We all love the weekend: no alarm jolting us out of bed, long leisurely mornings, quality time to read and spend with loved ones. We’re so busy counting down the days to the weekend that once it arrives, we don’t realize it could be sabotaging our health goals. I often see people so focused on improving their eating habits during the week, that they fail to recognize how two seemingly innocent weekend days can affect their progress. So today, I am sharing 3 weekend eating faux pas that may be derailing your health goals and how to get back on track.

When every weekend is a long weekend

A calendar will define the weekend as Saturday and Sunday. But for some, the weekend starts as early as friday at noon, when you join office colleagues for a celebratory lunch, cocktail party, happy hour or as we Montrealers like to call them, “5 à 7”.  Why does this matter? This can be problematic for the person who approaches his weekend eating habits with the mantra “It’s the weekend, it doesn’t count”. Because I assure you, it does. In fact, if you are long-weekend prone, this means that there are 8 meals separating you from Monday morning, when you plan to “get back on track”.  This leaves plenty of time to undo a week’s worth of healthful habits, especially when all of these meals are celebratory.

Get back on track:  Redefine your weekend as Saturday & Sunday and keep to your healthy habits 90% of the time. And when you enjoy your weekend indulgence, don’t wait until Monday to get back on track. Instead, get back on track at your next meal.

Loss of routine

You wake up late, breakfast turns into brunch, supper turns into a 9 o’clock reservation and before you know it, you’ve been too busy running errands to notice that you haven’t had a bite all day. This happens. But your body handles meal-merging and snack-skipping on the weekend, just as it would any day of the week; badly. Staying hours without eating and ignoring hunger cues will only leave you famished and more likely to overeat at your next meal.

Get back on track: If 3 meals and 2 snacks are what it takes to control your appetite during the week, then mirror this routine on the weekend, too. Keep your eating frequency sharp at every 3-4 hours, to curb hunger between meals. On the run?  Always carry water and fruit, nuts or a good granola bar with you on your errands.

Alcohol

To reduce long-term health risks, Canada’s low-risk alcohol drinking guidelines are set at 10 drinks per week for women and 15 drinks per week for men. What is one drink?

• 341 ml/12 oz of beer (5% alcohol content)
• 142 ml/5 oz glass of wine (12% alcohol content)
• 43 ml/1.5 oz of distilled alcohol (40% alcohol content)

But what happens if you haven’t had a drink all week? Is it safe to save-up for the weekend? Unfortunately, it isn’t. The guideline also states that women should have no more than 1-2 drinks per day and men no more than 2-3 drinks per day. So alcohol accumulation is a definite faux pas.

Are you guilty of any of these weekend faux pas? What are your plans for the upcoming weekend?

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