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Where fitness and outdoors meet. In this space we chat all things hiking, exercise, wellness, adventure, motherhood, and metabolic health from a female perspective! Get ready to learn + be inspired to live your fullest, most adventurous life!
Hi, my name is Brady and I'm a long time fitness professional and Midwest girl turned mountain living hiking addict. In combining my knowledge of fitness and passion for hiking, I've helped hundreds of women get lean and strong for the trails. Think of this as your one stop shop for both education and inspiration on all things female wellness, trail talk and adventure. Hiking, female metabolism, motherhood, nutrition, travel and fitness are all topics you'll hear discussed here. If you are outdoorsy and active, looking to level up your health, unlock your potential, and become inspired to live your most vibrant life, you're in the right place. You're listening to the fit for Hiking podcast. Hello and welcome back to another episode of the fit for Hiking podcast. This is your host, Brady, and today we are officially entering kind of holiday week. If you're listening to this, you know, in real time, um, it's Thanksgiving week. So today we have a Thanksgiving centered episode. Before I dive into it, though, if you enjoy the show, if you want to be able to keep receiving, you know, free quality content each week from the podcast, then I really appreciate you subscribing, sharing, and leaving us a rating and review. All of that is so, so helpful to keep spreading the word so I can keep doing this for you guys. I love being able to do the podcast, so it just helps helps me out so I can keep this little operation afloat. Um, and one more thing to note. This is the final week to take advantage of our Black Friday sale. This is the only sale that we literally run all year, and we do have limited spots. There's only a few days left. I believe we are down to the final spot, but it is a buy. Three months of coaching, get one free deal. So the value on this is amazing. You get four months of coaching for the price of three. So if you have been on the fence about investing in your health and really want to see yourself in a different place physique wise, fitness wise, by April of next year, you can snag that deal now and you can start either in December or January and see where you're at in four months. Like give yourself four months, commit to it, lock in and you could be in a completely different place by next spring, which is really cool to think about that we have the power to completely transform our own lives just takes a little bit of action on our ends, so if you want to take advantage of that, then you can DM us at the Fit Underscore for Hiking Instagram page. You can just DM us, apply and we'll kind of get you going on that process. You can also just apply straight from the show notes. There's an application link there. So once we get on a call you can let me know that you're interested in the Black Friday deal. And we will see if we still have spots available. All right you guys, let's dive in. So today we're going to be talking about Fit Girls Guide to Thanksgiving. How to actually enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday and stay on track with your fitness nutrition goals. Because if we're honest, Thanksgiving is completely food centered, which can make it kind of a minefield for people who have a lot of food noise, a lot of, um, prior issues with the relationship with food or food fixation. Um, also, if you're just really trying to stick with your goals, and food is typically the thing that has been a challenge for you in the past, this holiday can feel really daunting. So we're going to get into ten little tips for how to transform your Thanksgiving, um, and actually enjoy it without all of the food noise and without all the stress, the guilt, all the things that you can sometimes experience. If I'm honest, I definitely experienced a lot of this in my 20s every single year. I was so stressed about Thanksgiving. I gave it so much power in my mind, and I was always like, oh my gosh, I'm going to feel like crap. At the end of the day, I'm going to gain several pounds and be so bloated none of my pants are gonna fit. Um, same with Christmas. Like the kind of the whole holiday season just gave me so much anxiety around progress and fitness and food and how my clothes would fit. And it really sucks the joy out of so much of it. And I look back and I'm like, man, that is such a bummer that I not wasted, but spent so many holiday seasons really fixating on the wrong things instead of just enjoying it. So hopefully once we get through these ten tips, you will feel like you're in a better place to mentally approach Thanksgiving and Christmas without the shame, the guilt, the food noise, the fixation. All right, so let's get into it. Number one. Is to eat and workout as normally as possible around those events. Again, we're not giving it too much power. This is just one day. Okay, maybe a couple of events around Thanksgiving. Maybe you have like a Friendsgiving and then a family thing. And so it's a couple of meals. The rest of the time just eat and work out as normally as possible. Try to really mainly eat home cooked meals that are centered around proteins, veggies, fruits. Since holiday meals tend to be a bit more fat and carb heavy. You