If mamas only learned one lesson while raising kids it would be that nothing lasts forever. The early days of motherhood seem never-ending. When you’re drowning in diapers and completely sleep deprived you feel like you’ll never make it out. But then before you know it you have teenagers who won’t even wait for you to stop the car before they’re jumping out to meet up with their friends. The only part of motherhood that seems to last forever is the baby weight. But mama, you shouldn’t be stuck in weight loss mode forever. That’s why I stop encouraging mamas to lose weight, especially during the holiday season.

Now, you might be thinking, “Wait. Isn’t she a health and weight loss coach? Shouldn’t she be telling people that they need to lose weight?” The answer is yes and no! Some people need to lose weight to live a healthier life, and some people need to gain weight. But no matter where you fall on that scale, no one should be stuck in weight loss mode forever!

Our bodies simply aren’t meant to be in weight loss or deprivation mode year-round. Our bodies are meant to gain weight, lose weight and maintain weight. There are seasons for everything and today I’m going to teach you why and how to move your body through each season so that you can enjoy holidays and celebrations while still living a healthy life.

You can’t - and shouldn’t - lose weight forever

If you’ve been trying to lose the last 5-10 lbs for years and you’ve tried diet, after diet, after diet, then the problem isn’t that you can’t stick to a diet or that your body just isn’t meant to lose the weight. The problem is probably that you’ve been undereating for too long and your body needs a break!

The body adapts to whatever you feed it and if you’ve been restricting calories for too long, then the body recognizes that and holds onto any food you give it. Chronic dieters often feel like they stall out at a certain point and that’s usually because the body has finally adapted to your new way of eating.

The key to restarting your weight loss journey is learning how to move your eating habits through the four phases of macro tracking.

The four phases of macro tracking

Macro tracking takes you through four different phases so that your body doesn’t get too used to

one thing. It allows you to ebb and flow with your nutrition so that you can always be pushing towards your goals.

Deficit Phase

Most people understand the deficit phase of macro tracking as more traditional dieting. The goal of a deficit is to burn more calories than you consume. This is the simplest way to ensure you’re losing weight.

However, you shouldn’t stay in a true deficit for more than 8 weeks. If you’re in your deficit too long, your body with begin to hold onto food and store it as fat because it doesn’t know when it’s going to get adequate nutrition next.

If you’ve been restricting your calories for more than 8-12 weeks, this is probably why you can’t lose weight anymore.

Reverse Phase

A reverse diet takes someone who has been restricting their calories and slowly increases the

amount of food they are eating.

This may sound crazy because you’re used to hearing that the only way to lose weight is to be in a deficit, but as you’ve already learned spending too much time in a deficit can send your body into fat-storage mode.

Instead of keeping you in starvation mode, I want to get your metabolism revving and get

you eating enough to give you energy again! The key part of the reverse cycle is that you

increase your caloric intake slowly!

If you went from very restricted eating straight into maintenance calories you would gain weight because the body can’t adjust that quickly to more food!

When I reverse my Macros Made Easy mamas we do it a few calories at a time. When it comes to losing weight, slow and steady always wins the race!

Maintenance Phase

Maintenance calories are where we should be sitting for the majority of the year. At maintenance, we aren’t gaining or losing weight. Sure, your weight might go up or down a pound or two each week, but you shouldn’t be seeing a lot of weight gain or weight loss.

In maintenance, you will feel full and satisfied. You’ll have energy for your workouts. It will be easy to vacation or eat out without gaining or losing too much weight.

I like to keep my clients in maintenance for a few months because it’s the easiest cycle for them to enjoy their lives in. Life is meant to be enjoyed not just dieted through! If you aren’t enjoying your life because you’re stuck in diet mode, let’s talk, ok?

Surplus Phase

During the surplus phase, you’re going to be eating above your maintenance calories. It’s normal to gain weight during the surplus phase, but the goal is to put on more muscle than fat.

This might surprise you, but I stay in surplus for almost six months out of the year! I do this for a few reasons, one is I use a surplus period to push myself in the gym and build muscle. But the second, and maybe the biggest reason, is that I want to enjoy the holiday season!

Yep, I want to eat a Twix on Halloween, mac and cheese at Thanksgiving and Christmas cookies all season long! And I can do that, in a healthy way, by eating in a surplus!

Your weight doesn’t need to be the focus of the holiday season

Typically people have two different attitudes about their health and weight when it comes to the holiday season: they either hyper-focus on their weight and restrict everything they eat, or they say screw it and eat anything and everything their hearts desire.

Neither of these attitudes is a healthy way to approach the holidays! Instead of living at one extreme, I’d prefer people land in the middle.

The holiday season is all about family, celebrations and being present. I don’t want you to not enjoy the time spent with family and friends because you’re too worried about being “good” or “bad” or because you’re scared that the scale might go up tomorrow.

Instead, change your focus to how can you make the best choices each day. Being in the middle of the two extremes means that some days you’re going to enjoy some of your favorite holiday foods, and some days you’re going to pass because that food doesn’t serve you.

A few weeks ago, I talked a lot about calendaring your holiday parties and events ahead of time to help you create a plan. But today, I wanted to give you another tip that you can use even if you forgot to create a plan, or you start to feel like you want to have a little more fun than you planned!

This tip is super easy to remember too! If you’re at a holiday party or even at home and there’s a holiday food that you really want to eat and you can’t get it out of your head, then eat it!

Really! One treat or even one meal isn’t going to throw you off for the rest of the year!

Plus, how many times have you denied yourself a treat and then eaten a bunch of other food trying to satisfy your craving, only to come back and eat the thing you were craving in the first place? Right? It happens all the time!

What I do suggest is taking a few bites and then re-evaluating if it’s worth finishing or if you’ve satisfied your craving. Sometimes we think we need to eat the whole candy bar or Christmas cookie, but really all we need is a bite or two to satisfy our brains!

It’s important to recognize that checking in with yourself and your body is also an extremely important skill to have as you work towards living your healthiest life!

Mama, if you know that you’re going to struggle this holiday season, then don’t be afraid to get help! You have enough on your plate over the next few months, you don’t need to add guilt, shame or regret about your food!

I can help you learn how to enjoy the holidays in a healthy way without gaining extra weight! Schedule a free discovery call if you want to learn how to have the healthiest holiday season ever!

2 Huge reasons I stop encouraging mamas to lose weight during the holidays