Motivation Is Overrated: The Real Psychology Of Staying On Track Between Thanksgiving And Christmas | FIT
If you wait to “feel motivated” after Thanksgiving, you are already cooked.
That week where most people swear they are going to “get serious in January” is exactly where the year quietly dies. The gap between the people who stay consistent and the people who become “normal” widens fast.
Let’s start with a hard question.
What does “normal” actually look like?
Not the Instagram version. The actual numbers.
Only about 26 percent of U.S. adults meet the federal guidelines for both aerobic exercise and strength training (it’s pathetically low btw, more on that later). Which means almost three out of four adults do not move enough or lift enough to protect their health. Health.gov
But what does that actually mean?
The federal minimum standard for health is:
150–300 minutes of moderate aerobic activity per week
Examples:
Brisk walking
Light cycling
Easy jogging
Mowing the lawn
Recreational sports at a conversational pace, or
75–150 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity per week
Running
Fast cycling
High-intensity conditioning
Competitive sports
Anything where talking becomes difficult
plus strength training for all major muscle groups at least 2 days per week
Training should be “moderate to high intensity”
Should include all major muscle groups (legs, hips, back, chest, core, shoulders, arms)
Sessions can be bodyweight, free weights, machines, kettlebells, resistance bands, sandbags — doesn’t matter.
What does matter is effort (pushing close to fatigue) and progression.
That’s the bar.
And three out of four adults still fail it.
I’ll be honest with you — that was just a survey and in my experience the people that tend to do their own thing at the gym grossly OVER ESTIMATE what they do and it is RARELY sufficient for the stimulus they’re trying to achieve.
Which means:
73.6 percent of adults aren’t strong enough or conditioned enough to meet the minimum dose for basic health
They’re not even reaching the “baseline to not decline” range
They’re entering the holiday season already undertrained, already inconsistent, already physically behind
And during the holidays?
It gets worse.
The average adult gains 0.8 to 5 pounds between Thanksgiving and Christmas and New Year’s
Almost half of adults do neither meaningful cardio nor strength training year-round
By mid-December, most people have completely abandoned any routine they claimed to care about in October
So when we talk about “normal people” spiraling after Thanksgiving, we’re not being dramatic.
The typical adult is already struggling to meet the bare minimum.
Layer holiday chaos on top of that, and the slide is predictable.
This is why December isn’t a “hard month.”
It’s a revealing month.
It exposes who has systems…
… and who is still depending on motivation.
About 46 percent of adults meet neither the aerobic nor strength guidelines. That is the baseline you are surrounded by at work, in traffic, at holiday parties. CDC
Holiday weight gain on average is “only” around 0.8 pounds from Thanksgiving to New Year’s. The problem is that people do not lose it. For people who are already overweight or obese, that gain can be as high as 5 pounds in a single holiday season. Rush University System for Health+1
So “normal” is undertrained, slowly heavier every year, and chronically inconsistent.
If you follow normal holiday patterns, you should fully expect normal results.
The answer is not “more motivation.” The answer is understanding how motivation actually works and then building systems that do not rely on feelings.
That’s why I’ve double downed on writing about motivation lately.
Why motivation fails: the intention behavior gap
People say things like:
“I really want to get in shape this December.”
“I’m motivated to not gain weight this year.”
“I’m serious this time.”
Psychology calls this a goal intention. It is the “what” and “why.”
The problem is that goal intentions only explain a slice of real behavior. Meta analyses in behavior science show a clear intention behavior gap. Wanting to do something is not even close to a guarantee that you will follow through. ResearchGate+1
That is why you see people who say they “want it” and still disappear for six weeks.
The fix is not to hype up the goal again. The fix is to change the architecture around the behavior.
Principle 1: Appointments beat willpower
Graduate level translation: you are using implementation intentions and cue based planning.
Normal people say:
“I’ll try to get a workout in tomorrow.”
Serious people say:
“When it is Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 5:00 pm, I drive straight to FIT and train for 60 minutes — of course getting there early and not coming in halfway through the warm-up ;).
