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Are you trying to eat healthily and exercise, only to relax your routine on the weekend and still struggle to achieve your desired goals? If so, this article is tailored just for you. While it might not seem obvious at first glance, regularly letting loose over the weekend can easily undo all the efforts you made throughout the previous week in terms of weight loss, muscle building, or improving athletic performance.
This often happens when your weekday routine is perfect, but then you slip into weekend mode with the mindset that you can afford to ease up a bit. Does this scenario sound familiar? This might be the reason why you’re stuck in a cycle without seeing results. Let’s take a closer look and learn how you can turn weekends to your advantage.
Why Do Weekends Sabotage Your Progress?
Weekends typically come hand in hand with more food, less movement, or often a complete change in your daily routine. And while there’s nothing wrong with wanting to relax and enjoy yourself on Saturdays and Sundays, it can easily backfire. Especially when weekend indulgences are unchecked, they can unpleasantly undo all the hard work you’ve put in during the week.
If this sounds like you, and weekends make you feel like throwing everything out the window and forgetting about your eating and exercise rules, it might be time to reassess whether your routine is set up correctly. A balanced and well-structured diet shouldn’t be a burden or the cause of uncontrollable cravings.
How Can Weekends Slow Down Weight Loss?
Anyone who has ever tried to lose weight knows that weekends and a calorie-restricted diet usually don’t get along. Successful weight loss requires maintaining a calorie deficit meaning you need to consistently consume fewer calories than you burn. However, if you indulge in typical weekend feasts and laze around on both Saturday and Sunday, you can easily end up in a calorie surplus. Often, this surplus is significant enough to cancel out the efforts of the entire previous week, thus slowing down weight loss.
The following graph illustrates this situation quite well.
A calorie deficit doesn’t show immediate results. Take, for example, Lucy, who wants to lose excess body fat and needs to maintain a deficit of around 1,700 kcal. Will she lose weight if she achieves this on just one day? Unfortunately, no. To notice changes in her body, she needs several successful weeks behind her. Caloric intake essentially adds up over time, and only the average intake over several days will determine whether Lucy loses weight or not. If her intake during the week mirrored the graph, body fat would stubbornly stay in place. The graph shows three successful days where the calorie deficit was maintained. However, on the other four days, her intake was higher, especially on Friday and Saturday, where it even exceeded her optimal intake for weight loss by about 1,000 kcal. After a week, Lucy’s average caloric intake surpasses her optimal level for weight loss by approximately 400 kcal. If she continued like this every week, she would maintain her weight, and successful weight loss would not occur.
If you, too, are struggling with stubborn weight that refuses to budge, this might be the stumbling block. Therefore, pay particular attention to weekends and set at least basic boundaries for your eating and exercise habits.
How Can Weekends Negatively Affect Muscle Growth?
If you’re trying to build muscle and find that weekends are hindering your progress, the issue may be an insufficient intake of protein, an incorrect overall balance of nutrients in your diet, or perhaps not following your workout plan. Additionally, weekends often come with increased alcohol consumption, which can also negatively impact muscle growth. Therefore, it’s important to consider weekends as part of your overall regimen if your goal is to effectively build muscle mass. [5]
What Can Slow Down Your Progress Over the Weekend?
There’s nothing wrong with wanting to relax and enjoy your weekend. Everyone needs it to maintain long-term mental well-being, manage stress effectively, and simply enjoy life. However, this can be achieved without letting your diet or exercise regimen get out of hand, leading you to failure—something you definitely want to avoid. What are some things that could derail your weight loss or body shaping efforts over the weekend?
1. Uncontrolled Change of Routine
Your weekends, especially if you don’t work, probably look very different from your weekdays. You engage in different activities, have a completely different schedule, and eat, move, and sleep differently. This is, of course, perfectly fine, but remember that this inconsistency can easily affect your calorie intake, metabolism, and body recovery.
