Never Diet Again with Max Lowery

#90 How to Enjoy Christmas Without Undoing Your Progress

• Max Lowery

Share episode

January Competition: Win the Never Diet Again system

How to enter (Apple Podcasts only):

  1. Click here
  2. Scroll down to Ratings & Reviews.
  3. Tap Write a Review.
  4. Leave your written review.
  5. Take a screenshot of your review.
  6. Email the screenshot to hello@neverdietagain.uk
SPEAKER_00:

Christmas is coming up fast. And for a lot of women, this is the week where food starts to feel stressful. You want to enjoy yourself, you want to stay in control, yet you don't want to start in January feeling guilty. But you also don't want rules and you don't want restriction and you don't want to feel like you're starting again every single Monday. So today I'm going to give you one very simple but powerful technique. It almost sounds too good to be true. You'll enjoy your food more and you'll eat less naturally. And that's without willpower, without restriction, and without deprivation. And once you learn it, you can use it for the rest of your life. And it's even backed by hard science. In fact, a study in 2017 followed adults for a full year. The people who learned this technique didn't just feel more in control, they actually ate fewer sweets without even trying. Their cravings dropped and their blood sugar even improved. That's how powerful this is. So if you want Christmas to feel calmer, if you want to enjoy food without guilt, if you want to walk into January already feeling confident instead of defeated, stay with me because this one technique changes everything. And I'm going to teach it to you right now. How do you create a life that allows you to lose weight, eat the foods that you love, and sustain the results? Over the last 10 years, I've helped thousands of people do exactly that. I'm Max Lowry. I'm an author, personal trainer, and weight loss coach. In this podcast, I'm going to share my top tips and tricks from within my one-on-one coaching program. It's my goal to give you the tools and understanding so that you never diet again. Mistake number one, trying to be perfect. You tell yourself you'll stay on track, eat clean, avoid anything that feels bad. And this creates pressure. And that pressure is what pushes you off track. And let's be honest, long-term weight loss doesn't come from being perfect on Christmas days or holidays. It comes from what you do the rest of the time. So zoom out. Look at the entire year. Your progress comes from consistency in normal life, not perfection in special moments. When you expect perfection now, you create anxiety. You make food feel unsafe or forbidden. And when something feels forbidden, your brain wants more of it. I mean, anyone who has got children, what happens when you tell them you are not allowed to have something or not allowed to do something? They want it more. So now let's go into mistake number two. And that's the opposite. It's the fuck it bucket mindset. This is the moment you decide it's all too hard. So you give up before the week even begins. You eat fast, you eat mindlessly, you eat past the point of comfort because you've already told yourself you'll fix it in January. But here's the problem: that January plan is always restrictive. Low calories, cutting sugar, cutting carbs, cutting joy. You punish yourself for the way you ate in December. And that punishment creates a deeper issue. It reinforces a scarcity mindset with food. A mindset where food becomes something you must earn, something you must make up for, something you should feel guilty about. Scarcity triggers overeating. It drives binging. It makes your cravings even more intense. And over time, this pattern becomes deeply disordered. You stop trusting yourself around food, you fear social events, you fear holidays, you fear anything that isn't controlled or tracked. And your relationship with food takes a hit. Every January reset makes the cycle stronger. Every restrictive plan makes your self-trust weaker. Every start again on Monday chips away at your confidence. But both extremes, the perfection or the screw it, are what keeps you stuck. They make Christmas harder than it needs to be, and they hold you back from long-term success. But there is a different path, a calm middle ground. A skill that helps you enjoy food without losing control. A tool that stops this cycle from repeating every single year. That's exactly what we're going to talk through now. So let's talk about that technique. It's called mindful eating. And it's one of the simplest, most powerful skills you can learn. Because mindful eating means paying attention to how you eat, not what you eat, not how good you've been, not how many calories are on your plate. It's about being present, it's about slowing down, it's about letting your brain and your body stay connected whilst you eat. But the thing is, it's incredibly boring. It's so obvious that no one actually does it. But when you actually do this, when