Can you really make it through the holidays without gaining weight, and still enjoy every single party? Yes girl, you can.
And no, the answer is not celery sticks while everyone else eats pie.
I’ve had Decembers that ended in tight jeans and tears, and Decembers that ended exactly where I started.
My number one holiday rule? Never arrive hungry. 🦃
Five tiny habits made all the difference, and I’m giving you every single one.
1. Don’t Skip Lunch to “Earn” the Party
One December I had a genius idea: skip lunch, “save up” my calories, and arrive at the party with a big budget.
I was elbow-deep in the cheese board by 8pm.
By 11pm I had eaten everything I swore I wouldn’t, and I went home feeling like a deflated balloon. Ugh…
The next year I did the opposite. Normal breakfast, normal lunch, and I walked into that same party like a civilized human.
I tried a little of everything I loved, skipped the stuff I didn’t, and left happy instead of stuffed. Yep, the only difference was lunch.
Skipping meals all day doesn’t shrink your appetite, it just hands your willpower straight to the buffet.
A party-day menu for me now: eggs on toast in the morning, a big chicken salad at lunch, a snack if dinner runs late.
Nothing heroic, just normal food, so I show up as a girl choosing what she loves and not a girl who hasn’t eaten since Tuesday.
So eat normally on party day, and make both meals before it count, with real protein on the plate. If you’re not sure how much protein that means for you, I broke it all down in my protein guide for women.
2. The Party Plate Rule: Fill Half First
Here’s what I do at every buffet now, and it works at Thanksgiving, office parties, your mother-in-law’s dinner table, wherever.
Fill half your plate with the good stuff first: the turkey, the veggies, the salad, anything green and real.
Then the fun stuff goes on the other half, the stuffing, the potatoes, that weird jello situation your cousin brings every year.
It’s basically Harvard’s healthy eating plate wearing a Santa hat, and it works because you still get everything you love.
Pro move: walk the whole table once before you pick up a plate. That way you spend your room on the three things you actually want, instead of the first six things you bump into.
Dessert gets the same treatment: pick the one you truly love and enjoy every bite of it.
The stale store-bought cookies I can skip. My grandma’s pumpkin pie? Always.
Quality over quantity, girls, especially at the dessert table. 🥧
And if you’re the one cooking, my healthy Thanksgiving recipes are proof that the whole table can be lighter without anyone guessing.
3. Liquid Calories Are the Sneaky Ones
Now the drinks, because this is where December gets quiet and sneaky.
Nobody feels full from a peppermint mocha, but your body absolutely counts it, right?
I call those drinks “candy in a cup,” and the season is full of them.
My swaps: sparkling water with lime looks exactly like a cocktail, tea is cozy without the syrup, and one glass of water between every festive drink keeps me honest.
If wine and cocktails are your thing, alternate them with water too, your morning-after self will send you a thank you note.
Hot tip if you’re hosting or bringing something: a pitcher of sparkling water with cranberries and mint looks gorgeous on any table, and it gives everyone a pretty non-boozy option that isn’t sad tap water.
Keep the one drink you really love, whatever it is, and make the rest boring. ✨
4. Move a Little, You Don’t Need the Gym
You don’t need a workout plan in December, girl, you need movement in small doses.
A walk after a big dinner is my favorite thing, it gets me away from the leftovers table and out into the cold air. 🚶♀️
Dancing at the party counts. Playing in the snow counts. Carrying way too many shopping bags counts.
The WHO puts the baseline at about 150 minutes of moving a week, and brisk walks with your mom absolutely count toward it (that’s their number, not mine!).
My rule is simple: some movement every single day, even if it’s only ten minutes, because it keeps the momentum going through the busiest weeks and it does wonders for my head too.
On the days I want a real workout, I do one short session from my RADIATE program, done before the oven timer goes off.
5. One Feast Is a Meal, Not a Failure
Listen to me on this one, because it took me years to really learn it.
One heavy meal ruins nothing. Not your progress, not your month, nothing.
The thing that hurts is the all-or-nothing spiral, where one “bad” night turns into six weeks of “well, it’s the holidays.”
The fix is boring and beautiful: wake up, drink your water, eat a normal breakfast, maybe take a little walk.
The morning after a feast I’m back to my regular food by breakfast, and the feast becomes a memory instead of a domino. ☀️
The scale might read high for a day or two after a salty dinner, but for me that’s always water, and it always settles.
No punishment workouts either. Move because it feels good, not because you “owe” it.
The feast was never the problem, the drama afterward is, so skip the drama: that was dinner, and today is a regular day.
And keep your plain weekdays boring and easy: I lean on healthy crockpot dinners all season so the parties stay the fun exception.
Your Holiday Cheat Sheet
The whole plan fits on one list, so screenshot this and keep it on your phone.
- Party day: eat normal meals, with protein in breakfast and lunch.
- At the buffet: half the plate veggies and protein first, then the fun stuff.
- Dessert: the one you truly love, zero guilt attached.
- Drinks: a glass of water between every festive one, sparkling water as your decoy.
- Movement: a walk after dinner, dancing, snow, shopping bags.
- The morning after: water, normal breakfast, little walk, done.
Quick Answers to Your Holiday Questions
Do you actually gain weight over the holidays?
One party never did it to me, and believe me, I’ve thrown a lot of parties at myself.
Six weeks of “why not, it’s the holidays” adds up quietly though, so keep your normal rhythm on the plain days and fully enjoy the real celebrations.
Half the stress of this season is the fear of the food, and fear is a terrible seasoning anyway.
How do I stop snacking all night at parties?
Make yourself one real plate, sit down somewhere comfy, and eat it slowly like an actual meal.
Then put some distance between you and the snack table, and keep a sparkling water in your hand.
Picking happens when dinner never officially happens, so make it officially happen.
How long does holiday water weight last?
For me it’s usually a couple of puffy days after a big salty feast, and then it’s gone on its own.
Drink your water, eat your normal food, and skip the panic, this part passes.
Ready, Set, GO!
The holidays are for your people, your mom’s cooking, and that one cookie you wait all year for.
You can have all of it and still feel amazing on the first morning of January, I do it every year with these five habits.
Enjoy it all, eat the cookie, hug your people, and meet January feeling strong.
Keep going, keep loving yourself, and never ever give up! Love, Monica