For example, if you usually go to bed at 10 p.m. and exercise regularly on weekdays, it’s a significant change for your body if you suddenly stay up until 2 a.m., perhaps with a glass of wine in hand, and avoid physical activity all weekend. This can negatively impact not only weight loss or muscle growth but also overall health. That’s why it’s beneficial to maintain at least some basic consistency in your established routine.
2. Excessive Caloric Intake
One of the most pressing weekend issues is often the delicious food that tempts you from all sides. Do you also often feel that you can indulge because you’ve successfully avoided these temptations during the week? Or do you even regularly plan for rich cheat days?
A typical weekend scenario might involve more food at family gatherings, repeated visits to restaurants, enticing cafes and patisseries, or simply feasting on your home supplies. In such cases, it’s all too easy to unknowingly fall into a calorie surplus. This is also reflected in studies that have long monitored the caloric intake of their participants. [2,4]
Imagine you’re spending the weekend with friends. In the afternoon, you stop by a café, and in the evening, you head out for a burger. In such situations, it’s helpful to have at least a rough idea of how many calories you’re consuming.
Average Calorie Content in Meals
| Cappuccino | 100 kcal |
| Cheesecake | 500 kcal |
| Homemade Lemonade | 90 kcal |
| Burger with Fries | 700 kcal |
| Beer | 200 kcal |
| Total | 1,590 kcal |
As you can see in the table, just one visit to a café followed by a stop at a burger joint can easily add up to around 1,600 or more calories. For context, this amount could be the optimal daily intake for a woman with a sedentary lifestyle who is trying to lose weight. Essentially, what you consume in a few hours over the weekend could be someone’s entire daily energy intake.
A similar surprise might await you if you enjoy dinner with friends at a restaurant on Friday, grab some fast food for lunch on Saturday, and then have a barbecue in the evening. And on Sunday, there’s a family lunch followed by dessert. This way, you can easily negate the calorie deficit you worked on during the week.
Of course, this isn’t to say you should avoid burgers, pizza, or desserts. Rather, it’s a reminder that these foods can contain surprisingly large amounts of calories, and they should be eaten in moderation. You’ll do well to balance them out with sufficient physical activity, like a weekend hike or a cycling trip.
How to Avoid These Scenarios?
To sum up, it’s clear that even on weekends, it’s important to be mindful of the quantity and type of food you put on your plate. Enjoy them, but in moderation. And what if you feel an overwhelming urge to indulge in everything that’s off-limits during the week? In that case, it might be better to occasionally include small amounts of these foods in your weekday meals. It’s better to have a strip of chocolate on Tuesday, a slice of pizza on Thursday, a small bowl of ice cream on Friday, and a burger on Sunday, than to eat all these treats in one sitting.
- What should a healthy, balanced diet look like? If you want to know, don’t miss our article What is Healthy Eating and How to Learn to Eat Healthily?
- Also, check out our 8 Tips on How To Cut Down on Sugar and Eat Less Sweet Food.
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3. Increased Alcohol Consumption
You might think that one evening with friends complemented by a few drinks and glasses of wine won’t derail your journey towards your desired results. However, the opposite could be true. An evening with alcohol can easily add up to hundreds or even thousands of extra calories. In terms of energy intake, it can equate to several main meals.
For instance, a single beer (500 ml) contains roughly 200 kcal. A 200 ml glass of semi-dry white wine has around 160 kcal, while the same amount of Aperol contains about 240 kcal. These are often accompanied by various mixed drinks or sugary non-alcoholic beverages like Coca-Cola, Fanta, or juices, which are rich sources of liquid calories. When you tally up the energy intake from just one evening, you might be surprised to find it can easily reach several thousand calories. This can once again wipe out the hard-earned calorie deficit.
In addition to being calorie-dense, alcoholic beverages can hinder your progress in other ways. They can negatively impact metabolism and have been shown to disrupt the process of muscle building. [3,6]
Isn’t it a shame to let alcohol ruin your progress? Be mindful of how much you drink over the weekend and try to replace alcoholic beverages with non-alcoholic ones (and ideally, those without added sugar).
