Yes people…WEEKEND CALORIES COUNT!!!
We see this all the time and we can’t stress enough how important consistency is.
Graphic explained:
Jenny has come to us complaining that she is “eating 1500 calories but not losing weight” – something we hear ALL the time.
So we go ahead and calculate her total energy expenditure and discover that she expends 2000 calories per day – great!
In order to lose weight, she needs to be eating less than that (this is known as a calorie deficit). The greater the deficit, the greater the fat loss (but beware, the greater the deficit, the harder it is to sustain!). We then ask Jenny to track her calories…INCLUDING THE WEEKEND!
She achieves a 500 calorie deficit from Monday to Thursday but consuming 1500 calories, which is great!
However, the weekend is approaching (cue Jaws music).
She goes out for Friday night work drinks and that bumps her up to 2000 calories for the day. Then Saturday and Sunday roll by and being the social butterfly that she is, her calories get bumped up to 3000 calories for both days. This is NOT hard to do. All it takes is a few meals out and a few liquid calories and before you know it, you’ve consumed 3000+ calories!
When we average out her calories consumed over the WHOLE week (not just Monday to Thursday), we discover that she is NOT in a calorie deficit at all. She is consuming AS MANY calories as she expends resulting in a 0 calorie deficit. There is no wonder she is not losing weight.
Moral of the story…WEEKEND CALORIES COUNT!!! Track ALL your calories, not just the ones you are proud of.