why fall is the perfect time to reset your habits

[00:00:00] Emily Field: Welcome back to the Macros Made Easy podcast. This is episode 58. Fall feels like a fresh start, sometimes more than January. The sunsets get earlier, the air gets a little snappier. Kids and coworkers slide back into routines and suddenly you can hear yourself think again. My summer was blissfully chaotic in the best way.

 

[00:00:20] Emily Field: I went to Tahoe. I spent some long weekends down at the lake of the Ozarks. I did a trip up to Minnesota for family and friends. I took full weeks off of strength training on purpose, and while I still lifted most weeks, I also biked, swam, danced late night at the bar and walked a ton. It was movement.

 

[00:00:38] Emily Field: Just a different flavor, and honestly, I loved it and I needed it. If summer was full and you’re feeling wobbly now, nothing’s wrong. You’re just between seasons. Fewer post-trip hamper avalanches, more consistent bedtime rhythm. It’s like the volume knob turns down and you can reset the channel. My fall reset includes some earlier lights out, three locked in strength days at least, and a prepped breakfast.

 

[00:01:05] Emily Field: So I’m not rummaging for cold takeout. Simple unsexy, ridiculously effective though if you’re feeling a little defeated after a well-lived summer, nothing’s actually wrong with that. You’re just between seasons. And fall is the bridge. Today we’re gonna use it. We’re gonna ditch the all or nothing thinking.

 

[00:01:23] Emily Field: Pick a few high leverage habits and set you up before the holidays. Show up with their glitter and casseroles. Alright, so here’s a quick roadmap so your brain can relax. I’m gonna walk you through four super common summer scenes, the exact moments that nudge our habits off track. After each scene, I’ll give you a short reframe, not an action step, just a way to see it without the all or nothing shame spiral.

 

[00:01:49] Emily Field: We’ll save the what to do next after the stories when we talk about shifting seasons and why a fall reset beats January. For now, just listen for the feeling of, oh, that’s me. Scene one is the one where your carry-on bag is your emotional support animal. It’s the travel week. You can picture it. It’s TSA doing a snake across the room.

 

[00:02:12] Emily Field: Your watch buzzing stand while you’re barefoot in security breakfast is an airport latte and an egg bite because the 6:10 AM flight does not negotiate gate changes twice. You trot 1200 soft steps with a carry-on. Whose wheel is auditioning for retirement? By lunch, you’re at Gate C 13 bargaining with a fridge of $7 yogurts and almonds.

 

[00:02:36] Emily Field: You promise salad later, but you end up with pretzels when the pilot says we’re pushing back the water bottle. You brought pre-security is now in a trashcan. May she rest in peace. You land at 6:40 PM The rental car smells like new plastic and road trips and dinner is either a granola bar in traffic or nothing until a nine 30 hotel check-in the hotel gym, two treadmills, one medicine ball, and a sign that says, pardon Our upgrades, which is corporate for this cable machine is just for show.

 

[00:03:05] Emily Field: You walk 15 minutes, answer emails, and call it a day. Here’s your reframe. In this scenario, you did not fall off. You navigated a logistics maze. Travel weeks have different patterns. Success looked like steps between gates and drinking water when you could. That’s season not failure. Now, not every week was airports.

 

[00:03:28] Emily Field: Sometimes the routine wreckers were 10 steps from your back door. This story is about your backyard spiral. It starts as neighbors on the deck at six and becomes a block party by eight vodka lemonade in one hand, and a bowl of chips in the other grill. Smoke perfuming the cul-de-sac with hot dogs and optimism.

 

[00:03:47] Emily Field: Kids turn the sidewalk into a chalk museum. Someone’s nineties playlist is doing the Lord’s work. Your evening walk taps your shoulder at seven 30. You whisper, not tonight. The sun refuses to set on time, so your bedtime slides like a beach chair in the sand. By 10:00 PM there are sticky cups on the patio and you are two life stories deep with a neighbor.

 

[00:04:08] Emily Field: You only wave at in February. Dishes wait, steps, wait. Life is very alive. The reframe here is that this wasn’t a discipline failure. That was connection. You didn’t need every night. You need most nights replace. I lost motivation with, I kept community because both matter, it’s a different season, so there’s different emphasis.

 

[00:04:32] Emily Field: And then there are the weekends that deserve their own soundtrack. This is the lake or the wedding weekend. Lake Day begins with SPF in a cooler that becomes 12 hours of sun sparkle denial. Lunch is a little of everything. Potato salad, someone’s famous dip, a handful of grapes, and you call it balance.

 

[00:04:51] Emily Field: You swear you’re hydrating, but the coozies tell a different story. Golden hour becomes a bonfire. Marshmallows become s’mores. Bedtime becomes, is this my sweatshirt? Or it’s the wedding. You cry at the vows. Inhale dinner during a good toast and by 10:00 PM your shoes are landscaping the dance floor while you rediscover your cardio to Mr.

 

[00:05:11] Emily Field: Brightside. It’s 1107 and you’re eating cake with a fork the size of a garden tool. Promise Monday you, you’ll be an angel and stop for fries because even angels need salt. You sleep weird. Wake up puffy. Drive home on gas station snacks and your brain says. I blew it. But here’s your reframe. That wasn’t sabotage.

