Fit For Life: Hello, Weekend…Don’t Blow it Now….

Sunday, October 30, 2016

Matt Espeut, GoLocalWorcester Health +Lifestyle Contributor

Ahhhh… the weekend is finally here. You get up every morning, some of you regularly exercise (maybe you attend my 5:25 am sessions), then you’re off to work with your healthy lunches and snacks planned for the day. You made it through 5 days of laser sharp focus, planning and execution of daily tasks that include everything from making breakfast to packing your gym bag before bed, so you are ready to go the next day. You worked hard all week and you deserve a pat on the back for taking care of yourself and taking care of business. So now the weekend is here, and I have some advice for you.

DONT BLOW IT NOW!

Don’t let the weekend be a reason or excuse to fall off and regress. You worked too hard to let this happen. You bet I look at social media. I see your posts with the doughboys, and steins of beer on your table, surrounded by nachos and pizza, and those ooey-gooey recipes - and my advice to you is – don’t do this to yourself.

I am not saying you need to be perfect. Hell, I look forward to that extra hour sleep, and the pizza, and the dessert that I allow myself on the weekend, but everything in moderation.
Yes it’s nice to not be on a schedule, and to have some free time to enjoy yourself, but don’t let this be an excuse to destroy yourself, and diminish all the hard work you put in all week long.
You see, I don’t feel like going backwards and regressions to your goals are “living a little” or “rewarding yourself”. I feel that a week of hard work and preparation should end with a few relaxing days to yourself, so you can rejuvenate and be refreshed for the next week.

It’s a time to do things you like to do, and not worry about time or schedules. Not a time to do damage to your body, and sabotage your will power. Remember, it takes a 3500 calorie deficit over a week’s time to lose one pound of fat. So if you ate healthy all week, and blow it in two days, the scale will not give you favorable results on Monday. Therefore, all your hard work gets minimal results, and to me that’s a shame. Yes, every workout is beneficial, and every time you walk into the gym, you will get a little stronger, and feel a little better, but as I say over and over again, it’s the nutrition component that will decide success or failure when trying to improve your health and aesthetics.

There you have it folks. The decision is yours. You can either stay focused all weekend, and have a small cheat here and there, and stay in damage control mode, or you can go into it with reckless abandon, and suffer the consequences come Monday morning, and all week long.

So before you go for round two from the bar, or eat that second doughnut, remember all the burpees, pushups and squats you did all week, and ask yourself…is it worth it? We got this, folks. We have one life to live, so let’s get it right!

Matt Espeut, GoLocal's Health & Lifestyle Contributor has been a personal trainer and health & fitnesss consultant for over 25 years. He is the owner of Fitness Profiles, a one on one, and small group personal training company, as well as Providence Fit Body Boot Camp, located at 1284 North Main St., on the Providence/Pawtucket line. You can reach Matt at (401) 453-3200; on Facebook at "Matt Espeut", and on Twitter at @MattEspeut. "We’re all in this life together – let’s make it a healthy one!

Related Slideshow: The 7 Best Health and Fitness Apps

Here is a list of some of the most obsession worthy health apps.

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MapMyRun

MapMyRun is the number one selling running app for a reason: it is easy to use, offers community support if you want it, and tracks and stores your exact routes for you. If you are training for a race or a serious runner, users say that the extra perks in the upgraded paid version are well worth it.

Made for iPhone, Android and Blackberry

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MyFitnessPal

MyFitnessPal seems to be the clear favorite amongst everyone polled. It is helpful not only for the fitness tracking aspect, but everyone polled mentioned how much they loved the food/diet aspect as well. From carb counting for diabetics to recipe ideas to complement your fitness goals, users love this app.

Made for iPhone and Android

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JeFit

JeFit is another fitness app that has rave reviews. It not only tracks progress for you, but offers a huge database of workouts. While many apps offer community support, JeFit allows you to sync workouts with friends who use the app, offering a (real) virtual buddy system.

Made for iPhone and Android

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Strava

Strava gets the highest mark of all the cycling apps. While it is also great for runners, the cyclers seem particularly inclined towards the fierce competition that can be ignited by this app. You can track all of your rides via GPS, then you can compare your efforts to those logged by others in the community on the same stretch of road. You can also join ongoing challenges that can net you great prizes (in addition to bragging rights).

Made for iPhone and Android

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YogaStudio

YogaStudio gets the top vote for Yoga apps. It has a lengthy collection of full class-length videos available at your fingertips. Unlike many other apps, this one also allows you to customize your own video yoga class. All of the poses are done by qualified yoga instructors, and you can find classes suitable for all levels of yogis.

Made for iPhone only

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SimplyBeing

SimplyBeing meditation app offers the best of both worlds. You can choose to run this app as a background for your meditation with soothing music or natural sounds that run for a set amount of time. Conversely, for those of you who have trouble focusing during meditation, you can choose a soothing voice-guided meditation.

Made for iPhone and Android

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Fooducate

Fooducate is an app all about educating people so that they make healthier food choices. Although not perfect, this app is easy to use (you can even take pictures of bar codes to instantly find foods in their database). It gives food a letter grade, tells you the pluses and minuses, and gives you better ranked alternatives. You can also use it as a weight loss tool by tracking your daily calories.

Made for iPhone and Android