We don’t get obese overnight.

The average adult gains 1-2 lb per year.

Short term?

Doesn’t seem like much.

Do that for 10, 20, 30 + years and you can see why obesity and its complications are wreaking havoc on our society.

But what’s particularly interesting is that we aren’t gaining that 1-2 lb linearly over the year.

• Some months you lose

• Some months you gain

• Some months you maintain

But the net effect overall is weight gain.

Most people try to it hard when things are less busy to make up for the weight gain during the busy times.

But…

What if we could learn to limit the damage when we typically go off the rails?

• Summer

• Holidays

• Vacations

• Weekends

You already know how to maintain or lose weight when things are perfect.

So what if we could stop the bleeding when life gets crazy?

We’d maintain weight, keep the progress we made, and even be able to build on that progress after the busyness ends.

Limiting the damage year over year during these times will transform your results long term.

Weight Gain Math

I’m going to break down exactly how to navigate your events to enjoy your favorite foods and stay on track.

Before we get there - some perspective:

Many people step on the scale after social events or holidays and see it up 3-5 lbs and FREAK out…

Truthfully, this is pretty much all hydration and digestion dependent.

In order to gain 1 lb of ACTUAL TISSUE you need a 3,500 calorie surplus.

That means you have to eat 3,500 calories MORE than you burn to gain 1 pound.

Most people burn around 2,250 calories per day - meaning for 1 lb of gain in a single day, you’d need to eat 5,750 calories!

Now let’s look at a typical Thanksgiving meal:

• 8 oz of turkey

• 1 cup mashed potatoes & gravy

• 1 cup stuffing

• 1 cup cranberry sauce

• 1 slice pumpkin pie

• 1 glass of wine

This comes out to roughly…

1,814 calories.

Let’s say you have the above meal TWICE in one day, PLUS another 500 calories of drinks and appetizers outside of that.

You’re sitting at 4,128 calories for the day.

Still less than a lb.

This is all theoretical, but the point is…

One day won’t set you back, but letting it turn into a week will.

The most important factor for navigating these next 6 weeks is to get right back at your plan ruthlessly in between events.

Take December for example.

There are 31 days.

Say you decide to blow it for two random weekend nights, Christmas eve, Christmas Day, and New Years Eve.

That gives you 26 days of 31 you can keep making progress.

26/31 = 84% of the month.

That’s pretty damn good.

Even if you went all out those 5 days, as you saw above, we’d probably be ok from weight maintenance perspective.

Now, If you let that turn into a 31 day case of the fuck its...

You can legitimately ruin your progress and set yourself back.

So bottom line, these strategies below WILL help you navigate the days of gatherings, social events, and parties to limit the damage.

BUT regardless, just get right back at it in between events and you’ll be just fine.

Now let’s go over how to minimize the damage on the days you’re off track.

9 Strategies to Enjoy Holiday Gatherings without losing your progress:

Now that we’ve covered that a few days won’t set you back - even if you REALLY go off the rails…

Let’s go over some ways to limit the damage on these days without cutting out your favorite foods.

Don’t worry - I’m not going to tell you to “earn” your food, or cut out dessert.

These strategies are great options for any holiday, weekend, or vacation where you aren’t going to be perfect.

And by the way - you don’t have to be, you just need to be consistent.

1. Eat a high protein breakfast

This will fill you up and lead you to eat less later.Keep it low-calorie - this gives you flexibility for a bigger dinner.

A high protein breakfast has been shown to decrease activation in reward brain centers later in the day when looking at savory snack.

2. Drink Water

Hydrate Hydrate Hydrate.

This will keep your stomach full and stop you from mistaking thirst for hunger.

Especially if you’re drinking alcohol (more on this later), add electrolyte powders to stay ahead of hydration.

3. Load Up on Protein & Veggies

This is CRUCIAL to keeping intake down without saying to no sweets.

Load your first plate with a sh*t ton of protein & veggies.

This will fill you up and guarantee you get the essential macros & micros that matter most for body composition.

When you head back for more, you’ll have less of an appetite and will end up eating less overall.

This is easy with Thanksgiving - turkey and greens!

4. Slow Down

Give your gut time to send a signal to your brain that you have eaten.

This allows your brain time to turn down your hunger hormones before you inhale 1,000 calories in 2 minutes.

Luckily, with the first plate full of protein & veggies, this will take longer to eat and make it easier to do this. A few other useful tips:

• Focus on each bite instead of looking for your next one.

• Chew each bite 20-30x before swallowing.

• Take a deep breath between bites.

• Put the fork down between bites.

• Turn off the phone & TV.

These are excellent practices ALL THE TIME.

The same meal can be exponentially more satisfying by actually enjoying the food and getting the most out of it - plus it will stimulate digestion better.

5. Limit Snacking

Similar to the practices above, walking around and throwing food in your mouth is a low-ROI way to eat.

Once again - I’m not saying don’t eat the good stuff - just make it a meal instead of gulping it down in passing.

If you’re going to have something - put it on a plate and sit down with it.

With each food item, ask “Is this worth it?”

I don’t mean don’t eat anything - just make the indulgence worth it!

If you only have Grandma’s special dessert twice a year, hell yes it’s worth it.

But if it’s just some random thing you don’t love maybe it’s worth saving room for the good stuff.

6. Exercise

No, don’t “earn” your day with a brutal workout.

That won’t work.

Get your step count up - ideally 10,000 or more.

Organize weight training to make sure you get it done early/later in the week (or go on the morning of if you enjoy it).

7. Drink Strategically

These are empty calories and lead you to make worse food decisions.

Here are the best ways to combat it:

• Choose low calorie mixers or light beer.

• Drink water in between each drink.

• Add electrolyte powders to water a couple times per day.

• Get Cheers Restore supplement - it helps metabolize the hangover causing byproducts and you take it after your last drink of the night.

Anything you can do to minimize a hangover will help you get moving and making optimal food choices the next day

8. Caffeine

Caffeine is a powerful appetite suppressant.

Add an extra coffee or two to keep hunger down throughout the morning and afternoon.

Just cut it off early to make sure it doesn’t wreck your sleep.

Bonus - decaf also is an appetite suppressant.

9. Chill Out

Remember - gaining even just ONE POUND in a day is tough to do.

But letting Thanksgiving - New Years turn into one long binge can absolutely lead to a loss of significant progress.

So enjoy time with family, eat your favorite foods, and get right back at it after.

None of these are REQUIRED, these are tools to use to limit intake on days you can’t track. Try them out and use what works for you.

P.S.

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