 

[00:05:31] Emily Field: It was memory making. Don’t punish summer support fall. We’ll trade penance for a plan in a minute, but for now, release the guilt. You are allowed Joy. And sometimes the chaos doesn’t happen out there. It moves right into your house. This is the house guest tour. Your sister’s SUV arrives like a traveling circus, three duffles, two coolers, and one very opinionated dog.

 

[00:05:59] Emily Field: The guest room becomes a laundry staging area. The dishwasher enters its endurance era. Breakfast out happens because the sink is auditioning for a disaster Film evenings are sherbet runs for the kids, and you mornings are pancake negotiations. Every conversation starts with, where are my sunglasses?

 

[00:06:18] Emily Field: Your role shifts from lifter in chief to logistics director, towels, rides, snacks, diplomacy. Your eight 30 bedtime is now a committee decision. So here’s your reframe. This is not a moral failure. It’s logistics. Your role changed, your pace changed. Hosting is a season. You preserved relationships and memories and that counts.

 

[00:06:42] Emily Field: Here’s the drumbeat underneath all four stories. You didn’t lose ground. No one keeps every habit. 365 out of 365. Summer does what? Summer does it stretches time, loosens schedules and prioritizes people fall does what? Fall does. It puts edges back on your days so your priorities can fit again. So instead of judging yourself by perfection, judge by patterns, I want you to ask different questions.

 

[00:07:11] Emily Field: Not was I motivated, but how often did I show up? Not how do I make up for it, but what season am I in now? Say it with me. I am not making up for summer. I’m changing seasons. That single sentence takes you out of punishment mode and into strategy, and when you switch from shame to strategy, the next decisions get easier, food gets simpler, training gets schedule, and sleep gets guarded.

 

[00:07:39] Emily Field: That’s the shift we’re making right now. But before we set the plan, let’s name the mindset traps that pulls so many of us into that summer freedom slash. Fall frustration loop. A lot of clients tell me they want flexibility and freedom in the summer, and many truly love it. They finally ease off the gas.

 

[00:07:59] Emily Field: Say yes to last minute plans. Stop micromanaging every bite. Then September hits and close, feel a little bit snugger and they’re mad at themselves. This is a trap. Let’s name it, reframe it, and move on. Trap number one is wanting flexibility and peak leanness at the same time. This happens because you loved summer’s spontaneity.

 

[00:08:23] Emily Field: There’s eating out more. There’s later nights, a little bit more alcohol, fewer structured lifts. Then September, October arrives, and you want that same freedom to deliver this month’s body composition goals. Your brain says, why can’t I have both? Freedom and leanness pull different levers, freedom, prioritizes experience and connection.

 

[00:08:44] Emily Field: Leanness prioritizes sleep, protein training, and possibly timing of all of that. They’re not enemies, but they’re not simultaneous. So your reframe here is that neither season is morally better. Choose on purpose for a window of time. Freedom is a beautiful choice, and focus is a beautiful choice. It’s like the image of two horses, but one rider.

 

[00:09:09] Emily Field: You can’t straddle both at a Gallup. Choose which horse you’d like to be on and mount for the next six to eight weeks. If you find yourself falling into this mindset trap, I want you to repeat this mantra. I’m not indecisive, I’m seasonal. This fall, I’m sliding the dimmer towards focus. So here’s your check-in which season am I choosing until Halloween?

 

[00:09:32] Emily Field: Am I choosing freedom or focus? Which two to three behaviors prove that choice on my calendar this week? Then there’s mindset trap number two, the go-getter, identity whiplash. In June, you purposely eased off the gas, and now in September, October, you totally forgot that that was a choice, and you label it as laziness or failure.

 

[00:09:55] Emily Field: It happens because high achievers tie identity to productivity. So when output shifts, the story becomes, I lost it, not I recovered. So your reframe here is to say, that was recovery, not quitting. Recovery is a performance skill. Now you’re flipping back to performance mode on purpose. If you’re falling into this mindset trap, I want you to repeat this cue.

 

[00:10:20] Emily Field: I’m proud, I honored recovery. Now I’m proud. I’m honoring structure. So check in with yourself. Ask yourself, what did summer give me that I actually needed? Memories. Connection. Maybe a nervous system. Chill. What’s the one go-getter muscle. I’ll train again this week. Maybe it’s planning dinner or showing up to a heavy lift.

 

[00:10:40] Emily Field: You say to yourself, I didn’t fall off. I switched phases. Now I’m switching back. Trap number three is the expectation hangover. Comparing September you to May

 

[00:10:52] Emily Field: , you, you try on jeans that fit in May and you’re panicking now the brain catastrophizes. I’m back at square one. And it happens because we anchor our last best and ignore context like travel, sleep, alcohol, heat, maybe guess the metric shifts from direction to distance.

 

[00:11:13] Emily Field: So your reframe here is to measure by direction, not distance. Ask yourself, are my actions trending towards steadier energy this week? And if yes, you’re winning even if the zipper argues today. You are a compass, not a stopwatch. We’re pointing the needle, not setting a pr. Your coaching cue here is that you want to remember progress is a trend, not a random day of the week.

 

[00:11:39] Emily Field: Check in with yourself. Name three behaviors this week, that point the needle forward or what feels 10% easier. When I prioritize breakfast and two lifts this week, you’re gonna say to yourself, I’m exiting comparison and entering calibration. Trap number four is the compensation spiral. We see it all too often.

