Top Fitness & Nutrition Tips for the Holidays
Since 2015, I’ve been a personal trainer, then nutrition coach, now life coach, and I’m giving you my TOP tips for enjoying the final 11 days of the year — without waking up January 1 feeling like you’re “starting over”!
DEFINE YOUR SUCCESS — AHEAD OF TIME.
Big principle: Fitness & nutrition are never “all or nothing”.
Let go of the mindset that you’re either “on” or “off” your diet.
You can stay on the path toward your goals *without* abandoning ALL your healthy habits.
Today, have a conversation with yourself (or your coach):
What do you want from these final 11 days of 2021?
Maybe there’s one particular day where you want to have total freedom and eat all the fun food without thinking about it.
Totally fine!
Maybe, then, you can commit to sticking with your plan on the days before & after that ‘free day’.
Or, perhaps you’re kicking butt with your goals, and you do not want the holidays to impact your progress.
Maybe you’re aiming to lose body fat, and have made solid progress over the last few months — but you’re scared the holidays will derail you.
It is totally fine to declare to yourself, “I want to stick to my plan for the final 2 weeks of the year.”
…Just make sure you can mentally accept that the meals/parties/events might not be quite as fun or relaxed as other years.
That is a decision within your power, and I want you to trust yourself about it.
That’s the key point:
You must check in with your deeper self and determine what your goals are — regardless of what other people are doing (or their opinions about your plan).
If you decide ahead of time how you’ll handle different events (and be realistic about your plan), you’ll wake up on January 1 feeling proud of yourself!
2. THIS ISN’T THE BEST TIME FOR FAT LOSS (I RECOMMEND MAINTENANCE)
In the tip above, I gave an example of someone who has been working hard during the months leading up to December to lose body fat.
She’s proud of her progress and wants to keep going throughout the final weeks of the year.
I’ve seen this work out occasionally, but for the vast majority of people, I recommend focusing on maintaining their progress during the holiday season (not aggressively pursuing fat loss).
Shifting your goal to maintenance relieves pressure on you. It can allow you to enjoy this season without frustration or shame.
When I say “maintenance”, I am talking about eating maintenance-level calories (the number of calories that allows you to maintain your current weight — no gaining or losing).
Online calculators or coaches can help you figure out what this looks like for you!
3. CONSIDER INTERMITTENT FASTING
Let’s say you have a big meal or event happening in the evening. One strategy you can try is some version of intermittent fasting where you keep your food lighter earlier in the day to reserve calories for the evening.
(*Remember, at the end of the day, gaining or losing weight comes down to energy balance — i.e. total calories consumed over the course of a week).
I do not recommend you starve yourself leading up to the event!
(That will just lead to you feeling overly restricted which could lead to bingeing — not what we want!).
I’m talking about having meals higher in protein and veggies (lighter on carbs/fats) for breakfast and lunch to ensure you have plenty of carbs and fats available in the evening.
Another intermittent fasting option: some people like to just have coffee in the morning and start eating at lunchtime.
There are many different ways to do intermittent fasting; none of them are ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ (a quick Google search will show you this).
The whole goal of intermittent fasting is simply to balance out your day of eating when you know you’ll be consuming more at night.
4. COMPASSION & SELF-FORGIVENESS
Let’s say you had the perfect plan set up — but you had too many margaritas and ended up eating way more than intended.
THAT IS OKAY!
You are not “bad”. There is nothing to be ashamed of.
It’s just food, and you are human — worthy of compassion and forgiveness.
The quicker you can forgive yourself and wipe the slate clean, the faster you can come up with an action plan for the coming days and weeks.
Put your time and energy toward things within your control rather than looking backward and beating yourself up for things you cannot change.
For many people, this is the most challenging time of the entire year with health and fitness. Be proud of yourself for keeping your goals at the forefront of your mind!
5. NO FOODS ARE GOOD OR BAD
This is applicable to every day of the year, not just the holidays — but it’s worth repeating in every post I share:
Unless you have a clinical condition or food allergy, there are very few — if any! — foods that are actively bad for you.
If you label foods as “bad”, it’s easy to believe you are “bad” if you eat them.
This creates a dangerous cycle.
Shame has no place in a health & fitness journey.
Your body does not know the difference between a gram of carbohydrate coming from a sugar cookie vs. carb coming from an apple.
The apple just has more nutrient density (vitamins, fiber, etc.).
This does not make the cookie “bad”.
In fact, if you restrict yourself from all foods you genuinely enjoy, there is zero chance you will be able to stick with a nutrition program — and sticking with a program for a long time is critical for it to work.
So enjoy the cookie. Savor the glass of wine. Have whatever brings you joy without shame!