Thinking of doing a pre-Christmas shred?

Now that it’s November, I can’t seem to turn away without being aggressively reminded about how close to Christmas we are.

It started with my group of girlfriends organising a Christmas celebration on November the 2nd (last Saturday). When I realised it was coming up, I thought to myself, ‘It’s literally 2 days after we’ve just had Halloween… People are having Halloween parties this weekend, not Christmas parties!’ 

We had such an early celebration partly because when you’re an adult and everyone has different things going on, finding a weekend that works for everyone is about as agonising as finding a park in Westfield Newmarket on a Saturday afternoon (can confirm, I’m my least chill self in car-park-related situations). 

However, whilst shopping for Secret Santa gifts, I was taken aback by how much Christmas decor and signage was prevalent in various shops I visited. 

Over on Fit-stagram and Fit-Tok, we’re also witnessing the ramp-up of pre-Christmas ‘shred’ challenges, centred around the idea of ‘getting a hold over things now, so that you can relax over Christmas’. 

This idea itself isn’t necessarily problematic. My clients who are currently pursuing fat loss have agreed to dial it in a bit more during November, and then go ‘maintenance mode’ in December.

The thing is, the ‘shreds’ we’re seeing promoted tend to be aggressive and often based on some kind of competition format to motivate people to push themselves deeper into restriction. But the more restrictive we try to be when dieting - the more dramatic the pendulum swing the other way will be when we stop.

So even if you do manage to see the scales drop rapidly when you’re following this kind of approach… By the time we’re hit with work do’s, fish and chips on the beach, summer barbies and second helpings of pavlova - we’re goners. 

Come the end of January, we’re back to square one, having re-gained any weight lost and feeling the need to ‘undo the damage’ all over again.

You see folks, this is an example of what we call ‘weight cycling’ - the process of losing weight, only to re-gain all of it (potentially more), and then to try again hoping for the best.

Over time, weight cycling typically results in increased bodyweight compared to people who don’t diet/intentionally try to lose weight at all.

This is a key point that is made in the anti-diet space. Sure, over the last century we have seen an increase in the average BMI, along with an increase in metabolic health conditions that are proven to be lifestyle related - such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke - and we can definitely attribute a lot of that to the changes in our food environment (an increase in ultra-processed foods, takeaway foods, soft drink etc.)...

But what else have we also seen an increase in? 

Dieting.

People wanting to reverse the effects of the weight gain from the food they’re eating, by restricting themselves in one way or another, and then ‘bouncing back’, only to end up heavier than they were to begin with.

So, how about we just don’t diet at all, and just focus on improving our health by being more conscious about food selection, mindful eating and regular exercise?

Honestly - that is the most guaranteed way to completely avoid weight cycling, and it’s the best approach for working on your relationship with food and body image (despite the belief that we’ll feel best about our bodies at a certain weight). 

But - I understand that many of us still would like to at least lose a little bit of weight - and to that I say that if you don’t show any signs of disordered eating (e.g. binge eating, skipping meals to compensate for ‘bad’ days, black and white mentality around food), then it is possible to do so and not gain it all back - but it must be done in a way that doesn’t cage you in, the same way that many of the plans you’ll find in diet books and sold by ‘transformation coaches’ do.

This is the approach that I take with fat-loss focused clients. Of course, many of my clients don’t pursue fat-loss at all and I’ll never push them to, because a lot of the time not dieting is the healthiest choice.

What I’m essentially saying here is that if you are feeling concerned about your weight at the moment, and the temptation to shed a couple of kgs by Christmas is lingering in your mind…

Don’t expect a stricter, more hardcore plan to yield ‘better’ results (and besides, is it really better if it means you’re now also tired, hangry and food obsessed?).’

Do take a moment to be honest with yourself about what’s the real reason you’re feeling this way at the moment (are you stressed or unhappy in other area of your life by any chance?). 

And do take easy, quantifiable steps that will 1) help you feel more confident in your food choices (I’m often reminding clients to include more veg in their diets) and 2) address any potential concerns in your life that may be causing you to eat more than usual (stress and sleep are often big culprits). 

Of course - I’m here as well, and I’ve also got spaces available for 1-1 clients for online nutrition coaching. If you’re tired of bumbling around in the dark trying to navigate nutrition, please reach out and we can organise a free mini-consultation to chat more.