But it's only once a year...

As the June Bank Holiday approaches, I had a fleeting moment of panic about how easily events like that can throw off anyone on WW. We hear it all the time in class how Bank Holidays and Weddings etc are a 'danger zone' for people as they are out of their routine. I'm the exact same. I have Friday off work this weekend giving me an extra long 4-day weekend - which means 4 days faffing around the house, potentially grazing on stuff in the cupboard/popping out to friends houses/grabbing lunch in town etc.

I was just thinking about how often events come along and can potentially derail any idealistic Weight Watchers plans I have made. That got me thinking about the throwaway phrase we are all guilty of using every now and then when we splurge out - "But it's only once a year". While this is fine in theory, it got me thinking about how often 'once a year' events occur.

I came up with the following 'once a year' events (I'm sure I've missed out loads but):

• New Years Day

• Valentines Day

• St. Patrick's Day

• Easter

• Halloween

• Christmas Eve

• Christmas Day

• New Years Eve

Then throw in some birthdays:

• Your other half's birthday

• Your best friend’s birthday

• Your birthday

• Your parents/brothers/sisters/child's birthday

Add in the 4 Bank Holidays in Ireland:

• First Monday in May

• First Monday in June

• First Monday in August

• Last Monday in October

Throw in another few 'once a year events' like:

• A Wedding

• A Hen or Stag Party

• The Company Christmas Party/Summer BBQ

• Your Anniversary

• Other Events like Reunions/Communions/Christenings

• Summer Holidays (1-2 weeks)

Doing these calculations myself result in 28 'once a year' events and that's before I add my 14 days of summer holidays into it. That's over 40 days in the year where if you apply the "But it's only once a year" rule to it's over 10% of the year. Also bear in mind you have to add on regular weekends (which account for 104 days in the year).

I'm not saying I don't deserve to enjoy my Bank Holiday - I know I will. It's just interesting to see them all laid out like that and think "Hmmmm? Either I have to learn how to cope with them all or plan for how I am going to handle them better". 

I just have to keep in mind that you cannot go WW-AWOL over every break as there are too many of them in the year! You can't go into 40 weigh-ins out of 52 in the year feeling guilt-ridden about what you did/ate/drank over the weekend.

Here's to the Bank Holiday Weekend :)