Junk foods and high calorie drinks can easily derail your healthy lifestyle efforts on a weekend making you feel regretful, lethargic and unmotivated on a Monday morning.

Sometimes it can take two or three days to undo the negative effects a weekend binge can have on your mind and body. Stop this negative cycle of sabotaging all your hard work with this hot tip!

Pre-plan your weekend. From the moment your work and or study commitments end, write out a weekend plan and keep it with you at all times.

Make it detailed and add everything right down to the snacks and meals that you will have, the people you will be seeing and activities you will be doing. Cross them off as you go.

You might only need to do this for a month or so because every week you will get stronger. 

Include plenty of activities in your weekend to keep your mind active and stimulated. While it is important to switch off and relax, it’s equally important to keep active and enjoy the great outdoors with your friends and family.

Don’t change your weekend routine drastically. Incorporate plenty of activities and routinely items from your normal week into your weekends to ensure that your mind and body can stay consistent, this will help you stay on track and stay accountable to your healthy lifestyle efforts.

Making your routine healthy will help you have healthy habits rather than unhealthy and destructive habits. 

Avoid negative influences. While this can be challenging, it is important to recognise those people around you who can easily twist your arm. Staying strong and saying no can be extremely hard but if you don’t take a stance, you will find yourself back on the weekend binge cycle over and over again.

Be firm and suggest healthy activities. 

Recognise the triggers that normally tip you over the edge and be prepared to overcome them.

You will come across many triggers that could easily catapult you back into your unhealthy ways. Identify these triggers and come up with tools to help you overcome them. Add a list on your weekend pre-planner including these tools. 

Tools to keep you on track might include: Go for a brisk walk, meditate, listen to music, remove yourself from the situation, visit or call an inspiring friend, read a bookor simply just breathe in deeply and stay strong.

And finally, if you do fall off the wagon on a weekend, get up, dust yourself off and get back on the horse and try again next weekend! Whatever you do, don’t give up!