You’re not going to “stay perfectly on plan” from now until New Year’s. And you shouldn’t try.
Enjoy the season…without turning every holiday event into a 3 week binge that starts with “just one cookie” and ends with “I’ll lock in January 1.”
Though I’d drop in and provide a holiday fat loss framework I keep coming back to.
1) Stop judging your progress meal by meal. Look at the week.
Fat loss is not a daily report card, but more of a weekly budget.
If you’ve got a dinner, party, drinks, whatever, then cool. Plan for it. Let that day be higher calories, but THEN you tighten it up a bit on the days around it with higher-protein, more vegetables, and more nutrient dense meals.
NO starvation. NO punishment.
That’s the whole game:
event day up, surrounding days slightly down, weekly average stays sane.
2) Pick 3 “non-negotiables” and just hit those
Most people get emotional. They try to do everything, then they do nothing.
Instead, pick a few things you can do no matter what’s going on.
Non-negotiable #1: Protein. Because protein makes it harder to overeat without trying.
Non-negotiable #2: Steps. Holidays wreck people because movement drops to basically zero and food goes up. Even a long walk after a meal changes the whole week.
Non-negotiable #3: Lift at least ONCE per week. Maintain baseline strength, and more importantly HABIT.
3) Treat holiday meals like “maintenance meals,” not “I blew it”
The biggest trap is the mental one. One big holiday meal isn’t a problem.
The problem is what people do after it:
“I already messed up… might as well go full chaos until January.”
That’s where the weight comes from. Not the Christmas dinner, but the three days after Christmas dinner.
So here’s the mental shift you need to make —> Your Christmas meal is a maintenance (or slight surplus) meal inside a week that still trends in the right direction.
You’re not “off track.” You’re just living. Then you go right back to your basics.
The easiest way to execute this (without thinking too hard)
On event days
eat a normal high-protein breakfast/lunch
show up hungry, not starving
enjoy the meal
don’t turn it into a multi-course marathon just because it’s there
The “One Yes” rule
At the party, pick one:
- dessert
- drinks
- seconds
One feels fun. Two starts feeling like “ugh.”
Next day
- protein early
- go for a long walk
- lift if you can
back to normal meals
No guilt. No punishment. Just back to your standard way of living.
I LOVE KOBE BRYANT…
Kobe didn’t win because he was motivated. He won because he didn’t negotiate with himself. So don’t negotiate your non-negotiables.
You can have the wine.
But you’re still getting your steps.
You can have dessert.
But you’re still hitting your protein.
You can enjoy the holiday meals.
But you’re still lifting twice a week.
That’s how you stay ON TRACK through this season without acting like a monk.
If you want, tell me:
how many holiday events you’ve got between now and New Year’s
your realistic step target
how many days/week you can lift
…and I’ll send you a few check in emails to see how everything is going!
GO BE GREAT THESE NEXT 10 DAYS 🙂