5 Strategies for a guilt-free, waistline-friendly Thanksgiving

5 Strategies for a guilt-free, waistline-friendly Thanksgiving

Ah – the most wonderful time of the year is beginning! From Thanksgiving to Christmas the average person gains 7-10 pounds. We KNOW this, but we do it anyway. Most people do absolutely nothing to stop it. So why is this?

We tend to use special occasions as an excuse not just to overindulge but to binge. It’s your birthday (or the day after or the week of)? Cake for breakfast becomes perfectly reasonable. Halloween? A dozen mini chocolates? Totally acceptable (they’re mini after all, right?)!

The problem with this season is that there isn’t just one special occasion here and there. Between the DAY of the holiday itself, the numerous parties, work functions, and so on, many days become a special occasion where we apply the “anything goes rule.” What I’m sharing below are the tools I personally use to enjoy a guilt-free, waistline-friendly and healthy holiday season…

Approach Thanksgiving With An Abundance Mindset

This applies to any holiday really. The truth is, there is nothing truly special about holiday meals aside from the people we share them with. We live in a first world country where the foods we want are at our fingertips 365 days per year. So, in reality, you could have Thanksgiving in part or in whole at any time. When you approach food with an abundance mindset, it’s a lot easier to practice holiday levels of moderation.

Expect, Accept, and Embrace Over-Indulgence

It would be completely unreasonable for me to sit and lecture you on not over-indulging. Especially because I’ll likely be doing it myself! A key for me is being OK with it, not wracking myself with guilt because I knew it was coming! Heck…I plan on it – not to the extreme, but I’m not going to practice my normal rule of eating to 80% full. The damage stress does and the way it affects hormonal balance (and ultimately how much body fat we have) is far worse than having one big meal – so go enjoy it!

Fill Your Plate With Protein And Veggies First

Then add tastes of all the other goodies – I’m totally o.k. with you overdoing these two food groups (see point above). But when you strategically fill your plate with the better stuff, you’re obviously going to be better off. Even a plate of broccoli isn’t good for you when you’re in caloric excess, BUT it’s going to take you much longer and with much more food to reach that point when you maintain focus on protein and veggies with smaller tastes of starchy carb rich dishes and desserts.

Plan To Move

Whether you go for a hike with your family, get a hard strength workout, or simply take a 20 minute walk, vow to do something to get your body moving before or after the big meal! You’ll feel much better all day for it!

Splurge Only Once

A holiday is only one DAY…not an entire season, so this bit of advice is two-fold. Plan to splurge only on the actual DAY of the holiday (or whichever day you celebrate) and only once during that day. No need for a full breakfast, Thanksgiving meal, then another full plate of leftovers that evening. Sure, it tastes good, but you’ll feel completely miserable and be working to undo the damage for weeks to come!

So, there you have my top 5 Thanksgiving (or holiday in general) strategies! I promise if you apply these, you’ll be a lot less likely to end up in the category of people who gain weight over the holidays!

Wishing You Well,
Coach Erinne Guthrie

P.S. If you’re looking for support staying on track through the holiday season…
I know we can help you take action, get motivated, and see it through to the finish line!
Just click here!


Erinne Guthrie is a USA Triathlon Level II Certified Coach since 1999 and Chief Motivating Officer at Full Circle Coaching, LLC since 2010. She has been training, racing and coaching triathletes since 1997.  She is also a CHEK Holistic Lifestyle Coach Level 3, USMS Master’s Swim Coach, Motivational Speaker, Metabolic Efficiency Specialist, Mom and much much more.

Are you training in the Black Hole?

The Black Hole of endurance training is at about 75-85% of your maximum effort.

So many triathletes spend WAY too much time at this effort level and wonder why they are not getting faster!

One of the secrets to improving your performance is working at the 2 ends of the spectrum, on the edges of the black hole.

Low Aerobic Training or LSD, Long Slow Distance training and Vo2 Max or Speed work training.

Most of my athletes are doing exactly this right now in their training blocks and getting faster test and race times plus, PR’s (Personal Record’s).

This equates to training in your zone 5 energy system and requires a lot of recovery time in your zone 1. Staying out of the middle in the black hole!

If you don’t do the recovery interval at zone 1/2 effort you will not be likely to hit all of your intervals because you are not giving your body a chance to recover and go hard again, repeatedly.

This is a big fat mistake if you want to get faster.

Working these 2 ends of the spectrum is going to help you get the MOST our of your training!

Ready to take your training to the next level? Join me for my FREE 5 day Challenge – Triathlon Reset on July 12-16th, inside my private Triathlon Obsessed Facebook group.

You’ll learn exactly what you need to do to become the best triathlete you can be in 2021. There’s still time to finish out the year strong. See you in the challenge.

Share this information with a friend who might want to get fast too!

Also, Click this link: http://www.scheduleyou.in/5ZIsVaU to schedule a call. This is a complimentary 30 minute session to ask me anything about triathlon, health and wellness or holistic lifestyle/ nutrition.

Erinne Guthrie is a USA Triathlon Level II Certified Coach since 1999 and Chief Motivating Officer at Full Circle Coaching, LLC since 2010. Creator of the 16 week Triathlon Transformation. She has been training, racing and coaching triathletes since 1997.  She is also a CHEK Holistic Lifestyle Coach Level 3, USMS Master’s Swim Coach, Motivational Speaker, Metabolic Efficiency Specialist, Mom, Mermaid and much much more.

