Expert tips for staying fit during the holidays. Enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas meals without guilt while maintaining your weight loss goals.
Lose Weight During the Holiday Season: Expert Strategies That Actually Work
The holiday season is here, and if you’re worried about losing your fitness momentum between Thanksgiving dinner and New Year’s Eve, you’re not alone. Every year, millions of people face the same dilemma: How do you enjoy the holidays without undoing months of hard work?
The good news? You don’t have to choose between celebrating with loved ones and staying committed to your health goals. The key is having a solid strategy that allows you to enjoy holiday meals while keeping your fitness routine intact.
In one of this week’s episodes of More Movement Please, I tackled this exact challenge.
I shared my personal plan for navigating Thanksgiving and the entire holiday season, including science-backed tips on mindful eating, the plate method, and why working out on Thanksgiving (and Christmas!) morning sets the tone for the entire day.
If you haven’t listened yet, check it out here:
You can stay on track without sacrificing the joy of the season.
To give you even more expert guidance, I reached out to fitness professionals, nutritionists, and health experts for their top tips on maintaining your progress through the holidays.
Here’s what they had to say:
Stay Strong and Active Through Holiday Season
I spend each day with patients wanting better mobility, a stronger physique, and healthy lifestyle practices. As a physiotherapist, I examine the mechanics involved in muscle, joints, and metabolism. I also act as a fitness and recovery coach, aligning my patients’ lifestyle with their desired aims. Small changes in people’s movement, stress, and eating habits have proven effective, and the holiday seasons make this even easier.
1. Keep Your Body Moving
Light exercises help maintain comfortable joints and stable energy.
I teach patients to do simple warm-ups to increase synovial fluid (the liquid that keeps your joints smooth) and to boost muscle oxygen.
A brief walk before and after consuming large meals enables the body to utilize the nutrients rather than store them.
2. Build Your Plate Around Protein
Protein has an appetite-suppressing effect and safeguards lean tissue.
Turkey, eggs, beans, and/or yogurt work to regulate hunger and metabolism.
This is a thing I’ve told almost all my clients, and it applies in all cases where you need a successful diet and training regime.
3. Apply the 80/20 Rule
Mainly, your diet all day long can include healthy foods.
Roughly 20% can include the fun holiday treats like pie, stuffing, and other treats.
There’s no guilt involved. Just balance. I use this approach with my athletic clients and my non-athletic clients because it’s effective.
4. Listen to Your Body Signals
Eat slowly.
Your body also offers you interoceptive signals, indicating when you’re full.
These signals become easier to detect when eating slowly.
5. Boost Your NEAT
NEAT is the acronym for “non-exercise activity thermogenesis,” referring to the calories that are expended during [unintentional exercise]
Small things help too, like walking the dog, assisting with clean-up, stretching, and standing up.
6. Prioritize Recovery
Good sleeping habits regulate the hormones, called leptin and ghrelin, that control the sensation of hunger.
Reducing stress helps prevent overeating due to emotions. .
7. Keep in Mind That One Meal Doesn’t Change Everything
Individuals experience excessive worries over one holiday meal.
All the better progress you make, all the better you will become.
Enjoy the food. Enjoy the time with your family. Get back on your routine the next day.
– Alex Lee, Co-Founder, Physiotherapist and Fitness & Recovery Expert, Saunny
Master Damage Control with Strategic Time Management
The top tip I give for navigating the holidays and avoiding guilt is to completely abandon the idea of “perfect performance” and focus only on “operational damage control.” The chaos is inevitable, but your system must be resilient enough to handle the inevitable input shock without breaking the whole process.
My strategy is the 90/10 Rule applied to time, not food. You have to accept that your meals will be messy and non-compliant for a few days. The operational mandate is to ensure that 90% of your available time—all the hours outside of the actual holiday meals—is dedicated to strict compliance: getting your sleep, controlling liquid calories, and hitting your mandatory movement targets.
This works because it changes the focus from guilt over eating to competence in execution. You enjoy the meal without anxiety because you know your system is working flawlessly the rest of the time. It proves that resilience isn’t found in avoiding the problem; it’s found in designing a process strong enough to absorb the problem without compromising the overall mission.
– Flavia Estrada, Business Owner, Co-Wear LLC
Shift Focus from Food to Family Connections
Look, the holidays can bring up a lot of food guilt. I’ve seen it. The trick is to notice why you feel that way and tell that all-or-nothing voice in your head to take a hike. One big meal doesn’t erase your progress. At Interactive Counselling, we work on shifting focus to the people around the table, not just the food on it. That’s what makes the season feel less stressful and more like a holiday.
– Amy Mosset, CEO, Interactive Counselling
Use The Plate Method to Balance Holiday Meals
I tell my clients to focus on the ‘plate method’ during holiday meals – fill half your plate with vegetables, a quarter with lean protein, and a quarter with your favorite holiday treats. This way, you’re nourishing your body first while still enjoying what makes the holidays special. I learned this from my own journey with emotional eating in my twenties – when I stopped labeling foods as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ and started thinking about balance, everything changed for me.
– Livia Esterhazy, Owner, The Thrive Collective
Start with Protein to Control Holiday Cravings
As a family health physician, I tell patients that holidays don’t slow progress; a lack of strategy does. I suggest a PROTEIN-FIRST PLATE approach: Begin meals with lean proteins like turkey, chicken, fish or plant sources for vegans and vegetarians to help increase fullness and decrease calorie consumption by 15-20%.
