Family, Food and Friends

Going home for the holidays always does a body good. The fresh air, green grass and warm temperature always cause me to return to New York with a new attitude. Time spent with my girlfriends and family in long lines on Black Friday are just an added perk to the week of Thanksgiving festivities.

This photo is of us camped out in line all night at Best Buy. Yes, time with my family and friends helps keep my feet on the ground. This year, my sisters and I agreed to start a new tradition that would help us stay on track with our weight loss goals and help our families, too.

Thanksgiving in my sister's kitchen is like a scene from the movie Soul Food. In our homes, the kitchen is a sacred place. We cry, laugh and share in this space, but usually while eating something. Unraveling the underlying issues of obesity pretty much happened in one of our kitchens.

This year we agreed to make only enough food to last for the day with little to no Thanksgiving leftovers. We kept our traditional southern menu but decided to take away a few things that we hoped no one would miss. Turns out, the things that we didn't make were not missed at all. The leftovers were only enough for a few sandwiches the next day.

Both my sisters and I are all in or have been in the struggle to lose weight. We are all very close and have shared openly the pain that the excess weight has caused us. As wives and mothers, staying fit is paramount. We've also talked about how important it is for us to teach our kids good eating habits. We were never taught growing up but we have the power of the internet and life knowledge to pass on to our kids. No better way to start than at the Thanksgiving table.

Our new Thanksgiving tradition is-family first, food second. This year our attention was on each other and not the table. As we went around the room and all said one thing that we were thankful for, my nephew Evan very loudly said, "I'm thankful for me." Of course one of the other kids told him that he was being selfish but when I thought about it afterwards, why not be thankful for ourselves?

Without the food upstaging the company, I looked around the table at all the people who have cheered me on and encouraged me to go all the way with improving my health. In the words of Evan, I'm thankful for me, and all those that help me be a better me. I am all I have to give.