How to Stay Active When It Gets Dark So Early

Have you started to second-guess whether you can even lose weight anymore? It feels like your metabolism just doesn’t work the way it used to, your belly keeps getting bigger, and there’s nothing you can do about it? Since July, I’ve been telling you I’m losing 10 pounds, and like Bon Jovi says, I am halfway there, in perimenopause, with a really full life.In this episode I’m giving you my honest update. We all grew up in diet culture, thinking we had to work out a million times a week and track every bite in MyFitnessPal, Weight Watchers, or Noom, and now we think the answer is to double down and do it all harder. I’m telling you what I’m actually doing instead: two strength workouts a week, a few walks, normal food in amounts that feel good in my body, and getting really dialed in on where I’m still overeating, including the pulled chicken sandwich I didn’t finish. I’m also sharing why I’m not scared of the holidays, how few real holiday events I actually have when I count them, and my Italian lunch and peppermint mocha with a friend today.If it feels like you’re not doing enough, you might be exactly where you’re supposed to be. There is nothing wrong with you.Want to see exactly what I’m doing? Grab my FREE guide with the secrets I’m using to lose 10 pounds at www.sascy.com/secrets, or DM me the word SECRETS on Instagram.Grab my FREE guide at www.sascy.com/secretsDM me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/sascycycling/Or email me at [email protected] me on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@sascycyclingJoin the FREE Facebook Community at https://www.facebook.com/groups/bikingwellness

Ever since the clocks changed, do you just not want to move? You get home and it’s already dark, you’re tired because you’re not sleeping well, the couch is right there, and you’re thinking you’ll just pick it back up in January? There is nothing wrong with you, and you do not have to wait until January.In this episode I’m talking about why the time change messes with your sleep and your motivation, especially as we get older, and why I’ve been up at 3:30 in the morning this week even though it’s the “good” time change. I’m telling you about the years I waited until January, February, or even March to get back into riding in the winter, the week I didn’t strength train once, and my real plan for this winter: an hour on the sad bike path every Saturday while it’s light, strength training in the basement, and the Peloton. Give yourself a week to adjust, and then have a plan so that one rough week doesn’t decide your whole winter.Want help making a plan for the whole holiday season, the food, the parties, the busy weeks, and the dark evenings? Join my FREE Holiday Kickoff Challenge. If it’s already wrapped up when you’re listening, you’ll find information about my next challenge or the waitlist right there. www.sascy.com/challengeJoin my FREE Holiday Kickoff Challenge at www.sascy.com/challengeTry the Yoga With Adriene video I mentioned at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWzRE1BiAvwDM me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/sascycycling/Or email me at [email protected] me on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@sascycyclingJoin the FREE Facebook Community at https://www.facebook.com/groups/bikingwellness

I’m popping in on a Friday because I have something I’m so excited about! Next week I’m hosting a brand new, totally free, 3-day holiday kickoff challenge, and it starts Tuesday, November 3rd.We’re going to figure out exactly what’s getting in your way during the holidays, and make a plan so you can enjoy the food you love, the parties, and the family, and walk into January feeling in control instead of feeling like you have to start all over again. Every day, a super short video comes right to your inbox, and if you don’t have time to watch it, I summarize it right there in the email. It’s simple, it’s easy, and it’s not one more thing on your to-do list.You do NOT want to miss this one! Sign up now!Sign up for the FREE Holiday Kickoff Challenge here: www.sascy.com/challenge

Have you had one of those weeks where nothing went the way it was supposed to, you’ve been eating more than you need every single day, and now you’re starting to wonder what on earth is wrong with you? I just had that week, almost seven years into this.In this episode I’m talking about why food so often becomes the thing we can control when the rest of life feels out of control. I’m telling you about standing in front of the pantry years ago when my husband traveled for work, how I found myself right back there this week, and what I did differently with a little bowl of Chex Mix, Goldfish, and peanuts. I’m also sharing why I skipped the scale for a few days, the pizza night with my son I’m choosing to remember, and why the only mistake you made this week was expecting a hard week to look like a normal one. You’re not starting over. You’re just starting again.Want help figuring out your own patterns and going into the holidays with a plan that actually fits your real life? Send me the word HOLIDAYS. No pressure at all, it’s just a conversation.And sign-ups for my FREE 3-day holiday challenge are open now. I would love to have you! www.sascy.com/challenge DM me the word HOLIDAYS on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/sascycycling/Or email me at [email protected] my FREE 3-day holiday challenge at www.sascy.com/challengeFind me on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@sascycyclingJoin the FREE Facebook Community at https://www.facebook.com/groups/bikingwellness

