Many blokes come to the end of a long week and tend to kick back with takeaways and beers.
Maybe some of you are thinking “well I’ve been good all week so why not relax and splurge all weekend?”
Having been in this industry coaching over 30s men specifically for around 11 years, I understand I am never going to change the habits of most lad’s weekends.
I’ve never been shy to admit I love a few beers on the weekend and junk food too.
However we do need to be careful, especially if trying to lose weight, stay healthy and increase longevity that we don’t completely overdo things all weekend.
Most of us can stay in a reasonable calorie deficit or at maintenance all week and then believe that because we have been good for 5 days we can go mental all weekend.
I’m afraid it doesn’t work like that lads.
One big session on the beers and a big Dominoes pizza to feed the hangover the next day can result in putting you in a major surplus – resulting in the old, ‘start again Monday’ mentality.
I actually sat down with one client recently and we worked out he had consumed almost 10,000 calories in alcohol from Friday night to Sunday evening. That was basically his calories AND SOME just in booze from one weekend, putting him in a massive surplus without even adding in the food!
Look, you can still enjoy beers and pizza on the weekend but you need to account for those calories and ‘make the room’ for them.
Since becoming a fan of ‘flexible dieting’ around a year ago and getting better acquainted with energy in versus energy out I have felt way more capable of helping my over 30s male clients manage their weekends whilst still enjoying a social life.
2 things I tell clients
1) If going for a 3 course meal with booze on a Saturday evening, realise that you are going to basically be consuming your daily allowance in one sitting. Therefore do you really need to eat a big breakfast and lunch before going out in the evening? Why not skip brekkie, eat a light lunch and be sure to bloody well move loads throughout the day (10k steps, gym, bootcamp etc) so that you really ‘earn’ your night out.
2) If you do go out and get pissed and overeat, the next day try not to ‘sit in your own shit’. Most guys lay on the sofa feeling sorry for themselves and end up splurging on more crap. If they had just bitten the bullet, gotten hydrated, got out the house, moved in the fresh air and lowered their overall calories for the day they would have probably paid back a fair dent of the damage they had caused the day before.
Look guys, you CAN have your cake and eat it but you really need to be aware of energy balance. If you think being good Monday to Thursday means you can splurge Friday to Sunday then I’m afraid you are mistaken.
Keep Truckin
Coach Tregs
