The guilt, shame and damage control struggle around weekend overeating is real.
But, know that you’re not alone and that a large portion of my audience shares the same struggles. In my experience it boils down to a few factors:
1. Being too rigid with eating habits during the week. Undereating your needs intentionally or unintentionally usually results in rebounding on those habits and overeating on the weekend. Typically, the harder you stretch that rubber band, the harder it will snap back.
2. Environment change. From a nearly-empty fridge, to running errands all over town, to sleeping over at your S/O’s place – you don’t have access to the same foods that you normally do during the week.
3. Outside influence. In general, people, places and plans can all have influence over your food decisions and these variables differ from weekday to weekend.
4. Alcohol consumption. In our culture, alcohol is used as a reward – we use it to de-stress and unwind. Weekend and alcohol tend to go together and can absolutely drive overeating. Alcohol lowers inhibitions and can make you generally feel more carefree and less disciplined – suddenly your strict and structured weekday meal plan doesn’t seem to matter much after a couple of drinks.
5. Lack of structure and routine during the day. We wake up later than usual, go to bed later than usual. You might lack time sensitive obligations on the weekend because you prefer things to be fluid.
I’m not claiming that tracking macros can inherently break this cycle on it’s own, but it can be a tool to help 💥