Is it getting colder where you are, and suddenly you’re craving the roast chicken, the stuffing, the apple pie, and pretty soon the holiday cookies? And right along with the craving comes that little voice telling you to just have a little taste, because you have to be good?In this episode I’m telling you about the Thanksgiving dinner I made this weekend, in October, and how I overate it anyway, plus my stuffing problem and why I was eating it straight out of the pan. I’m also sharing the container of Christmas cookies a friend once gave me that I was actually annoyed about, the sea salt caramel I grabbed off the table at work, and why I skip the supermarket birthday cake (Costco cake might be a different story). The “just a little taste” rule and the “I have to eat it now because I won’t get it again” thought are what make you eat MORE this season, and I’m telling you what to do instead.Want the rest of my plan? Grab my FREE one-page, step-by-step plan for handling the Halloween candy, and honestly, all of the cozy food coming right behind it. www.sascy.com/candyGrab my FREE Halloween candy plan at www.sascy.com/candyDM me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/sascycycling/Or email me at [email protected] me on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@sascycyclingJoin the FREE Facebook Community at https://www.facebook.com/groups/bikingwellness

Have you ever been eating something, and the whole time there's a little voice in your head going, you are not even hungry right now? And you hear it, you KNOW it's right, and you eat it anyway? I just did this in the car the other night, mid-chip, talking to myself. And still, I kept going.In this episode I'm talking about why this time of year feels so hard. Between the monstrous bag of apples from apple picking, the Costco-size bag of Halloween candy in your cart, and the bowl on the counter at every get-together, there's just so much of everything, all at once, everywhere you go. I'm telling you about the Twix bar and Diet Coke I had at a baby shower this weekend, and why I didn't go back for a second, third, or fourth one. And I'm telling you about my Jersey Mike's sub and the bag of Ruffles I ate anyway, even though I knew I wasn't hungry. Seven years into this, I still do it! And I'm sharing the one thing I want you to try this week. You don't have to stop yourself. You just have to pause and notice.There is nothing wrong with you, my friend. Nobody ever showed you how to slow down and figure out what's really going on for you.Is the Halloween candy already getting to you? Grab my FREE one-page, step-by-step plan for exactly how to handle it when it's everywhere you look. www.sascy.com/candyGrab my FREE Halloween candy guide at www.sascy.com/candyDM me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/sascycycling/Or email me at [email protected] me on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@sascycyclingJoin the FREE Facebook Community at https://www.facebook.com/groups/bikingwellness

It's October, the leaves are gorgeous, and apple cider donuts and pumpkin spice lattes and Halloween candy are suddenly everywhere you look. And if you're already thinking that you'll just get through the holidays and start fresh in January, I really don't want that for you. Because that's three whole months of feeling like you blew it, and you haven't blown anything yet.In this episode I'm telling you about the apple cider donut I didn't eat at the orchard, and what I did instead. Plus the pumpkin spice latte I absolutely wanted and how I ordered it, and exactly what I do with Halloween candy in my own house, including the one kind I genuinely cannot leave alone. One donut is never the problem. What makes this season hard is that something is always around from now until New Year's, which is hundreds of tiny decisions, and your default answer slowly turns into yes just because it's in front of you. And the thing that really gets us? Deciding a food is forbidden. That is what makes you eat four of them standing at the counter.I also got on the scale this morning and saw the lowest number I've seen in two years, and I had a donut, apple crisp, AND ice cream this weekend. So I'm going into these holidays excited about the food and the family and the fun, and I'm still working on my 10 pounds right through all of it.Want a simple place to start? Grab my totally free guide with the secrets I'm using to lose 10 pounds in my real, messy life. You just pick the one that feels the most doable to you. www.sascy.com/secretsAnd if the holidays are already feeling like a lot when it comes to food, tell me about it. What's the hardest part for you? Send it my way via email or DM! I read and answer every single one.Grab my FREE guide at www.sascy.com/secretsDM me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/sascycycling/Or email me at [email protected] me on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@sascycyclingJoin the FREE Facebook Community at https://www.facebook.com/groups/bikingwellness