you actually practice the tips I'm about to give you, something incredible happens within the body. Your hunger hormones settle, your cravings drop, and your body reaches natural fullness sooner without effort. And this isn't just my opinion. There are some very well-known studies, like this one from the Shine S-H-I-N-E trial. They followed adults for a full year. One group was taught mindful eating skills, the other group wasn't. The group who practiced mindful eating didn't just feel more in control. They ate fewer sweets without trying, their blood sugar improved without dieting, and they reported fewer cravings overall. And all they changed was how they ate, not what they ate. And that tells us something important. You don't need more rules, you don't need more restriction, you need awareness and you need connection. And it gets better. So my wife and I went to Japan for our honeymoon, which was incredible. One of the best trips I have ever taken. And to be honest, I saw more restaurants than I have ever seen anywhere else in my life. Food is everywhere. Every other building in any city that you go to is a restaurant. Their entire culture is built around food, celebrating it, growing it, producing it, honoring it, enjoying it. And yet they have the lowest obesity rates in the developed world. We should tell you something very clearly. Food is not the problem. It's our relationship with food which is the problem. How we eat is the problem. How we think about food is the problem. In Japan, many people follow a simple cultural principle. It's known as Hada Hachi Bu. Stop eating when you're about 80% full. And that's essentially mindful eating. That's awareness, that's connection with your body. And it works. It prevents you from overeating, it keeps guilt low, and it builds a natural, balanced relationship with food. Mindful eating gives you that same skill. It lets you enjoy your favorite foods and still stay in control. It ends the all or nothing cycle and it teaches your brain to trust your body again. And this is the tool I want you to practice over Christmas. Because once you learn it, you can keep doing it for the rest of your life. So here are six key tips for mindful eating. Get a pen and paper, write these down, press pause if you need to go and do that. Really quick one for me, guys. I don't run ads on this podcast, and I do aim to give you as many high-value tips and tricks as I can for free. All I ask in return is that you help me spread the word. That way I can help as many people as I can to never die again. The way to do that is to rate, review, and share this podcast. A review will only take 30 seconds, but it would mean the world to me. But more importantly, it could help change the life of someone else. So number one, slow down. This is the biggest tip, and I personally need to take this advice. I eat far too quickly for a variety of reasons. My dad is six foot five, my brother is six foot five. I went to boarding school. We're all super competitive. So I got into the habit of eating very quickly. But eating slowly is the most powerful thing that you can do. So take smaller bites. Chew your food properly. My grandfather used to eat so slowly because his dad taught him to chew his food 30 times before swallowing, which is very, very slow. Put your fork down between bites. Slowing down gives your brain time to register fullness and stops autopilot eating. This is such a powerful tip. Number two, eliminate distractions. Avoid eating while scrolling or watching TV. Focus on your meal. When you give food your full attention, you will notice satisfaction sooner and naturally eat less. Tip number three, rate your hunger and use the hunger scale. This is essentially what the Japanese do. Zero to two is incredibly hungry and lightheaded. Three to four is the ideal place to start eating. Six to seven is the ideal place to stop. Anything above seven on the hunger scale is uncomfortably full, stuffed, and maybe feeling slightly sick. Ideally, you want to eat to a seven out of ten. This is so powerful because if you are like me, somebody who has a habit of eating into the eights, the nines, and the tens on a regular basis, the difference between a seven and a ten could be up to 200 calories. So let's just put this into perspective. If you have a habit of eating into the eights, the nines, and the tens, that could be 50 to 200 calories extra at every single meal, three times a day, seven days a week, four weeks in a month, every single month in the year. So that leads to so many extra calories that don't actually need to be consumed. Because sixes and sevens, you are still satisfied. And this is what the Japanese do. They stop at the sixes and the sevens. So by focusing on the hunger scale, slowing down, eliminating distractions, you will naturally eat less without being restrictive, without cutting out your favorite foods. It is so powerful. Tip number four, portion awareness. Serve yourself a slightly smaller portion than