The holiday season is a tough time to start a new weight-loss diet— tasty treats, social gatherings, and vacations galore! However, that doesn’t mean you have to lose all the progress you’ve made prior to November. By leaning into a maintenance phase, you can prevent rebound weight gain from previous diets.  What is maintenance? A maintenance phase means a period of eating such that you maintain your weight. Typically, this is best right after a weight loss diet. You’ll gradually increase calories up to a manageable baseline; giving your body a chance to reset.  Why should you use a maintenance phase?  A period of maintenance is important to combat the mental and physical fatigue that comes with restriction. You have a better chance of dropping fat efficiently on a subsequent diet phase if you spend plenty of time eating at maintenance load.  Eating adequate calories increases appetite-suppressing hormones, thyroid hormones, and metabolism. At the same time, appetite-stimulating hormones are reduced, putting you in a better mindset for eating. This helps prevent weight loss plateaus and reduces the likelihood of an unhealthy relationship with food.  How do I enter a maintenance phase? After a period of caloric restriction (weight-loss diet), it’s important to start slow and ease into calorie increases. It can be tempting to go ‘all-in’ during the holidays, but you’ll have better results if you slowly increase the amount of food you’re consuming. This can be something like 250-500 calories more per day, adjusting every 3-4 weeks. Continue adding calories each week until you’re eating calories that match your expenditure.  If you’ve been dieting, an easy way to gauge caloric load is simply recording everything you eat in an app like MyFitnessPal or MyMacros for 3-5 days, and averaging out intake. From there, you can slowly increase calories and check-in every few weeks by recording intake and ensuring you’re on target.  Things to watch out for during the Holiday Season.. Avoid the ‘all or nothing’ mentality. Just because you’re not focused on weight loss doesn’t mean you should eat every single treat you are craving. I like using the ‘treat scale’ by Renaissance Periodization: “Try rating your food temptations on a scale of 0-10 with 10 being your absolute favorite. Then, only eat the treat that score a 7 or higher.” If the treat monster is hard to tame right after a caloric deficit, give it time… you’ll be less likely to go overboard once your diet is filled with high-volume, nutrient-dense foods.  Don’t be afraid of the number on the scale. As you enter the holiday season, it’s realistic to expect some weight gain. That’s not a reason to jump back into restriction! Set your expectation early, and make peace with the increase. It can be helpful to look at average weights to ensure the maintenance phase isn’t turning into a bulking phase.  Take it slow. Plan to spend 6-10 weeks at maintenance before starting a new weight loss phase. November 1-January 1 can be a really helpful period to loosen the reigns on dieting, and set yourself up for a New Year commitment. Again, manage your expectations and you can enjoy the holiday season without guilt!  Not sure where to start on January 1? Check out my PDF Diet Guides for a total reset in the New Year! Final Thoughts on Navigating the Holiday Season / Maintenance Phase Ultimately, the holidays can be a chance to focus on connection with others, maintaining your mental health, and enjoying the season. By setting aside restriction and diet, you free yourself to do just that. With balance, you can maintain a healthy weight (and lifestyle) without guilt or fear. What questions do you have about Weight loss, Maintenance, and Bulking Phases? How are you feeling about the upcoming holiday season?  Want to work with a functional nutritionist to personalize your diet? Struggling with hormone imbalance, IBS, weight gain, mood changes? Let’s look at FOOD FIRST. Read more about Functional Nutrition at The Facility here. CLICK HERE to schedule a FREE 15-Minute Nutrition Consult with Kate to determine your best course of action!

15 ingredients is all it takes to eat a healthy, balanced diet for a week. Does meal prepping feel overwhelming?  Do you think it takes a long grocery list and hours of time in the kitchen?  I’ve got a solution for you: Check out my 15-Ingredient Meal Plan! This program reduces the time spent in the grocery store, keeps grocery costs to a minimum, reduces food waste, and teaches you to be creative with just a few items. It’s possible to eat healthy with just 15 ingredients. Related: Easy Meal Prep: Shop Once, Eat Healthy All Week My 15-ingredient meal plan shows how easy it is to eat healthy with just a small amount of planning! I focus on a few key features to maintain balance even with limited ingredients: High-Quality Protein Getting enough daily protein will help prevent muscle loss, balance your blood sugar, and maintain a healthy weight. This meal plan will help you reach your protein goals by providing over 20% of your calories from complete protein sources which are highly digestible and provide an adequate amount of amino acids. Monounsaturated Fats Good quality fats are associated with a lower risk of heart disease and diabetes. This plan is rich in monounsaturated fat from olive oil and sunflower seed butter, which are beneficial for the immune system and inflammatory responses. Iron Iron is an important mineral that helps produce red blood cells and transport oxygen throughout the body. Nutritional iron deficiency is common worldwide and can be prevented by including daily iron-rich foods. This meal plan provides iron sources like poultry, ground beef, and spinach. Vitamin C Vitamin C is an antioxidant that can help your body absorb more iron from iron-rich foods. Goods news, this meal plan pairs iron-rich foods with foods that have vitamin C such as broccoli with beef and sweet potato with chicken. Some sample meals included in the 15-Ingredient Eat Healthy Meal Plan: –Beef & Shredded Veggies with Rice -Coconut Yogurt with Sunflower Seed Butter -Curried Chicken with Broccoli & Sweet Potato >>CLICK HERE to download my 15-Ingredient Meal Plan.<<  >>Plant Based? Download my Plant-Based 15-Ingredient Meal Plan.<<  I use Thrive Market to reduce my grocery expenses and purchase high-quality products at a discounted rate. Thrive Market delivers healthy pantry staples right to your door. Click here to get a deal on your first delivery! THE LATEST FROM YOUTUBE: You May Also Like: Hormone Healing Diet Carnivore Diet Shop This Article: DISCLAIMERS: The statements made on this website are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent disease. You assume full responsibility for how you use this information. Remember, Always consult with your physician or other health professionals before making any diet or lifestyle changes. This post may contain affiliate links whereby if you purchase these products I receive a small percentage of the sale price. This allows me to keep the blog running and I thank you for allowing me to do that!