Full of Thanks this Thanksgiving

I’ve been thinking a lot about what to focus on in my Thanksgiving blog post. Yesterday I queued up my first-ever restaurant review, but I’m saving it for after the holiday because I don’t want it to get lost in the shuffle of turkey recipes and holiday travel-mania. I’ve obviously thought a great deal about how this holiday comes with a big helping of anxiety for those suffering with food issues. But rather than write about the Thanksgiving meal itself (and all the food-related anxiety that can come along with it) as I did last year, I thought I’d take the focus off of the dinner plate and instead share with you what I’m grateful for this year.

And here it is: my list of the top 10 things I’m thanking my lucky stars for as I head up to beautiful Lake Tahoe for the holiday:

• My appetite (and taste buds). After 39 weeks of preggomania, I thought I’d lost both for good, but I didn’t, and they’re BACK!
• My family and friends, and their understanding of all the highs and lows I’ve been experiencing since little Miss Munchkin began her life inside of me at about this time last year.
• Laughter (and the discovery of things like this and this that have kept me laughing even when I couldn’t get Muffin Bunny to stop crying).
• A freezer door full of extra Munchkin Milk.
• The best husband in the world (and his first-class “shushing” skills, exhibited brilliantly during the first few weeks of Emily’s life).
• Looks from Little Miss Munchkin that make time stop, put a smile inside of me that I’ve yet to be able to describe in words….and make me think that maybe, just maybe, I could do this again in a few years.
• A roof over my head, and a job to return to in a week and a half, even though I’m terrified to cut the chord with Little Miss Munchkin during business hours (yes, I broke the rules and put two things in one bullet).
• The cutest belly in the world to look at every day (see above), which reminds me just why we should never have anything but love for our own bodies and bellies.
• This blog, which has helped me stay connected to my identity during a time that I have turned my life over to someone else.
• My readers, who continue to inspire me, reminding me daily why I wrote my book and continue to dig the meaning out of mundane life situations…and write about it here.

You’ll notice that not one item on this list has anything to do with the size of my pants or the calorie count of the beef stew I ate at my mother-in-law’s house last night.

If you’re already feeling weighed down by food anxiety, put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and write out your own list of what you’re grateful for. You might find that all of the life (and food) worries that consume your thoughts melt away into a beautiful pile of gratitude that reminds you just why this life of yours is so damn sweet.

Happy Thanksgiving. And thank you for helping to make mine one to be thankful for.