You work out all week, but the scale isn't budging? Arnold revealed why weekends ruin our weight loss efforts

Do you know that feeling? From Monday to Friday, you carefully watch every bite, exercise diligently, drink water with lemon, and feel like you’re doing absolutely everything you can for your body. But when you step on the scale on Monday morning, the needle stubbornly refuses to budge. What’s the catch? According to Arnold Schwarzenegger, the answer is surprisingly simple and very human: it’s all because of our weekend indulgences.

In his newsletter, Arnold’s Pump Club, the legendary Arnie took a close look at a phenomenon that just about all of us are familiar with. All week long, we give it our all and stick to our routine, but as soon as we close our laptop on Friday afternoon, our discipline slips into sweatpants and takes a well-deserved vacation.

The Illusion of a Healthy Week and the Treacherous 20%

Scientific studies are clear: unfortunately, we humans are pretty bad at estimating how much food we actually eat during the day. We typically underestimate our intake by as much as 20%, even when we’re eating strictly healthy foods. During the week, a set routine usually keeps us on track—we wake up, go to work, and eat lunch at the same time.

But what about the weekend? That routine goes out the window. Research shows that on Saturdays and Sundays, the average person consumes 200 more calories per day. And if you go out to a restaurant for lunch or order takeout in the evening, feel free to add another 200 calories to that total. It’s no wonder that the weight loss we worked so hard to kickstart from Monday through Friday comes to a complete halt over the weekend.

"In one long-term study, dieters consistently lost weight from Monday through Friday, but every weekend their weight loss stalled, or they even gained weight. And all of this without the slightest feeling that they were eating more." — Arnold Schwarzenegger

A Glass of Wine with a “Double Tax”

The weekend is all about relaxing—and often includes a glass of something good. Whether it’s wine with dinner or a drink with friends, Arnold warns of the treacherous trap that alcohol presents. He calls it the “double calorie tax.”

On the one hand, you’re consuming liquid calories from the drink itself—which we all know about. On the other hand, alcohol reliably stimulates your appetite. We’ve all been there—after a few drinks, we suddenly feel the urgent need to share that bowl of peanuts, cheese platter, or slice of pizza. Scientists have calculated that this “alcohol-induced hunger” costs us an average of 250 extra calories.

How can you enjoy the weekend without undoing your progress?

Does that mean we should lock ourselves at home on the weekend, drink only water, and munch on celery stalks? Not at all! Arnold’s approach is much more realistic. It’s all about finding a balance. Here are three tips to break out of the weekend vicious cycle:

• You don’t have to be perfect 7 days a week: Losing weight isn’t about being flawless. It’s enough to just get a rough idea of how much you actually eat over the weekend and not let it get out of hand.
• Don’t avoid your favorite foods—incorporate them wisely: Go ahead and have that ice cream or burger, but be mindful of it. Instead of going all out on the weekend because “it’s okay now,” enjoy your favorite foods in moderation and in reasonable portions.
• Tame the weekend extremes: Extreme deprivation during the week very often leads to weekend overeating. Try to eat a balanced and sufficient diet during the week so that by Friday evening, you don’t feel like you have to clean out the fridge.

The secret to long-term weight management and health isn’t a strict diet, but a mindful approach. Enjoy your weekend, relax, treat yourself to a good meal, but try to be a little more attuned to your body while doing so. You’ll be rewarded not only with a great weekend but also with a happier look at the scale on Monday!

But there’s one huge catch...

You can try to track every calorie, limit your portions during the week, and convince yourself that one “looser weekend” won’t make a difference. But if your digestive system is in shambles from constant dietary fluctuations, sporadic weekend overeating, or that caloric “double whammy” from alcohol, your body simply won’t let you lose weight.

An unbalanced digestive tract simply cannot process the nutrients you consume properly. A sudden weekend flood of food, heavier meals, and alcohol comes as a shock to a devastated microbiome. The result? Food rots in your intestines, sending inflammatory signals throughout your body, and on Monday morning you wake up not only with no change on the scale, but also with a heavy, bloated stomach. You simply can’t override biology and weakened intestinal walls with sheer willpower from Monday through Friday.

Yet the solution is logical and straightforward—you need to help your body cope with these weekend fluctuations and give it the tools to process food effectively. Probiotics serve as the absolute first line of defense for calming digestion and kickstarting proper metabolism. They will repopulate your gut with the right strains that can handle heavier meals and immediately relieve weekend bloating.

And because the constant back-and-forth between a strict diet and weekend “cheat days” (often accompanied by the aforementioned alcohol) literally damages the intestinal wall itself, add highly pure GymSupps L-Glutamine. It acts as a healing balm for the irritated mucous membrane—strengthening it and ensuring that your body absorbs only the good stuff and makes the most of the nutrients in your food.

Don’t let two days a week continue to ruin all your hard work. Heal your digestion from the ground up, get rid of constant bloating, and show everyone that you can enjoy the weekend without guilt and with your fitness firmly in your own hands.