My Mom is allergic to turkey and my Dad was always in charge of getting it in the oven, when he died in 2010, I took over. I think this year’s was one of the best. I don’t do anything fancy, just basic seasonings and then I baste with chicken broth every hour. I also kept it covered in foil until the last hour and then it got nice and golden brown without drying out the inside.

Once I got that in the oven, my plan was to go upstairs and knock out 2 miles on my mom’s treadmill. I made it 6 minutes and the treadmill died. It has been in our garage for 5 years and before that was in someone’s basement. When they gave it to us, they said they weren’t sure how long it would last. I still feel bad for killing it though!

The rest of the afternoon was spent hanging out with family and making all of the sides and dessert. I didn’t get many pictures of the food, but this one sweet potato souffle that was SOOO soo good! I don’t even like sweet potatoes, but I went back for seconds. This was a new recipe this year and it was the only dish that had 0 leftovers.

It’s called Aunt Peggy’s Sweet Potato Souffle.

After dinner, everyone broke out the ipads, phones and laptops to see if there were any good sales. I have been looking for 2 things, 1 was 50% off at Best Buy, so I snagged that first and then the other one was through Wal-Mart, and it was an in store purchase only. My first instinct was NOOOO way, but after scouring the internet, we realized that it was our only option. 2 of my brother’s and my cousin’s husband said they would go with me and it was actually not terrible. There were a TON of people, but it was very well organized and we were in and out of the store (with our items!) in less than 20 minutes.

That night our Elf, Trixie came back

Emma put her Christmas wish list next to her, hoping she would take it to Santa the next night…she did 😉 This is the first year that she is super into this whole Elf thing, our Elf is not very adventurous, but Emma hunts for her every morning.

It was a jam packed weekend that went by way too fast, as usual!

How was your Thanksgiving?

I have been on the receiving end of some coaching the last few weeks, working on changing my thought processes and how I attach emotions and feelings to food. It is really starting to help and I am teaching my brain different pathways- which is freaking HARD. I’m also learning that it’s ok to say no. Saying no doesn’t mean deprivation, it means sticking things that work for me and for my body.

Years ago, I was heavily involved with weight watchers and that was the time when I started associating foods as either “good or bad.” and I also got into the mindset of “I’ll start over next week.” I’m just going to take the pressure off myself this week, but TOMORROW…I’ll be perfect. Guess what. Tomorrow never came.

I have been using an app called Lose It, the last week or so. And my mindset has totally changed. I’m logging and tracking everything, but it’s not making me feel like the foods are good or bad foods, it’s actually making me feel in control of my choices. I have 0 sense of deprivation and it’s new and exciting. For now, I’m just sticking with a carb limit of 15-30 for breakfast and any snacks and then 45-60 for lunch and dinner. Some days I switch those around, so if I have a carb heavier breakfast, I’ll go lighter for lunch. I am learning that it’s totally possible to have all the foods I love, but it’s all about portions and fitting it into my day.

I’m still in the process of setting up this site how I want it. I have a ton of ideas, but I need to just focus and go for it instead of just thinking about it. I’m trying to figure out the best way to set up the workout programs and plans that I have, but having a hard time getting that going. For now I just post on Instagram, but I want to have a space that’s permanent…which is why I’m bringing this space back to life. Slowly…but I’ll get there!