’Tis the season for Christmas movies.  All great Christmas movies have a redemption story.  (Yes, even Die Hard!  If you don’t think Die Hard is a Christmas movie, we can debate that another time.)  You may be wondering what Christmas Movies and redemption stories have to do with nutrition and macro counting.  Whether you know it or not, you are writing your very own redemption story with your nutrition.

Did you come from a history of overeating or grow up in a household that didn’t incorporate vegetables?  Have you tried to under-eat for years chasing an impossible standard?  Have you avoided eating with your family because you thought you had to eat separate meals to achieve your goals?  Was fiber something you only heard about in cereal commercials?  If you answered yes to any of these things, the steps that you are taking now are changing your nutrition for the good!  

All redemption stories have ebbs and flows.  Sometimes things go really well and other times they don’t go well at all.  As you have navigated holiday parties, family vacations, work trips or just stressful moments, have you ever found yourself feeling defeated and like you failed?  We have so many women check in over the holidays telling us that they feel like failures.   A missed week is not failure. You are not a failure. 

When the feeling of failure sets in, it is really easy to stumble into a shame spiral where you start believing lies like, “I can’t do this,” “It is always going to be this way,” “I am never going to figure this out,” and “This won’t work for me.”  Shame drives us to isolate ourselves and it is hard to find a way out.  No matter how your week went or whatever happened, please check in with your coach!  We have all had rough weeks where things didn’t go as planned.  We understand.  Your check in is not for us to grade a report card.  We want to hear your struggles and provide encouragement, direction, macro adjustments and resources to help you be successful!  We can help you manage expectations and find your way forward toward your goals.  

In some seasons, the way forward is a sprint.  In other seasons, very small baby steps move you forward.  If you are in a season where tracking everything feels overwhelming, tell us!  We are here to help you formulate a plan to take steps to get back on track.  Holidays, vacations and summer are hard seasons for many of our clients.  This is why we celebrate maintenance as a victory too.  More on that here Maintaining During the Holidays.

Our goal is to give you the tools to create sustainable habits with your nutrition that you can use for the rest of your life.  Sustainable nutrition means learning how to navigate holidays, summer, travel, and everything else that life throws at you.  This includes knowing what to do when your plans go awry.  

Instead of chalking it all up to a loss when things don’t go as planned, make the next right choice.  Go for a walk, get fresh air in your lungs, practice gratitude and celebrate what your body can do. Find a way to get your protein in, incorporate a veggie snack and fill your water bottle.  If it has been a season of lower consistency and you are having a hard time getting momentum back, know that you may have to build it back over a few weeks and we are here to help you do that.  Here are some tips to get the most out of your macros if you are in a season of lower consistency: How to Make Macros Work for you When You’re Not in a Season of 100%.

This holiday season, celebrate the success you have already found with your nutrition!  Did you enjoy a holiday meal with the family?  Were you able to make Christmas Cookies with your kids and make them fit in your macros?  Did you wake up after a Holiday Party and know how to get your nutrition back on track the next day?  Did you have more energy to manage the busyness of your schedule?  

Whatever happens with your macros on the vacation, at the holiday party, or just on a Tuesday that went sideways, KEEP GOING. You are building the future of your nutrition.  This is not about perfection. It is about progress, consistency and time. You can do this and we will help you!