Here we come again. It’s that time of the year when the weather gets a bit colder, people layer up and cover up areas they aren’t exactly proud of and delicious treats during get togethers are constantly tempting us like sirens to sailors.

After the candy of Halloween comes Thanksgiving, then Christmas and then the debauchery of New Years eve. Come New Years day though they try to quit cold turkey and then “This year will be the year I get in shape” where they have to compete with every other resolutioner who is using the equipment they want to use, and taking their sweet time doing it because they have to post it on social media.

Something I see other fitness professionals preach is get started now and you’ll have a leg up on the New Year. One might think “Why bother? I don’t want to give up hanging out with friends and family and there are just too many temptations. Better to start in the New Year”

I’m not going to gatekeep by preaching to you about how you need to suck it up. That’s actually an exercise in futility since willpower is a finite resource anyway (you can only say no so much before you crack).

Instead I’m saying that with a few strategies, you can actually use this to your advantage. In other words you can have your cake and eat it too…and still lean out.

Years ago, I was training a bride for her upcoming wedding day. One of the days she came in looking upset.

What’s the matter?

“I haven’t lost any weight in the past 3 weeks”

When was the last time you cheated on your diet?

“I NEVER cheat on my diet”. And I knew she was telling me the truth so I said …”Cheat immediately“

That weekend was the Renaissance Fair and she cheated and then some. She comes back in for a weigh in now 3lbs lighter. How?

Our bodies are amazing adaptive mechanisms. It adapts to just about any stimulus you throw at it assuming it has enough frequency and time. In an effort to survive a potential starvation cycle your body can actually down regulate your metabolism to conserve its resources. This is leftover from a time when we had to compete with sabertooth tigers for survival in the ice age. And usually the way the cycle works is people create a calorie deficit, they lose a bit of weight, then when they hit the law of accommodation (when your body stops adapting to a stimulus) the weight loss slows so they cut calories further. It becomes like a dog chasing it’s tail.

Instead by throwing in a “cheat” day or a “cheat” meal every once in a while you can potentially stop it from happening. You’re still technically in a deficit because one unrestricted day isn’t going to upset the caloric balance of an entire week of eating on point. That and throwing all the rules out the window can help you from a psychological standpoint since it’s not 12 weeks without fun, it’s only a couple days till you can have that scrumptious whatever floats your boat.

So how much? When I give my one size fits most nutrition recommendations for my personal training clients who come to me for transforming their bodies, I tell them 3 unrestricted meals or 1 day unrestricted. That will help you to be able to stay on track, while also living life and enjoying the fruits of your labor. You’ll enjoy the season, and if you start now you can enjoy the way you look before new years is even here.

If you need help with this, I offer a free trial at my personal training studio on Main Street in Boonton. Just send me a text at 973 476 5328 and introduce yourself to get started.

Eric Moss is a personal trainer in Boonton and moonlights as a world-record-holding modern-day professional performing strongman, author, and motivational speaker. In the tradition of the strength performers more common during the turn of the century, he performs feats of strength such as bending steel and breaking chains as part of a live show and travels across the country doing presentations on goal achievement for conferences, corporations, associations, nonprofits, and government entities as well as for schools and universities. His personal training studio is located on Main Street in Boonton New Jersey and is close to Mountain Lakes, Denville, Montville, Butler, and Parsippany New Jersey.