How was your Thanksgiving weekend, if you celebrated? It has felt so relaxing and refreshing to me, and I hope the same for you! I took some time off of blogging, besides writing up Friday’s “Sweet Cinnamon Eggy Oats” post, so I’m behind on reading other blogs and didn’t plan a “real” post for today. Instead, I’ll share some pictures of the time I spent in Tampa (sorry if you’ve already seen some of them on Instagram!)
7 Things I Did During Thanksgiving Weekend
- Appreciated the experience and traditions of the holiday. During Thanksgiving, it’s easy to feel gratitude and appreciation, and I tried to relish those feelings! Among several things I appreciated were: my mother-in-law’s beautiful Thanksgiving table…
…spending time with close family friends who come over for many holidays (and who I found out read the blog! Hi!)…
…continuing the Lyons’ tradition of building a bonfire during holidays and spending time after the big meal relaxing and chatting…
…and of course a delicious Thanksgiving dinner, as well! I enjoyed my Healthier Thanksgiving Green Bean Casserole, mashed potatoes and cauliflower, turkey, homemade cranberry sauce, gingered carrots, fruit and marshmallow salad, and sweet potatoes with pecans! And, of course, some unpictured desserts – I couldn’t choose between pumpkin cheesecake and chocolate pecan pie, so I had a small slice of each!
- Spent quality time with family. Although I definitely missed “my” family (Kevin and I alternate Thanksgiving and Christmas each year between “my” side and “his” side), it was so nice to spend time with Kevin, my in-laws, and Kevin’s sister Holly and her husband Teddy (they got married in May, but it was only Day 6 of the blog and I hadn’t really started sharing many personal details, so I shared the BDD Rule that day instead!). We didn’t really have plans besides having company on Thanksgiving Day and enjoying a lunchtime meet-up with a few friends yesterday, so we got to spend a lot of quality time as a family – and it was great!
- Followed my tips to enjoy Thanksgiving happily and healthily. I’m happy to say that I followed all 7 tips, and they worked! I’ll continue to follow them for future holidays because I love the balance of indulging and enjoying, without feeling over-stuffed or overwhelmed. I’ve definitely had more sugar and fewer veggies than I’m used to over the past few days, but overall I think I found a nice balance.
- Didn’t use Thanksgiving as an excuse to throw healthy living out the window for the rest of the year. OK, this is one of the tips I included in the 7 Tips above, but it’s worth repeating because it’s so important. On Friday after Thanksgiving, I started my day right with a bowl of Greek yogurt, chia seeds, Heritage flakes, blueberries, and some leftover cranberry sauce!
I made my family a few veggie-filled dishes that night, including Cheesy Broccoli Quinoa (which I might eventually post to the blog!) and Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Apples. We enjoyed those dishes with lobster tails – another Lyons’ tradition! 
I also made sure to get in my water – it was helpful that the Elf4Health Challenge asked us to track our water intake on Friday, and I managed 9.5 bottles before the day was over! - Slept!! I can’t say enough how amazing it was to get plenty of sleep during my time off. I slept for 10 hours on Thursday night (!), and snuck in a nap on two days, also! Even though I think my lack of sleep is one of my worst health habits, and I don’t believe you can totally “make up” for lost sleep, it still felt fantastic!
- Took advantage of the days I felt great to get in good workouts. The weather was great while we were in Tampa, and I love running along the ocean or on a trail near my in-laws’ house. Those factors, combined with delicious food and actually getting sleep, made for some great workouts! On Thursday morning, I ran a slow 1.5 mile warm-up, then conquered a 5K Turkey Trot in 22:04, and ran an 11-mile “cool down” back home. That’s a great way to ensure you’re hungry for some turkey! I got in nice runs on the other days, as well, but they weren’t quite as long.
- Stayed away from the Black Friday crowds. Confession: I’ve never actually enjoyed shopping – especially shopping for myself! The thought of so many people pushing and shoving their way through stores does not sound appealing (although I’ll do it for “family time” with my mom and sisters!). So, I took advantage of some Black Friday sales from the comfort of my own computer screen, and avoided the shopping madness.
