Why The Last Three Weeks Matter

Philip Pape 0:00

Wits and weights family, this is a bonus episode because we all have only three weeks left in 2025. That's three weeks before everyone hits reset, starts over in January, quote unquote, New Year's resolutions, all of that. And I wanted to ask you something person to person here on this show. Are you going to spend those three weeks surviving the holidays and watching your body composition potentially slip backward? Or are you going to actually do the things you want to do, lose fat, build muscle, maintain your results while everyone else is losing it? Because what I usually notice is that most people treat these final three weeks like a holding pattern at best, but a throwaway at worst, like it doesn't count. And if you have already been working at this, listening to the podcast, training, eating the way you're trying to eat, at least, at least attempting to do those things, and you still haven't gotten there, you don't quite look like you lift, or your body doesn't yet reflect the work that you're putting in, why would you continue to stay on that path for another three weeks just because it's the end of the year? In fact, I would argue that the end of the year is a great time to put this to the test because the rest of the year should actually be easier. So maybe you have been training consistently, and maybe you've tried to be, you know, building muscle, whether you're in a surplus for a gaining phase or you've been in a fat loss phase, and in your mind, you know, we're past Thanksgiving here in the US, you know, we're past Halloween, past Thanksgiving, the holidays are coming, and you your mind just shifts into more of a damage control mode. And you tell yourself something like, I'm just gonna try not to gain too much weight, or I'm gonna get back on track in January or on the wagon. That sounds familiar, or this year doesn't count anymore, anyway, if it wasn't a great year for you, which is perfectly okay.

Reframing Holidays As Opportunity

Philip Pape 1:47

We're we're all human, it's okay. If you didn't get what you wanted this year. And then you spend three weeks gaining fat, losing strength, you know, falling off with all of your habits that you spent time building. And by January, it's not a fresh start. It's more of a, I'm starting behind and it's this vicious cycle. I mean, I think we're all familiar with this because I used to be that way. By this time of the year, it was like, well, just throw up the hands and let the alcohol flow, let the food flow, do the parties, do all that, and don't even worry about it. It's just three weeks. But it's it's three wasted weeks where you could have been setting things up for success or at least holding on to what you have. And why do that? Right. So I want to reframe. I'm a big fan of reframing. It's a psycho, it's a psychology trick, but it's actually a technique that works. The next three weeks, rather than thinking of them as like this danger zone, they're a huge opportunity. This is a big opportunity, the biggest opportunity of the entire year for your health and fitness. The reason this is, is because everyone else has already quit. They've already decided they're going to gain weight and they're going to restart in January, which means there is zero pressure on you, zero comparison to other people. Nobody's watching anyway. Nobody expects anything from you. You're your own worst critic, and you also have are the only person that's going to hold yourself up to your standards. So, what does that look

Quietly Doing The Boring Basics

Philip Pape 3:11

like? Well, you can just quietly start doing the things, you know, and and and whether that results in some fat loss and strength is almost beside the point because doing the things and putting the process in place and showing up before when everyone else is doing it is gonna give you that head start mentally, if nothing else, but probably also physically. You're probably gonna drop a little bit of fat and build a little strength, build a little muscle, you know, without having to do a big fat loss phase or big muscle building phase, any of that, just focusing on the boring basics. I'm sorry to say they are boring basics, but it's gonna give you a massive advantage versus the survival mode or the backsliding that many people do. So I

Introducing The Strong Finish Challenge

Philip Pape 3:52

wanted to put something together that helps us to do this as a community. How do we do this? Well, Coach Carol, you guys might know Carol, she's in Physique University with me. She's also in the Facebook group. She and I are running a challenge. It's the three-week strong finish challenge. It's not a big fat loss challenge where you're just trying to lose X number of pounds and put all this pressure on yourself at the end of the year. Of course not. It is more nuanced, but also way more powerful because if you're serious about body recomposition and the things that are required to get there, if you're tired of, you know, not looking like you lift, despite the hard work, these three weeks are your biggest opportunity to make the year count. And you're gonna feel great then going into the new year, because then you can step it up to a bigger level for you. All right, so here's exactly what this is in the timeline, just to give you details on the

What You Get And How To Join

Philip Pape 4:41

challenge. If you're listening to this when the episode comes out on Sunday, it kicks off tomorrow, Monday, December 8th at 5 p.m. Eastern. That's a call. We're gonna record it. A lot of people can't make it because of schedules or you're in can't in the other side of the planet or whatever. We're gonna record it so you get the replay. But if you can make it, Monday, December 8th, 5 p.m. Eastern, Carol and I are gonna walk you through how to set up your nutrition and training to lose fat, build muscle through Christmas and New Year's, and give you all the resources behind the scene to make that happen. And then the challenge actually starts Wednesday. So you've got about a day and a half before it starts, which is enough time if you're hearing this on Monday or even Tuesday or even the morning of Wednesday to still join us in and take advantage of the challenge, which runs through the end of the year. Now, this isn't a course, a do-it-yourself course. This is not information. This is direct coaching support so that you can implement everything when the conditions are the hardest. So, all the stuff you hear on this podcast, we're gonna package it down and help you implement it with accountability. So here's what you get: you get direct access to two coaches. Carol's gonna be very ever present on a daily basis in the community. I'm also gonna be there and you post questions, situations, you tell us, hey, I'm at a family dinner, don't know what to eat, what do I do? You're gonna get real answers. That's very important for this time of year. The second is you're gonna get a personalized nutrition setup so you know exactly what to eat to lose fat while building muscle. You know, you'll get guidance on macros, protein, strategies. You're gonna get a whole bunch of guides on holiday meals and restaurants, and we can give you feedback on those things. You're gonna get our complete set of strength training programs designed to build muscle and lose fat, including brand new ones that just came out that we developed for going to the gym, or what am I trying to say, traveling with hotel equipment, or if you're stuck with body weight only or limited equipment, so that you don't skip your workouts, even if they're the bare minimum. You're gonna get every framework video course we use in physique university for all the things, and but we're gonna point you to what's most important during the challenge for things like restaurants, travel, family meals, all of that. You get all of that. And I think most importantly is you get daily and weekly accountability and feedback where we are actively reviewing how things are going, your biofeedback, your training, all the things that you need help with that are your immediate constraints. The goal here is making progress, whatever progress means to you, but making it so that after these three weeks, you keep that momentum going into the new year. It's not a free challenge. We cannot give you this much value for free. It's 27 bucks, though. That's pretty darn cheap. Maybe it's a Christmas gift to yourself. And that's three weeks of coaching to lose fat, build muscle, make progress while everyone else is backsliding for the end of the year. Registration is open now. Go to live.witsandweig.com. We would love to see you there on the kickoff call Monday, December 8th, 5 p.m. Eastern. But if you can't, there will be a replay available shortly thereafter that you can download and you're gonna get access to the guide, which has everything packaged together in one resource so you can be successful. So if you're tired of another year ending with regret, if you're tired of not looking like you live despite all your hard work, if you want to actually make these final three weeks count instead of wasting them, go to live.witsandweights.com. We'd love to see you there. We'd love to help you out. It's gonna be a lot of camaraderie and support. Whether you appreciate putting your head down and just kind of focusing, you know, if you're a loner like me, a lone wolf, or you love the community and the sharing, either way it works, and you're gonna get the help to finish the year stronger and leaner and more healthy than everyone who's already quit. Let's do this. Go to live.witsandweights.com. I'll see you there.