📲 Try Fitness Lab with 20% off through Black Friday
My new AI coaching app that adapts to real life, like Thanksgiving. Instead of rigid meal plans or "stay on track" guilt, you get intelligent coaching that accounts for holiday meals, your actual biofeedback, and helps you enjoy family time while maintaining momentum toward building muscle and losing fat over 40.
👉 http://witsandweights.com/app

--

Worried that Thanksgiving (or any holiday) dinner will undo months of fat loss progress?

It won't, and the math proves it. 

One day or even one week of holiday eating cannot physiologically derail your results when you understand how your body ACTUALLY responds to overfeeding.

Learn why your body's built-in safeguards protect you from rapid fat gain, how strategic refeeds during the holidays can actually support your fat loss goals, and why the mental reset matters more than the calories. 

You'll discover the one calorie reality check that eliminates holiday anxiety, how metabolic flexibility works in your favor when you eat MORE carbs, and the critical psychological skill that separates long-term success from yo-yo dieting.

This evidence-based approach to nutrition during the holidays will help you build muscle and lose fat sustainably... WITHOUT the stress, guilt, or compensatory behaviors that actually cause problems. 

Whether you're strength training over 40 or just want a healthier relationship with food, this episode gives you the framework to enjoy Thanksgiving and stay on track with your physique goals.

Timestamps

0:00 - Why Thanksgiving can't ruin your fat loss progress
2:08 - The 3,500-calorie reality check for weight loss
4:31 - Why your scale weight jumps
6:05 - How your body handles overfeeding and carbs
8:13 - Strategic refeeds for metabolism and performance
10:55 - Avoiding compensatory behaviors after holiday meals
12:15 - How to adapt to your choices and biofeedback
14:40 - Managing leftovers and the long holiday weekend
17:07 - Weekly energy balance for sustainable fat loss
19:55 - All-or-nothing thinking vs. psychological flexibility
22:45 - 3 tips for holiday eating (not what you think!)

Support the show

📱 Get Fitness Lab - Philip’s science-based AI app for fat loss, muscle building, and strength training for people over 40. It adapts to your nutrition, recovery, and training to improve body composition without guesswork.

🎓 Try Physique University - Evidence-based nutrition coaching and strength training to help you lose fat, build muscle, and master your metabolism with support and accountability (free custom nutrition plan with code FREEPLAN).

👥 Join our Facebook community - Free fat loss, muscle building, and body recomposition strategies for adults over 40 who want practical, science-backed fitness guidance.

👋 Ask a question or find Philip Pape on Instagram