can really just try to eat as lean as possible with the meals surrounding, but you don't want to just starve yourself or cut out food entirely. On the days of those events, this is going to lead to more food fixation and a heightened appetite. So that's a recipe for disaster. That's a recipe for showing up and overeating to the point where you feel sick and then you feel shame and guilt, and then it's this vicious cycle, right? We don't want to let that happen. Similarly, you don't need to do excess cardio. I really dislike when I go to workout classes or see the things on Instagram where it's like, do this many burpees to burn off, like this amount of pie or whatever. Like that is just really not the right headspace to go into. This is going to perpetuate a negative relationship with exercise and food. So instead just do your normal things. You know, maybe just Monday through Wednesday of this week, you're hitting your normal workouts knowing that Thursday, Friday probably not going to happen. Maybe Saturday you can get a little bit of activity in, but just do what you can in your as much as your normal routine as possible around your travel plans, family plans, things like that. But don't try to do all this excess cardio because again, that can actually lead to increasing your appetite, more food fixation and it just really backfires. Number two. Eat what you love. Leave what you like. I say this every holiday because I swear by this rule. What I mean by this is eat the things that are special to you for this particular holiday, that holds significance, that are family recipes, or that are your absolute favorite things for Thanksgiving, and leave the height behind the things that you just sort of like. Like, for instance, if we have your family homemade pumpkin pie, and then there's also like these pecan bars from a box that aren't that good, but they're there. Just forget about those, okay? They don't mean anything to you. They're not going to be your favorite thing. Don't just eat them because they're available. Instead, really enjoy and savor the items that you love and look forward to, and feel special and nostalgic to you. And just don't worry about the other things. I think sometimes, especially when it's like a buffet style or just free for all, we tend to just eat what's available and you don't have to. You can be picky, you can be choosy and really specifically choose the items that are are meaningful to you and really do feel like you're able to celebrate Thanksgiving when you eat those items. Okay, definitely a game changer. Leave behind the generic things. The things that are just kind of so-so. Don't fixate on those. Just let them go and eat the things that you love. Number three, you need to focus heavily on moderation. This is going to be your holiday superpower. Um, honestly, it's a superpower for the rest of your life. This is a skill that will translate to a lifetime of leanness and healthy habits. Um, it does take time, right? It doesn't happen overnight. Relationship with food, mindset moderation. They all go hand in hand, and none of them are a quick fix or just like an easy button type of thing. But I would definitely say as much as you can go to these events with a mindset of moderation, having small portions of the foods that you really enjoy. Instead of saying, I can't have carbs, I can't have alcohol, I can't have dessert or whatever it is that you've told yourself that you have to cut out in order to be healthy. When we go into holiday or social events with this, I can't have mindset or restriction. Then that leads to more fixation, which leads to overeating. Once we lose our willpower towards the end of the day, or at the next holiday event or whatever that looks like, okay. So instead, just let yourself enjoy all of the food groups in moderation. This sounds so simplified, but once I really got this down, it changed my life. It made losing and maintaining a £25 weight loss on my pretty small frame. Like I'm five foot five. I'm not a huge person to begin with, so losing £25 on me made a big difference, right? And most of that was due to actually getting my relationship with food under control. Learning the skill of moderation and not just overdoing it. Cutting out some of that food noise. So this definitely makes a big difference, especially heading into a lot of food oriented events. Number four drink a glass of water, a full glass right before eating and again after your first plate. Then take a little break. Wait ten minutes and then you can consider if you actually want seconds. Oftentimes we just like immediately get up. We finish our last bite and we're like, I gotta go back for more. I didn't get this, this, this or this. We don't give our body time to actually settle into the food that we've eaten and, and digest properly. And then we get to that point of the end of the second plate and you feel horrible. You're so stuffed to the point where you're miserable. And that's because you weren't giving your body a chance to hear its hunger cues. Okay, so listen for the satiety cues instead of just jumping right into that second plate and the water and weight ten minute rule will definitely, definitely help with this. So just plan ahead for it, okay? Get your water cup ready. Look at the clock when you finish your first plate. And then start a conversation with someone. Wait ten minutes and then see if you're