How to Avoid Starting Over in January: because you deserve to head into a new year with confidence
By Nicole Roggow, Certified Nutrition Coach | Published: December 24, 2025
Every year, the same story plays out for millions of people:
Halloween candy leads to "I'll start fresh after Thanksgiving." Thanksgiving leads to "Well, Christmas is coming anyway." Christmas leads to "New year, new me!" But by mid-January, its often right back to where they started...
THIS YEAR CAN BE DIFFERENT.
Not different because you white-knuckle through every celebration, different because you took a confident approach through the holidays to actually enjoy it all —the food, the people, the traditions—AND you enter January feeling good. No guilt. No damage control. No dramatic fresh start required.
This is exactly how I approach the holiday season, and it's what I teach my clients. Here's the strategy that lets you have both.
Why I Don’t Talk About "Starting Over in January"
Let's do some math.
From Halloween to New Year's Day is roughly 9 weeks. That's about 63 days.
Of those 63 days, how many are actual holidays or celebrations? Let's be generous:
Halloween: 1 day
Thanksgiving: 2 days (maybe 3 if you count leftovers)
Christmas parties: 3-4 events
Christmas Eve/Day: 2 days
New Year's Eve: 1 day
That's roughly 10-12 days of actual celebrations. Which means there are 50+ days that are just... regular days.
The problem isn't the holidays. The problem is treating the entire 9-week stretch like one long holiday.
When you tell yourself "I'll start over in January," you give yourself permission to abandon your habits for TWO MONTHS. And that's where the real damage happens—not at Thanksgiving dinner, but in the six weeks of "might as well" eating that surrounds it.
Don't let Thanksgiving open the door to eating mindlessly until Christmas. And don't let Christmas open the door to eating mindlessly until January.
The holiDAYS are just that. Days. Not weeks or months.
The "Enjoy and Return" Strategy
Here's the approach that actually works:
Step 1: Enjoy the Actual Holiday
On the actual day of celebration—Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, the holiday party—give yourself full permission to enjoy it.
This is not the time for restriction. This is not the time to be the person picking at a salad or packing prepped food in a Tuppaware while everyone else enjoys the feast. This is a day for celebration, tradition, and yes—delicious food.
Eat what you want. Keep your baseline habits in mind - protein, fruit, veggies, hydration, movement. But also have the dessert and that favorite dish that Grandma's makes once a year. Enjoy the special foods that encapsulate the magic of the season because 80-90% of your year is consistent.
One day of eating off your normal pattern will not derail your progress. It's physiologically impossible to gain significant fat from one day of overeating. Your weight might fluctuate from water retention and extra food volume, but that's not the same thing.
Step 2: Return to Normal the Next Day
This is where most people go wrong. They feel guilty about what they ate, so they either:
Restrict heavily to "make up for it" (which leads to more binging later), or
Say "screw it, I already messed up" and continue eating off-plan
Both of these extend a one-day celebration into a multi-week spiral.
The third option—the one that works—is simply returning to your normal eating the next day.
No punishment. No compensation. No guilt. Just back to your regular breakfast, your regular lunch, your regular approach.
The day after Christmas, I eat my normal eggs/egg whites and oatmeal for breakfast like I always do. The holiday was yesterday. Today is a regular day.
Step 3: Protect the Days Between
This is the secret sauce.
The days BETWEEN holidays are where you maintain your momentum. These are regular days, and they deserve to be treated like regular days.
You don't need to be perfect. But you do need to stay in the game.
This means:
Protein at most meals
Prepped food available
Water intake stays up
Movement continues
You're generally following your normal approach
When you protect the days between celebrations, you can enjoy the celebrations fully—because you know you're just taking a brief detour, not abandoning the road entirely.
The "One Plate Plus One" Method
I shared this strategy before, but it's especially useful during holidays. Here's how it works at any holiday meal or gathering:
Step 1: Survey the spread. Take a lap. See what's available. Notice what looks amazing and what you could take or leave.
Step 2: Fill one plate with your favorites. Don't hold back—this is your plate. Get the things you actually want, not the things you think you "should" eat. If you want mashed potatoes and stuffing and no vegetables, that's fine. It's one meal.
Step 3: Eat slowly and actually taste it. Put your fork down between bites. Talk to people. Drink water. This isn't a race.
Step 4: After your plate, choose ONE more scoop. Your single favorite thing from the table. One more serving of whatever you loved most.
Step 5: You're done with the food portion. Move away from the table. Enjoy the people, the games, the conversation. The eating part is over.
This works because:
You're not restricting (you got a full plate of exactly what you wanted)
You have a natural stopping point (one plate plus one)
You stay present with the people instead of hovering by the food all day
There's no guilt or question because you planned for this
What About the Leftovers?
Here's the thing: the actual holiday meal isn't usually the problem. It's the four days of leftover pie, stuffing, and casseroles that extend one celebration into a week-long food free-for-all.