4. Lack of Physical Activity
After a tiring week, many of us long for just one thing – to hide away in bed and not emerge until Monday morning. While most of us don’t go that far, it’s not uncommon for some people to spend the entire weekend at home, passing the time watching TV, socializing with friends or family, and engaging in other relaxing activities.
Rest is, of course, extremely useful and necessary, but don’t confuse it with complete inactivity. Imagine that you exercise and go to work all week, but then spend the weekend sitting at home. This could result in burning thousands of fewer calories compared to work days. Combined with a higher energy intake, this can easily neutralize the calorie deficit you achieved during the week.
That’s why it’s a good idea to make physical activity a part of your regular weekend routine. You don’t have to push yourself to the limit at the gym or spend Sunday morning doing intense sprints. It’s enough to go for a walk, dust off your bike, or go for a swim. As a bonus, you’ll clear your mind, enjoy quality active rest, spend time with friends, and who knows, you might even discover new hobbies.
5. Insufficient and Poor-Quality Sleep
Some people look forward to sleeping in on the weekends, while others are excited about partying until dawn. If you belong to the latter group, remember that regularly neglecting sleep is one of the worst things you can do for your progress. It doesn’t matter whether you’re trying to improve your athletic performance or lose weight. Lack of sleep, for instance, increases appetite and leads to fatigue, which in turn reduces your motivation to exercise. Your body will appreciate it if you use the weekend to get enough quality sleep. [1]
If you want to know why sleep is so important and how to achieve it, read our article on How to Fall Asleep Quickly? Try These Simple Tips for Better Sleep.
How Can Weekends Improve Your Progress?
As you’ve read so far, there are several ways in which weekends can complicate your efforts to diet or maintain a healthy lifestyle. But what if you turned things around and used weekends to your advantage? These two days off can actually be a great opportunity to get closer to your desired goals. How?
1. Plan Your Weekend in Advance
It’s not necessary to plan your weekend hour by hour. However, having a basic outline of what your Saturday and Sunday will look like can be your lifeline that keeps you afloat. For example, schedule when you’ll go for a walk or when you should go to bed. Even if you plan an afternoon meet-up with friends at a café, you can look forward to your sweet treat there and easily resist a candy bar with your morning coffee or a cake after lunch. You don’t need to write your weekend routine in a diary, but you’ll appreciate having it thought out in advance.
2. Allow Yourself Rest and Recovery
While it’s usually not beneficial to spend the entire weekend on the couch in front of the TV, everyone needs a bit of lounging in moderation along with other forms of relaxation. Proper recovery plays a key role in keeping your body healthy and fit. It impacts the functionality of your joints, muscles, immune system, and even your endocrine system.
After a busy week, your body might appreciate it if you skip intense workouts and instead opt for active rest like hiking, walking, or light cycling. You can also recover in a sauna or with a massage. Of course, feel free to enjoy some couch time, but don’t spend the entire weekend there.
Want to know how to recover effectively? Check out our article 10 Tips to Best Recover Your Body After a Workout.
3. Enjoy an Active Weekend
The weekend can be a great opportunity for activities you don’t have time for during the week. Haven’t had time for walks in nature, your favorite bouldering, climbing wall, a bike trip, or a moment alone with just music and inline skates? These are all activities perfect for Saturday and Sunday. You can enjoy nature, spend time with friends, and gain new experiences. An active body also means burned calories, so you can look forward to a higher amount of energy expended.
If you’re unsure about which sport to engage in over the weekend, you can get inspiration from our article Tips for an Active Holiday: Combine Relaxation with Exercise.
How Many Calories Will You Burn in an Hour of Certain Activities?
| Walking (moderate pace) | 180 kcal |
| Bouldering | 550 kcal |
| Cycling (21 km/h) | 560 kcal |
| Inline Skating | 525 kcal |
| Swimming (recreational, breaststroke) | 371 kcal |
*Values are for an average 70 kg person.
