072 - How To Plan Your Diet and Training Around The Holidays

Nov 26, 2019

It's not a surprise that the hardest time of year to lose or maintain your weight is around the holidays, typically between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

But before I say anything else, please understand that there is no "right" way to eat or train around the holidays (or ever for that matter).

If your goal is to stay fit and lean over the holidays, great. If it's not and you'd rather relax and enjoy your time, great.

It's not about anything other than you choosing to spend your holidays the way you want and feeling good about your decisions.

If you find yourself feeling guilty about eating that apple pie, it's time to revisit your goals. And make sure you have a goal going into this season.

Also, keep in mind that maintaining your weight/fitness level over the holiday is progress.

Make sure your goals are in alignment with reality. If you know you’re gonna eat like a pig, drink beer all day, and sit on the couch yet your goal is to lose weight, you’re going to be disappointed and feel like a failure.

This can cause issues going into the new year and you don’t want that. Be realistic. It’s OK to drink all day, just know you’ll likely be in a calorie surplus, probably a big one.

At the end of the day, it’s about what you feel good about. If you’re good with gorging yourself, that's fine. I'm to here to judge you or to tell you that you need to eat a certain way.

If you're not happy with your motivation level, how you feel after eating all that food, or find yourself being super lazy, then you need to use a few strategies and show some restraint.

In that case, here's what I'll tell you:

1. Remember that it's the holidays and being with loved ones is the most important thing. Chill the F out and enjoy yourself.
   
   
2. It’s not all or nothing. You don't have to choose eating super clean or eating everything in sight. You can use moderation for most things.
   
   
3. Set a realistic goal.
   
   
4. You didn’t get fat overnight. One bad meal or one bad day means literally nothing in the grand scheme of things.
   
   
5. Get your exercise in as early as possible. Otherwise you’ll likely find an excuse or get busy stuffing turkeys, hanging lights, or planning some family thing.
   
   
6. There is always time to workout. Look through some of my YouTube videos. Get creative if you have to.
   
   
7. Going to a place you know you’ll pig out and you want to avoid it? Eat before you go.
   
   
8. Remind yourself that you are always 100% in control of what you put in your mouth.
   
   
9. Watch your alcohol intake. It's easy to overeat when drinking and you'll be taking a lot of empty calories.
   
   
10. Stop caring what your family thinks. If you want to bring your protein shake to dinner, do it. Most people are fat and lazy. You do you.
    
    
11. You don’t need to cook unhealthy crap like that weird marshmallow sweet potato stuff. Cook a healthy recipe and people might actually appreciate it.

You can either choose to stick to a plan over the holidays or not. Either way, if you're happy, that's all that really matters. It is definitely possible to lose or maintain weight over this period, it's just a matter of your priorities.