 

[00:12:01] Emily Field: Post summer, guilt triggers extremes like juice, cleanses, doubles at the gym, slashing carbs, detox teas. Three days later, you’re exhausted, ravenous, and over it. And this happens because shame demands immediate dramatic proof that you’re quote back and physiology disagrees. So your reframe here is to support not punish anchors.

 

[00:12:24] Emily Field: Beat atonement, protein at breakfast, two strength sessions a week, water before coffee, a bedtime window. So your coaching cue here is extreme, is fragile. Repeatable is resilient. Check in with yourself by saying. Which anchor will do the most good today with the least amount of drama? Or if I move one needle, which needle matters most?

 

[00:12:48] Emily Field: It’s probably sleep or a high protein breakfast. You’re gonna say to yourself, I don’t need to undo anything. I need to resume what works. Mindset trap number five is that the scale is your only storyteller. One morning weigh in, hijacks your mood and your plan. The scale is immediate and loud. Behavior and biofeedback are quieter, but much more useful.

 

[00:13:12] Emily Field: So your reframe here is to make the scale one voice at the table, not the judge. And the jury collect other data for two to three weeks, like behavior, frequency, sleep, quality, energy, how your clothes are fitting. Your coaching cue here is data, not drama, and you’re gonna check in with yourself and ask, what non-scale wins Did I rack up this week?

 

[00:13:36] Emily Field: If the scale stayed the same for 14 days and my sleep and lifts improved, isn’t that still success? Yes, absolutely it is. If you’re finding yourself falling into this mindset trap, I want you to say to yourself, I’ll let my habits tell the story, and the scale can footnote it. Now it’s time to choose your season out loud.

 

[00:13:57] Emily Field: On purpose. You’ve got two choices. One is a flexibility season where you’re gonna keep two to three anchors. Maybe it’s a protein rich breakfast. No to light tracking, some type of activity on most weeks. And let the rest be flexible. You can expect a softer body composition, but your energy and your relationships are much more protected.

 

[00:14:19] Emily Field: Or maybe it’s time for a focus season, you’re gonna run three pillars, simple macro balanced meals, two full body lifts a week, guarded recovery, and you can expect steadier energy, better sleep, strength, progress, and slow, sane recomposition. I want you to feel really solid in this choice. Flexible and focus are powerful, just not at the same time.

 

[00:14:43] Emily Field: With the traps out of the way and your season chosen, here’s why. Fall beats January and the exact moves we’ll use to lock this in before the holidays even warm up. Let’s talk about why fall is this sneaky MVP for habit change and while waiting for January, usually backfires first structure returns. All summer long, the calendar is jelly.

 

[00:15:07] Emily Field: Bedtime slide. Dinner is whenever, and Thursdays become mini Saturdays because the patio is open. But when September hits, the world quietly clicks back into rhythm. We’ve got school drop-offs work meetings that no longer float around sports schedules, earlier sunsets. It all gives your day edges again.

 

[00:15:27] Emily Field: One of my clients, Megan, she’s 46, said it best in June. I’m living outta the trunk of my car in September. I know where my water bottle is and when I’m gonna be home for dinner. The minute her kids’ practices came back on the calendar, we slotted her two strength training sessions, right between pickup and dinner.

 

[00:15:44] Emily Field: Tuesdays and Fridays not heroic. Just predictable and predictable is what turns intent into behavior. Second fall brings fewer disruptions. Summer’s delightful. Chaos of barbecues, weddings, long weekends. That random. Let’s go to the lake text. That all fades. I had three women in my August cohort who all told me the same story.

 

[00:16:07] Emily Field: I didn’t fall off. I just didn’t have a pattern. Exactly September hands you fewer surprise weekends. That’s a gift. Jenna, who’s 52, traveled five out of eight summer weekends in September. She had one. We made a simple rhythm Monday, grocery order, Wednesday lift, Saturday hike for eight weeks straight. She did need motivation.

 

[00:16:30] Emily Field: She needed fewer curve balls. Third, the weather cooperates. It’s still light enough after dinner for a 10 to 20 minute walk. Mornings are cool without being cruel. If you live in the upper Midwest like me, you know where I’m going with this. January is frozen eyelash season. That’s not when you’re debuting a 6:00 AM outdoor walking routine.

 

[00:16:52] Emily Field: As a Minnesotan by proxy, at this point I feel comfortable saying if your car seat is a Popsicle in January, we are not counting on Sunrise cardio to save you In fall. You can still stack easy wins, a walk after dinner, hit steps at lunchtime without frostbite, park farther away without mutiny. Those little walks are sneaky magic for blood, sugar, mood, and sleep, especially in perimenopause in January.

 

[00:17:19] Emily Field: Just getting outside can be a production. In September, October, not so much. Fourth reason why fall beats January for a reset is that you get a holiday runway. I used to watch clients white knuckle from Thanksgiving to New Year’s, then try to pull their lives together on January 2nd, like it was a group project.

 

[00:17:38] Emily Field: Do it in midnight. That’s a hard pivot. The smarter move is laying tracks now. One of my favorite stories is Erica. She’s 49, and every year she’d promised New Year new me, and every year by February, she was totally over it. Last fall, we changed the script. September and October were about three anchors, higher protein meals, two strength sessions a week, and being in bed by 10 30.

 

[00:18:04] Emily Field: No dieting, no perfection. When the office cookie exchange hit in December, she didn’t spiral. She ate a cookie after her Proteiny lunch and moved on. In January, she didn’t need a quote new me because her current, her already had momentum, which brings me to the biggest reason of all fall. Success is built on systems, not stunts.