Have you ever picked a number and picked a date, and then the date showed up and you weren't there, so you just quit? I told you I was going to lose 10 pounds this summer. Summer ended over a week ago. I did not hit it. And I'm on day 73 and still going, completely at peace with it, and I want to walk you through exactly why.In this episode I give you two numbers from my own scale that are both completely true and tell the exact opposite story, and then I tell you why neither one of them is what matters. I also get really honest with you about the actual reason I'm not at my number yet. I'm seven years out, I lost 50 pounds, I coach women through this for a living, and I am still overeating somewhere between four and seven times a week. I know it, I'm not beating myself up about it, and I can see it, and that is the whole difference. If you've been told your body just turned on you in perimenopause and menopause, there is more to the story than that, and I think it's going to help you.Plus the thing I did with an ice cream sandwich and a pile of berries the other night, which is almost seven years of paying attention in one little moment.Want a simple place to start? Grab my totally free guide with the secrets I'm using to lose 10 pounds in my real, messy life. You just pick the one that feels the most doable to you. www.sascy.com/secretsAnd I have something coming for WEEKENDS, because my weekend overeating has always been the hardest part for me and I have a feeling I'm not alone. If you want to hear about it first, be sure to grab the free guide and get on my email list! Grab my FREE guide at www.sascy.com/secretsOr email me at [email protected] me on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@sascycyclingJoin the FREE Facebook Community at https://www.facebook.com/groups/bikingwellness

There are four hours in your day that decide almost everything. Four o'clock in the afternoon to eight o'clock at night. You're good all day long, and then you walk in that door and it all comes apart.And I know what a lot of you have been thinking while I've been talking about those four hours. Something in you went yep, that's me, that is exactly me. And then right behind it came another thought. Not this week. This week is a lot. I'll deal with it when things settle down.That second thought is what this episode is about. Because I waited for the right week for DECADES, and I want to tell you what I finally figured out. There is no calm week coming. And honestly, a calm week isn't when you need this anyway. The woman who needs help with her four to eight is the one standing in her kitchen at seven thirty eating something right out of the pan because she has been going since six in the morning.I'm also walking you through my own four to eight, which looks completely different every single day of the week, and how it took me a solid month of being back at work to figure out where anything fit. And I'm giving you one thing you can try tonight at dinner that costs you nothing at all.THE 4 TO 8 IS OPEN RIGHT NOW. I turned 48, it's $48, and it's about the hours between 4 and 8. You get one short video a day plus a written summary if you can't find five minutes, an optional one page worksheet, and a full week where you can text and email me as much as you want. No calls, no set times, nothing on your calendar. The videos are yours to keep forever, so you can't fall behind.It closes Sunday, September 27th at midnight eastern, and we start Monday the 28th.Sign up here: https://stacy-smith.mykajabi.com/the-4-to-8Or come find me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/sascycycling/ and DM me the word INTERESTED and I'll send you the link.

Do you do great all day and then completely lose it once you walk in the door? Last week I told you that four to eight is the hardest window of your whole day. This week I want to tell you the part I left out, because whatever happened to you at seven o'clock last night was mostly already decided by noon. Which means every time you've tried to just be tougher about it at night and it hasn't worked, you weren't doing it wrong. You were trying to fix the wrong end of the day.In this episode I'm talking about the three things that are really going on when you go straight for something the second you get home, and why not one of them actually happens at four o'clock. I'm also telling a story I've never said all the way out loud before, about the McDonald's I used to drive out of my way to get to, and burying the bag at the bottom of the trash so nobody would see it. Then I walk you through a completely normal day for me right now, and yes, I eat more during the day than I did back when I was dieting. I'm not telling you to copy my day, because my day isn't your day. But I want you to see what it looks like to walk into four o'clock already taken care of.There's one thing I want you to do after you listen, and it takes about thirty seconds. Think back to yesterday and answer one question. What did you actually eat before three o'clock? Not what you meant to eat. What you really ate. Then look at what happened that night.It's my birthday week, I'm turning 48, and I've put together something for that four to eight window. It's 48 dollars and it opens Thursday morning. Forty eight years old, four to eight, forty eight dollars. If you want to hear about it, make sure you're on my email list, and the free guide is how you get there. Grab it at www.sascy.com/secretsGrab my FREE guide at www.sascy.com/secretsHang out with me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/sascycycling/Find me on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@sascycyclingJoin the FREE Facebook Community at https://www.facebook.com/groups/bikingwellnessWork with me 1:1 by emailing [email protected] or DM @sascycycling the word INTERESTED