How is our health?

I can't start a post about the family's health without giving an update on DJ's back. We are three weeks post-surgery and he is doing fine. At his post-op checkup the doctor said that DJ's curve straightened out better  than he expected. We were given an x-ray from moments after DJ was sewn up but the x-ray above is from his checkup two weeks later and he looks even better. I guess those rods and screws take time to settle. It was tough at first getting DJ to move around and do his stretches, but last week he was dancing me around the kitchen. I'm confident that he will be ready to go swimming when we take our vacation in September.

For the rest of the family, our health focus has been on fitness. C1 is my Skinny Minnie with very little upper body strength, so she has taken it upon herself to work on that with planks and push ups. C2  doesn't exercise often but she has inherited her father's natural strength and stamina, so she will jump in whenever the rest of us are working out and push us a few steps further. M is trying to get in better shape for all those hills she has to climb when she is at uni. C2 and M have taken to tag-teaming me to make me get off my butt and move. If I was planning to walk for 10 minutes, they will push me to do 20 minutes. Our current routine of choice is to walk in place Leslie Sansone-style while watching TV.

My ankles and feet still hurt weeks after they have supposedly healed, so I am dieting again. I know I said I was never going to start another diet, but the pain from a simple action like walking down the stairs has made me a tad desperate. I keep thinking that if I could get rid of some of the weight bearing down on my legs the pain might go away. I am combining Slim-Fast and the Change One program to try to lose a few pounds. I read the Change One book almost 10 years ago when it was first published by Reader's Digest. Basically, it is a 12-week program in which you incorporate one change to your lifestyle each week. I wasn't ready for it when I first read it, but I think I am ready now. With ABM trying to get back on track with his weight loss and the kids being concerned about my health, everyone in the house seems to be ready for healthy food and exercise. I don't lose weight quickly, anyway, so the slow approach will probably be less frustrating for me.