 

[00:18:27] Emily Field: January lures us with big declarations, no sugar daily hit 5:00 AM club. It’s loud and shiny and it burns out fast. Fall invites you to be boring in the best way. Standard grocery list two strength slots, bedtime window breakfast on autopilot. Boring is repeatable, but repeatable is powerful. Let me give you a composite client you might recognize.

 

[00:18:52] Emily Field: Kay, she’s 50. She’s a teacher. She has two teenagers. Summer felt like a beautiful mess. Softball tournaments, family reunion, spontaneous ice cream runs in September. We didn’t make up for summer. We just reset for structure. Kay put two 40 minute lifts on her calendar every week, Monday after school, Thursday before dinner for food.

 

[00:19:15] Emily Field: She chose one breakfast she could make in three minutes, like Greek yogurt, berries, and granola, and kept it on repeat for weekdays. She had a walking goal of just 15 minutes after dinner with her husband. No actual step goal, just the time and just the frequency of showing up is what we’re measuring. And for sleep.

 

[00:19:35] Emily Field: We suggested parking her phone across the room at 10:00 PM Lights out by 10 30. Six weeks later, she said, I don’t feel virtuous. I feel steady. That’s the word we’re chasing. So here’s your friendly nudge. Don’t wait for January. Use falls built-in structure, use its gentler weather. Use the quieting of the social calendar and use the runway before the holidays to make three boring, repeatable things.

 

[00:20:03] Emily Field: Your superpower. Let’s recap the fall advantages before we move into a simple plan. Structure is back. So put lifts and lights out on your calendar where school and work live. There are fewer curve balls, so commit to frequency two, lifts four, walks five protein breakfasts instead of perfection. The weather helps.

 

[00:20:25] Emily Field: So stack a 10 to 20 minute walk after dinner without negotiating with a par. Use the holiday runway. Practice your anchors now. So December is just December, not a total derailment. And lastly, systems over stunts. Repeatable beats impressive always. Okay, so we’ve made a case for fall. Structure comes back, the calendar calms down and the weather actually helps.

 

[00:20:51] Emily Field: Now let’s turn that into a plan you can live with. Here’s what we’re gonna do next. We’re gonna build your reset around three pillars, nutrition, training, and recovery. Think of them as three levers, not 30 rules. When you nudge each lever a little bit, your energy, your sleep and body composition, it all starts shifting in the same direction.

 

[00:21:13] Emily Field: So a few ground rules so your brain can relax. We’re going for simple, over impressive. If it’s not repeatable, it won’t matter by late October or November. Frequency over perfection, we’re counting on how often you show up, not whether it was Instagram worthy and measurable moves. Every pillar comes with one or two actions.

 

[00:21:34] Emily Field: You can literally put on a calendar or the grocery list. So here’s how you can play along. Even while you listen. Grab your calendar or your notes app for each pillar. Pick one base action you’ll do for the next two weeks. But if you’re feeling spicy, add a bonus. But the base has to be first. When I say lock it in.

 

[00:21:54] Emily Field: Actually schedule it or add it to your cart. And you can expect within seven days, probably better energy, fewer hangry crashes, better sleep. And within two to four weeks, you’re gonna notice strength, progress, calmer cravings, clothes fitting a touch easier, and in an ongoing way, a routine that survives real life travel, kids schedules, and the random Tuesday curve ball.

 

[00:22:18] Emily Field: All right. No drama. Just momentum will steady your food, protect your muscle, and guard your recovery. So the work actually works. Let’s start with pillar one, which is nutrition, because food is the remote control for your energy. After that, we’ll move into training and then recovery to lock it in. All right, so pillar one is nutrition.

 

[00:22:37] Emily Field: We’re going back to macro basics. Food is the remote control for your energy. We’re not going for gourmet, we’re going for repeatable. So let’s start with maybe a Sunday realistic plan. We’re not prepping 21 picture perfect meals in 30 minutes. We’re building a foundation block in 30 minutes. So weak. You can assemble fast protein forward meals without thinking.

 

[00:23:00] Emily Field: I want you to set a timer for 30 minutes. When it dings, you’re done. You’re just gonna get as much as you can done in that 30 minute window. Some things might still be cooking and that’s totally fine, but the idea is that you have 30 minutes set aside to do this foundational work. What you’re doing is a cook once, use all week sort of strategy, and I want you to start with protein.

 

[00:23:23] Emily Field: Do one or two proteins. I’m thinking pressure cooked chicken, maybe salt, pepper, garlic, maybe a little bit of broth. Hit the poultry setting, shred it when it’s done. Or you might be browning ground beef with taco seasoning. Or maybe you’re just rolling Turkey meatballs, salt pepper, Italian spices, and popping them into the oven or the air fryer.

 

[00:23:42] Emily Field: Then you’re gonna start with one hands-off carbohydrate. That’s baby potatoes and olive oil, and salt on a sheet, pan roast it while you’re doing other stuff. You could throw winter squash halves into the oven, or just stock the freezer with frozen rice or frozen quinoa. These come in pouches or cups from Costco or Trader Joe’s, any place like that.

 

[00:24:03] Emily Field: So this step is a literal minute that you will lean on later in the week. Okay, next, you’re gonna stage one or two vegetables that you’ll actually eat. So some examples here are some sheet pan roasted mix, some hearty vegetables here, some chopped broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, carrots, just tossed in some olive oils.

