Q&A: Why Do You Fail Your Diet on The Weekends and When to Perform Single Leg Hip Thrusts?

How is your week? Mine is really productive. Thank you for all your wonderful messages. This week I decided to choose these questions. I will be happy if you share your opinion in the comments below.

Ines, I have a problem. For some time I’ve been trying to eat healthier and during the week everything is perfect, but when the weekend is here, everything goes to waste. When I see that it is Friday, I am terrified by what I am gonna eat on the weekend. Why does it turn out like this?

It’s almost Friday and probably most of you are scared of this. Why? A lot of people manage to keep on track with their diet during the week, but when Saturday and Sunday come, they let themselves lose it and start eating everything in sight. Thus, the results achieved during the week go to waste!

You know what I am talking about, right? There is something about weekends that makes you lose it. It seems like when Saturday comes, your body gets impersonated by another person, who has absolutely no will to resist the food temptations!

Why is that?

There isn’t just one answer that fits all, but probably the reason is hidden somewhere behind these :

1.During the week you eat clean, but not enough. You diet is more like a torture and deprivation, than a lifestyle. The weekend comes, you feel tired from work and starvation and you decide to give yourself not only some rest but to reward yourself with some of your favorite meals.

Thus,one meal consisting of junk food, leads to a strong desire to eat some more of the foods that were on your black list during the week. And before you know it, the weekend is over. You ate as much as you could, whatever you could and you realize that all your hard work during the week, went to waste.

2.During the week everybody knows his schedule. You know what is on your list everyday, when you are supposed to do it and that makes it easier to plan your meals. Your tasks follow each other, and your eating is in harmony. The weekend is knocking and you have no idea what you are gonna do. A friend calls and asks you to hang out. Your grandma calls and asks you to go for lunch and so on.

Your schedule is really chaotic. You are out and you are hungry. Right there, in that moment there isn’t a place where you could grab something healthy to eat. That is why you grab something to satisfy your hunger. The junk you just ate, lights a desire to eat more and there you are in the situation described in point 1.

I’ve also been in that trap and I know what you are talking about. When your diet is not a lifestyle, but more like a strategy, then your mind is suffering a lot and you are not led by your natural intuition of when you actually need to eat, but instead you are led by the clock and the schedule you’ve set.

So, if you usually eat around 12:00 and the “holy hour” is approaching, but you don’t have some quality food around, you panic. Actually, I ‘d like to tell you that you won’t die if you don’t eat until 13:00p.m. or 14:00p.m. Remember that life Is not supposed to go around your food and you do not need to fit your social life in your diet regimen.

3.You plan your cheat meals. I never liked planned cheat meals. ( check out “Are Cheat days Needed? My Take on It!”)Usually it turns out, that you spend your whole week, waiting for that day to come, so you could eat all you want. The day comes and you are starving for junk food. You try to eat all the junk, you resisted during the week.

I’ve noticed that people who use such strategy in their diets, turn it into a habit. Thus, even if they do not feel a real need to eat something sweet, when that day is close, they unconsciously associate that day with food and they always screw the diet. Sounds familiar? Every week, the same day, the same time, and you can’t resist to cheat on your diet, right?

When you find the motivation to do just what is good for your health; what makes you feel good and energizes you to live to the fullest, just then the weekends will not scary you. Because then, eating Is not the center of the Universe, but just a desired add on to your lifestyle, that fuels your body so it can function optimally and serve you well.

Ines, I found out the hip thrusters from your blog. I saw that you recommend bilateral hip thrusts, as well as hip thrusts on just one leg. How am I supposed to decide when and which one to include in my workouts?

If your goal, with your workouts is better shape, better help, improvement in the muscle imbalances and a better posture, than I am really inclined to unilateral movements.

Personally I emphasize a lot on them and I usually perform traditional squats and deadlifts just once a week, or some weeks I might not do them at all. Instead I emphasize on unilateral variations- Bulgarian squats, pistols, one leg deadlifts.

My approach is such, because more often than not, if there isn’t anybody to coach you from the side and if you perform bilateral movements, you do not have a pretty good feedback on if you are loading both your legs and both your arms equally.

Often times when I tell somebody that they are pushing or pulling more with one arm, or that they are bringing on of their knees inside, the person tells me he doesn’t feel it.

If you perform the movements like this, it is just gonna make the imbalance bigger, it will interfere with the proper technique and this will lead to pain and injuries.

That’s why with the goal to stay healthy and remove the imbalances, I love emphasizing on unilateral movements.

The same is true for hip thrusters. And if I have to be honest one legged hip thrusts( check out HERE) are a huge challenge and nothing makes your glutes burn like this. So personally, I’d recommend you incorporate the one legged hip thrusts more often, and every now and then perform the standard hip thrusts ( the bilateral version- check out HERE).

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