How to Get Back on Track After a Holiday Weekend

Nikkiey: You gave yourself permission over perfection. You deserve to have fun. You deserve to eat the food that you want. You deserve to have freedom. And this weekend, you deserved all of that. Instead of any type of self-criticism, have curiosity over judgment.

What's going on, you guys? Hey, everyone. Welcome back to The WarriorBabe Show. Or if this is one of your first episodes, my friends, welcome to the show with your host, Nikkiey Stott, co-founder of WarriorBabe. On this podcast, we talk about mindset, methodologies, and tactics that will help you lose body fat, build muscle, be strong, and feel insanely confident.

So, my friends, today is episode number 274. Before I dive in to today's topic, it's going to be a quick one. I know that y'all are coming out of the post-holiday weekend, and you've got responsibilities. You're running around, you've got to unpack, you've got to do laundry, you've got to get the kids back to summer camp, you've got to get back to work for yourself.

So I just want to get straight to the point and talk about what I've got in my heart today. I have a feeling that we're all feeling the same type of way, which is the post-4th of July guilt. I bet, and I hope, that the 4th of July weekend was vibrant and fulfilling, and you guys had a blast, and you were surrounded by the people that you love, whether coworkers, friends, family, or people that you just created memories with. Maybe you had a chill weekend at home and you watched fireworks from your porch. Whatever it was, I hope you guys had a great time.

But now you might be feeling off, right? You might be feeling sluggish, you might be feeling bloated, or you might be feeling full of regret. I want you all to know that it is completely normal, but it doesn't have to define the rest of your week.

How many of you guys maybe said to yourself yesterday, "I want to go to the gym and just bust my ass for three hours," or "I'm going to just not eat much tomorrow and get right back on track"? I want to help you guys get back on track without that type of restriction, without that type of shame, and walk through a mindset reset that's both compassionate and strategic. I don't want you guys to feel the shame. I don't want you to feel like you have to crash diet. I want you guys to do this with intention, and I want you to learn from it.

Because if there's anything that I've realized in the 10 years of coaching over 18,000 women, it's this: if y'all can learn from a weekend of overeating, not moving as much, not getting workouts in, and not sleeping, what can you learn from that? We're going to dive into it. Because in the next holiday, you won't be doing that same thing. Y'all feel the weight.

And maybe some of you guys absolutely crushed it this weekend and you stayed on course. Claps to you guys. I applaud you all. But there are definitely some people out there who are feeling the type of way I'm talking about, who feel just disgusted because y'all overindulged. Let's call it what it is. You likely overindulged in good food. You had some tasty drinks. And you had life moments. And that's perfectly okay.

But if your body feels heavy, your energy is low, or your clothes fit a bit tighter today, don't freaking panic. I bet you stepped on the scale today, if you chose to, and you probably freaked out because it's up in pounds. But let me first tell you, you didn't gain that amount of fat over the weekend. It's likely just water weight, stress from not sleeping, sugar, salt, alcohol. Those things contribute to the number that you see on the scale.

And I bet, if I put my heart on it and my word on it, that if you stay consistent, you get back on track today, you sleep well, you stay hydrated, maybe overhydrate today, you get your workout in, you move your body, you get your steps in, and you do that consistently over the course of the week, I guarantee you that you're going to see that number drop on the scale. I have seen thousands of women go through this feeling after a holiday, step on the scale, freak out, only to get back on track and then see it go down by the end of the week.

So I don't want you all to feel this type of way, because I promise you, being more compassionate, being more kind with yourself, you're going to be able to enjoy today rather than feeling like, "Ugh, I'm sluggish. My body feels so heavy. My body hurts." Your body's just trying to catch up. It's processing the feast, and that's not a flaw to beat yourself up over, okay?

