In case your wondering (which you probably aren’t) there is a reason I didn’t post like I usually do on Monday morning. I purposely waited to post this until today, Thursday. That’s because it’s midweek. And you may be feeling a little sluggish. You may have vowed that this was going to be the week you ate clean to drop a little water weight before the holidays. BUT it’s now mid week and you haven’t kept your word. And you feel pretty shitty about it. I’m in the same boat.

I know everyone’s offices and holidays are similar but I tend to think mine is extra fun. The staff at my job does Secret Santa each year. I think there are two reasons why Secret Santa is so intense here. 1. I work in a creative profession so gift giving is very creative. Second, I work in a job with unconventional and sometimes long hours. Therefore, like many others, we know our work friends almost as well as their best friends. We know where they like to each lunch and where they get their coffee from each morning. We know which is their favorite color post it note and if they write with pens, pencils or sharpies. We know where they get their hair blown out and basically every outfit they own. We know all of the habits no one else could possibly pick up on. Because of this, we know how to take Secret Santa to the next level. This week my Secret Santa left me two of my favorite types of cookies. I ate one and I’m currently staring at the other. I don’t care how much I talk to myself about willpower at the start of the week, if I walk to my desk and my favorite type of cookie is staring at me, I’m going to eat it. End of story.

I think that’s going to happen A LOT to us in the next couple weeks. We are going to be confronted with a lot of sweet treats. Many of these in the form of gifts from people who love us and know us very well so it will no doubt be something we LOVE. It will be hard to pass up. And we shouldn’t. But what we can do is not let one cookie turn into one week of bad eating. It’s easy to let that happen over the holidays because Thanksgiving to New Year’s is one long stretch of eating.

One of my best friends and I have a saying, “Happy New Year.” We say this ALL the time to each other via email and text. We say it on a Wednesday morning, a Saturday night, in mid March and so one. Basically we say it A LOT. A couple years ago sitting at your favorite Mexican Restaurant in NYC, we realized that it doesn’t have to be New Year’s to have a New Year’s Resolution. We all can have a fresh start tomorrow. Or in 20 minutes.  We can have a bad lunch & an amazingly healthy dinner if we say Happy New Year in between. It’s a simple tactic that helps a bad meal or a bad afternoon not turn into a bad day or a bad week.

It’s easy to hit the ground running at the start of the week and power through for the first couple days of the week.  But by midweek, our willpower starts to lag. We have a harder time resisting temptation. It’s normal. But if we become aware of our pattern we can minimize the damage. This will help both physically AND mentally.

I know personally that when I am eating badly things tend to go downhill fast. I become emotional. I sleep a lot. I stay in sweats longer. My hair goes up in a high bun. I skip the gym. The holidays are emotional enough as it is. Help yourself by being kind to your body.

Let’s all try to remember that this holiday season that you can literally start over at any minute of the day. One Christmas cookie doesn’t mean it’s a bad day. One bad day doesn’t mean it’s a bad week. One bad week doesn’t mean it’s a bad month.

Happy New Year!