Options for handling leftovers:
Option 1: Send them home with guests. Be generous. Let everyone take plates home. Your guests will be happy, and you won't have a fridge full of temptation.
Option 2: Portion and freeze. If you genuinely want to enjoy leftovers later, portion them into single servings and freeze them. This way you can have them intentionally rather than grazing all week.
Option 3: Set a deadline. Leftovers are gone by Friday. Whatever's left gets tossed. This creates a natural end point.
Option 4: Return to normal meals immediately. You can have leftover ham for lunch, but pair it with your regular vegetables and approach. Treat the protein as an ingredient, not a license to keep eating holiday-style.
The goal isn't to never enjoy leftovers. It's to prevent leftovers from extending a one-day celebration into a week-long departure from your habits.
Navigating Multiple Events
The holiday season isn't just Thanksgiving and Christmas. There are work parties, family gatherings, friendsgivings, cookie exchanges, New Year's Eve celebrations...
When events stack up, here's how to approach them:
Not All Events Are Equal
Some events deserve the full "enjoy everything" treatment. Others are just parties with food present.
Your family's Christmas dinner? That's a real holiday. Enjoy it fully.
The random work happy hour with grocery store cookies? That's not a once-a-year tradition. You can be more selective.
Ask yourself: "Will I regret missing out on this food, or will I barely remember it tomorrow?"
Save your full enjoyment for the events that actually matter to you.
Use the "Anchor" Strategy
When you have multiple events in a short period, anchor your non-event meals.
This means your breakfast, your regular lunches, and any dinners that AREN'T events stay locked in. You're not eating party food at every meal just because 'tis the season.
If you have a party Saturday night, Saturday morning and afternoon look totally normal. If you have events three nights in a row, your mornings and lunches are still your standard meals.
The events can flex. The anchors stay steady.
Drink Strategy
Alcohol adds up fast during the holidays—both in calories and in its tendency to lower your food inhibitions.
I'm not going to tell you not to drink. But here are some practical strategies:
Alternate alcoholic drinks with water (you'll drink less and feel better)
Choose drinks you actually enjoy rather than mindlessly accepting whatever's offered
Eat protein before drinking (slows absorption, reduces "drunk munchies")
Set a number in advance if you know your limits
One or two drinks at a party is very different from six drinks at every event for six weeks.
The Mindset Shift That Changes Everything
Here's what separates people who enjoy holidays without derailing from people who "start over" every January:
They don't see holidays as a departure from their life. They see holidays as PART of their life.
Celebrations, treats, and special meals aren't interruptions to your nutrition—they're included in it. A sustainable approach to eating HAS to include holidays, birthdays, vacations, and all the other moments that make life enjoyable.
When you build flexibility into your normal approach, you don't need to "take a break" for the holidays. The holidays fit inside what you're already doing.
This is why rigid diets fail every holiday season. They don't have room for real life. When real life shows up, the “diet” breaks.
Your nutrition shouldn’t break when life does it’s thing. It should simply bend. You enjoy Thanksgiving, then return to your normal approach. You celebrate Christmas, then return to your normal approach. No drama. No starting over. Just a sustainable rhythm that includes all of life's moments.
Your Holiday Survival Plan
Let me make this concrete. Here's your action plan for those holiday events:
Before Each Event:
Decide in advance: full enjoyment or selective participation?
If full enjoyment: commit to returning to normal the next day
If selective: decide what's worth it and what's not
During the Event:
Use "one plate plus one" for meals
Stay hydrated
Enjoy the people, not just the food
Give yourself full permission—no guilt
The Day After:
Normal breakfast
Normal lunch
Normal dinner
Normal movement
Water intake back to normal
No punishment, no compensation
The Days Between:
Regular meals
Regular movement
Stay connected to your goals
Remember: these are not holidays, these are Tuesday
January Doesn't Have to Be a Fresh Start
Imagine entering January feeling... fine.
Not guilty. Not bloated. Not desperate for a detox or a dramatic reset.
Just fine. Maybe you enjoyed yourself more than usual in December. Maybe your weight is up a pound or two from water retention. But you're still connected to your habits. You're still in the game.
That's what's possible when you stop treating the holidays as a two-month free-for-all and start treating them as what they are: a handful of special days surrounded by regular life.
You don't have to choose between enjoying the holidays and maintaining your progress. You can have both.
Want Support Through the Holiday Season?
The holidays are easier when you're not navigating them alone.
Honor Your Nutrition Coaching gives you access to a real coach invested in your goals just as much as you are! You will get video calls, weekly check-ins to keep you accountable during any season, and someone who helps you enjoy ALL of life without any regret.
This year can be different. Not because you are more disciplined, but because you have a plan.
👉 START TODAY and enter January feeling good instead of guilty.
Want even more holiday-specific strategies? Download our free Holiday Survival Guide for a complete playbook on navigating the season.