normal. You can always go back for more if you're still hungry. And they've even done studies to say that when you use a smaller plate but fill the smaller plate, you will feel more satisfied at the end of the meal versus having a larger plate but isn't full. So even if the amount of food and the calories is the same, you will feel more satisfied if you eat it on a smaller plate. That is a powerful psychological tip right there. Number five, engage your senses. This is where you can actually start to enjoy your food even more. Notice the flavors, the textures, the smells, the colors. This pulls you into the moment. The pleasure increases, the cravings decrease, and you feel satisfied sooner, long before you hit the uncomfortable numbers on the hunger scale. And finally, tip number six, pause halfway through your meal. So halfway through your plate, stop for three seconds. Ask yourself, where am I on the hunger scale right now? If you're at a six or a seven, you're done. If you're still at a four or five, then keep going. This is the simplest way to avoid going into an eight, nine, or ten. So today isn't about perfection. Today isn't about adding pressure on you to lose weight over the Christmas period. I just want to leave you with a mindset shift that will carry you through the Christmas and the new year. Long-term fat loss doesn't come from being perfect on Christmas Day. It doesn't come from rules. It doesn't come from guilt. It comes from awareness. It comes from small improvements. It comes from showing up for yourself in a calm, consistent way. This week is not about perfection. This week is about staying connected to your body. It's about letting go of pressure. It's about breaking the all and nothing cycle that has been weighing you down for years. Mindful eating is not a diet. It's not restrictive, it's not about saying no. It's about choosing to be present. It's about choosing satisfaction over stuffing yourself. It's about choosing control without punishment. If you make even a small shift this Christmas, if you slow down, if you stop at a six or a seven instead of a 10, if you check in with yourself halfway through the meal, that's a huge win. And those wins carry into January and the rest of the year. Those wins build self-trust, those wins build momentum. And this is what long-term results actually look like. You don't need to be perfect, you just need to be present. So here's your permission for this Christmas. Enjoy your favorite foods. Enjoy the people you love. Enjoy the moments you've been waiting for all year. And no, you can do that without losing control. No, you can do that without the guilt. No, you can do that without the January punishment cycle. You are not starting again in January. You are building skills right now. Skills that last a lifetime, skills that put you back in control of food instead of food controlling you. Be proud of yourself for even listening to this episode on the 22nd of December. Be proud that you're learning something new. Be proud that you're showing up for yourself because you're already doing the work. Before we finish, I want to speak to the women who are ready for real change. I'm currently away in India on holiday with family, so I'm not taking any calls until the week of the 5th of January. But my calendar is open for you to book in right now. And women are already booking their spots. January is always our busiest time of year. And because we're a small team, spaces go fast. It's first come, first served. So if you want support, if you want coaching that actually works, if you want to walk into 2026 feeling confident instead of defeated, now is the time to grab your spot. And I'm going to be really honest with you here. Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is insanity. You already know that. Most women normalize the situation. They normalize hating what they see in the mirror. They normalize feeling out of control with food. They normalize the binge restrict cycle. They normalize the guilt, the shame, the self-blame. They tell themselves it's not that bad. They tell themselves they'll sort it out in January. They tell themselves they should be able to do this alone. And those women won't book a call because they're still trying to convince themselves that suffering is normal. But the women who are done with that, the women who are tired of feeling stuck, the women who want to stop repeating the same patterns every December and every January, the women who want to finally address the root cause, those are the women who will book a call. And those are the women who we love to work with and who end up on this podcast as some of our best success stories. So if you're ready, if you've had enough and you know you cannot do this alone, then book in for a food freedom breakthrough call by clicking the link below. Remember, I don't have all the time in the world for this. It is first come, first served. And I look forward to speaking to those of you that are ready.