 

[00:24:22] Emily Field: Salt pepper, roast in the oven, flipping it once, or maybe you’re sauteing peppers and onions, you’re slicing a big batch of red and yellow onions and bell peppers. Sauteing in olive oil with salt until they’re soft and sweet. You could massage kale. Strip and chop the curly kale, splash it with olive oil and massage it with a pinch of salt.

 

[00:24:41] Emily Field: It’s like one to two minutes and keep it in the fridge. Or maybe you’re just blistering some cherry tomatoes, dumping grape tomatoes in a small pan, adding olive oil, salt, and a garlic clove. You can roast these until they’re blistered or jam. An optional step here is to put salsa or zeki or pesto or buffalo sauce teriyaki.

 

[00:25:01] Emily Field: Put it front row in your fridge because we know that flavor means compliance, and flavor is really where the meal comes together. If you need to buy something, put it on your grocery list. If you need to add it to cart, this is the time that you do it. Make sure that there is something for flavor for the meal combinations, the ingredient combinations that you have here.

 

[00:25:20] Emily Field: And that’s it. That’s 30 well used minutes. Future, you has some anchors, it has some proteins, some carbohydrates, and some veggies ready to remix. Now let me share with you how I think this through when I’m doing my own meal prep. So let’s say I made shredded chicken. I can think of four different ways to use that shredded chicken.

 

[00:25:40] Emily Field: It’s in a taco bowl. Let’s chicken frozen rice, some bagged slaw, salsa and avocado. Maybe I’m making a Greek plate. Chicken plus the cucumbers, tomatoes, olives, tki. On a pita, maybe I’m doing a buffalo chicken kind of inspired potato chicken plus buffalo sauce, roasted baby potatoes, ranch drizzle, and a side salad.

 

[00:26:03] Emily Field: Maybe I’m taking it to work. It’s chicken over a chopped salad kit. Olive oil splash and extra feta or seeds here. If I did the Turkey meatballs, again, four different ways, I can do a sheet pan dinner with the meatballs, roasted squash, and potatoes and broccoli. I can do a pasta bowl with those meatballs, a high protein pasta with marinara and some bagged arugula.

 

[00:26:23] Emily Field: I can make a Greek inspired wrap with the meatballs, ziki, and veggies, and a pita. I can also throw it in a soup with some broth, some spinach, some frozen vegetables, and a handful of rice. Let’s say I made ground beef. I could make this into a taco bowl with the beef, the rice, some corn, some pico de gao, and avocado.

 

[00:26:43] Emily Field: I could make lettuce wraps, pairing it with salsa, cheese, and Greek yogurt instead of sour cream. I could also make a quesadilla. I could throw the beef, the shredded cheese, and a tortilla and have a side vegetable, or I could put it with potatoes and peppers and two eggs and call it a day for a breakfast hash.

 

[00:27:01] Emily Field: I am always encouraging my clients to have proteins, fats, and carbs available at different locations in their kitchen. So that’s in your pantry, your fridge, and your freezer. So you can hear about some of these different proteins, fats, and carbs. And some of them may land in your pantry and some of them may land in your fridge and some of them may, may land in your freezer.

 

[00:27:21] Emily Field: But when it comes to mealtime, you can grab and go to make a balanced meal. So, for example, if I’m thinking through carbs that I wanna have on hand for the week, I’m looking at my pantry and I’m looking for microwavable rice or quinoa cups, some whole grain tortillas, maybe oats, black beans or chickpeas.

 

[00:27:39] Emily Field: There might be some crackers, maybe some sourdough in the fridge. I might have my baby potatoes that I already pre roasted. Some cooked squash that I already cooked fresh fruit and in my freezer. I could also do that. Frozen rice or quinoa pouches. Maybe steam in bagged potatoes or sweet potato chunks.

 

[00:27:57] Emily Field: Frozen fruit, maybe frozen corn and peas, those mixed vegetable blends. Uh, maybe frozen flatbread or non can fit here too. So maybe the real hack here is instead of that 30 minute prep, we wanna look at our kitchen readiness checklist. So look at your kitchen, do a quick audit. Is there a protein, a carb, and a vegetable source that lands in your pantry, freezer, or fridge for protein?

 

[00:28:24] Emily Field: I’m thinking rotisserie chicken or frozen meatballs or some ground beef that’s left leftover. Eggs, yogurt, cottage cheese, tuna pouches. For carbs, maybe I’m looking for the frozen rice or quinoa pouches. I’m looking for baby potatoes, oats, tortillas, maybe fruit lands here. For fats and flavor, I’m looking for the olive oil, maybe avocado cups, nuts, cheese, tki, pesto, buffalo sauce, something like that.

 

[00:28:52] Emily Field: And I wanna make sure that I have some vegetables too. That could be a salad kit or frozen broccoli or vegetable blend. Could be cherry tomatoes and mini cucumbers, things like that. So if you only buy five things, I’m looking for a mix of proteins, fats, and carbs and flavor. As always, I’m making sure to have some emphasis in my freezer, my pantry, and my fridge.

 

[00:29:15] Emily Field: That covers all three macro bases. What I want you to take away here is that you’re not meal prepping, you are meal scaffolding. You’re laying the beam so the rest of the week feels light. You’re anchoring protein like 25 to 40 grams in a meal, parking, carbs, and easy to grab places and making sure you have fats so that the meals will actually satisfy you.

