140 ~ Surviving the Holiday I

In this episode, I kick off the first part of my Surviving the Holidays series. With Thanksgiving landing this week and the rest of the season barreling toward us, I wanted to give you tools that help you stay grounded, keep your sanity, and protect your progress. The holidays can be exciting, stressful, emotional, nostalgic, overwhelming, or all of the above. Food is everywhere and so are the feelings that come with it. This episode is all about helping you get ahead of that instead of feeling steamrolled by it.

I talk about how my own experience with holiday eating has changed since losing the weight and why the season feels so different now. Food is still a big part of the holidays for me, but learning how to be satisfied with less, both physically and emotionally, has made the season much less intimidating.

I also get into how deeply the holidays are tied to stress, pressure, and memories, and how all of that affects your eating. I share the safety nets I use to cut down my December stress and explain why reducing stress earlier in the season can help you avoid the mindless eating that comes with overwhelm.

We also talk about tracking during the holidays, even on the messy days. Going over your calories is not the same as going way over them, and the only way to see the difference is to keep tracking. This is where awareness comes in. If you have not listened to episode 12 on the 3A Way, I recommend going back to that one too.

I wrap up with an important reminder about exercise. You do not earn your food with workouts, and trying to build in exercise to compensate for holiday eating is a losing strategy. Your body burns what it burns. That doesn't change because it's December.

Part two of this Surviving the Holidays series comes out next Monday with more strategies and practical ways to fit those special holiday foods into your calorie budget without feeling deprived. I also have a brand new Weight Loss Wednesday up this week with more of your questions.

If you need anything, you know where to find me. And if you are in the States, I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving.