Surviving the Weekend

I intentionally have my weekly weigh-ins scheduled for Monday.  Why?  I don't want the weekend to be a reason to slack off.  If I don't have to be completely accountable for what I eat on the weekend, it's much easier to cheat and end up undoing the good I did during the week.  So here's some ideas for how to make it through the weekend without overeating:

--If you're going to be out and about, pack a snack so you're not tempted to stop for fast food.  When I went shopping this morning, knowing that the trip could stretch into the lunch hour, I packed a water bottle, string cheese and grapes.

--Find healthy versions of the foods you like.  Pinterest is a great place to search for healthy recipes.  I found a few good ones that I'll share here.  This one for nachos looks fabulous!  This is a whole article dedicated to healthy pizza options.  Check out this alternative for buffalo wings.  I've made the buffalo chicken balls with ground turkey before.  Quite tasty--and definitely worth spending a little more for a quality bleu cheese dressing.  Get creative!

--If you're more of a sweet tooth, check out the variety of low fat ice creams and even baking mixes. These are not the best options for something to eat all the time, as many of them have an array of unnatural ingredients in them, but they are good to use to help keep you from binge eating that tub of ice cream you forgot to get rid of before you started the Challenge.  One of my favorite dessert treats is a chilled banana with a tablespoon of peanut butter, a few mini chocolate chips, and a big dollop of light whipped cream.  It still has a decent amount of calories, but it's far better than eating a big bowl of ice cream--and it's fruit!

--If you're headed out to a party where you know you'll be tempted, snack on something healthy before hand so you're not starving when you get there.  Most hosts put out veggie or fruit trays.  Fill your plate mostly with those, but don't be afraid to try a bit of the other stuff.  Remember:  sometimes it's more about controlling our portions than completely avoiding unhealthy foods altogether.  Total deprivation is enough to drive you insane--and right back to eating like you were before.

Hope you're all having a great day!  Remember, this is all one day at a time.  We can do it!

If you have good tips for how you survive food temptations, share them here or on our Facebook page!