The Time is…

The Time is…

If you’re looking for a sign, THIS IS IT.

  • This is the sign you’ve been waiting for.
  • This is the sign to take action you’ve been delaying.
  • This is the sign that “I’m waiting for a better time” is nothing but a lie we all tell ourselves. 

So, I’m sorry (not sorry), to end the story of “I’m waiting for a better day.” There is no better day. Today is it!

You just got THE SIGN, after all…

Start right now. Take one step in the direction you want, even if you feel unconfident or anxious. Do one thing to begin reaching your goals. One action leads to another and another… 

It doesn’t matter what those goals are. Maybe you want to do an ironman or a sprint triathlon, get in better physical shape, start eating right, improve a relationship, or save more money.

The point is that all of these things involve a commitment of DOING – and a commitment of doing, again and again OVER TIME.

Time doesn’t start when you want it to, or when it’s convenient for you, or when everything in your life lines up in a perfect row. That’s what we call a fantasy.

The reality of living YOUR life on YOUR terms? That starts with action. RIGHT NOW.

If your best Triathlon is one of those things you are deciding to take on now, Please join me for my upcoming Free 5 Day Facebook Challenge . I’ll be addressing the 5 things you struggle with in training for Triathlon based on my latest survey.

Time Management
Overcoming and preventing Injury
How to get faster
What to eat, and when to eat it
How to deal with fears, anxiety and overwhelm and of course how to get started!

Click HERE to Get on the list NOW Starts July 19th at 11 am

Erinne Guthrie is a USA Triathlon Level II Certified Coach since 1999 and Chief Motivating Officer at Full Circle Coaching, LLC since 2010. Creator of the 16 week Triathlon Transformation. She has been training, racing and coaching triathletes since 1997.  She is also a CHEK Holistic Lifestyle Coach Level 3, USMS Master’s Swim Coach, Motivational Speaker, Metabolic Efficiency Specialist, Mom, Mermaid and much much more.

Coach Erinne Guthrie Bio

Erinne out of water Circle

Coaching Philosophy
I have been coaching triathletes and working in the fitness industry for nearly 20 years and with each athlete, I work with I learn how individual every person is.  There is no textbook method to coaching if you look at each person as an individual. They each have different strengths and different weaknesses.  What works for one may or may not work for another.  My goal when I work with an athlete is to improve their limiters and strengthen their skills to help them achieve their athletic goals.

Each athlete I work with adds to my knowledge base of coaching, a give and take relationship is naturally developed.  I work with the most basic beginner to the most advanced athletes taking them to their next level of fitness and triathlon goals.  I cover every detail that needs attention.  I require each athlete to give as much feedback as possible throughout their journey.  I have seen hundreds of athletes achieve their goals successfully and I look forward to working with you too.  I advocate a balanced approach to training that helps endurance athletes reach optimal performance through the perfect combination of training, recovery and nutrition. 

My Personal Story:

I’m a mom, I’m a coach, I’m an athlete and I’ve spent time on both sides of the race as well as, the business and academic side of the industry.  This gives me a pretty unique perspective on training and all the possibilities.

The feeling I got from swimming through the waves in the crystal clear blue ocean, riding my bike with the wind in my hair and running hard using my body to cross the finish line was so exhilarating.  I fell in love.  I was hooked.  In 1999, I started training and joining every race I could find, this led me to become one of Miami’s first USA Triathlon certified coaches. I quit my corporate fitness job to start my own triathlon coaching company determined to coach others to success.  Triathlon is more difficult than other sports; there are three disciplines to manage and I wanted to learn for myself and my athletes how to do it best.

Burn out:

Wake up at 4:30am to train clients and myself, hand off the baby to the sitter; work on the computer; take a nap if I was lucky; get the baby; take care of the family and in bed by 10:30pm. It was a lot but worth it; I was a triathlete!! (being facetious).  That’s when it all came crashing down-it happened, my body just quit.  I was all set to win my favorite race and instead of waking up to compete and win I woke up with a fever of 105 degrees and sicker than I had ever been.  I missed the race and battled sickness for the next 18 months.  I was depressed. I could not do what I loved or even have the energy to play with my daughter or live life normally.

The doctors said I had Adrenal Fatigue- a disease of over stressing the body where your adrenal glands, which release cortisol (the fight or flight hormone) are out of sync with your body’s needs and don’t produce enough cortisol in the morning, but produce too much near the end of the day. They wanted to put me on prescription drugs but I knew there had to be a better way; so I started educating myself on natural healing methods and hired a holistic lifestyle coach.  Everything I learned was simple, easy to implement and I regained the energy and vitality I had lost. It was simple and it worked!

I spent the next 6 years studying to become a CHEK Holistic Lifestyle Coach, Level III. These holistic guidelines are incorporated into the Full Circle Coaching method to promote performance and balance.

It is with great passion that I share my knowledge and expertise with each of my athletes.  Together we develop a balance between working in and working out, avoiding injury and burn out.

Are you ready to join Full Circle Coaching and receive the best and most complete triathlon coaching package there is? I look forward to working with you and motivating you to achieve your “TRIATH-LIFE” dreams!