Social events can be stressful for some and not for others. Whichever you are, that’s cool.

We live in an age of counter culture where one viewpoint tends to push the opposite to extremes and vice versa. 

This time of year in particular, you’ll read about how you should stick to your plans over the holidays, and in the same inbox purge, read how you should enjoy your time with your family and not worry about food. 

Everyone, no matter how qualified or experienced, has an opinion on health and fitness, and those opinions tend to get more extreme with every conversation/post/tweet or comment etc.

Here’s a thought. Does there have to be a right or wrong?

My opinion is no. You simply have skills that you can use to navigate and manage situations, and that’s it.

These skills live on a spectrum and can be deployed to great effect in many circumstances and in many conversations with people with particular opinions.

If you’re feeling stuck or concerned, that’s 110% understandable.I put together a visual spectrum of common circumstances and some corollary skills and phrases you can use to help you. You can plot yourself on this spectrum and use the skills accordingly.

There is no imperative to do anything in particular. It purely depends on your preferences, your goal, and your environment (which includes the other people in it, which around the holidays might be opinionated and challenging family members). If you want to stick to your plan during the holiday season, good for you, if you want to take a break, good for you too. YOLO baby.

If you’re struggling to get your mind right around the holidays or feel conflicted as to how to navigate maintaining your goals while circumventing other people, then I hope this can help you.

Happy Holidays

✌️