5 Hacks for Sticking to Your Diet Through the Weekend (and Happy Hour)

So many of us start off Monday morning riding a high. The night prior, you had a "Come to Jesus" moment with yourself and decided that you're going to make a dramatic change in your life. You set a big goal for yourself--such as losing 20 pounds in 3 months --and you're dedicated to it Monday through Friday.

But then something happens...

The weekend comes around and knocks you for a loop. Since you didn't prepare for it, you find yourself falling into the same bad habits the following weekend.

Social events can be diet killers. They're the biggest obstacles we face in our diets because of the social ramifications that we feel. In other words: we don't go to X event, we don't feel accepted. We don't eat and/or drink at X event, we don't feel accepted... you get the idea.

Some coaches will tell you to avoid these situations altogether, but I disagree with that for two reasons. First, you're not actually working to improve your habits, you're just temporarily avoiding it (which will lead to failure down the road). Second, you won't stick with something that forces you to become a recluse. What's a healthy lifestyle worth if you can't spend it with those you love and enjoy most?

We as human beings are meant to be social, but not at the expense of killing our own diets. So what's the solution?

Instead of avoiding these events, let's improve the habits we have when we attend them. That's where the real progress will begin; that's when you know you're serious about accomplishing your weight loss goals!

Here are 5 tips I recommend to help you enjoy social events while sticking to your diet:

1. Treat Friday Like a Weekday (Because it is)

One of my biggest mentors, David Villa, once told me "you know that you've arrived when you work as hard on Friday as you did Monday through Thursday."

Friday isn't the start of the weekend, people. It's the last day before the weekend. Therefore, you should go about it the same way that you did the first four days of the week.

Go through your goals on Friday with the same routine, cadence, and determination that you did Monday through Thursday; you'll be shocked at the momentum this can create for your success. Take your intermittent fasting just as serious on the fifth day (Friday) as you do on the first (Monday).

"Long-term consistency trumps short-term intensity." -Bruce Lee

If you approach Friday like the weekday that it is, you'll find that waking up on Saturday just feels like an extension of what you accomplished Friday night. Even if you have a social event on Friday, you can have fun and accomplish your health goals simultaneously.

2. Stick to Your Fasting Windows

Just because the event might knock you off your weekend routine doesn't mean it should knock you off of your fasting. Stick firmly to the fasting and non-fasting (eating) windows you've set your yourself. Trust me, this is possible regardless of what time your social events are at.

For example, if you're fasting until noon on a Saturday and attend a party that starts at 11am, then wait until noon to partake in the food. Bring a cup of coffee with you, if you have to. If anyone asks "aren't you going to eat?", then just say, "Yeah, after I finish my coffee." Boom!

You can also move your eating window around if the social event occurs super early or super late.

Say you're attending a group breakfast at a local diner at 8am. You might consider partaking in eTRFs--Early Time-Restricted Feeding-- to ensure you still get around 16 hours of fasting afterwards. In fact, studies have shown that Early Time-Restricted Feeding is more effective for weight loss and shredding body fat because it aligns with your body's circadian rhythm.

3. Draw a Circle Around Your Plate

Most social events have food that's readily available; it's either set up buffet-style or delivered to you by a waiter/waitress. This can be an easy trigger because it's not the way we typically access food in everyday life--I don't know about you, but I don't have a buffet island in my home.

It's easy to grab a "handful" here or there, which quickly adds up to thousands of calories--I'm not kidding.

Once you've decided to start eating, grab the smallest plate that you can find, then set a hard rule for yourself: you can only eat what's on that plate. You're not allowed to just pick up one wing and nibble on it; if you really want seconds, you have to set it on your plate first.

This activates self accountability and social discipline. Nobody wants to be the guy/girl that has half an unfinished slice of pizza on their plate, making it less likely you'll reach for excessive amounts of food.

It's not what we do once and a while that shapes our lives; it's what we do consistently." -Tony Robbins

4. Have a 1-for-1 System

Generally speaking, most social events include some form of alcoholic drink. Even if you don't drink or are practicing sobriety, you might enjoy a nice soda or juice drink.

Either way, these types of drinks can sabotage your diet because they're what we call "empty calories". Even if you consider beer to have nutritional value , it's still all carbs and zero proteins or fats. After only a few drinks, you've tipped your macronutrient scale in the wrong direction for weight loss!

For that reason, you should apply a 1-for-1 system for your drinks. That means that for every special drink you have (alcoholic or soda), you have to drink one glass of water before you can have another.

This can help you enjoy a refreshing drink without going overboard. The best part is that no one even has to know you have this rule for yourself; I've been doing it for months and no one has brought it up!

5. Don't Beat Yourself Up

We all fall off the wagon sometimes. But here's a line from Batman Begins that will encourage you:

"Why do we fall, Bruce? So that we can learn to pick ourselves up." - Thomas Wayne

Did you catch that? So that we can learn to pick ourselves back up. It's a process. Failure brings the best out of all of us; it inspires us to make the necessary adjustments.

If you mess up, then thing about where you went off the rails this past weekend and how you could improve the next weekend. Here's the best news of all: a new week is on the horizon!

Stick to Your Diet Through the Weekend

If you ignore your weight loss goals during Saturday and Sunday, that's 2 out of 7 possible days each week that you're setting yourself back. To put that in perspective, you're wasting a collective week each month by not providing structure to your weekends ahead of time.

For those of you that want a bit more direction on how to overcome social events, be sure to listen to this week's episode of the Fast & Focus Podcast .

If you're interested in learning more about intermittent fasting, download a FREE copy of my E-book, "How to Start Intermittent Fasting Today ."

You've got this!

-Zach Mathews