Thanksgiving to New Year’s can be a time of confusion when you have weight loss goals. Why? Because you either force too many rules on yourself or say, “Screw it, I’ll eat and drink myself into next year.” (FYI, my friend and mentor Josh Hillis wrote a brilliant blog post about this. Read it.) In both cases mentioned above you end up miserable. So how do you avoid the self-imposed crazy-making while simultaneously enjoying the holidays and staying on top of your goals? Read ahead for 3 ways to find out how!

1. Decide what’s important to you in the next 4 weeks. Yes, big picture, behind door #1 you want to lose weight and get strong. But guess what? You are now free to peek behind — and even choose — what’s behind door #2: Loosen up the habits a bit and coast. Maintenance IS an option and it’s completely valid. The key to this: Continue practicing your regular habits day-to-day but choose those days/evenings/events where you’d like to ease off the breaks a little bit. Then, own the decisions you make and ENJOY every moment. 
2. Paint a picture of who your best self is. Make that picture vivid. Not so much what you’d look like physically but what your best self is like in action. What kinds of decisions does your best you make when it comes to getting to the gym? To getting enough sleep? To making optimal food choices? To de-stressing after a long day? Too often you say you feel out of control with your life. Sometimes you just can’t get to the gym or you eat all of the Samoas in the box. YES, it’s legit to feel out of control sometimes. No one can tell you you don’t feel out of control. But you should know it’s not a genetic condition or flawed personality trait that you’re doomed to die with. It’s just a modus operendi that you need to practice getting out of the habit of doing. That MO is one path. There are others. One such alternate path it to visualize who you are as your best YOU so you can start to do what that person does and alter your journey.
3. Stop thinking of your holiday actions as being “good” or “bad”. “I was so bad, I had two slices of pecan pie and three glasses of wine at dinner.” “I’ve been so  bad, I’ve skipped the gym for two weeks.” “I was so bad at fill-in-the-blank, I consumed too much of fill-in-the-blank.” As Georgie Fear points out in her book Lean Habits for Lifelong Weight Loss, there are no ethics in food. Eating deep-fried butter does not make you a bad person. Eating massaged kale with a piece of baked chicken breast does not make you a good person. But thinking this way can certainly make you feel tortured, especially around the holidays. Get emotions out of the way for a minute: Either your actions are leading you closer to your goals, further away from your goals or keeping you in limbo. Remember what your goals are for the next 4 weeks and then decide what action you’re going to take. Whether that action gets you closer, further away from or right on top of your goal, own it and remember that it doesn’t make you good or bad.

Your health/wellness/fitness/happiness should not cause you undue stress around the holidays. There’s already plenty of that to go around with family, gift-giving, travel, etc. These steps above will hopefully help you see that YOU are in the driver’s seat as far as your health and fitness goals are concerned. 

So: Will you choose to re-read the story you’ve written yourself in years past or will you skip ahead to a different page altogether to create a different outcome? The choice is yours.

Kristen came to me to get ready for an epic hike she'd be taking with her mom and friend. Totally impressed that she and her mom do this every year, I knew physical fitness must be something very important to her. I also learned she had a martial arts and yoga background: She clearly knew how to kick butt AND give herself moments of zen. My brain lit up with happiness as I realized I could introduce her to new modes of exercise like strength training and kettlebells! Yay! Fun!

As I've gotten to know Kristen, it has become clear that she is a FORCE! She works HARD at her job but allows herself to play hard, too. (She got stuck in a meeting at work once and had to miss a session so when she got home she grabbed a football and she and her son played outside together. Love.) She ALWAYS walks into the studio with an open mind and a positive attitude. One of IzzyFit's core values is "Spread lightness and fun: Walk into the room with a positive attitude and open mind and great things will happen". Anyone who trains at the same time as Kristen can attest that she does just that. She walks in, says hi to everyone, is mega supportive of her training partners and gets the job done. And great things HAVE happened.

She's a rockstar and you get to learn more about her below!

What were your initial health and fitness goals when you first walked into the studio?
I recognized that it had been 18 months since I'd worked out regularly. At first, I wanted to get ready for a strenuous hiking trip, but that fell through due to work schedule. Then, my true goal was to feel stronger, more capable and more confident.
 
How do you think your sessions have helped you reach those goals?
My regular sessions with Izzy help me stay focused, motivated and supported. And I now fit in my fancy black dress that I didn't feel confident wearing for the last 12 months!

What do you enjoy most about training?
The new challenges, especially the kettlebell exercises and pull-up preparation. I also like having Izzy to ask questions and encourage me to try things I may not have thought of.

Is there anything surprising that you've discovered with strength training?
I like the repetition, the challenge and the technique behind strength training -- the planner in me appreciates the structure! The kid in me appreciates the changing routines that incorporate new muscle work or variety.

What are you looking forward to conquering in 2016?
I would like to add more "in between" workouts so that I can bust more plateaus in my workouts with Izzy. I also feel more prepared for spring training and summer readiness (ah, hem, the bathing suit dilemma).

How would you describe your philosophy on working out and nutrition?
I am a perfectionist at heart, so I try and be both dedicated and also compassionate. I like to follow through on my commitments, and my work schedule sometimes lets me down! But I keep on coming back!

You mentioned that works sometimes lets you down when it comes to exercise but you get back up and at it. You not only have a demanding job but you also have a super awesome son to take care of and yet you still make time for exercise and self care. How has prioritizing taking care of you helped you out?
I feel I'm making an investment in my energy bank by prioritizing exercise and self care in general. Once I blocked my calendar for workouts, they become more "non-negotiable"!

What advice would you have for anyone just starting out?
Start with curiosity and hope. Anything can be practiced. Plus, Izzy is always by your side.