In this coach‑client style YouTube video, Eric Roberts guides his client Karen through a practical 5‑step plan to keep fat‑loss progress on track during the holiday season. He first reframes the concept of “bad foods,” emphasizing that weight gain only occurs when overall calories are in surplus, so occasional treats like apple pie or cookies are not catastrophic. Next, he addresses workout consistency, explaining that maintaining at least 75% of regular sessions (e.g., 12 of 16 weekly workouts) or substituting shorter body‑weight routines or walks is sufficient to keep progress. He then provides a simple pre‑10 AM nutrition checklist: 30 oz of water, roughly 30 g of protein (palm‑sized portion if no scale), and one serving of fruit. For social pressure around holiday treats, he suggests using a brief “no” or “no thanks,” framing the situation as a personal challenge, and even allowing a harmless white‑lie to enlist support. Finally, he redefines maintenance as a form of progress, warning against yo‑yo dieting and encouraging clients to view weight stability over December as a success. The video concludes with a promotion for Eric’s online training program, ERF Clubhouse, which offers structured workouts, personalized nutrition, and community support.
Chapters
Karen, great to see you. Have a seat. Eric, oh my God, you have to help me. I'm freaking out because I know I'm just gonna go home for the holidays and I'm gonna be really naughty with my wine and with my food. I'm gonna have a couple Christmas cookies. Eric, I'm freaking out. You have to help me. All right, Karen, stop freaking out. I'm gonna go grab my whiteboard. You sit tight. I'm gonna show you my 5-step simple plan to help you stay on track during the holidays. All right, Karen, I'm gonna take the time out of my day to explain this to you, so please sit tight and listen up very closely. First and foremost, there are no bad foods. So just because you eat an apple pie, or just because you eat a Christmas cookie, that doesn't mean you're off track, and it certainly doesn't mean that you're going to ruin all of your progress. Because when you eat a specific food, that one food doesn't just go in your stomach and is like, oh, I'm gonna store all my belly fat right here. That's not how this works. That's the only The only way you're going to gain body fat, Karen, is if you're in an overall calorie surplus. Don't be afraid of eating one specific food because you're not off track, and don't tell yourself that you're off track, and don't freak yourself out if you're having one of these foods, whether it is the apple pie or whether it's the Christmas cookie or whether it's some of the really good cupcakes that your mom makes every single day when you go home for the holidays. Don't freak out. Everything's all good if you have those foods. Okay, okay, Eric, fine, fine, that makes sense. But what about my workouts? I'm gonna miss my workouts. What do I do? It's gonna be okay. Let's say, for example, you're doing 4 workouts per week. That is 16 workouts per month, correct? Let's say you're traveling over the course of Christmas week, for example. Let's say you skip all 4 of those workouts. If you get the other 12 workouts done, that is still 12 out of 16 workouts, which is 75% consistent for you mathematicians out there. That is going to still allow you to see really good progress. So remember, don't freak out over that. Or let's just say, for example, God forbid, you're going to have to do shorter workouts for that week. Maybe you do bodyweight workouts. Maybe you just only focus on getting a walk in. God forbid you only get a walk in. Remember, something is always going to be better than you doing nothing. Just because you're not perfect Doesn't mean you still can't see great progress and stay on track. Okay, Eric, fine, that makes sense. But what about my nutrition? I know I'm not going to be tracking calories. You know I love my iced mocha lattes. What am I going to do? Karen, I promise you it's going to be okay. You're not always going to be in control of every single little thing, but there are things you can be in control of. And here are 3 things that I want you to do before 10 AM. You are going to have 30 ounces of water You're going to have 30 grams of protein, and you're going to have 1 serving of fruit. But Eric, wait, wait, wait. I don't travel with a scale. What's 30 ounces of water anyway? Karen, just make sure to drink 2 glasses of water. And if you don't have a scale for your protein too, because I'm sure you probably don't, that's okay. Just look at your palm, the same one I just nailed my head with, get a palm-sized portion of protein. before 10:00 AM. Okay, Eric, fine, makes sense once again, but what about the apple pie my Aunt Susie always makes me eat? You know it goes straight from my lips to my hips, baby. Well, Karen, you could tell your aunt to fuck off, but, but you probably don't wanna do that, Karen. So what you can do instead is please just remember the sentence no, the word no is a complete sentence. You don't gotta explain yourself. You don't have to say anything else after that. You can just, you can even say no thanks if you're a, Nicer person than I am, obviously. But saying no is okay. You don't have to just overindulge just to overindulge, just because it's there or people are pressuring you or they're saying things like, oh my God, just have a little bit, just have a little bite of it. Oh my God, you're always on a diet. You ever heard those things before? I'm sure you have, Karen. It's okay. Those people are gonna say those things. You can just politely decline. And you know what? If you're not comfortable doing that, that's okay as well. The other thing I've seen work really well for a lot of my clients is simply just telling them, you're in a challenge. You could say your asshole coach is going to make you, you know, run, run sprints if you don't stay on track. Or maybe you could even win— maybe you're at a challenge at work where you could potentially win a free vacation. You could win $1,000 if you stay on track this weekend, if you don't, if you don't drink this weekend. Tell them you're in a challenge. And oftentimes they're like, oh wow, like, that's super cool. I want to support you in that challenge. And if you have to tell a little white lie about it, You can do that too. It's okay, Karen, all right? I'm not gonna tell Aunt Susie to fuck off, Eric, but I'll totally blame you. What if I don't lose any weight in the month of December? Are you gonna fire me like my other 16 personal trainers have? That is totally fine because remember, what most people do during this time and what you probably did before you came to me is most people do this yo-yo diet where they'll lose weight but then they'll gain all their weight. They'll lose weight and they'll gain all their weight. So if during this crazy season, if you're able to maintain the progress that you are making and just maintain your weight. Maintenance is actually progress, Karen. And this way you won't have to restart on January 1st gaining 10, 15, 20 pounds because you just ate like an asshole for the last month of the year. Thank you so much for sitting through that with myself and my favorite client, Karen. And if you want to learn how to stay on track, not only during the holiday season, but also for the rest of your life and change, Your life, you can look into my Clubhouse. It is my online training program where we have exact workouts for you. Take all the guesswork out. We have personalized nutrition guidelines and we have an entire supportive community waiting to welcome you. Head over to erfclubhouse.com and I'll see you on the inside.
