5 tips to help you have a healthy weekend.

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It’s almost the weekend. Which means it’s time to let your hair down, right? Right! Well, to a certain extent anyway.

I’m a huge advocate of balance, but that doesn’t mean that now is the time to go out and attempt to break the world record for most damage you can do to your body in a single 48-hour period.

Here are five health and fitness mistakes to avoid this weekend.

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1. Harnessing your inner sloth

You worked hard in the gym all week, and that’s great. But it doesn’t mean you should take a reclined position on the lounge and not move from there until Monday morning.

Use the weekend to get out and enjoy the things you don’t have time for Monday to Friday – take a long coastal walk, play a team sport or head to the park with your dog (or if you don’t have a dog, just hang about at the dog park pretending you do). Move your body without the stress of a structured workout.

2. Skipping out on meals

Your poor body. Monday to Friday you’re so good to it – healthy breakfast, lunch and dinner plus snacks. But come the weekend and it’s a different story.

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When your body doesn’t know when or where its next meal is coming from, it’s liable to do something drastic, like hold onto whatever calories you’re feeding it. Try to keep some semblance of balance Friday through Monday too.

3. Late night food parties

Despite what they told you when you were living on campus at uni, eating is NOT cheating. In fact, I wholeheartedly recommend a meal to go with that wine you’re drinking. But the kebab, packet of chips, half a loaf of bread and chocolate you ate between midnight and 4am? Not a great idea.

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While your body is processing alcohol it’s actually unable to burn through the calories you’re consuming. So keep that in mind before you ask your cabbie to head through the Macca’s drive-through on the way home.

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4. Not getting enough sleep

Sleep, oh glorious sleep. This is when your body does all its best work. Staying out ’til 4am seems like a good idea at the time, but if you’re over 25 you’ll be paying for that decision all next week. Mental fuzziness, a tired body and no desire to hit the gym… is it really worth it? Nothing good tends to happen after midnight anyway.

5. Binge drinking

Too much alcohol = empty calories, bad decisions and a whopping great headache the next day. Not to mention sustained binge drinking can do some pretty horrendous damage to your health. A couple of drinks is great – even necessary some weeks – but four champagnes, seven vodkas, and three unidentifiable shots? Probably not your best decision. Now I’m not going to sit here and pretend I’ve never done it, but try not to make a habit of it, yeah?

The Glow tip: If you are drinking, remember to stay hydrated: one drink, one glass of water. Hydrating capsules like BioRevive Hydrodol ($13.95) are also handy at making the morning after a little bit more bearable.

What are your health and fitness plans for the weekend?

This post originally appeared on Lazy Girl Fitness and has been republished here with full permission. You can also follow Jess on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

We've made a list of a few healthy cocktails to try... (Oh, and always drink responsibly.)