Research on implementation intentions shows that “when X, then I do Y” plans significantly increase the odds of actually performing the behavior — this is why I love the saying “people like us do things like this”, because the decision is made ahead of time and attached to a cue, not a mood. Enlighten Publications+1
In your world, that looks like:
“When I leave the office on Tuesday and Thursday, then I go straight to the gym before I go home.”
“When it is 9 pm, then I set out my clothes and pack my gym bag for the morning.”
“When the office holiday party is over, then I drink one glass of water before anything else.”
You stop asking “Do I feel like it?” and start following the rule you already wrote for yourself. Personally, I ask myself “what would the best verison of myself do?” typically that’s enough to guide me to making the best decisions.
Action step for clients:
Treat workouts like a dentist appointment. They are on the calendar. They are specific. And you do not cancel unless someone is bleeding.
Principle 2: You are not lazy, your needs are unmet
Most people walk around thinking they are lazy or broken. In reality, a lot of people are in environments that do not meet the psychological needs that drive long term motivation.
Self Determination Theory, one of the most researched frameworks in motivation science, says we stick with behaviors when three needs are supported: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Self Determination Theory+2PubMed Central+2
Break it down in real terms:
Autonomy
You feel like you have some choice and ownership. You are not just being dragged through random workouts. Your training has a purpose that you picked: “I want to move and feel athletic again.”Competence
You feel capable and see progress. Weights go up. The scale goes down. Conditioning improves. Movements that used to feel awkward start to feel powerful. That feedback loop feeds motivation.Relatedness
You feel connected to the people and the place. Other people know your name. Your coach actually cares if you show up or disappear.
When a training environment is built around those three things, you do not need to white knuckle motivation every week. You actually like being there. You feel successful in the process, not just when you hit a final goal.
Normal people are trying to do this alone in a Globo Gym they hate, with programs they do not understand — if they even have a program, pretending that “new year/new me” will magically be more disciplined.
Principle 3: Identity first, feelings second
Everyone thinks in terms of goals.
“I want to lose 15 pounds.”
“I want my knees to stop hurting.”
“I want to look better in clothes.”
That is fine. But long term consistency acts more like identity based behavior.
Ask a serious lifter if they are “motivated” to train. Half the time the answer is “not really.” They still train because at some point the story became:
“I am the kind of person who trains, even when life is busy.”
Your identity pulls you forward when motivation taps out.
During the holidays, this is the internal fork in the road:
“I am a normal person, so of course I blow off December.”
vs“I am an athlete in an adult body. Athletes train, especially when it would be easier not to.”
That story changes what you do at 5 pm on a cold Wednesday.
Principle 4: Lower the friction, raise the minimum
Your environment will win against your willpower over time.
Normal people set vague, high standards.
“I am going to train 6 days a week, no matter what.”
“I’m cutting out all sugar.”
“No more eating out at all.”
Then one busy week hits and they crash the whole thing.
A better psychological strategy between Thanksgiving and Christmas:
Set a non negotiable minimum.
For example, “I train at FIT at least 2 days per week in December, no matter what.” Anything above is a bonus.Reduce friction.
Pack your gym bag the night before.
Put your gym shoes by the door.
Keep a shaker and protein in the car.
Small details, big psychological difference.
Pre decide “if then” responses to obstacles.
“If I miss my usual evening session, then I go to the next available time that week.”
“If I have a party that night, then I eat protein first and stop at ‘comfortably full’ instead of ‘miserable.’”
This is boring, grown up discipline, not sexy motivation. Which is exactly why it works.
The December Standard
Normal people:
Train less
Move less
Eat more
Sleep worse
Gain weight they will not lose
You do not need to be perfect to escape that pattern. You just need to be intentional.
Use the science:
Write “when then” plans and put workouts on the calendar.
Train in an environment that supports autonomy, competence, and connection — if you train here at FIT in Florence, you’re already there.
See yourself as the kind of person who trains, even when life is chaotic — people like us do things like this.
Lower friction and protect a minimum standard, instead of fantasizing about a perfect one.
You are not fighting Thanksgiving. You are fighting drift.
December is where you either join the normal crowd or separate from it.
If you’re ready to get the ball rolling and not drift this holiday season, click the link here.