Here’s something I’ve learned after 8 years of helping people get in shape… almost all weight gain occurs on weekends.
This is the next secret to getting back on track. If you’ve been reading along, the first was the power of walking, the second was getting crunchy boxed food out of your house, the third was getting a haircut and buying new clothes to feel better.
Secret 4 is about the dangers of weekends.
People are usually active during the week (because work is always SOMEWHAT active, even if you sit you have to travel there, you have breaks etc.) but during the weekends some people are extremely inactive and have a habit of enjoying themselves in the food and drink department a bit too much
The “math” can get really out of whack on weekends, for example:
Activity drops by 500 calories
Food increases by 500-2000 calories (if you drink it can go very high)
This means you can swing to a calorie surplus of 1000-2500 calories just like *that* per *day*
1 lb of fat is 3500 calories, so you’re almost a pound up after a bad weekend day. If you do it both nights? Deadly.
How about doing it every weekend like a routine?
You can see how you can rapidly gain 5-8 lbs of body fat in a bad month.
The other thing most don’t realize is that drinking is by far the worst for gaining fat. The calories in alcohol are extremely high, only slightly behind eating pure fat. And the biggest problem is that alcohol calories provide no satiety. No feeling of fullness. So after a night of drinking, you may have cravings for a full meal! You can see how this compounds badly.
The answer is to start gaining the perspective that weekends should be rejuvenating. It should be your time to win. You do this by walking a lot, getting a nice workout in, eating good food, and drinking less.
Enjoy yourself through activity and quality. This is the only way to get ahead.
Otherwise your weekends will sink you over and over and over again.
Say “NO!” to taking big steps back during weekends from here on out!