The turkey, the beach, and the full moon = a perfect vacation! And one of the most awesome Thanksgiving get togethers we have ever had, with lots of wonderful memories for everyone in our family.

The house we rented is right on the ocean, we arrived on Wed. and stayed through to Sunday, it has a big apartment on the second floor (where we stayed with a deck facing the ocean), and a big apartment on the first floor with a big porch facing the ocean (where most of the family stayed). My family joined us for two nights and we enjoyed a wonderful, relaxing, awesome Thanksgiving together. My hubby is a great cook and the turkey came out perfect (and everything else too). We did a lot of prep work at home first, so the morning of Thanksgiving we bascially just had to put a few things together put the turkey in the oven (and a ham in the other oven downstairs) and enjoy our time together with the family and watch the kids playing on the beach. Dinner time we all helped setting the table and setting out the awesome feast, shared our thoughts on what we were thankful for, enjoyed each other’s company and the spectacular ocean view as we leisurely ate dinner. The weather for the whole weekend was awesome; who would have believed that in Nov. we could be running around the beach with just a light jacket on here in New Jersey. At night the full moon was shining over the water and created a magical, relaxing sight. Sunrises were equally beautiful and inspiring.

The kids got to play on the beach, collect shells, do arts and crafts (I had brought some kits for them), make xmas candy (my sister brought an easy kit for them). Friday my sisters and I got to visit a local Christmas shop and oooh and ahhhh over all the awesome decorations. Some of us went for a nice walk through part of the bird sanctuary along the beach that is a short distance down the road from the beach house.

For the first time in over 80 weeks I didn’t have an “official” weighin, in honor of the holiday. I did sneak a peak at the scale on Wed. before we left on vacation, but since my weighin day is on Fridays (and I wouldn’t be any where near a scale), I’m not counting the Wed. results as “official” for week 82 - but the scale did say I was back to my low weight of 195.5 from week 77 - which means I finally lost all of the extra (water?) 13.5 lbs I had gained week 78 and 79 for no reason - and starting this week being totally relaxed from the vacation, I’m at a good place emotionally and on the scale to keep making progress.

Thanksgiving day I enjoyed a big bowl of oatmeal for breakfast, a lovely salad for lunch, and turkey and green beans for dinner, with a one bite taste of my sister’s pumpkin fluffy (whipped with cool whip) pie and one bite of one of my daughter’s brownies. I was full, happy, and totally satisfied. I was also very happy getting to take a long walk on the beach every day too - I took a lot of aspirins to handle the arthritis pain but it was doable.

As I sat watching the sunrise over the ocean and reflecting on past holidays and situations faced with a LOTS of food, I must admit I was very proud of myself - not because I didn’t overindulge; but because I didn’t stress, I didn’t avoid the table (which would mean also avoiding the people), I didn’t get depressed or beat myself up tasting a bit of dessert, the desserts didn’t send me in to a feeding frenzy or the dark abyss of guilt. I simply allowed myself to enjoy the day and relax, and the result was I made healthy choices, had a little treat, and a great day. I’m sure the environment and the sound of the waves right outside the big window had a lot to do with it - but I also have to credit myself too, because along with eating healthy for over 80 weeks now, I also have been working on the emotional issues, the negative thinking, and all the other elements that go into creating a healthy relationship with food, body image, self esteem, etc. There is still room for improvement, but this Thanksgiving was a wonderful example of how far I’ve come, and I know I’ll be able to reach my goal and maintain, because I’m making permanent changes that really matter - not just dealing with less food and counting calories.

How was your holiday? What was your favorite memory this Thanksgiving? I hope everyone had a happy and healthy holiday.

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