OH how I love this topic!  This is a very popular question I get asked as a trainer.  I also think it’s an important one to dive into a little further.  Many times, I will have clients “spill the beans” so to speak on Monday about all the bad things they did over the weekend.  It ranges from not working out at all, to eating everything in sight, to binge drinking…you name it!  It’s like the weekend hits and it’s time to let go of all your good habits…..right?  WRONG!  No wonder everyone hates Monday.  Because the life gets sucked out of you during those 3 days of crazy binging and not moving your body.  Here’s the secret : IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE THAT COMPLICATED!  Here’s just a few of the things I’ve learned over the years that help keep me on track during weekends, work travel, or vacations!

#1 – Don’t set expectations : If you tell yourself the weekends are for binging, your brain is ready for that binge.  You’ve built up the excitement and are mentally prepped to let it all go!  For me, I go into Saturday the exact same way I go into a Monday.  I still wake up at a reasonable morning hour.  I eat a healthy breakfast and get a little workout in.  If you stay away from the gym on weekends, that’s totally fine!  Maybe head out for a walk or a hike.  If you know you have social commitments on Saturday, maybe consider waking up a bit early to sneak a workout in and refuel your body with a good breakfast!  Don’t feel embarrassed for being that friend that goes home early on a Friday night!  I used to have this complex about being a “total bore.”  Like “Oh, there goes Danielle again at 8 PM.”  or  “God Danielle can’t you just stay out ONE NIGHT of your life.”  Now I just own it!  YEP – It’s grandmas bedtime in one hour so BYYYYEEEEEEE! LOL…..but seriously.  You don’t need a reason to duck out early.  You don’t need to explain yourself. You simply are taking care of you and your body.  If your friends love you enough, they won’t judge the way you live your life (that’s a topic for another blog though).

Typical vacation or weekend meals above!  For breakfast, I’ll do granola with fruit and coffee with coconut milk/cinnamon.  For dinner this was a cashew kale & chicken salad with loads of dressing because – welp – everything is better with loads of dressing 🙂 And though I don’t do it all the time, I definitely will if I’m eating out or on vaycay.

#2 – Don’t skip workouts.  I don’t know who the person was that said “you should take all weekend off of physical activity,” but I highly disagree with them!  I think if your body physically needs a rest, then you should take a rest day of course.  But I don’t think that just because it’s the weekend you should take 3 days off of physical activity.  Especially when it comes to weight loss.  Taking 2-3 days off a week is about 12 days off a month.  You can do the math on that.  And if you are on a high caloric diet during those off days….its a double whammy.  I’m just keeping it real here.  It’s totally OK to give yourself time off or go on vacation and those types of things….but imagine if you just incorporate workouts into those weekend days.  Not only will you feel better afterwards, but you also may find that you aren’t inclined to eat complete shit.  It’s one of those cycle situations where if you don’t do one, you won’t do the other.  If you skipped the gym, then might as well go all out and binge eat.  That’s a vicious cycle though and I urge you to try the other way around.  Usually if I start my Saturday or Sunday with a workout, I automatically want something healthy afterwards.  I am by NO means perfect but I still make fairly healthy choices on the weekends.  If I feel like indulging, I will – but a lot of the times I genuinely am fine eating healthy and not CRAVING things.  And I live like this Monday-Friday as well.  If I want to indulge on a Monday or am craving something, I eat it.  I don’t “wait for the weekends.”  Overall, I just think it’s a crappy mindset and you kind of set yourself up for failure.

You can try this little hotel workout above!  Yes I actually did this circuit in my hotel room.  You can find more workouts on my INSTAGRAM too!

#3 – Do a little damage control on Sunday.  I always carve out 1-2 hours to just get my life organized on Sunday.  Whether I just got back from a trip or a super social heavy weekend, I always make time to do this.  Sometimes it’s a grocery haul.  Other times, I only make it as far as making a to do list for the week.  It really just depends how busy the weekend is.  I will say though, that this has been a game changer.  The reason people hate Mondays is because they feel so disheveled.  It comes abruptly.  The weekend wasn’t long enough.  They aren’t recharged.  They forgot to shower.  They forgot to make breakfast.  HAHA – just a number of things that add up to make Mondays suck.  I always make a little to do list, set an early alarm for Monday, and get into bed early!  For those of you that love sunday funday (it is magnificent isn’t it??) I get it!  You want to wake up and brunch……or netflix binge…..or just NOTHING work related.  Try adopting the approach of doing some stuff BEFORE the relaxation.  If I know I’m going to be brunching or having a beach day, I will take care of this stuff early so I don’t have to do ANYTHING later but go to bed.  I know for me, I won’t be motivated after a beach day or brunch (especially if it involves alcohol).  So get it done early and be on with your relaxing day.

being active doesn’t mean JUST the gym – champs + paddleboard

I just got back from an extended weekend vacation last week for my birthday, so I felt this was an appropriate blog post.  I was able to totally relax and chill by the pool every single day of vacation with a drink in hand.  I was still able to have delicious food and some indulgences.  I was still able to workout every morning.  I was also very active with walking around the resort and exploring.  I also got into bed at 10 PM every night because I felt like going to bed and my husband is always down for the cause HA!  I even squeezed in some work because it’s OK to work on the weekends.  The point is that you can kind of make your own rules!  You are in control of your life and how you want it to play out.  If you feel like crap – you gotta make a change!  It IS up to you.  And you never have to apologize for doing you sometimes.  The one thing about adopting a healthy lifestyle  is that sometimes people don’t understand it.  They want you to feel as crappy as they do, so they will try to make you feel bad.  Don’t give in!  Whether it’s just a weekend or a long vacation – you are allowed to be healthy and CAN make healthy choices.  I’m here to tell you it IS possible and hopefully supply you with some resources to get workouts in on the go.  If you haven’t downloaded my FREE EBOOK, that’s a great place to start.  On that note, have an amazing weekend!

Love you guys,

Danielle