Tips for (maintaining!) a healthy weekend

Often times, we may wonder why it’s more difficult to stay on track with our health goals when the weekend rolls around.

You may find that you do really well with staying on track during the weekdays: you eat right, have a routine sleep schedule, and exercise.

But what usually happens when the weekend hits? Friends may ask you to go out to eat, perhaps both Saturday and Sunday, and this can derail your clean eating for the week — or, maybe you decide to skip working out altogether that weekend.

But the weekends don’t have to be this way.

Here are 4 tips for (maintaining) a healthy weekend:

1) (Probably the most important!) Eat like it’s a weekday!

• If you eat relatively healthy during the week, try to stick to that on the weekends. If you do go out to eat, try to throw in a vegetable as a side dish. What we’re really saying is just be more aware of what you’re eating.

2) Stay hydrated and drink lots of water — limit drinks!

• Alcohol can cause dehydration, it can affect your sleep quality, and it can prolong recovery times if you’re an athlete and consume too much. Limit your intake.

3) Get outside! (Or continue on with your regularly scheduled exercise routine)

• You don’t need to do an intense workout — but getting outside, even if it’s a 20-30 minute walk, has been shown to help with reducing stress levels. Also, everyone can use a bit more Vitamin D in their life, right?

4) Stick to your usual sleep schedule

• Sticking to routine when it comes to sleep is really important. Why? Well, science shows that you’ll actually sleep better. When you alter your sleep patterns, your body gets thrown off, and so does your sleep cycle. Keeping that internal clock consistent is key.

And that is probably the most important takeaway from all of this: Consistency is key.