Family makeover diary: Month 11

Read about this family's wellness journey with Canadian Living magazine and a dream team of coaches.

Despina
I can't believe we are in Month 11 of our makeover. Only one month to go! The year has gone by so quickly and I have learned so much. I am hoping that exercise is now a regular part of my life. It will certainly be interesting to see what happens after the makeover is done and I no longer have the supports in place that Canadian Living has provided for us. The exercise piece will be the most interesting for me. What will I do if Sue is not waiting at the gym 3 times a week to do my workout with me? Will I still get up at 5 in the morning and go? Only time will tell.

March was a bittersweet month for me. The bad news: I dealt with the disappointment of not being able to ski; the good news: I lost another 6 pounds this month!

As planned, our family travelled with friends to Mont Ste Anne for our ski trip. Unfortunately I was unable to ski. The surgeon that saw me about my torn MCL told me very firmly that any attempt to ski may result in further injury. So I had no choice but to sit out. I was delegated to my previous job of years past of the "table sitter". As much as I loved the company of our friends and all the fun that came along with that, I was quite disappointed that I couldn't be with everyone on the hills. A lot of the exercise I had done was geared to me skiing, I had been preparing myself for that so to not do it was a let down for me.

Regardless I kept working out during that week. When our group left every morning at 8:30 to hit the slopes, I went to the hotel gym to do my workouts. One of the exercises that the surgeon said I could do was to ride the stationary bike so I did that every morning for 20 minutes. Following that I worked on the exercises suggested by the physiotherapist and then did some ab work on the exercise ball. My knee hurt a little bit but it felt good to do something physical.

As Month 12 approaches, I am both nervous and excited. I am looking forward to the final weigh-in and the final "assessment" of whether we met our goals this past year. Stay tuned for the news . . .

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