The holiday season is coming up, and for many of us this is a time where we gain weight: whether we justify an unexpectedly large bulk or simply seem unable to avoid our weight inching up despite our best intentions. Learn some practical methods to achieving your goals and preventing or limiting holiday weight gain (or even enabling holiday weight loss).

The holidays present unique challenges: huge meals, home-baked desserts, calorically-dense food items, peer & family pressure, fond memories. We can enjoy the holidays while still moving toward our goals.

First, leave room in your food & training journal to assess why you deviated from your plan. This isn’t to judge yourself, but to build awareness. Were you hungry? Did you eat because you always eat at a certain time? Did you not want to disappoint someone? Did you mindlessly eat? Or, did you just really want that food item?

Approaching holiday meals and time periods with realistic plans. Fasting prior to a meal is likely unrealistic. Eating a protein-rich meal the day of a big meal that will have plenty of fat and carbohydrates, however, makes sense.

For the big meals themselves, have a plan to help you prevent or at least limit overeating. For example, fill your first plate with a normal amount of food. This may mean limiting the items you put on your plate. This may mean putting sample-size amounts on your plate. Then, when you’re done, wait 15 minutes before getting seconds.

For dessert, assess whether you’re hungry or not. Take a dessert home if you really want it--you don’t have to try every type of pie that meal or that day!

Finally, Niki & Gillian discuss the idea of “volume eaters” and “intensity eaters.” Though people may be some combination thereof, volume eaters tend to overeat through large quantities of food, whereas intensity eaters tend to overeat through calorically dense items (eggnog, anyone?).

Arm yourselves with the knowledge and tips to better battle the holidays!

PS - IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN TAKING ONLINE COACHING FOR A TEST RUN, CHECK IT OUT HERE.

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Unleash your physical freedom. Reclaim your body and mind from bad habits, restrictive and narrow goals, and unrealistic expectations.

Andrew and Niki are thankful for all that has happened in 2024.

Thank you to Stephan, the editor and podcast producer, who is a true expert and professional. You have no idea how much work he does!

Thank you to Dan, Paige, Daisy, Nick, Noah, and the whole team at Barbell Logic. We thank Ryan Matt Reynolds as well.

But most especially, thank you, listeners. You are beasts (or future beasts) and we could not do this without you. We've got exciting podcasts coming in 2025.

PS - IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN TAKING ONLINE COACHING FOR A TEST RUN, CHECK IT OUT HERE.

• Niki on Instagram
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• Barbell Logic on Instagram
• Podcast Webpage
• Barbell Logic on Facebook
• Or email podcast@barbell-logic.com

Unleash your physical freedom. Reclaim your body and mind from bad habits, restrictive and narrow goals, and unrealistic expectations.

The concept of financial freedom - no longer stressing about finances and not having to trade your time for things you do not wish to do - helps derive useful lessons for health and fitness.

Attaining financial freedom requires discipline. One must define and follow through with hard decisions over a long period of time.

This, though, is the path to freedom. Don't look for shortcuts. And, even if you somehow find yourself with a sudden pile of money, you will only use that money well if you have developed the habits ahead of time.

The first and most obvious steps you must take is to remove bad habits. You have trouble saying no to highly processed sugary foods. You overeat.

Do you feel free when you make these decisions that do not align with your stated goals? Of course not!

Freedom requires some discipline to build virtues (e.g. the virtue of temperance so you can willingly say no to the donuts).

Many of our coaches and clients have followed overly restrictive goals that they bought into. For example, you follow the dictum that physical strength is the most important thing in life.

When you follow this, you will sacrifice your health and get fat to pursue this goal. You will avoid activities you enjoy, such as skiing, swimming, hiking, because this will remove weight on the bar in your next session.

Unless you have a hyper-specific goal or truly believe such a restrictive goal is true, ditch this counterproductive dogma.

Here is another example. You are so concerned with leanness, that your plan (even if you have not said this explicitly) requires you to never eat your grandma's pie again.

Is this really sustainable? Can you avoid every holiday food for every meal forever? Are you really going to eat chicken breast and broccoli every meal.

When you have physical freedom, you can choose in indulge when appropriate, knowing you will not go off the rails and that you can make another choice to get leaner after a vacation or holiday period.

PS - IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN TAKING ONLINE COACHING FOR A TEST RUN, CHECK IT OUT HERE.

• Niki on Instagram
• Andrew on Instagram

• Barbell Logic on Instagram
• Podcast Webpage
• Barbell Logic on Facebook
• Or email podcast@barbell-logic.com