And if you didn't get enough sleep, that's only going to make the narrative in your head worse. You're going to have those loud thoughts: "Why did you do that? You suck." All those thought processes are probably going on in your brain. I know what happens to me. If I don't get a good night's sleep consistently for a couple of days, my brain is just, "Why did you do that? Oh, you're disgusting." Okay? It's just because you didn't get a good night's sleep. You didn't feed your body.

And the shame, dude, the shame spiral starts when we resist the natural bounce back. But if you acknowledge it with empathy and you're kind to yourself and you don't judge yourself, then you're already ahead. Because the shame spiral can lead you into the whole week. It can lead you into next week. It can lead you into the week after that. But you've marked the experience. You had a good time. You honored it. And now you're ready to choose to move forward. What is in the past doesn't need to come into today, and it doesn't need to go into the rest of the week.

So that's literally the first step: normalizing the reset. Not punishing yourself for living, for having a good time.

If I can pan out, and I've said this in other episodes before, over the course of a 365-day year, a four-day weekend or a three-day weekend isn't going to screw you up or halt your progress. You're not going to lose your muscle from a three-day weekend of not working out. You may feel a little bit sluggish getting back into the gym because you didn't fuel your body properly, but you didn't lose your progress.

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If you're consistent the majority of the time... I think I did the math before. Let's just say maybe 100... Actually, let's just see what the math says. With 100 days off track, 265 divided by 365 is 72%. So let's not go with 100 days. Let's say maybe 50 days in the year you're off track. That is 315 divided by 365, which is 86%, okay?

So if you can show up consistently the majority of the time, those 50 days, that's like seven weeks of being off course, okay? So let's just be realistic with that data right there. Four days, three days ain't nothing.

But the guilt and regret can be sticky. It can be a very sticky feeling. So what I want to do with y'all right now is just release it.

First, I want you to name it. That regret that I'm feeling? Yes, it's there. Just name it. "Yeah, I feel that way. I feel like I overindulged, and I'm regretting that." So yeah, it's there. Cool. Okay.

Now give yourself a self-compassion statement. "I celebrated. I lived fully. I deserve to reset and rest. I deserve to have some R&R. I deserve to laugh and not have to think about my workout, not have to think about tracking all these macros, not have to think about whether I got enough water in." A self-compassion statement: I celebrated, I lived fully, and I deserve to reset.

And then reframe it. That's the third thing. So first, name it. Name that regret. "Yeah, I'm feeling it, it's there." Then the self-compassion statement. "Cool. I celebrated. I lived fully, I had a good time, and I deserve to reset." Then reframe it. Go from "Oh, I messed up" to "That was a moment, not my whole story," or "That was a few days, not my whole year." Right?

And then pivot. Do something different in the next 30 minutes to an hour, through the rest of the day. Decide: this is a reset day. This was a reset weekend. "I'm choosing my next best right step after I listen to this podcast episode." Maybe that's going to fill up your water bottle and down eight ounces of water. Maybe it's going to meal prep, if you have the time today, your next four or five days of meals. Maybe it's, "Okay, I'm going to go on MyFitnessPal. I have all my meals ready to go. I'm ready to rock. I just need to log my meals." Maybe it's, "I need to set aside an hour today to make sure that I either get my steps in or I go and work out."

Notice how much regret dims your momentum, and how quickly releasing it can totally shift your mindset, just by doing what we just went through. Then use that ritual whenever you're in a downward spiral today. Whenever something like that starts, like "Oh, I messed up," or "I'm going to go burn this all off in the gym": dude, it was a moment. It wasn't the whole year. It was three days. You deserve to reset. You deserve to fully live. You deserve to have a good time. Okay? So just go through that. Name it. Self-compassion statement. Reframe. And then pivot your mindset.

And then, if today is your reset day to get back into the flow, dude, just go for the walk. Focus on hydration. Eat intentionally. Eat meals that have lean protein, veggies, and healthy fats. Don't deprive yourself, please. Don't feel like you need to slash your calories, or you need to eat less today, or you need to move more. That's not the answer. Just give your body the nourishment that it needs. Prioritize the protein. Have Greek yogurt. Have chicken. Have eggs. Move intentionally. Return fully to your weekly routine. Follow your macros. By midweek, get back into it.

