Today I’m sharing some tips and tricks for staying on track with food and fitness over the weekend.
Have a plan
I find that if I have a plan for what I’ll be doing over the weekend, it really helps keeping my healthy lifestyle going during the weekend. If I know I’m going to go out with friends for a girl’s night our or a date night with my boyfriend, I can plan to splurge during those meals and try to stay on track for breakfast and lunch. I’ll eat regularly earlier in the day so that I”m not famished by the time dinner rolls around.
I like to meal plan and plan out my workouts for the week on Sundays. That way I have a plan. Knowing what I’m going to cook and when/where I’m going to workout makes all the difference when it’s Wednesday, it’s busy, and I don’t want to have to think about what I’m going to do in terms of food and workouts.
If you’re looking for some tips on meal planning, you can find a few posts I’ve written here, here, and here.
80/20 rule
I love the concept of the 80/20 rule. The idea is that you stay on track 80% of the time and live life the other 20%. I stay on track and make healthy choices most of the time, and allow myself to eat whatever I want the rest of the time. I think it’s what I do the majority of the time that matters, not the occasional splurge or skipped workout.
Giving myself permission to be imperfect makes it so much easier to stay on track. I know perfection is impossible, but it’s so easy to be hard on myself and expect myself to be perfect. Having that little bit of wiggle room makes eating healthy most of the time doable.
The 80/20 rule applies to workouts too. I’m happy if I get my workouts in 80% of the time. I know I’m going to have off days, low energy days, or days when I’m just not feeling 100% because of an injury or a bad night of sleep. Sometimes those are the days when I need to embrace rest instead of a hard workout.
Have healthy options available
If I don’t have healthy options in my kitchen, then I’m much more likely to order take out or get food delivered. It takes a lot more effort to make healthy decisions if there’s only junk food in the house.
I like to have the staples for a meal or two in the kitchen at all times. In my house that’s usually beef stroganoff and homemade hamburger helper. I keep the meat in the freezer, pasta and egg noodles in the pantry, other shelf stable ingredients in the pantry.
Make workout dates with friends
By the time the weekend rolls around I’m ready to relax and have some fun. I’m more likely to get in a workout if I’m combining it with some quality friend time. I’m also more likely to make it to the gym for a group fitness class or yoga studio if I know that someone is counting on me to show up.
I used to take weekly walks with a friend and her kids and dogs. We got to talk and catch up while being active at the same time. If you need some tips on scheduling workouts in your week, check out this post.
Self Care
I can be worn out and depleted of energy by the time Friday night arrives at the end of a long week. If I’m tired I’m much less likely to make good choices when it comes to food and workouts. Doing something good for myself puts me in a better frame of mind to make healthy decisions.
For me, that means spending some time on my own, reading, meditation, taking a quick nap, or yoga. Once I do some self care I’m re-energized and ready to live my healthiest life. If you’re interested in using the Headspace app to meditate, check out this post.
How to you stay on track and make healthy choices over the weekend?