Tips
for a Healthy Weekend
Keep
the Week's Momentum Going
- By Elizabeth Evans
Fryer, Health & Fitness Writer
Keep it up. Your healthy
habits, that is.
We all tend to relax
– or be lax – on weekends; that’s what they’re for,
right? But loosening our grips on a healthy lifestyle,
even just for the weekend, can sabotage our efforts
to reach health and fitness goals.
Recent studies indicate
that we tend to take in more calories on Fridays,
Saturdays and Sundays. The exact number varies from
an average of 85 calories per weekend day to 115,
and while that may not seem like much, it adds up.
A pound is 3,500 calories, so 345 extra calories
a week will lead to nearly a pound after 10 weeks
— or an extra five pounds over a year.
You may think, "So
I eat a little more on Saturday night, I’ll exercise
that off on Sunday." Sunday arrives, yet you
find excuses not to exercise.
And it doesn’t stop
with fitness. While it’s easy to drink the recommended
eight glasses of water a day when you have a water
bottle sitting on your desk at work, where you’re
stuck for half your waking hours, weekends are different.
You’re watching your kids’ soccer games or shopping
or doing yard work or visiting the craft booths
at the local art fair. Carrying a water bottle with
you everywhere you go just doesn’t seem feasible.
Keep your eye on the
prize: a healthier you. Be conscious of what you
eat during the weekends, stick to your healthy lifestyle
of eating right and exercising just like you do
during the week. If you need to reward yourself
for the hard work (or the diligence you’ve kept
to your diet) through the
week, see a movie or get a massage. DON’T get the
cheesy fries appetizer or order an extra margarita
– the study mentioned in the third paragraph shows
that the additional weekend calories come from fat
and alcohol.
On weekends, give yourself
a break, but make it a healthy one.