You don't need to start next week. You have the ability to start now, today, right now, after this podcast. Okay? And know that it's not about being perfect today. It's just about being more intentional. As you pick up momentum going into this week, it primes your system to thrive again without feeling like you need to deprive yourself.

So, some things to reprogram the mindset to help you. One, remember that you gave yourself permission over perfection. You deserve to have fun. You deserve to eat the food that you want. You deserve to have freedom. And this weekend, you deserved all of that.

Instead of any type of self-criticism, have curiosity over judgment. Ask: How did this celebration feel? How did this weekend feel? What did I learn from it? That's why I said at the beginning of the episode that you guys can learn from things you ate that made you feel a type of way. Or maybe you woke up the next day after one too many drinks and you're feeling a little sluggish. Or maybe you do feel the weight of not moving your body as frequently as you usually do, and so next holiday weekend you need to prioritize getting your steps in. Whatever it may be, what did you learn from it? And how can you implement that in the next holiday? I hope y'all can learn from this 4th of July weekend so that come Labor Day, you can do something different based on what you learned this time.

And celebrate the small wins this week. Did you drink enough water? Did you get enough sleep? Did you move your body? This is just you getting back into the flow.

Like I told you all, this is going to be a quick, just-with-love episode. Getting you guys back on track. Releasing the guilt. Releasing the regret. Calling it, saying it, allowing it to be there, and honoring it, but also saying, "Hey, this is just my ability to have fun." Don't allow it to trickle into the whole next week.

That's why I have to say this. I've seen so many WarriorBabes and people that I've coached let the regret spiral into the week. And it'll go into next week. And then it'll go into the week after that. And then it turns into this three-week, four-week thing. That regret spiral can set back your progress so much faster than one burger or one ice cream cone would. If you allow yourself to spiral like that, it can really set you back a few weeks. You'll be like, "Dang, I wish I was a little bit further than where I am, but I couldn't get back on track after the 4th of July weekend."

So just know that today is a day to get back on track. What are you going to do for five, 10, 30 minutes, an hour, the rest of the day after you listen to this episode? Drink. Go fill up your water bottle. Go set a dozen at a time. Go outside and get some steps. Start with like 3,000 steps. That's at least moving your body more than you did over the weekend.

And I think I said this already, but if you guys did well, I'm applauding y'all. I'm proud of y'all. If you stuck to the plan, you followed through, and you showed up for yourself, that's amazing, because you can take that learning moment and see how you did and the success you had. And you're going to be able to implement it in future vacations and traveling and all the things, holidays.

But for those of you who feel the type of way I've been talking about, dude, it's not doomsday. You didn't commit a cardinal sin. It's not the end of the world. Just get back on track today. Do what you've got to do and drink your water. Get focused on getting enough sleep tonight. Get back into it, right? And if it feels like it's messing with your mood, just know that you can start again right now. Choose today to start over, to get back on track, to do the things you need to do that are going to set you up for success tomorrow.

All right, guys. I hope that you all had a great holiday, a great weekend. If this resonates with you, or somebody else, maybe an aunt or a friend or somebody you were with over the weekend, needs to hear this too, please go and share this with them. I don't want you all to feel like you need to beat yourself up. You don't need to restrict yourself. You don't need to eat less and move more, all that jazz. You don't need to be doing that today. Kindness, no judgment, clarity. Move forward with some action steps that are going to get you back on track.

So if somebody needs to listen to this as well, share it with them. Tag me on Instagram, tag Nikkiey Stott or tag The WarriorBabe Show, and I want to celebrate the comeback together with you guys. All right. Love you guys, and I will see you in the next episode. Peace out.

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