If you're serious about cutting calories, perhaps you should
start your diet this weekend. A study found that Americans tuck away
an average of 82 extra calories each Friday, Saturday and Sunday compared
with other days of the week. Adults between the ages of 19 and 50 were
especially prone to indulging on their days off, eating an average of 115
extra calories per weekend day. Although most people in the study got
fewer calories from protein and carbohydrates on the weekend, they made
up the deficit with large increases in fat and alcohol consumption, says
Pamela Haines, associate professor of nutrition at the University of
North Carolina and an author of the study. Over the course of the year,
weekend splurging could result in weight gain of almost five
pounds.