3 PCS Nutrition Strategies to Navigate Thanksgiving — and Every Other Holiday

For more than a decade I’ve taught clients a simple three-part system to navigate holiday eating without fear, stress, guilt, or the annual weight gain most Americans accept as inevitable. These strategies aren’t trends, hacks, or tricks — they’re grounded in physiology and built for real life.

Two are nutritional. One is movement-based. Together, they give you a flexible, reliable framework you can use every year.

1. Banking Calories and Macros

If you’re reading this the night before Thanksgiving, you’re too late to bank for this round — but this strategy works beautifully year-round.

The average American consumes around 4,000 calories on Thanksgiving. So if you normally eat 2,000 calories per day and you know you’ve got a huge day coming, you can bank calories ahead of time.

Example: From Sunday through Wednesday, reduce intake to 1,500 calories. That saves 2,000 calories for Thursday. You walk straight into Thanksgiving already balanced.

There’s nothing extreme about this — it’s the same weekly calorie math we use every day.

The weekly view gives you flexibility inside the day. This is why banking is my default PCS strategy: it keeps you in control without restriction.

2. Fasting (Proactive or Retroactive)

If you’re about to eat double or triple your normal food intake, fasting can help you smooth out the impact.

If your big meal is at 1pm Thursday, finish eating by 2pm and don’t eat again until 2pm Friday. That’s a 24-hour fast — perfectly safe for most people, but not always comfortable if you’ve never done one.

Most clients begin with:

• Half-day fasts,

• Then 16–18 hours,

• Then full-day fasts if appropriate.

Fasting isn’t magical — it’s math. But it’s powerful math when used with intention.

And this matters: both banking and fasting can be done before or after the holiday. There is no rule that says you have to gain weight every November. That’s a cultural myth, not a biological law.

3. Depletion Workouts

Here’s the movement strategy.

A depletion workout creates an energy deficit that the holiday meal naturally fills. We’ve used 1.5x normal training volume for years because it’s simple and effective.

Examples:

• If you lift for 60 minutes — do 90.

• If you run a 5K — run 10K.

• If you typically walk 45 minutes — walk 70.

The type of movement isn’t as important as the time spent moving.

And a quick warning: if you crush your legs with squats or high-volume lower body work, your body will use most of that holiday meal for recovery and muscle building. That’s not a green light to overeat — just physiology in motion.

This is one of the only scenarios where I’ll even discuss the phrase “earning your food.” It’s a terrible mindset for general fitness, but strategically sound for the high-calorie holiday.

Experience Determines Your Strategy

I coach all clients using a simple timeline:

• 1–3 years in the fitness/nutrition lifestyle = Novice

• 4–6 years = Intermediate

• 7–9 years = Advanced

• 10+ years = Master

Novices should use one strategy.

Intermediates can combine two effectively.

Advanced and master-level clients adapt all three and build a personalized plan.

The key is simplicity. Clear strategy. No panic.

Holidays aren’t something to fear — they’re something to navigate with intelligence, awareness, and control.

This system gives you exactly that.