🎉The Holiday Season Starts Now (What’s Your Plan?)

Every year, when October rolls around, I like to think the holiday season officially begins. Not with Halloween. Not with Thanksgiving. But with G-tober—a completely made-up holiday I created nine years ago.

Yep, you read that right. G-tober (short for Gary + October) started as a spoof on office birthday parties. Instead of one awkward cake-in-the-break-room moment, I thought: why not a whole month of celebration? Like Festivus from Seinfeld, but better. People bring in treats, we hang a poster, and it’s become a real tradition.

But here’s the thing—G-tober doesn’t just celebrate me. It’s also the unofficial kickoff to what I call the holiday season gauntlet:

👉 G-tober ➡️ Halloween ➡️ Thanksgiving ➡️ Christmas ➡️ New Year’s

And as exciting as this season is, it also brings some challenges for your health and fitness.

🍩 The Holiday Season Trap

This time of year, two big challenges show up:

1. Busyness + Distractions
   Work gets hectic, kids have activities, travel plans pop up, and suddenly your workouts and nutrition plan slide to the back burner.

2. Treat Overload
   Candy at the office. Holiday parties. Family gatherings. Platters of cupcakes, cookies, and cocktails everywhere you look. It’s fun—until it derails your goals.

On top of that, budgets get stretched with holiday spending, and it’s easy to convince yourself to “take a break” from investing in your health until January.

📝 Make Your Holiday Season Plan (Before It’s Too Late)

Here’s the truth: January restarts are tough. If you’ve built momentum all year, the last thing you want to do is lose it now. Instead, take a page out of James Clear’s Atomic Habits and make your success obvious, easy, and automatic.

Here’s how:

• Set a non-negotiable schedule 📅
  Book your workouts in your calendar just like meetings. Even if it’s 20 minutes, protect that time.

• Budget for health 💵
  Just like you set aside money for gifts, keep your fitness and nutrition a priority in your budget.

• Use the “One Treat Rule” 🍪
  At events, pick one thing you’ll enjoy fully and skip the rest. That way you don’t feel deprived, but you also don’t go overboard.

• Have a travel plan ✈️
  Whether it’s hotel gym workouts, bodyweight circuits, or walks outside, map out how you’ll move even when you’re away from home.

• Stack healthy habits 🥤
  Pair something you already do (morning coffee) with something you want to do (drinking a glass of water first). Little shifts go a long way.

🎁 Enjoy the Holidays Without Starting Over

The holidays are supposed to be fun—you should enjoy them. But the key is balance. By making a plan now, you’ll:

✅ Stay consistent with your exercise
✅ Keep your nutrition on track (while still enjoying treats)
✅ Enter January feeling strong and in control—not like you need to climb out of a hole

So as G-tober kicks off this year, ask yourself: What’s your holiday plan?

Because once the cupcakes and eggnog show up, it’s a lot harder to wing it.