Just as weekend feasting can significantly increase your energy intake, an active weekend can help reduce it. So, if you treat yourself to dessert after lunch and a hearty dinner at a restaurant, and end up with an extra 1000 kcal intake, exercise can help you handle it. To burn those 1000 kcal, you could go inline skating for an hour one day and then go for a bike ride the next day. Burning calories is actually quite simple. If you keep your diet within reasonable limits over the weekend and stay active, there’s no reason why you should ruin the calorie deficit achieved during the week. On the contrary, you can even support it.
4. Plan and Prepare Your Meals for the Whole Week
As the saying goes, “forewarned is forearmed.” If you’re trying to control what you eat, it’s ideal to prepare your meals in advance, commonly known as meal prepping. The weekend is the perfect time for this. If you prepare lunches for the next three days on Sunday, it will be easier to maintain a healthy diet. Planning your meals for the coming days might even motivate you to eat healthier during the weekend itself.
- If you need inspiration on what a meal-prepped menu should look like, don’t miss our article Sample Meal Plan and Meal Prep Diet for 2000 kcal.
- And if you want to know how to create such a menu step by step, check out our article Customized Meal Plan: A Complete Guide on How to Plan Your Diet by Calories and Macros.
What Does the Ideal Weekend Look Like?
If you want to regain your full mental and physical energy, rest, a bit of lounging, and good food definitely belong to the weekend. Therefore, whether you’re trying to lose weight, gain muscle, or simply live healthily, you don’t have to aim for perfect self-control. Treat yourself to what makes you happy! However, to avoid ruining the results you’ve worked so hard for, approach it with a sensible balance, even during the weekend.
A Saturday and Sunday full of fast food, sweets, alcohol, and lying on the couch won’t be healthy for you and won’t help you achieve your desired goals. Therefore, set some boundaries to prevent weekends from getting out of control. Don’t ban your favorite treats, but maybe just have a piece of chocolate, half a candy bar, or a slice of pizza instead of a full plate. You don’t need to worry about a hearty Sunday lunch at grandma’s either. But be honest with yourself – do you really need a second serving? You don’t have to strive for perfection, but it will be helpful to have an idea of how many calories are hiding in various foods and what your body can handle. If you enjoy your favorite indulgences in moderation, you’ll satisfy your cravings without significantly slowing down the progress you’re working toward. And don’t forget about exercise and physical activity. An active weekend will help keep your body in shape.
What Should You Remember?
Do you view weekends as a chance to throw your diet and exercise routine out the window and reward yourself for a tough week? It’s not the ideal approach, especially if you’re trying to lose weight or gain muscle. A weekend where you don’t set boundaries in terms of diet and exercise can seriously slow down or even ruin your progress. Overeating, drinking too much alcohol, lack of physical activity, and insufficient sleep are often the culprits. However, weekends can be used to your advantage! This is especially true if you plan them out a bit, fill them with physical activity, and engage in effective recovery.
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[1] DASHTI, H.S. et al. Short sleep duration and dietary intake: epidemiologic evidence, mechanisms, and health implications. – https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26567190/
[2] JAHNS, L. et al. Diet Quality Is Lower and Energy Intake Is Higher on Weekends Compared with Weekdays in Midlife Women: A 1-Year Cohort Study. – https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28254199/
[3] LINDTNER, C. et al. Binge Drinking Induces Whole-Body Insulin Resistance by Impairing Hypothalamic Insulin Action. – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3740748/
[4] RACETTE, S.B. et al. Influence of Weekend Lifestyle Patterns on Body Weight. – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3740215/
[5] STEINER, J.L. - LANG, C.H. Dysregulation of skeletal muscle protein metabolism by alcohol. – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4420901/
[6] YOU, M. - ARTEEL, G.E. Effect of ethanol on lipid metabolism. – https://www.journal-of-hepatology.eu/article/S0168-8278(18)32521-2/fulltext
[7] Compendium of Physical Activities. – https://pacompendium.com/
[8] FoodData Central. – https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/173757/nutrients
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