 

[00:29:38] Emily Field: All right, so before we move into the training section, if you’re listening and thinking, yes, I want my food on autopilot without diet rules. This is your nudge to jump into macros made easy. It’s a dietician created, self-paced online course that teaches you the stress-free way to track macros so you can look, feel, and perform your best without food rules or perfection pressure.

 

[00:30:00] Emily Field: You get step-by-step video lessons with in-app demonstrations, printable worksheets, and practice reps, so the skills actually stick. It’s designed to move you from what do I even eat to confident, repeatable plates that support your goals. Inside. You’ll also get 30 high protein macro friendly recipes with five ingredients or fewer sample meal plans that show you how to hit your numbers with simple balanced meals and a progress tracker so you can watch your body composition and energy change as you feel properly.

 

[00:30:32] Emily Field: There’s a community support option in a private group plus support bonuses, like $50 off our custom macro targets from my team, a metabolism guide and a plateau checklist, so you’re never stuck guessing. When you enroll, you get instant access to the full course and lifetime updates. You can come back at any time.

 

[00:30:50] Emily Field: Your season changes. Just like we talked about today. There’s even a pay in full or payment plan to make Getting started easy. If fall is your reset and you want templates, numbers, and a clear process to match the nutrition we just covered. Join macros main easy today and let it do the heavy lifting for you.

 

[00:31:09] Emily Field: I’ll put the link in the show notes. Okay, food is steady and simple. Now, let’s make sure your training protects the things that matter in midlife, muscle, bone and metabolism. Two focus drink sessions 30 to 40 minutes in length. That’s what to look for in a great program and how to commit during a season change.

 

[00:31:29] Emily Field: Let’s talk training and specifically strength first in midlife, two full body strength sessions a week, about 30 to 45 minutes each are non-negotiable. Those protected chunks do more for muscle, bone density, insulin sensitivity, posture, and confidence than any amount of random cardio. Walking still matters.

 

[00:31:50] Emily Field: It’s like the glue, but strength is the frame. Here’s the mindset shift for fall. I don’t work out, I train. Working out is what you squeeze in when convenient training is what you protect because there’s a plan underneath it. So what should that plan look like? First, it’s full body and it’s pattern based.

 

[00:32:11] Emily Field: Every week you see some version of the same human movements, a squat, a hinge, a push, a pull, a carry or core brace. It might be goblet squats instead of barbell squats. It might be a machine row instead of dumbbell row. That’s fine. Patterns are better than being fancy and having fancy random movements.

 

[00:32:32] Emily Field: Second, it’s repeatable with a clear progression. A great program lets you practice the same main lifts for four to eight weeks so you can actually get better at them. You’re not chasing novelty, you’re chasing progress. The question every week is, can I add a rep, add a small plate, can I take a cleaner set?

 

[00:32:51] Emily Field: Those tiny nudges yield big results. Third, it asks you to work, but not wreck yourself on your working sets. You should finish with about two reps in reserve. Hard but not a maximum. If you could have done five more reps, it was probably too light If you had to psych yourself up like you’re entering the Hunger Games, it was probably way too heavy.

 

[00:33:12] Emily Field: We want challenging and sustainable. Fourth, it respects rest quality programs. Build in rest between sets, like 90 to 150 seconds on those bigger moves. And then there’s occasional deload weeks and joint friendly substitutions. If your plan never repeats a lift, never programs rest, and is basically a race against the clock, that’s conditioning in disguise.

 

[00:33:37] Emily Field: That’s not strength training. Fifth, it’s time box. You can usually finish in 30 to 45 minutes because the work is organized. It’s got a brief warmup, two to three meaningful patterns, and then you’re out. Fall is a season for focused training, not marathons. Here are some green flags when you choose a program or.

 

[00:33:57] Emily Field: You’re gonna see the same core lifts across the month, so you can track progress. There’s a written plan, maybe that’s in an app, a PDF or a whiteboard, and you keep a log of weights, reps, or maybe how it felt. Coaches queue forms, and talk about RPE or reps in reserve. There are built-in substitutions for cranky joints and a plan for travel weeks.

 

[00:34:20] Emily Field: There are rest periods as a part of the plan, not something that you have to steal. Some red flags for choosing a program. These red flags are programs I would love for you to skip on. Uh, you know, every day is a different random circuit. The goal is to keep your heart rate sky high the entire time you’re punished for resting or encouraged to empty the tank every single session.

 

[00:34:43] Emily Field: There’s no place to record what you lifted, so you’re guessing every single time you go in. The vibe is high intensity interval training forever. Your knees and nervous system will say otherwise. Where you do it is flexible. So if the gym intimidates you, machines are absolutely fine. Leg press row, chest press, cable poles, and then a loaded carry with dumbbells.

 

[00:35:05] Emily Field: If you train at home a pair of adjustable dumbbells, a sturdy bench and a mini band can carry you through the entire fall block. If you love classes, look for one’s labeled strength, not Metcon, not bootcamp, where the coach watches your lifts and programming actually progresses. Now let’s talk commitment because this is the season change.

 

[00:35:26] Emily Field: Put two strength sessions on your calendar before anything else. Anchor them to existing routines like right after school. Drop off on your way home from work or during your kids’ practice. Pack your bag the night before. Open your training app, or no, pick when you walk in. Maybe it’s the same playlist.

