Do you find yourself able to stick with a healthy routine during your workweek, but then you lose control on the weekends?
This is incredibly common. Sometimes when we relax, enjoy the company of friends, or want to escape the overwhelm of the week, we become distracted and unaware of the foods we consume. We also tell ourselves it is okay to be inactive.
Therefore on the weekends, we may eat out, zone out, and hide from our goals. But guess what? If we don’t make habit changes on the weekends, we miss making changes in our life 30% of the time.
I used to rebel against weekend structure, and I’d go into work Monday wishing I’d have a few more days off. But now I start Monday refreshed. Below, I’m sharing exactly how I “hacked” my weekend.
First, I created new habits, which led to new behaviors, and now I’ve grown into a new version of myself. This version of me enjoys her weekends, doesn’t mindlessly eat, and plans for active fun and healthy food.
✔On Friday nights, when I want to relax and not worry about cooking or doing dishes, I order from the healthy local take-out place. Of course, my family still orders pizza, but I get a yummy meal that feels nourishing, and I still get to relax, which is what I want on a Friday night.
✔Plan out trips. If I take my girls out to the park or to an activity, I bag up fruit and vegetables and keep them in a lunch box. I also always make sure we have plenty of water when we travel.
✔Plan out what I eat at birthday parties or events. As a mom, I attend the weekend birthday party quite frequently. However, the pizza and cake slices aren’t my favorite foods and aren’t nourishing for my body. So I will usually plan to eat a meal before I attend the event, choose to fast for that meal, or build my plate with whatever whole-food options are available, such as salads, fruits, or veggies.
✔I keep the entire family active. Rather than sitting in and watching TV or browsing my phone, I make sure we keep parts of our weekend active. There’s so much to do in or near Orlando, like hiking, kayaking or swimming at the beach. My family will also wash our cars or do yard work together too!
