TAKING ACTION: ✅ Do you often find yourself more motivated at the beginning of the year? Did you know this was a real thing before learning about the “honeymoon phase”? Let’s talk more about the honeymoon phase today, friends! You know I can’t help myself—I love to educate you on what’s really going on with your brain because when you’re aware of what’s happening, nothing will surprise you—and you can prepare for it! 💯 So, let’s talk about the good things happening right now—and why the New Year often feels motivational for many. When in the honeymoon phase, you experience what’s called the “fresh start effect”, and during this time, a sweet little brain cocktail is brewing. Let’s look at a few you might have heard of below ⬇️ 🧠Dopamine (feel-good chemical) increases due to novelty (something new), anticipation, and quick wins! 🧠Serotonin (happy chemical) increases with better sleep and blood sugar stability (hello, whole foods!) 🧠Endorphins (hormones that induce feelings of pleasure and well-being) increase due to more exercise. There are actually many other factors at play that make the honeymoon phase (or the “fresh start effect”) so effective; however, simply knowing that your brain is primed to take action—right now—is why the New Year is such a great time to lean in, friends. It isn’t miraculous. It’s just science. 😉 ⬇️OPTIONAL READING⬇️ Fresh Starts: The Psychology Behind New Year Motivation | Psychology Today

TAKING ACTION: ✅ Share your weekly win below! I want everyone participating today, got it?! Celebrating yourself is an important piece of the puzzle! 🧩 Also, what are your goals this year?!! Alright, friends—even though we aren’t beginning our New Year challenge for another few days, the holidays are officially over, and now is the time to start preparing your minds—and your kitchens for what’s to come! 💯 Next week, you’re going to learn more about why the new year is a great time to pursue goals. If you’re feeling excited (and maybe even a little anxious) for next week, there’s a reason for that. Next week, we’re going to learn how to use it to our advantage! 🔥 In the meantime, we have wins to celebrate! 🎉 Remember when I mentioned yesterday that how you speak to yourself matters? On some level, celebrating your weekly wins is one way to practice this strategy. By taking the time to consider what you did well and celebrating it (especially with others), you are doing the work it takes to change the way you think about yourself—and when you change the way you think about yourself, you start acting more like who you desire to be! So, without further ado, it’s time to celebrate, friends! 🎉

TAKING ACTION: ✅ Happy New Year’s Eve, friends! Share any fun plans below, and also let me know if you need guidance on navigating a potentially late night, alcohol, etc. It’s New Year’s Eve, and we’re in the home stretch, friends! As we approach a brand new year, it’s critical that you get your mind in the right spot. Growth isn’t linear. You’re not always going to win, and when you don’t, your mindset must be strong enough to get back up. This will be important as you navigate your journey in 2026. This reminds me of another important lesson I learned long ago – 👉 There’s rock bottom, surviving, and thriving. When people hit rock bottom, they do whatever it takes to survive. They change their eating habits. They commit to working out. They balance their checkbooks. They work on their marriages. Once they feel “safe” or feel like they’re surviving, they do one detrimental thing ⬇️ They stop. They stop doing the things that take them from rock bottom to surviving; therefore, they never thrive. Friends, if you stop because you feel “good” or “safe”, you won’t ever reach your goals. You won’t ever feel like you’re thriving. In fact, you’ll fall right back down to your personal rock bottom. 💯 I encourage you today to keep going. Finish strong so that you can get one step closer to THRIVING in your health & wellness journey. This is the week to lean into this lesson. We’re gearing up for a fabulous start to the New Year—but there’s no reason you should have to start back over from rock bottom. 💯 You’ve GOT THIS! Prove to yourself that you are stronger than you think! 🔥 Need tips for navigating your nutrition tonight? ⬇️ Healthy Eating Habits for the Holidays | Northwestern Medicine

“That awkward time between Christmas and New Year’s, where you don’t know what day it is, who you are, or what you’re supposed to be doing…” TAKING ACTION: ✅ How are you feeling as you go into this week? Strong? Motivated? A little hesitant since it isn’t the New Year yet? Share with us below, and let’s chat about it! I just have one question—who decided to have all of these holidays back-to-back? Halloween ➡️ Thanksgiving ➡️ Christmas ➡️ New Year’s It gives a whole new meaning to, “If it isn’t one thing, it’s another”...😅 The good news is that we’re in the home stretch, friends. This is the week where we’ll wrap up the holiday season and get serious about our goals in 2026. I encouraged you to stay focused this week and stick to a few habits that will carry you into next week—because what you’re going to learn is that, psychologically speaking, next week (the beginning of the new year) is a big deal. In all honesty, after a little research, it’s a much bigger deal than it appears. We’ll discuss this more in depth next week, but contrary to what we’ve all heard, temporal landmarks in time (like the New Year, etc.) are great opportunities to focus on our health & wellness goals. With that said, what you do today directly impacts your tomorrow. Meaning, your success in the new year will greatly depend on the habits you’re creating RIGHT NOW. 💯 Let’s lean in this week, friends, and get excited about what’s to come! Let’s finish this year strong! 💪

TAKING ACTION: ✅ Even with it being a holiday week, everyone has at least one small win to celebrate today! Drop yours below. Remember, wins are wins—no matter the size! 🎉 Happy Friday, friends! We made it through Christmas, and today is the day when we celebrate physical and/or mental wins. It’s the day we get to celebrate YOU! 🎉 We’ve talked about it before, but oftentimes in our health journeys, we get stuck in the “all or nothing” mindset. This is applicable concerning our failures and wins, as well. Allow me to give you a couple of examples: 🥳 We do the work it takes (both nutritionally and physically) to get us to where we want to be—and then we stop. We experience success, and then we stop doing the work it took to get us there. The problem is, success is not final. It’s not a destination; therefore, every time we stop, we’re creating another dip in the roller-coaster. Don’t let the holiday season be the reason you stop! 🚫 We stumble or fail along the way, and instead of making the next decision a positive or healthy one, we throw the entire day away. This often leads to more and more missed opportunities. We view the act of failure as crippling, or often fatal, when in reality, it isn’t. Stumbles aren’t fatal. A few holidays aren’t fatal. Staying down after we stumble is. The problem with these different scenarios isn’t within the actions themselves. The problem is in the brain—in your mindset. It’s the “all or nothing”, “black or white” thinking. Neither success nor failure is permanent, so we shouldn’t treat them that way. The result of almost every action is temporary. You can’t stay there because if you do, you won’t grow. When we fail, we should own it, learn from it, apply what we've learned, and move forward. When we win, we should own it, learn from it, CELEBRATE it, and move forward. ➡️🎉