Having been in this game almost 11 years and been coaching over 30s men specifically for around 7 years, I understand I am never going to change the habits of most lads’ 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 over do 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 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 before 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 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) as so to really ‘earn’ your night out.
2) If you do go out and get pissed and over eat, the next day do something about it. Most lay on the sofa feeling sorry for themselves and end up splurging on more crap whereas 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 Im afraid you are mistaken.
With this knowledge you will never have to worry about ‘starting on a Monday again’
Keep Truckin
Coach Tregs
