No More Compensating: How to Start the New Year Without Regret
The Fasting Method Podcast
Megan Ramos Nutrition Inc
4.8 • 595 Ratings
🗓️ 6 January 2026
⏱️ 34 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
A practical, mindset-focused conversation about starting the new year without punishment, panic, or regret.
Episode #239
🎙️ What if the biggest mistake we make in January is starting from regret — and trying to "make up for" the holidays with extreme fasting?
Megan Ramos and Dr. Terri Lance unpack why compensatory fasting and compensatory eating don't work, how regret undermines consistency, and why every decision is simply your next decision forward. Drawing on years of coaching experience, they outline how to ease back into fasting after the holidays, put weight gain into perspective, and build momentum without burnout or self-punishment.
👉 What you'll learn:
- Why starting from regret puts you at a disadvantage
- How compensatory fasting and compensatory eating backfire
- Why every choice is just your next decision — not a moral failure
- How to ease back into fasting after the holidays
- Why most holiday weight gain is water, not fat
- How to choose supportive fasting strategies in early January
- The difference between self-compassion and self-enabling
- How to create a steady, sustainable start to the new year
Megan Ramos and Dr. Terri Lance kick off the new year by addressing one of the most common January traps: compensating. They explain why regret-driven fasting fails, how to reframe post-holiday weight gain, and what it really looks like to ease back into fasting with intention and self-compassion. This episode sets the tone for a sustainable January — without extremes, burnout, or shame.
📝 Transcript
The transcript for this episode is available on our website:
https://www.thefastingmethod.com/podcasts/
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⏱️ Timestamps
00:00 — Don't start January from regret
01:55 — Why compensatory strategies don't work
04:11 — Easing back into fasting after the holidays
05:55 — Holiday weight gain and the role of water weight
06:03 — Why jumping into extremes backfires
09:01 — Fasting strategies that balance effectiveness and sustainability
14:23 — Self-compassion vs self-enabling
15:49 — What self-compassion actually asks
18:35 — Hormones, struggle, and misplaced self-blame
22:07 — Rethinking fat fasting: monotony, tolerance, simplicity
28:25 — Hedonic hunger and making food boring
33:25 — Closing thoughts and next steps
⚠️ Disclaimer
This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional care by a doctor or other qualified medical professional. You should always speak with your physician or other healthcare professional before doing any fasting, changing your diet, taking or adjusting any medication or supplements, or adopting any treatment for a health problem.
The use of any other products or services purchased by you as a result of this podcast does not create a healthcare provider-patient relationship between you and any of the experts affiliated with this podcast.
Information and statements regarding dietary supplements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | My biggest tip for 2026 is to not start this journey from a place of regret, not looking back |
| 0:09.7 | over all of the times that didn't work, not looking back at all of the off-planned foods you |
| 0:16.1 | ate for the past month or two or whatever it's been. |
| 0:19.9 | And that leads into the second half of this is that I want to encourage people never to use |
| 0:25.8 | fasting or eating as a compensatory strategy. |
| 0:31.3 | Every decision we make is just our next decision moving forward. |
| 0:46.3 | Thank you. decision moving forward. Hi everyone, it's Megan Ramos here with the first podcast of 2026. Today I'm joined by my amazing co-host, Dr. Terry Lance, and we're here to dive into our favorite fasting and metabolic strategies for the new year. |
| 0:56.9 | Hey, Terry, how are you doing? |
| 0:58.5 | I'm doing great, Megan. |
| 0:59.8 | Excited to be back in the new year and excited to get to talk about this with you. |
| 1:04.9 | I'm looking forward to this conversation today. |
| 1:08.0 | It's an exciting time of year because there's a lot of people really enthused about making |
| 1:13.0 | this their year for great metabolic health and weight loss and coming into it feeling maybe a bit |
| 1:19.7 | frustrated over the holidays, but overall pretty motivated to crush the year. And we want to help |
| 1:27.0 | make as many of you successful with your |
| 1:30.4 | intentions for 2026. But there are some lessons that Terry and I have learned over the last |
| 1:37.2 | several years of doing this that we think can really help set you up for success rather than |
| 1:43.3 | have you spending the first half of the year |
| 1:46.0 | sort of tripping on your feet because we want this year to be the year where you conquer all |
| 1:51.0 | those goals. |
| 1:52.0 | So Terry, do you want to dive right on in? |
| 1:55.0 | Yeah. |
... |
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