If the holidays usually knock you off track and January feels like starting over, here’s the holiday eating plan I made this year, cookies included.
I was standing in my kitchen making my morning tea and shake when I remembered I needed to order a turkey.
That was all it took.
The turkey led to the menu. The menu led to who’s coming (Dave, Audrey, and maybe a few others). Are we dusting off all the old favorite recipes, or retiring one or two to make room for something new? And then my mind went straight to Christmas cookies.
Am I eating cookies this year? Am I making cookies for my family? What’s Christmas Day without fancy cookies on a platter that everyone can enjoy all day long? And the See’s candy. One pound or two? Am I even eating candy this year?
All of that in a matter of seconds. With a protein shake in my hand.
This is my hotspot. Sweets. Sugar.
Why I Needed a Holiday Eating Plan This Year
I’ve worked hard all year to take treats out of my regular routine. I’ve gone from a daily dose of something to weeks and weeks without brownies, cookies, ice cream, dark chocolate… any of it. I don’t like the way it makes me feel. Or my puffy face the next day. Or the puffy tummy.
But every once in a while (a long, great while if I’m dialed in), why not? Brownies are yummy.
Because, sometimes eating cookies is fun.
So I backed myself way up. I didn’t want to pick between enjoying the season and protecting the work I’d put in all year. I wanted both. What I needed wasn’t more willpower. It was a plan, made ahead of time, while my head was clear and nobody was passing me a plate.
Here’s the deal on holiday weight. In my work with clients, I’ve seen it play out the same way, year after year. Most people gain a pound-ish over the holidays. That’s not where it goes wrong. Where it goes wrong is that nobody makes a conscious effort to regroup and get that pound back off, so the habits trail right into the new year. (Researchers who followed adults through the season found the same thing: under a pound, on average, and it tended to stay.)
So one cookie day isn’t the problem. A season with no plan, and no regroup after it, is.
First, Look at the Calendar
I pulled out my calendar. When are the key dates, anyway? And what else is happening this season?
For us, it’s a lot. A river cruise. A work retreat in San Diego that I look forward to every year. Hosting Thanksgiving. Christmas Day here at home, with Matthew possibly coming after.
Seeing it all laid out was a reality check. The party isn’t every day. It’s a handful of days, with a whole lot of regular life in between. Those handful of days are the ones in full swing. The rest are just… regular Tuesdays.
Then Decide How You Want It to Feel
After the time check, I asked myself a different question. How do I want to experience these holidays?
I knew I didn’t want to be held captive to any roles, rules, regulations, or expectations. I get to decide how it rolls. (Boundaries, ha!)
How for me, this year, is “just enough.”
Maybe that looks like baking 3 kinds of Christmas cookies, not 6. A half pound of See’s, not 2 pounds. Maybe it’s a turkey breast and a prime rib, instead of a monster turkey and a ham and leftovers no one wants after they’ve had their Friday turkey sandwich.
Maybe it’s 1 pumpkin pie, period. Not a buffet of desserts.
Maybe it’s one full plate. Or a few nibbles more, and then, done.
For me, it’s also adapting my workout schedule, not abandoning it. I’m training for a HYROX race at the end of February, and I’m after a solid finish with my partner, so I’m protecting the quality of my workouts through the holidays. Some weeks that might mean dropping a workout day and swapping in walks, but the walk gets worked right into that day’s plan. The schedule shifts. Movement is always planned. On the cruise, that means lots of walking. In San Diego, it’s the hotel gym and the movement built into the retreat.
Have a Plan for the Unexpected
Because something unexpected always happens.
One holiday season, a neighbor who loved us brought over a plate of brownies. Then she did it again. Two plates in one season!
We ate the first plate. We froze the second.
No guilt about the first. No wreckage from the second. Just a decision.
I already know December’s pickleball Friday could turn into pickleball and snacks afterward. So Dave and I decide in advance whether we’re staying if it happens. No more standing there looking at each other, each of us waiting for the other one to speak up and decide.
Psychologists call this an if-then plan, and it’s one of the better-studied habits out there. Decide the “if” ahead of time, and the “then” gets a lot easier. It’s one less call to make on the spot, and if you’ve ever felt decision fatigue at the end of a long day, you know how much that matters.
The Part I Had to Say to Myself
For a long time, my holiday story had a little “I couldn’t help myself” in it. As if the cookies just happened to me.
They didn’t. I can help myself. Planning ahead is how I do it.
That’s not a rule. It’s a choice I get to make, on purpose, before the platter comes out.
What Your Own Plan Could Look Like
Mine came down to three moves. I looked at the calendar and found the full-swing days. I decided how I wanted the season to feel, and what “just enough” means for me. Then I decided ahead of time what we’d do when the unexpected showed up.
That’s it. No all-or-nothing thinking. No starting over in January. It’s the same idea behind doing less, more consistently: a few choices you’ll actually keep will beat a perfect plan you won’t.
And plan the regular days, too. That’s where holiday meal planning does its quiet work. The meals between the celebrations are what keep a few full-swing days from turning into a full-swing month, so you can enjoy the holidays and still feel like you when they’re over.
The cookies can come. The goals can stay. There’s room at the table for both.
And if you’ve been reading along for a while, quietly, I see you. Whenever you’re ready, here’s a good place to start.
Two Ways to Start Your Plan
Grab the Simple Meal Planning Worksheet. It’s a one-page plan for five days of meals, with the grocery list right beside it, so you make the grocery list while you make the plan. It’s free, and it’s just right for the regular days around the big ones. Get the worksheet here: https://link.bizmatecrm.com/widget/form/MjDsFvXl87n3DAGUAubQ
Want help building a plan that fits your season? The NewStart Navigator is a good place to start. For $49, you get a personalized video review from me plus a starter pack of samples, so you can try what I’d actually recommend for you. Real starting point, not a quiz. Start here: https://www.navigator.newstartforme.com/home
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