Yes, yes it is. But it’s not quite as hard if you know the most common downfall of most dieters. And it’s definitely not as hard as feeling like you’ve got no control over your body or your health. The weekday dieter conundrum is probably the one I see most often in working with folks trying to lose weight.
Let’s break it down.
Say someone is in a 10-20% deficit, very common for fat loss (% depends on how comfortable or aggressive they are taking it).
Example I’ll use is someone that’s maintenance levels call for 2,000 calories daily to keep scale stable, they’ll enter a deficit and plan to track each day at 1,800 calories. Slight deficit, but doable and sustainable. Doesn’t leave much fudge factor so really have to keep it tight here across the week, but no problem, we got this.
Monday-Friday, they nail it. 1800 calories within say 10-50 cals in either direction, with averages working out pretty much right at 1800.
Saturday rolls around, they’ve got a date night planned, and a friend’s kid’s birthday party planned a little earlier in the day. No biggie. Extra slice of cake and a second serving of chips comes in, okay we’re okay, 500 unplanned calories but hey, it happens. Time for date night! An extra app, split dessert with hubby, NAILED THE MEAL THOUGH, another 500 cals over. After dinner…hey I’ve already gone over, an extra small glass of wine isn’t THAT bad. There’s another 200 calories.
Sunday…FOOTBALL SEASON IS HERE BABYYYYYY!!!! Start the day light knowing pizza and wings and beer will be present, and it’s football season, so we can enjoy ourselves right? We worked hard all week, we earned it. Game time hits, a few wings to kick it off, then a couple slices of pizza. 5 light beers (because trying to watch the figure), judgement is gone, another couple slices of pizza. Oops, 1300 calories more than planned this day.
Monday-Friday we were spot on, but that dang weekend sure escalated quickly. We built a 1,000 calorie deficit during the week but then went a combined 2,000 over in just the 2 days over the weekend. So not only did we erase the deficit we had accrued, we also added to it, and ended the week in a 1,000 calorie surplus.
It is SUPER common (and easy) to feel like we’re working our butts off 70% of the time, only to get 0% of the reward, sometimes even getting the opposite and actually gain.
Many people ask about help getting their diet in order and when they find out it involves tracking their intake each day, they describe it as either “too much work”, or just too intense or unnecessary. I usually compare it to a runner tracking their paces or heart rates, or a lifter tracking their weights or reps or sets. Or a responsible adult keeping tabs on their banking accounts so they know where they stand. If we’re not measuring what’s coming in, we can’t manage it, right? And definitely can’t use the data to make progress toward our goals.
Start by tracking your intake. Get a feel for what’s coming in, and get data on your side. Then slowly start adjusting as needed to get things moving how you desire. PS, I can help, just hit me up 🙂
And remember 5-2=0 in most dieting aspects, so take those weekends even more seriously than you do the weekdays, they are where most diets are won or lost!
