Studies show that changes in lifestyle behaviors over the weekend can lead to worse sleep and weight gain. During the weekend, many activities go on that may tempt you to derail from the healthy habit you maintained during the week such as overindulging in food intake and dropping your workout schedule. Beer and meat consumption is also on the increase during the weekend, thereby increase in weight gain. Several studies have found that people tend to eat more on the weekends, and that this weekend indulgence may contribute to weight gain.
A study from Cornell University found that people tend to weigh a little bit more on Mondays than they do on Fridays. Meaning all that hard work you put in can be completely derailed by the short span of time between happy hour on Friday and Sunday.
The Jawbone reports that as workouts decline over the course of the week, bacon, beer and French fry consumption spike, hitting a peak between Saturday and Sunday.
A study conducted by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine found that people who stuck with a strict diet all week, then overindulged on the weekends, not only lost weight slowly, but actually gained an average of .17 pounds per week (which, over the course of a year, would leave them nine pounds heavier!).
Cutting on your diet intake during the weekend can help you maintain a healthy weight as weight gain may not be good for you.
WORKOUT during the weekend. This can help you avoid unnecessary weight gain while maintain a healthy weight.
But unfortunately people tend to decline in workout activities during the weekend probably because of the much social activities.
A report released by Jawbone (that looked at data from their fitness and diet trackers) found that workouts peak on Monday. Not so surprising, they decline throughout the week, bottoming out on the weekend (they hit an all-time low on Friday).
Which makes sense: When you’re on a specific schedule during the workweek it’s easier to keep exercise on the calendar. But once you hit Friday afternoon, you’re easily convinced to trade the sneakers for a pitcher of sangria.
The UK’s National Health Service recommends that to ward off an early death, people should spend 150 minutes a week performing moderate exercise, or 75 minutes a week doing vigorous exercise.
In fact, researchers emphasized that even a small amount of regular exercise wards off death. People who cram all their exercise into one or two sessions at the weekend benefit nearly as much as those who work out more frequently, researchers say.
A GOOD SLEEP over the weekend can help one stay healthy. According to Torbjörn Åkerstedt, a professor and director of the Stress Research Institute at Stockholm University, , sleeping in on the weekends can be a real help.
Sleep is something you need to replenish regularly if you don't want to hurt your health. "It's a fundamental part of our biology, like breathing. It's a requirement," said Grandner, director of the Sleep and Health Research Program and an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry in the University of Arizona College of Medicine.
He thinks a lot of people may relate to sleeping less during the week and, at the very least, may want to have an excuse for sleeping in on our days off.
Sleeping in on the weekends can throw off your body's internal clock, or circadian rhythm, according to the National Sleep Foundation. This could make it harder for you to fall asleep at your usual bedtime, and get up at your usual time once the workweek starts again.
That's why it's best to keep your bedtime and wake-up time consistent, and to vary your sleep schedule by no more than an hour on weekends, the NSF says.
Researchers also noted that with every one hour that sleep is shifted, you increase your risk of heart disease by 11 percent.
SPENDING TIME WITH FRIENDS can equally be good. Meeting with friends on the weekend may be good for your health, and help your job performance during the workweek, according to the results of a 2005 study conducted by psychologists in Germany
"It appears as if spending time with important people rebuilds [physical and emotional] resources that pay off after the weekend," the researchers wrote. "These findings support research indicating that spending time with other people can be one way of recovering from work demands," they said.
Spending time with friends can also help you to manage stress.
A study published in the American Journal of Public Health found that older women who maintained large social networks reduced their risk of dementia and delayed or prevented cognitive impairment.
And another study from the Harvard School of Public Health found that people who had an active social life in their 50s and 60s had slower rates of memory decline compared to those who were more isolated.
Sexual activities is also likely to be on the increase with many engaging in unprotected sex, probably due to the weird excitement that follows weekend activities.
A survey conducted earlier this year by Illicit Encounters, UK's largest married dating site, found that weekends are the most popular time to have sex. Another study suggested that people are more likely to engage in unprotected sex during the weekend, thus increasing their risk of contracting a sexually transmitted disease.
No doubt, sex is people’s way of relaxing but protecting yourself during sexual intercourse over the weekend is also a healthy habit.
Sources: edition.cnn.com/sleep-late-weekend-life-expectancy-study/index.html -
heguardian.com/weekend-workouts-nearly-as-good-as-whole-week-of-excercise-researchers-say
nbcnews.com/5-science-backed-ways-have-healthier-weekend
https://www.livescience.com/
