The holiday season is here.
Thanksgiving Thursday, and from now until the new year, life tends to get slower, family gatherings, holiday parties, cold cookies, endless cookies…
It’s a wonderful time of year.
It’s also the time when most people start to panic about falling “Off Track.”
Here’s what I really want to hear:
The whole point of staying active and eating well is to understand your health.
Yes, it’s good to feel strong, empowered, and capable. But you don’t learn to be a robot. You don’t eat well enough to say “no” to Pumpkin Pee forever.
Doing it so you can go about your life with confidence, ease, and happiness.
So please – eat pumpkin pie. Eat a cookie. Enjoy special meals that only come once a year. And make you guilty.
And while you’re at it, here are some simple strategies to help you stay active, feel good about your body, and keep your energy going during the holidays — without dieting, punishing yourself, or missing out on any fun.
1. “Don’t start in January” – keep a gentle rhythm instead
The biggest mistake people make this time of year?
They completely surrendered.
“I’ll get back to it in January.”
“I’ll just let myself go now and fix it later.”
That method doesn’t work. And it leaves you feeling sluggish, mentally, and drained.
Instead of aiming for perfection, it aims for consistency:
- Move your body every day (or 10-12 minutes).
- Eat more – with more flexibility.
- Rest when you need it.
- Enjoy your favorite foods without guilt.
A small but strong effort hits the ON / OFF Holiday Switch every time.
2. Plan your day like an athlete – especially on big meal days
If you know you have a big Thanksgiving meal (or a Christmas dinner or a holiday party and dessert table you know is inevitable), set up the rest of your day in a way that helps you feel good:
Eat a balanced breakfast
Protein + carbs + healthy fats.
Skip meals to “Save Calories” all the time – you end up overeating and overdoing it.
Eat a hearty lunch
Think: veggies, lean protein, slow carbs.
The purpose is not the limits – it gives your body what it is to discuss so that you do not appear to be starving.
Hydrate throughout the day
Exhaustion is a soft thing this year.
You’ll enjoy your holiday meals more when your blood sugar and energy levels aren’t all over the place.
3. Go for a walk after a big meal
This is one of the easiest, highest impact habits you can create during the holidays.
Walking 10-20 minutes after a big meal:
- Improves blood sugar
- It slows down the flowering
- It helps digestion
- It strengthens the emotions
- To find you curled up in bed and fresh air
- You feel amazing
You can check out the whole family, suggest a “holiday getaway,” or add Solo for a few quiet minutes.
If I could recommend another holiday tradition, here it is.
4. Do something active every day (even if it’s small)
You don’t need to spend a long time this year.
You don’t even need 30 minutes.
But you need something to keep your body supple and your emotions stable.
Ideas that last 5-15 minutes:
- A quick 12-minute HIIT session
- Walking in the area
- 3 bodyweight strength cycles: Push-ups, squats, planks, stretching or walking
- A few rough ideas if you’re feeling adventurous
- Practicing care or a fun skill
Small movement = big return.
This is especially true at this time of year, when stress, family energy, sugar and travel can wreak havoc on your nervous system.
Movement is medicine.
5. Plan your spending before the day gets away from you
The holidays get busy fast.
Suddenly it’s 3pm, and you’re elbow-deep in mashed potatoes or headed to a party and realize you missed your exercise window.
Here’s the Go-To Wind to-to fix: Plan the move early, and plan first.
And actually put it on your calendar. Treat it like an important appointment.
If you travel, have 2-3 workouts in place.
If you have children or are hosting them, do your 12ma work before everyone else wakes up. Once you’ve flown the day, you don’t get that time back.
So this practice is the main responsibility.
6. Make moving a family activity (yes, really!)
You’d be surprised how many people will say something that works if you suggest it.
Try:
- Family day walk before breakfast
- Push-up or squat challenge
- A living room workout (kids love these!)
- Post-meal motion
- Touch a ball or a ball in the park (just make sure everyone warms up first!)
- “Let’s stretch for 10 minutes”
It doesn’t have to be much.
It’s about getting everyone’s bodies moving, having fun, and building connections. And honestly… it takes the pressure off of you to be the only one trying to stay there.
7. Pull the case – it fully serves the purpose
Holiday guilt is everywhere.
People are embarrassed about overeating, skipping workouts, or “being bad.”
Please hear this: Youth never makes you healthy. It only creates anxiety, prescriptions, and all-or-nothing thinking.
Enjoy your meal. Enjoy managing. Enjoy the people you love.
Then wake up the next day, hydrate, move your body, and go back to your normal routine.
That’s life. That balance. That’s what actually works in the long run.
You can have fun and stay active
The holidays don’t have to slow you down – and they definitely don’t have to be filled with guilt or stress.
You can enjoy pies, cookies, casseroles, cocktails … and stay active, empowered, and supported.
You just need simple habits, small daily movements, and the ability to zoom in: Fitness is a way of life.
You won’t lose your progress in a week or two. So do yourself some favors – and enjoy the season. You got it.