Even though I didn’t answer the proposed questions, I thought I would link up to Arman’s “Spill It Sundays” post, since I hope I gave you some insight into my personal life. Head over there if you want to learn more about other bloggers, too!
So tell me in the comments … What’s one thing YOU did over the past few days? Know of any great Cyber Monday sales happening tomorrow, for those of us who didn’t finish up on Black Friday?
Meg: Thank you for being the photo-journalist for our family and friends Thanksgiving gathering in Florida. We had a wonderful time seeing you and Kevin. I will be eating leftovers till March! (at least all the healthy ones.) – Gary
Of course, Gary! Thank you so much for hosting us and allowing us to be bums all weekend! You guys are such wonderful hosts and we love spending time with you. In fact, we love it so much that we’re coming back next weekend 😉 – just kidding, but I wish it were true!
Unfortunately for my wallet.. I’m a big shopper. I just love it haha. My fiancee and I swap holidays with our families too. I love spending it with my family but I love being with his too. I know my parents wish they could have me for every holiday but such is life!
I look at it this way – so long as you and your spouse are aligned regarding shopping, it is all good. My wife and I are shopping partners in crime, I have friends where neither likes to shop … it is when one does and the other doesn’t and they don’t reconcile the financial impacts that there are issues 🙂
Good point, Michael! Neither Kevin nor I like shopping, and we both have similar philosophies on money – thank goodness!
Christine – I need to hire people like you to do my shopping for me :). Great attitude about the holidays – I feel the same way!
I’m not much of a shopper either. Unless you count grocery shopping! Looks like a great Thanksgiving and I’m jealous of your Tampa weather! Gahhhh it’s so cold here 🙁
Oh yes, grocery shopping is TOTALLY another story! I could do it for days!!! The weather in the South has been crazy – Dallas had 75 degrees today and is going to 24 by tomorrow night, with severe ice storms! I just hope I can fly back home Friday afternoon as planned!!!
I enjoyed seeing some pictures on instagram but great to put a commentary to them! Glad that you practiced what you preached! 😉
The cheesey broccoli quinoa looks amazing! But not as amazing as the lobster tail. Nothing beats good seafood!
I took advantage of the online sales for some protein powder and supplements…it kind of made up for the ridiculous postage!
Yes, lobster tail is SO delicious. I’m a seafood lover, too! Which protein powders did you buy?
I restocked on my caseins (optimum chocolate cake batter and dymatize vanilla)!
Thanks for the insight – I honestly feel that just laying out your story in this way often offers more insight than a bunch of rote questions. Looks like you had a great time with family – and given how much you travel for work the resting part must have been wonderful!
We did the ‘alternating holidays’ for a number of years (until deaths and my parents moving to the south changed that up), and we always found it to work very well – compared to my brother who had two families within an hour drive and always seemed to be driving and never seemed to satisfy anyone …
You’re actually right, Michael – as much as it stinks to miss one family or the other on a given holiday, at least there is NO drama because everyone knows our plan and it is very fair to both sides. Driving between both families when no one is satisfied does not sound like too much fun!
Looks you had an amazing holiday and time with Kevin’s family! All the food looks delicious!!
Thanks, Sara! Glad you had a good one, too!
Looks like an amazing weekend. You were surrounded by such amazing looking food! I only had one day of that but I feel like I could go for another round of stuffing and pumpkin pie (the girl that brought the pie burned it). 🙁 I love how 11 miles is your cool down! 🙂 I ran 5 yesterday and THAT was enough for me! Other than that I’ve been laying low and catching up on blogs and other “life stuff.”
You’re right, Tonya – I was surrounded by food! It was delicious and fun to be with family. So sorry about your pumpkin pie – bummer! And don’t worry – 11 miles isn’t usually my cool down :). It was supposed to be a long-run day, but I also wanted to do the 5K, so the slow(er) 11 miles just felt like a cool down!
I loved reading this post! Sounds like a really healthy approach to the holidays. I’ll follow some of these tips in the future 🙂
Glad they were helpful, Danielle! Thanks for stopping by!