Hi, I've just joined and want to loose at least 2 stone. I stopped smoking earlier this year which is a huge achievement for me but now i need to shift the weight that's been creeping up for the last couple of years

I have a really great routine during the week when I'm working but when it comes to the weekend my focus goes completely out of the window. I appreciate that we all need to find the will power. I have tried to start my new routine on a weekend and that doesn't seem to help either. But any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks very much

Hey, and welcome!

I find the best thing is to identify what it is that makes the weekends hard for you to stay on track. What particular things get in the way? What can you put in place to combat these things?

Hi and welcome to Social Slimmers!

Congratulations on quitting smoking!

I can completely understand where you are coming from with regards to the weekend focus, or lack thereof... as I'm sure a few other people here can also agree with!
Are you following a particular plan, or just healthy eating?

What sort of things do you end up going for? Sweet? Savoury? Bottle of wine?... Mine's usually wine and chocolates...
Depending on what you go for depends on alternatives you could have

Thank you, I'm following slimming world but also watching calories. I must say that I save all my syns for a Friday night which usually go on end of week drinks. Then I crave stodge maybe due to hangover. Then i get really cross with myself and throw it all away to start again on Monday so put everything back on having lost quite well during the week. I crave white bread but just completely loose my routine.

My partner is a labourer so he can eat whatever he likes and does generally have a really high calorie diet with loads of snacks and chocolate in the house.

I know that if I can just get through one weekend and see the changes I'm sure I would be ok. Maybe I just need to work on the self control and will power side of things and stay out of the pub!

This week I'm going to prepare I think and get a treat like smoked salmon for breakfast. We normally shop on a Sunday and I'm a sucker for bacon sandwich but don't pay attention to fat and can't help picking at the skin on a roast chicken!

Thanks for your time guys x

Sounds like you're already getting a plan together, so don't be too hard on yourself! One thing I'm always saying to people is to be kind to yourself and be patient with yourself. It doesn't happen overnight.

Have you thought about asking your partner if he could find a way to keep the snacks and chocolate out of sight so that you're not tempted? And perhaps switching to lower syn drinks? I'm a massive cider freak and I miss it a lot, but I found that it worked quite well to switch to spirits and free mixers, most of which are around the 3syn mark.

Best of luck!

Hi Kaybird, thank you for your post. I think that actually posting on here has really helped. I just seemed to be on a cycle. I shopped for different foods today and have prepared for the weekend with things that I would look forward to instead of the routine dark Rye ryvita and light cheese wedges I'm looking forward to scrambled eggs and smoked salmon or kippers! I did try to avoid bread completely but I think that may have been partly my down fall like not allowing myself so craving it evenmore. Today I bought a wholemeal 400G loaf and will use that as my b option at weekends if I want to!

I've also tried a pimms tonight with diet lemonade and although it's a bit late for a summer drink I really like it.. Better still the syns are so much lower. Being a beer drinker previously, drinking spirits would take a bit of getting used to due to volume.. With pimms I can have 50ml topped up with diet lemonade.. I tried to switch to wine and soda which was OK too.

Thank you for your advice.. Its much appreciated x

You're most welcome, and well done on already putting things in place to help yourself later on. If you find yourself getting stuck or things are feeling a little stale, you can always look through some of the SW food journals on here to get some ideas, and start one of your own if you're in need of a little extra help and support. That's what we're here for

Thats good to know. I've only just joined the site so I've lots of exploring to do! Thank you

Hi there madauntykell, best of luck to you