 

[00:35:43] Emily Field: Maybe you’re looking for the same rack. It’s the same time, but boring is powerful. And remember that walking is the glue. After dinner, take a 10 to 20 minute walk. Most nights it’s blood sugar goal, digestion help, and a nervous system downshift. That makes sleep a lot easier. Walking is the companion to strength, not the replacement.

 

[00:36:03] Emily Field: So if you’re coming back from a summer lull, here’s how week one should feel. Session one, you’re just gonna reacquaint yourself with your main patterns. Choose loads that feel like a seven outta 10 by your last set. Log everything session two. I want you to just repeat the same patterns. Add one rep somewhere at a tiny plate, or clean up your tempo.

 

[00:36:24] Emily Field: Celebrate the nudge, and don’t aim for perfection on the weekend. Glance at your log, smile at the proof and copy next week’s plan into your calendar. So those two tiny wins to lock in this week, I want you to put two specific strength training times on your calendar. Put a time and a place and treat them like appointments that you’d never know show.

 

[00:36:44] Emily Field: Then choose one marker to progress each week. Either one extra rep on a main lift or the next dumbbell up one time. That’s all you have to chase. Training is now set. You’ve got a plan, you’ve got commitment, and you’ve got a way to measure progress that isn’t just vibes. Next up is pillar three, recovery because strength only pays you back if sleep, stress and hydration let the work sink in.

 

[00:37:09] Emily Field: Strength training is a stimulus. Recovery is how the work works. If you want your lifts to pay you back with better energy, better body composition, steadier moods, you have to guard the edges of your day so your body gets a chance to respond. Think of recovery as the quiet logistics crew that makes the headline act possible.

 

[00:37:28] Emily Field: In perimenopause and menopause, sleep can get lighter. Stress loads feel heavier and it’s easier to under hydrate without meaning to recovery. Practices like sleep, nervous system downshifts, hydration, and smart caffeine timing, support muscle repair, keep appetite, signals saner and make hot flashes. Or night wakings, less of a circus.

 

[00:37:49] Emily Field: You don’t need perfection here. You need repeatable edges. So edge number one is to build a bedtime anchor. Your goal is to be in bed eight to nine hours, to bank, 78 hours of sleep. Give sleep a fighting chance by making the room a cave, A cooler temperature, darker than you think. Maybe you’re wearing a sleep mask and consider some quiet or white noise.

 

[00:38:11] Emily Field: Park the phone away from the bed. The nightstand is better, but the kitchen counter is best. If that feels dramatic though, start by turning on. Do not disturb and using an old school alarm, create a 10 to 20 minute wind down window that you’ll actually do. Maybe it’s a shower. Your skincare, two pages of a boring book, stretch your calves lights out.

 

[00:38:31] Emily Field: We’re not doing an elaborate spa routine here. We’re just moving for simple. We’re doing simple because that beats ideal. Edge number two is to respect Caffeine’s half-life. Set a caffeine cutoff six to eight hours before lights out. So if you target a 10 30 bedtime, draw the line between two 30 and 4:30 PM on that caffeine.

 

[00:38:52] Emily Field: This single change improves more sleep than most supplements. Now, if you love the ritual, maybe swap for a decaf cup or herbal tea for that last cup. Edge number three is to hydrate. Before you caffeinate. I want you to drink 12 to 20 ounces of water on waking before you have your coffee. It’s the easiest way to help energy, digestion and cravings all day on sweaty days.

 

[00:39:16] Emily Field: You can add electrolytes once or post-workout or mid-afternoon, not all day, but maybe just once. And edge number four, some micro downshifts. These are all two to five minutes each, and they will help you lower the stress load. These are tiny little off-ramps for your nervous system. Pick one and put it where you’ll actually use it.

 

[00:39:37] Emily Field: Maybe box breathing. That’s inhaling for four counts, holding for four counts and exhaling for four counts, and holding that for four counts. You’ll repeat that for four rounds, maybe just putting your legs up on the wall. Two minutes. Slow nose breathing. Five senses. Scan, name one thing you can see, feel, hear, smell, taste.

 

[00:39:58] Emily Field: It really does pull you out of the anxiety or stress Swirl, maybe a one line journal what gave me energy today? Be careful not to let this turn into a to-do list. This is not a should do list. It’s a recap of what worked for you. And lastly, maybe just a 10 minute walk after dinner. This is gonna improve digestion, blood sugar, and give your mood a boost.

 

[00:40:19] Emily Field: So let’s turn recovery into a habit that actually sticks. First, choose your non-negotiables. Maybe it’s one bedtime window, one water before coffee roll, or one two minute downshift that you’ll actually do. Make it visible. Maybe it’s a sticky note on the bathroom mirror or a paper tracker on the fridge, or rearranging your apps on your phone to make like a little sleep tile on your phone.

 

[00:40:43] Emily Field: I want you to reduce the friction, so. Put that water bottle out on the counter. Lay out your pajamas. Put the book on your pillow. Plug the charger across the room. Use identity language. I’m a person who protects sleep. I’m a person who drinks water before coffee. And lastly, plan for chaos. When there’s travel or guests are coming, keep one edge.

 

[00:41:06] Emily Field: Either the water before coffee or lights out. Window, one anchor beats five intentions. Here’s a quick wrap on the three pillars. You’re gonna keep food simple by building every plate around protein and stocking. Cook once, eat all week basics. So weekday meals, assemble in minutes. Commit to two full body strength sessions.

