If you really wanna party with me...

Put all your tasks where your eyes could see.

January 19, 2026 ~ by Marissa Beck, MS, RDN

Hi Reader,

This is an appropriate email to go out today on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, as I wish you a day, and year, full of reflection and hope. 🙏

We are going to take our reflections and enact change this week.

Speaking of creating change... we need snow.

If you don’t know this about me, I’ve been a Washington resident since 2014. Growing up in Queens, NY, winters were no joke. So I never take our moderate winters for granted.

That said… I am officially asking the snow gods to deliver. We need better local ski conditions. Please send your snow prayers from afar. ❄️

Okay. Onward.

Praying for snow with my new ski-mom mug the kids got for me

Week 3 of the non-diet new year series

If you’re just joining us, welcome.

If you missed Weeks 1 or 2, you can catch up here:
→ Week 1: Desired outcomes
→ Week 2: Supportive behaviors

Week 3 is where things start to actually happen.

You’ve identified:

A desired outcome (how you want to feel or function)
A few supportive, practical behaviors that make sense

Now comes the part most people skip.

Planning + time blocking

This is how goals stop living in your head and start being executed.

My simple motto:
If it’s not on my calendar, it ain’t gettin’ done.

So here’s what I recommend.

Your 2026 Non-Diet Goal Setting Framework. Feel free to download!

Step 1: Grab your planning system

Paper, digital, notes app, calendar. Whatever you actually use. Does not need to be fancy.

Step 2: Put the behaviors on the calendar

Not “eat better” or “move more.”

Write the actual behaviors + realistic time it will take.

For example:

7:00-7:30a: Prep & eat breakfast on workdays
3:30p: Afternoon snack reminder
5:30-5:50p: 20-minute joyful movement block
11:00a-12:00p: Meal planning & grocery shopping on Sunday
9:00p-9:15p: Wind-down routine (goodnight, iPhone)

One important note:

Not every single thing you do needs to live in your planning system forever.

But if follow-through tends to fall apart for you, writing it down is simply a way to make room for what matters, not a way to control ever aspect of your life.

A note on planning

(Because I know this can be a loaded word)

Planning does not mean:

Rigid rules
A perfect system
Being Type A (although, if you know, you know lol)

At its best, planning is simply: Deciding ahead of time what matters and giving yourself fewer decisions in the moment.

That’s it!

I personally use a mix of digital and paper planning depending on the season of life I’m in.

And after about, hmm, 30+ years of using a million planners, I have finally FINALLY realized... There is no “right” planner.

The best planning system is the one you’ll actually use.

Planning tools I’ve used and liked

Use whatever helps you oversee your time realistically, protect your energy, and follow through.

(PS someday I’d love to create my own planner. Lifelong dream of someone who could never choose one-that-ruled-them-all in Staples every back-to-school season)...

Next week is the final email in the Non-Diet New Year series.

You’ll still hear from me on Mondays-ish (some weeks I have more bandwidth than others here at HQ - see, being honest with my time!)

But next week, we’re on the calendar to talk about how to stick with your goals when (not if) when things get hard, messy, or completely off, without scrapping everything or starting over.

At the end of the day, using a planning system doesn’t prevent life from interrupting your progress. But it does give you something to come back to when it does.

I’ll see you next week, Reader,

P.S. do you want to test out a solid, FREE planning system for both day-to-day life and meal planning? Most people don’t need more recipes... they need fewer decisions at the end of the day.

The Ultimate Dinner ePlanner is a minimalist planning tool that helps you choose dinners ahead of time, match food to your real schedule, and stop asking yourself what’s for dinner at 5pm.

You can use the Dinner ePlanner digitally or on paper, and it works as a low-commitment way to try this whole planning thing, without buying a full $$$ planner.

Consider it a free test run to figure out what kind of structure you actually need (and what you don’t).