still hungry. If you still want some food after that, if you genuinely are still hungry or have some room, then go for it. But don't just jump right into that second plate before listening to your body's signals. Number five. This is a super quick and easy one, but if you're a guest at someone's Thanksgiving, bring a healthy side that aligns with your goals that you can easily be like, okay, there's my veggie item, right? Like, bring a Brussels sprout dish, bring a salad, a fall inspired salad. I love doing this any time I go to an event, because then I at least know that there's one side that is going to be healthy, especially at Thanksgiving. You know, there's a lot of very like, buttery and casseroles, especially if you're from the Midwest. Oh my gosh. Being from the Midwest, it's like everything's a casserole. Everything's buttery. Everything's so good, but very fat laden, right? Very carb and fat heavy. So if you can bring a side that you know it's going to be on the lighter end, you're getting some fiber, you're getting some good micronutrients from your grains, then you can have a healthy, healthy portion of that. And you know that you're kind of meeting that need instead of just getting all these super carby and fatty sides, right. Number six, loosely plan your plate. And this aligns with our last our last little bullet point. So planning your plate one third, you're going to have like turkey or ham or whatever that protein item is. If you're a vegan or vegetarian, make sure you have a heavily protein item that is not mostly carbs, right? Because sometimes the vegetarian vegan options are kind of half protein, half carbs. Try to make sure you're getting like at least 20 to 30g of protein in there, and that's going to make up one third of your plate. Um, you're probably going to get a good amount of fat in there, too, with how it's cooked, especially if you're not in control of that and with your carb items. So you don't need to add an extra fat. Okay. So just focus on one third of your plate being protein. One third of your plate being that healthy veggie focused side, either that you brought or maybe somebody else made something that is really healthy and veggie focused. Um, and then one third carbs and you got your options here, right? Like sweet potato, sweet potato casserole, stuffing, squash, things like that. Um, and again, that's also probably going to be cooked with some fat. So you don't need to look for extra fat when it comes to a Thanksgiving meal. The proteins, the carbs, even sometimes the veggie dishes are already probably going to be cooked in fat. So you are good there. Um, so that's how you can loosely plan your plate. And it doesn't have to be so strict. Then you can go and be like, okay, I'm just trying to do one third protein, one third carbs, one third veggie on my plate, and you're just kind of picking and choosing from the options available. That way you can just, like, show up, not have to overthink it, not have to feel overwhelmed. And then you can plan to maybe split a dessert or slowly enjoy one of those holiday favorites that we talked about earlier. The ones that you love feel really nostalgic and cozy to you and ditch the guilt. Just go with a plan and enjoy. Number seven this one is maybe the most important. Remember that there are maybe only two meals out of the entire month that you're actually celebrating Thanksgiving. Okay, so think about that. Like really let that soak in. If there are, you know, three meals a day, typically throughout the month of November, that is 90 meals that you have a potential to eat two or maybe three if you're going to like several Friendsgiving ones are going to be, you know, Thanksgiving related socializing in that way. Think how small that is, maybe 2 or 3 out of 90. And think about it. On the other end of the spectrum, if you were if I were to say, well, I ate two healthy meals out of 90, you'd be like, well, that's not enough to reach your health goals. Like, why do you think that's going to make a difference? It's a drop in the bucket, right? It's the same goes for unhealthy meals. If only two out of your 90 meals are in a surplus or really fat, heavy or not, your typical healthy meals that you eat. Is that really going to derail your entire month? No. Okay. So look at the math. Look at the numbers. And also if you're like in a deficit or you're really focusing on maintaining your weight, you can take it a step further and think about the fact that in £1 of fat, there are 3500 calories. So to actually gain £1 of fat, you would have to eat 3500 calories over your maintenance. Okay. If you're able to do that in two meals, then you are like an eating champ. Okay. That is hard to accomplish. So if you see the scale go up a day or two after Thanksgiving. Know that it's probably the excess sodium. Excess carbohydrate intake. Not eating your normal routine. Um, maybe just water retention. Also could have to do with your cycle. Also could have to do with your sleep intake. Could have to do with your sugar intake, things like that. Okay. Don't freak out. Know that by the numbers. If you didn't eat 3500 calories over your maintenance, you did not gain a pound of fat. Okay. And it will flush out. It will go back to normal. So just kind of having that information in the back of your mind to keep you sane, to keep you grounded. It's so, so helpful for me. And again, that's where