How to Get Consistent (and Stay That Way) Before the Holidays Hit

Feeling like the holidays always throw you off track? In this episode of The Muscles & Mindset Revolution, I’m breaking down exactly how to get consistent with your workouts, nutrition, and mindset—before the holiday chaos even begins.

We’ll talk about:

• Why waiting until January is just all-or-nothing thinking in disguise
• What you actually need to be consistent (it’s not more time or motivation)
• The 3-step plan to build momentum in just five days
• How to train your nervous system to stop sabotaging your goals

Plus, I’m inviting you to a free masterclass on November 5th called Brain to Body: The Stress Response—the kickoff to our M&M Nervous System November series. If your consistency struggles are more biological than willpower, this is for you.

📩 DM me @annejonesfit to grab your free seat.

🎁 Mentioned in this episode:

👉 [Free Guide] How to Lose 10 Pounds with Just 20 Minutes a Day

👉 [Free Masterclass] Brain to Body: Why Your Nervous System is Sabotaging Your Fitness Goals (Nov 5)

• [FREE YOUR BODY YOUR WAY GUIDE]

• [Join our Free Facebook Community]

• [https://musclesandmindset.ca/]

Ready to build strength, feel confident AF, and lose fat without obsessing or stressing over it? [Apply to Join the Muscles & Mindset program here].

Connect With Me:

• Instagram: [@annejonesfit]

• Website: [https://www.annejonescoaching.ca/]

• YouTube: [https://www.youtube.com/@annejones]

