As I wrote here, I’m trying to clean things up a little.  A week later Thanksgiving week shows up – not the best way to start a health regimen.  The boys and I took a road trip to Oklahoma for several days, then headed back to Texas with a pit stop in Dallas.  I thought it might be worth sharing my overall nutrition and exercise with you.  You might feel better about yourself or you might realize that balance is sometimes just doing the best you can, and it’s not perfect. 

Saturday we departed at 8 a.m., which meant a 6 a.m. wakeup call for me to have my quiet time (extra prayers for the nine-hour drive!), bathroom time and everything in between. When I pulled into my parent’s driveway, I was equally surprised and thankful I felt pretty good despite a flat butt.  I packed cucumbers, red peppers, apples and trail mix to snack on as we trudged from south Texas to Northern Oklahoma.  Hand to mouth always keeps me awake so I was wise enough to plan ahead.  Despite the lack of exercise, I consider it a win on the health-o-meter.

Sunday I was ready to move my legs.  My parents live close to a fantastic trail system and I enjoyed a five mile run along it. My running notes capture it the best:  “I don’t even know where to begin.  Such an awesome run.  Cool weather, asphalt, sunshine, leaves, home.  Thank you, Jesus.  What a great way to start the day.”  Unfortunately my nutrition didn’t keep up with the endorphin high.  We celebrated an early Thanksgiving dinner and let’s just say my portions were not right-sized.  Stuffing and sugar and wine, oh my.

 Sunday selfie in the beauty of the Tulsa Creek Trails

 Monday I started the day with a quick three miles, and was greeted by the same beauty as the day before.  My pace was fast and I hit my best average time since spring.

Monday’s beauty was equally stunning.  I forgot how much I love the changing leaves.

 After showering, we jumped back in the car for a day trip to my alma mater, Oklahoma State, in Stillwater.  The hour and a half drive turned into two thanks to the driver relying on her fuzzy 20-plus-year-old memory of how to get there.  Shoulda used my nav.  We met a friend at Eskimo Joe’s and noshed on cheese fries and Fowl Thing chicken sandwich.  No regrets.  Those cheese fries were awesome. 

 My little Sooner fans were not prepared for the Orange Power of Stillwater.  They protested a group pic before I threatened no leftover pie if they don’t take a real one.

 This pic deserves to be bigger because Bob, you feed my spirit.  Thank you for the unofficial tour, your time and most of all your friendship.  

Tuesday I set my alarm early again for a walk with a dear friend, who claims I am the fast walker but really she drags me along.  Lunch was leftovers – I just can’t resist my dad’s stuffing. The day was cold and rainy so we hit a movie (more sitting).  We ended the day by visiting one of our favorite restaurants when we lived there.  Overfull again.

Wednesday I just wanted to sleep in.  That I did.  I think I blissfully logged ten hours that night.  No official exercise for me, and movement all day was minimal.  The boys got the wiggles out with a Sky Zone visit with friends.  Boys tired + moms chat = happiness for all.  Part of our Oklahoma bucket list was hitting Arby’s, so I enjoyed the roast beef combo and ate every bit of that sandwich and curly fries.   After a trip to find Spike some basketball shoes we hit the next item on the bucket list and ordered mint chocolate chip shakes for the boys.  I stuck with a small peppermint chocolate chip ice cream cone.  Not the perfect choice, but better than going all out with a shake.

Thursday we got up early to head to Dallas for Thanksgiving with my husband’s side of the family.  More eating.  Even though I was fairly sedentary most of the day, my mother-in-law came up with some really creative active games to keep all fifteen of us outside and enjoying the weather.  But what I really wanted to do is get horizontal.  My hip flexors were screaming from so much sitting from the previous few days.  I hit the sack early again and logged another ten-hour night.

Friday was the final leg back to Houston.  You would think that since I had endured the nine-hour trip on Saturday so well that five wouldn’t be so bad, but the reality was I was hurting.  My hips, butt, and back were tight and complaining – loudly.  Thirty minutes after we got home I was out the door in my running shoes and wow, did that help.  Everything felt better.  It wasn’t a great run, no thanks to Taco Bueno (hey I got a salad!) and general poor fueling from the week, but it was something.  And something is always better than nothing.

Saturday was atonement day: soup with lots of veggies, plenty of water, Healthy Skoop Sweet-Greens, speedwork, fifteen minutes of chest and back strength, and healthier chicken parmesan with angel hair pasta and arugula for dinner.  Even Speedy said, “Wow, it feels good to eat healthy again.”  I think he meant it felt good to have a right-sized portion with a good balance of protein, veggies and carbs, but I’m pretty sure no 11-year old can articulate that.

So there you go.  My week wasn’t perfect.  It had plenty of sugar, over-indulging and fast food.  I moved a decent amount.  I sat a lot.  Some meals were nutritious.  And I rested.  I wouldn’t say it was anything to write home about (which begs the question of why I’m writing a post about it), but it was my own version of balanced for a tempting week.  At the end of the day, that’s all I can ask.

How did you fare on America’s most over-indulgent holiday? Did you make up for it after or are you tempted to give in to a whole month of gluttony?  Often I see one side of the spectrum or the other.  Where do you fall?