it started with just a few nachos.
So, how am I going to change this behavior? I am sick of losing, then gaining, losing, then gaining, and it seems as if I blow it over the weekend. Well, I have a few ideas....
First, identify the problem. I know I am making some bad choices over the weekend. I used to think that I had been totally on plan, and had no idea why I was not losing weight. I wouldn't recognize the fact that even one nacho will make a difference. Admitting that you have a problem is the first step!!!! It's not easy to admit that you keep slipping, but once you see where you are having problems, you can get some solutions!
Second, forgive yourself. Yes. I have not been totally honest with myself. I have not stuck to my program. Are there consequences? Heck yea! I have not been losing the weight I want to. I have spent lots of money investing in myself with the Medifast food, and I have been blowing it by not sticking to it. It's not that the plan doesn't work....its that I am not working the plan.
OK. I know my problem is not sticking to my plan. I am not losing weight. Now what am I going to do about it?
Sounds like I need
I am doing this for me, and by not working the program, I am cheating myself.
For the next few weeks, I am going to keep myself accountable each day by blogging each day. Tomorrow, I will blog about today. Tuesday, I will blog about what I did Monday, etc. I am going to share my challenges, successes, meals, stresses, and my water count! I have some crazy things going on this week....last day of school with my students (and we are doing make your own sundaes), retirement party for a bunch of special teachers I work with, night out with the girls, and my first day of summer vacation (kind of like a great big, giant weekend....with a few work days thrown in), a wine tasting Friday night......and the day to day living with a husband and two kids!
Let's do this!!!!
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