The Permission to Do Less

Why December Demands a Different Approach.

Samantha scheduled her usual Monday morning session, then asked if we could add Wednesday and Friday too because “the holidays are coming and I need to get ahead on my workouts before everything falls apart.”

When I gently suggested that maybe adding more wasn’t the answer, she looked at me like I’d suggested she quit exercising entirely.

“But if I don’t stay on top of it now,” she said, “I’ll gain weight over the holidays and lose all my progress and then January will be even harder.”

That’s when I realized how deeply we’ve all internalized the wrong message about December.

The December Paradox

We enter the busiest, most demanding month of the year and somehow convince ourselves that we need to do MORE. More workouts to “prepare” for holiday eating. More meal prep to stay on track. More planning to maintain our routines. More discipline to not “let ourselves go.”

Meanwhile, December is asking us to travel, host, attend gatherings, shop, wrap, cook, clean, coordinate schedules, manage children’s break from school, navigate family dynamics, maintain work responsibilities, and somehow also find time for joy and connection.

The math ain’t mathing. Something has to give.

And here’s what the fitness industry doesn’t want you to know: the thing that should give is your fitness routine.

Not abandon it entirely, but absolutely scale it back, simplify it, and release the expectation that December movement should look anything like October movement.

Recent research shows that 82% of employees are at risk of burnout in 2025, and we’re walking into December (traditionally the most stressful month) carrying that massive stress load.

Women’s stress in particular skyrockets during the holidays because we’re expected to maintain most of the holiday traditions. We’re the ones remembering to send cards, buy gifts for everyone, coordinate meals, manage children’s expectations, and somehow keep our own wellness routines intact.

The cost to our mental and physical health is enormous.

But instead of acknowledging this impossible situation and adjusting accordingly, the wellness industry doubles down. “Stay committed!” “Don’t let the holidays derail you!” “New Year’s resolutions start now!”

It’s setting us up for failure and guilt, not success and wellbeing.

What Balance Actually Means in December

Balance isn’t about maintaining your normal routine despite increased demands. That’s not balance, that’s just adding more weight to an already overloaded system.

Real balance in December means:

Reducing workout frequency: Three movement sessions per week instead of five or six. That’s sustainable.

Simplifying sessions: Twenty minutes of intentional movement beats an hour-long workout you’re too stressed to complete properly.

Flexibility over consistency: Some weeks you’ll move four times, some weeks once. Both are fine.

Function over performance: The goal is to feel good and maintain baseline strength, not achieve new PRs or lose weight.

Rest as priority: Sleep, downtime, and nervous system recovery become more important than hitting step goals.

This feels wrong to most of us because we’ve been conditioned to believe that discipline means never adjusting, never backing off, never choosing ease over effort.

But that’s not discipline, that’s rigidity. And rigidity breaks under pressure.