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Transcript

0:00

Welcome to the Muscles and Mindset Revolution, the podcast for ambitious women who want to build strength, feel confident, af and lose fat for good. Without counting calories or bs, quick fixes. I'm your host, Anne Jones, certified life coach, personal trainer and mindset expert, and today we're talking about a topic that everyone brings up this time of year. How do I get consistent before the holidays hit? Like how do I stop waiting for things to calm down and actually build momentum now? I'm gonna share with you what you actually need to be consistent and what most people think they need to be consistent. Let's talk about it. Okay, first things first. This time of year is like the Bermuda Triangle of Consistency. our team member, Laura calls it Rocktober. So right now we're just entering November, just finishing up October. She calls it Rocktober. Every year she feels like she just gets rocked. You're coming off back to school. Chaos. Thanksgiving just happened. For us there are birthdays and even my clients are tons of Scorpios, tons of November birthdays. Always happy birthday to all my November birthday clients. There are family visits, right? Holiday prep, flu season, end of the year, deadlines, parent teacher conferences, usually darker days, less energy, not to mention the upcoming Daylight savings hangover. so your nervous system is like, can we not add a workout plan on top of this? You are going to have resistance most likely, unless you are already very consistent. It's very normal for you, and I totally get it. And here's what I know to be true. Waiting until after the holidays is another version of all or nothing thinking because what happens in January? You're FREAKING exhausted. You probably get sick, you've lost your momentum. You've spent two months reinforcing that you don't prioritize yourself when life is full. And then starting feels even harder. And yet we often anticipate or expect that January 1st will come and we'll be a completely different person who has a completely different set of habits and consistency. Right. I've been victim to this too. I totally get it. So I'm gonna share with you what you actually need to be consistent and what most people think they need to be consistent. here's what most people think they need to be consistent. More time, more motivation, a perfect plan, to feel ready, more control of their situation, but none of those are actually required. Here's what you do need: number one, a clear reason why this matters to you right now. Why is now the time? Why do you want it and why do you want it now? Not in January, not in some mythical, fantastical, calmer season, but now because your body energy and your confidence are not on pause, just because it's Q4 at the office or whatever, I need you to know. And I always say this, I need you to know your why and not, it doesn't even have to be a deep sense of purpose kind of why? But I will just use this very simple example because the number one. A goal that women come to me with is wanting to lose weight. Wonderful. I'm here for it, right? I'm a fat loss coach. That's what we do. We lose fat, we lose body weight, and I'm always gonna ask you why. Cool. Why do you want that? Because the number is just a number. It has no meaning other than the meaning that you give which you heard from someone else learned via society, your familial upbringing or your culture. Your weight has no meaning. It doesn't make you feel more confident. So what I always want to know, what is it that you really want? You don't wanna lose weight. You want to feel confident. You want more energy, you wanna be more mobile. You want to, have the energy to keep up with your kids. You wanna go hiking, you wanna be front and center in the in family photos. You won't feel sexy. These are the things that you want, and you have a belief that losing weight will cause those things, and that's fine. That can help for sure, and you still need to know why, because, and you may have heard this before, motivation is very fleeting when it is only focused on that arbitrary number because if we're only focused on that number and it's not moving fast enough as it won't because it's gonna take longer than you want to be honest with you. Then we're constantly, if we're attached to that number, we're constantly in that, well, what's the point cycle? And then we give up. And then what's the result? You're inconsistent. So number one thing you need is a clear reason why this matters to you and why now. Number two, you need a doable container, something that fits your actual life, not the fantasy version where you meal prep every Sunday and have unlimited childcare. So just for example, like inside muscles and mindset. My clients do mostly, I would say on average, like 40 minute workouts, 20 to 45 minute strength workouts. Nobody's doing a 90 minute bootcamp. It is not necessary, and that is not like, it is not realistic. It does not fit into my demographic for sure of like mostly working moms, professional women. No. They learn how to eat in a way that doesn't feel like another job. And that is why they're consistent through holidays, travel and flu season. And I should say having been a fitness professional for 16 years now and having had coaching clients through, seven, eight Christmas seasons now. I'm actually very proud to say that, when we meet as a team in December and January. We are often saying like nobody's really off track. Like everyone's just like doing their thing. It's not really a thing anymore. It's not really like people are struggling during the holidays because they started before Christmas and already got really consistent through the holidays, traveling and flu season. Yes. Okay. Number three. You need a nervous system that feels safe to show up consistently. If every time you miss a workout, you see it as a failure and your brain spirals into shame. Or if every time you eat a cookie or ice cream again, you frame it as a failure, you feel like you've ruined everything. Consistency is going to feel like emotional whiplash. We need to build capacity for flexibility and structure. I always say we have a plan. The plan is flexible. You need structure. You will have to work hard, and it can feel easy, it can feel flexible. Discipline works long term when discipline comes from self respect, not self punishment. Okay, now I'm gonna share with you the three ways to get consistent starting today, right when you listen to this podcast. So if you're listening to this thinking,'okay, Anne, like I get it. But what do I do?' Today I'm gonna give you a very simple three step plan. Here it is. Number one, pick your anchor habit. This is your minimum effective dose. I am all about a minimum effective dose. Why waste, energy and time doing more than is required to get the result that we desire? So for example. Three strength workouts a week, protein at every meal, vegetables at every meal, a 15 minute walk every day, not all three. If you are not doing any of those things, I just want you to pick one, or yours might be different, but please pick one thing. I also have a free resource, which I can link here called What I Would Do if I wanted to lose 10 pounds and only had 20 minutes a day, and it breaks down specifically exactly what my team and I. Do and would do with a client who wanted to lose 10 pounds and only had 20 minutes a day. It's broken into, like food mindset and physical activity. Very simply, very possible. But for now, I want you to pick one and, I'll put the link for the free resource in the show notes here, and you can download it and then you can have your own to choose But this is your non-negotiable but flexible anchor. You're allowed to adjust sets, timing, food choices, but the habit itself anchors you back to your identity. That's how you create consistency. It has to be realistic. So that's number one is choose one, anchor. Number two, use the next five days rule. Don't try to plan for the whole holiday season. Just ask yourself, what will consistency feel like for me over the next five days? You'll be shocked at how much momentum builds when you zoom in and simplify over a short duration of time. My clients who lost 10, 20, 30, a hundred pounds did not do it in 12 weeks Sprints, let me tell you, they did it in micro stretches of consistency. That compounded they did something real simple that's unquittable has to be unquittable or you're going to quit it. And then when that became very normal for them, they added a second thing. That's how you compound and increase your capacity. The third thing you can do today is pre decide your, I'm still doing something. Options. This is key. So when life throws curve balls as it will, there's never gonna be a scenario where. It's your life is not gonna be interrupted. Your kids are gonna get sick. You're gonna get sick. Your work is going to explode or implode. Your energy's gonna be fried. You need a plan B. That still counts and will still move the dial. Minimum effective dose, for example, have a 15 minute full body circuit in your back pocket instead of a full lift. One, at least in my free resource, how to lose 10 pounds when you only have 20 minutes a day. A protein smoothie when dinner falls apart. That's not my ideal go-to for you, let's not make that a habit, but have it in your back pocket, or like a sandwich or or a walk in a podcast instead of skipping everything. I actually did this the other day I think it was Sunday. We had been doing a bunch of family stuff. I hadn't really been outside, I hadn't worked out. And I was like, I had an hour before dinner and I was like, do I work out? Do I go for a walk? Because then I've gone for a walk and I've also gotten and I went for the walk and it feels so good. And I'm so glad that I did and I'm gonna do it again. Even though I did work out this morning, I'm gonna go for that walk again with my mom right after this podcast because I wanna get outside. You don't need to be perfect, but you do need to stay in motion. Momentum matters. Remember, it's easier to steer a moving car than to start one cold, right? It's easier to push that boulder up a hill when you already have momentum. It's hard once you stop and start falling back. So you don't need to overhaul your life before the holidays, but you do need to decide who do I want to be in this season? What version of me do I want to bring into the new year, and what is one thing that I can do today to align with that version? Consistency does not come from being perfect, hear me say that. It comes from being willing to keep coming back to yourself even when life is full, especially when life is full. If you have been listening to this thinking, I know I need to get consistent, but I also know that my nervous system feels fried and maxed out. Right now. I have something just for you. Every year I coach my clients through a four week series called Nervous System, November. So if you join muscles and Mindset. Anytime in November, it is free to you, but I'm also offering the first masterclass training for free to you. You wanna come. The first training that we do in nervous system November, is called Brain to Body. It's all an introduction to the nervous system, what your brain body connection has to do with your fitness journey and losing weight, and also how to regulate your body, shift outta stress mode and actually stay consistent even when life feels full. You will learn how to spot your nervous system's, red flags, how to stop all or nothing cycles, and what to do when motivation disappears. It's happening on November 5th and very soon, so you can just email me to grab your free spot. Email me, dm me on Instagram at@annejonesfit, and just let me know you wanna come and we'll add you to the invite list. This is quite honestly the first step towards sustainable results, and if you've ever felt like your body is fighting you or fighting your goals, this is for you. So email me to register now to get an invite or DM me. It's totally free and I would love to see you there. And hey, if you found this episode helpful, do me a favor and leave a quick five star review. It helps more women to find the show and stop white knuckling their fitness goals through the end of the year. See you next time.