 

[00:41:27] Emily Field: This is 30 to 40 minutes in total. And let easy 10 to 20 minute walks. Glue your week together. Then protect the results with recovery. An eight to nine hour sleep window, a caffeine cutoff, 68 hours before bed water, before coffee, and one tiny daily downshift to calm your nervous system. You’ve got the plan.

 

[00:41:48] Emily Field: Now we make it stick. The next step isn’t more tactics, it’s the mindset container they live in. Let’s reframe how you talk to yourself this fall trading perfection for frequency, discipline for priorities, and I blew it to the next right bite rep or bedtime. So those pillars turn into repeatable wins.

 

[00:42:10] Emily Field: Let’s reframe the way we talk to ourselves this fall, and the first thing I want you to do is trade the word consistency to frequency. Instead of asking, was I perfect every day? Ask, how did I show up this week? If you hit protein at breakfast, four days outta seven, that’s frequency. If you lifted twice like you planned, that’s frequency.

 

[00:42:30] Emily Field: Frequency is how routines form. Perfection is how they die. Next trade discipline for priorities. Discipline sounds like white knuckling. Priorities sound like protection. Your question becomes, did I protect my top three this week? Maybe that’s protein at breakfast, two strength sessions and a bedtime window.

 

[00:42:49] Emily Field: If those happened, even if everything else got messy, you won the week. Then trade. I blew it for what’s the next right? Bite rep or bedtime. When you miss a meal, a workout, or a night of sleep, your only job is to pick the next helpful action. Not 10 actions, not a punishment workout. Just the next right bite, the next right rep, or the next lights out.

 

[00:43:14] Emily Field: That single step flips you from shame to momentum. To keep your brain focused on progress, use a small win scoreboard instead of the scale. Track things that actually change your day. Protein hits per day, lifts completed per week nights. You hit your bedtime window. A simple step streak energy or mood on a one to five scale.

 

[00:43:33] Emily Field: And my personal favorite moments when you kept a promise to yourself. Put five box on a sticky note or in your notes app, and then just check them off. The more boxes you fill, the less the scale has to be the only storyteller. Now, two tiny frameworks that make this practical is a three by three by 30.

 

[00:43:52] Emily Field: You’re choosing three priorities, listing three actions for each and running them for 30 days. So here’s an example. If your priority is energy. You’re gonna pick three actions, water before coffee, protein at breakfast, a 10 minute walk after dinner, maybe a priority is strength building. You’re gonna lift Monday and Thursday.

 

[00:44:12] Emily Field: You’re gonna progress one lift each week, and you’re gonna have protein post-workout. Maybe your third priority is sleep. Your phone is parked across the room. Lights out by 10 30, caffeine cutoff by 3:00 PM There’s no guessing here. Just repeating those nine micro actions for the month. Another tiny framework that might really work for you is the rule of one.

 

[00:44:33] Emily Field: When life gets busy, pick one breakfast, one lift slot, and one walk time and repeat them. Maybe it’s a yogurt bowl every weekday lifting Tuesday at 5:30 PM and a 12 minute loop After dinner, one of each on repeat beats five perfect plans that you never execute. Remember, the goal isn’t to be impressive.

 

[00:44:54] Emily Field: The goal is to be repeatable because repeatable turns into results. All right. Here’s where I want to leave you gently with a hand on your shoulder. Summer asked you to be flexible. Say yes to last minute plans. Eat the fries on the dock. Juggle guests in airports and late sunsets. That wasn’t failure.

 

[00:45:14] Emily Field: That was a season that prioritized people. And presents Fall asks something different. It gives you edges again earlier, evenings predictable. Calendars a little quiet in the day so your priorities can fit. You’re not making up for anything. You’re simply shifting seasons. Today we named the loop that so many of us fall into the travel weeks, the backyard spirals, the lake days, and weddings, the house guest circus.

 

[00:45:39] Emily Field: We pulled the shame out of those stories and swapped in better questions, judging by patterns, not perfection by frequency, not motivation. We called out the mindset traps, wanting freedom and leanness at the same time. Identity, whiplash expectation, hangover compensation, spirals, letting the scale narrate everything, and we rewrote them with cleaner scripts.

 

[00:46:03] Emily Field: Then we built the simplest reset. I know the three pillars. We studied food with protein anchored plates, and cook once, eat all week. Building blocks. We recommitted to strength. Two focus sessions that protect your muscle, bone and metabolism while letting easy walks, glue the week together and guarded recovery because that’s how the work works.

 

[00:46:25] Emily Field: A real sleep window, a caffeine cutoff, water before coffee, and a tiny daily downshift so your nervous system can exhale. Your only job from here is to start small and start now. Book two lift slots. Pick one weekday breakfast and repeat it. Set one lights out time and pour water before coffee. Count how often you show up, not how perfectly you execute.

 

[00:46:48] Emily Field: Boring on paper, but magic in practice. Now if you want the templates, checklists, and numbers to make the nutrition piece effortless. Macros made easy, is linked in the show notes. Jump in whenever you’re ready for a little extra structure and a lot less decision fatigue. And hey, I’m proud of you leaving a flexible season for a more focused one takes courage and kindness towards yourself.

 

[00:47:10] Emily Field: You can absolutely hold both.