It’s also great to incorporate high-fiber side dishes, such as roasted vegetables or salads, for more fullness. I also advocate for small, realistic habits rather than restrictions. A small amount of protein, such as Greek yogurt or a hard-boiled egg, is recommended before Thanksgiving dinner, so you don’t arrive “starving” and kind of indulge in everything you see on the table. That both crushes cravings and allows you to enjoy holiday food without overeating.
– Dr. Geny Augustine, Family Medicine Physician, Solace Health
Aim for Maintenance Over Holiday Season Perfection
When my clients ask about holiday weight loss, I tell them the goal is maintenance, not perfection. Most people only gain about a pound over the season, but they keep it.
My first rule is: don’t save up all day. That just makes you arrive starving and more likely to binge.
Second rule: build your plate like a workout warm-up with protein and veggies, then add the fun foods.
Third, decide what’s worth it before you walk in. Enjoy your grandma’s pie, skip the stuff you don’t really love, and move on without guilt.
– Dong Wang, Founder, Vanswe Fitness
Think in Weeks Not Days for Results
In the gym, we talk about consistency, not punishment. The same applies at Thanksgiving. One big meal won’t ruin your progress; staying “off” for six weeks will.
I ask people to think in weeks, not days. If most days look solid, you can relax at the table and still move toward your goals.
My simple holiday rules:
Lifting or walking the morning of significant events helps mood and appetite.
One plate, sit down, slow bites.
Go straight back to your routine at the next meal, no make-up punishment workouts.
– Ryan Beattie, Director of Business Development, UK SARMs
Maintain Weight and Enjoy the Holiday Season
While it might be popular to try and lose weight around the holidays in order to fit into a special outfit, etc., it’s more realistic to focus on maintaining our weight during the holiday season. With that shift in mindset we can better enjoy the holiday season.
The number one thing I tell folks around the holidays is to remember that the holiday itself, or a specific event, is just one day. And it’s what we do most of the time vs some of the time that makes the biggest difference. On the day of the holiday or event, make sure to have a balanced breakfast and mid-day meal (if the event is in the evening) that includes lean protein, high fiber carbohydrates and colorful fruits and veggies.
These foods will keep your energy balanced and appetite satiated throughout the day. When it comes time for the holiday meal or event, take a mindful approach to filling your plate. Observe the offerings first, by sight, smell (even sound depending what’s being served!), before filling your plate.
Serve yourself with intention and know that you can always refill your plate again if you’re truly hungry. Finally, allow yourself to experience the joy of the holidays, as stressing about what you are eating can be more problematic than eating the food itself!
– Andrea Rumschlag, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist & Nutrition Coach, Rise & Reign Nutrition
Practice Moderation and Prioritize Regular Exercise Daily
It is entirely possible to navigate the holiday season without derailing your health and weight goals. Moderation is key. For instance, if you know you will be enjoying a luscious dinner meal and want to really enjoy it, eat lightly for the remainder of the day while also drinking a lot of water. The other key is exercise [is] specifically making time for it. While it’s tempting to skip workouts when there’s so much merriment to be had, it’s better for your body if you don’t.
Thank you so much for your consideration. If you quote me, please credit me as “food writer and cookbook author Sarah Walker Caron, who blogs at SarahsCucinaBella.com.
– Sarah Walker Caron, Food Writer and Cookbook Author, Sarah’s Cucina Bella
Embrace Mindful Eating to Eliminate Food Guilt
Eating mindfully is perhaps the most consistent way to eat and enjoy holiday food and still support your goal of losing weight. Rather than attempting to limit what you can eat or try to skip your favourite traditional foods, the mindful approach will help you appreciate your time at the table. As you slow down, as you notice the flavour, as you take time to appreciate each bite, you will naturally eat less without feeling like you are being deprived.
A final benefit of mindful eating is that it gets rid of the “good” food versus “bad” food mentality. When no foods are “off-limits,” people are less likely to go back and forth between strict control and overeating. The ability to savour and enjoy all of your holiday dishes with mindfulness allows you to eliminate the guilt associated with enjoying your holiday food, which also lends itself to developing healthy long-term eating habits.
Ultimately, the holiday season is about enjoyment, and mindful eating helps you find that balance. Mindful eating permits you to enjoy the traditions of the holiday season while still aligning with your goals. Mindful eating creates a positive experience around the holiday table, rather than creating an opportunity to correct yourself or compensate later.
– Blen Tesfu, MD, Welzo
Holidays Don’t Have to Derail Progress
The message is clear: the holidays don’t have to derail your progress. Whether you call it the 80/20 rule, damage control, or simply focusing on consistency over perfection, the strategy is the same. One meal, or even one day, won’t undo your hard work. What matters is what you do most of the time, not some of the time.
So this holiday season, enjoy your mom’s peanut butter chocolate candy, savor that slice of pie, and embrace the time with family and friends. Just make sure you’re also honoring your commitment to yourself by staying active, eating mindfully, and getting right back to your routine the next day.
Wake up on Thanksgiving morning and get that workout in. Take a family walk after dinner. Build your plate with intention, starting with protein and vegetables before adding the treats you really want.
Most importantly, let go of the guilt. The holidays are about joy, gratitude, and connection. When you approach them with balance rather than restriction, you’ll discover that you can have it all: the celebration, the progress, and the peace of mind that comes from staying true to your goals.
Now get out there and move your body. You’ve got this.
