Beat the Holidays

I’m gonna be honest – I've eaten so much g-d candy in the last few days. Like, the low-quality kind.

I didn't realize before having kids that Halloween is actually a week-long holiday. And every event supplies literally endless garbage candy. When I’m presented over and over with brightly colored buckets full of cute little individually wrapped dopamine hits… I cave.

Which is what inspired this article.

We’re about to embark on the Holiday Season – which means one holiday after another promoting food + eating. We dress it up and call it “Being with family,” “Enjoying the Holidays,” “Treating Ourselves,” but we all know the truth – it’s an excuse to eat way too much of the kinds of foods that set us back.

Not only that, but with all the time off work/school, and sometimes there’s “Fall Camp” for the kids and sometimes not… our schedules are all out of whack so a regular gym routine is probably not happening.

NOW (right now!) is the time to make a plan for yourself that is reasonable and realistic. It’s so much better to have a less ambitious plan that you can actually do, than an “ideal” plan that doesn't happen and leaves you feeling like a failure. Something is much better than nothing.

I know you don’t want to spend the next couple months in limbo, feeling like you’ll just sort of try to “be good” and then “make up for it” later. That sucks! It’s so cliche and you're so much better than that.

Here are 12 concrete things you can do to get yourself settled in a nice routine that you can just ride right through these holidays:

1. Set a “minimums” goal. Decide your non-negotiables – maybe that’s 2 workouts a week, daily walks, or hitting your protein goal. These happen no matter what, so make them reasonable.
2. Create an “if/then” plan. “If I miss my workout today, then I’ll take a 30-minute walk after dinner.” Have a backup plan instead of all-or-nothing thinking.
3. “Some” beats “none” and “all.” You don’t need zero desserts and you don’t need all the desserts. “Some” is a great middle ground.
4. Practice mindful eating, not rule-based eating. Pause before taking seconds. Think: “Am I still hungry or just eating for fun at this point?”
5. Plan for indulgences. If you know you’ll want pie, great! Enjoy. But don’t graze mindlessly – sit down, really enjoy it, and then move on.
6. Keep a consistent meal rhythm. Skipping meals “to save calories” backfires. Just stick to your normal eating pattern to keep your blood sugar and appetite stable.
7. Move daily, even if it’s not a workout. Walk after meals, play with your kids, do a quick 20-minute dumbbell circuit. Momentum matters more than intensity here.
8. Don’t drink your calories! Calories from tricked out coffees and cocktails add up fast. Have your treat, but know what’s in it, and try to balance it out in the rest of your day.
9. Choose a weekly “anchor.” Pick something like Sunday meal prep, Monday morning gym, or Thursday check-in with your accountability buddy that you always come back to regardless of how the rest of the week went.
10. Protein first at every meal. Even (especially!) at parties – grab the turkey, shrimp, or chicken skewers before the chips and dip.
11. Hack your environment for success. Put candy and leftovers out of sight; keep things like (washed!) fruit & veggies and Greek yogurt at eye level.
12. Don’t let one day become five. You overdid it? It's fine – get back to your routine at the next meal, not “Monday.”

You’ve got this!

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