it is so important to just eat as normal as possible in the surrounding days. Cook it home, control portions and look at the ingredients that you're using, maybe a little more closely. If you know you're going to have a lot of holiday meals. Number eight. Try a mix of activity and rest. Okay, so plan a few walks, hikes, ski days, gym sessions. Workout classes. Ideally including your family and friends that you're celebrating with or you're around. And then account for some downtime and rest time as well. Get a good mix. This is so important. You don't want to just like, wear yourself out being like, I'm going to do a turkey trot and then I'm going to go, do you know, a eight mile hike? And then I'm going to go skiing. Make sure you're getting some rest as well. Enjoying that downtime. But mix in some activities. Have a healthy balance. Number nine plan for a transition activity to get you segued away from the the kitchen and on to something else. So I'm talking about like post-meal. Okay, so let's say you just finished your big Thanksgiving meal and you're still having some food noise. You're still kind of like, okay, I'm not actually hungry. I did the, you know, water and ten minute thing or I already had a second plate of food, but I'm still like thinking about it. I still want it. I want more dessert. I want more of this or whatever. Um, but you know that you're not actually hungry and you're really trying to honor your hunger. Cuz I want you to plan a transition or a segue activity that will get you moving away from that thought process or that that, uh, you know, that cycle in your mind where you're like, oh my gosh, I want more, I want more, I want more. Okay, so shift gears. This is really important. You need something that will help you shift gears away from that. Okay. So maybe you start decorating for Christmas. You start pulling out some boxes and you start looking through all of those. And it's really fun because it reminds you of all your favorite Christmas memories. Maybe you plan a social event, or you just turn and move to another room and start a conversation intentionally with someone that you're there with. Maybe you plan a walk or a hike, or you go to a movie, or you plan for curling up with a good book that you're really excited about. Okay, just have something in the back of your mind that will help you segue to move away from the food thoughts and just kind of move on because your body's full, right? But if your mind is struggling to get to that place, having a Segway activity is so, so helpful. And our final one is mindset related. Focus on aspects of the day or weekend that you can enjoy apart from just the food. Okay, I know that Thanksgiving is so food oriented, but what else are you looking forward to? Right? Gratitude emphasis makes such a big difference to being grateful for your body. When we go into Thanksgiving, feeling grateful for our health, our bodies feeling good, our energy that really encourages us to keep treating our body well at the forefront and really feeling it instead of bogging it down by overeating to the point where we feel sick or we have to unbutton our pants, or we just feel miserable and shameful and guilt and all of those emotions that sometimes we felt maybe around holiday meals. Okay. So go into the day or the weekend thinking about what else excites you and feel special about this day. What are traditions that you love? What are the things that you're like, oh, I can't wait to do this with my family or my friends that don't have to do with food and really focusing on those as well. And those can be tied to your Segway activity, right? So kind of bringing all of that together. All right, you guys, that is our ten tips to actually enjoy Thanksgiving while staying on track at the same time. I hope that you have found this helpful. It's kind of a quick one, but heading into Thanksgiving, just have these kind of just playing in the back of your mind. Listen to this before you're going to events and just remember it doesn't hold that much power. Go into it with the goal of enjoying it without the negative headspace, the negative emotions. Okay, that is the biggest, biggest success that you can have when it comes to your health and enjoying Thanksgiving. And don't forget Black Friday deal is wrapping up. So if you are interested in that, if you have had this in the back of your mind and you keep putting it on the back burner, it's time, right? Where do you want to be four months from now, six months from now, a year from now? Think about that and let that really motivate you to make some new decisions. Okay, so hit the apply link in the show notes and we will try to get you going on that. While we can still get you a spot for the Black Friday free month deal. Thank you so much for tuning in today. I hope you guys have awesome Thanksgiving! Um, I will chat with you in the next episode. Thanks for tuning into this episode of the fit for hiking podcast. As always, I hope it leaves you feeling inspired and informed on how to take your health and adventure into your own hands. For more content like this, be sure to follow along with my daily posts at Ponytail Underscore. On a trail that's ponytail underscore on a trail. You can also stay up to date on my new episodes being released at Fit Underscore for hiking, and find more free resources at ponytail on Etrailer.com. Happy and Healthy Trails.