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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George
It's amazing after working with Sue at Goodlife for 11 months to realize how many exercises there are to work the different muscles. Changing my workout almost weekly has allowed me to understand why certain exercises, machines and accessories such as the Bozu and exercise balls can really increase strength, balance and stability. I'm sure this will make a big difference with my cycling group this summer. This month has given us some good days weather wise so I have started running a couple of times during lunch time at work with a colleague. This helps keep me motivated and the encouragement goes a long way.

Cassandra has greatly assisted in getting my running, cycling, weekly gym workouts and family life organized, in order to be able to achieve my short and long term goals. Presently Cassandra and I are concentrating on what will occur after the family makeover is complete. It's up to me to continue the motivation and commitment in order to not lose what I have achieved so far.

I can't let Month 11 pass without mentioning my diet. I have increased my awareness with what the correct food choices should be. Even when ordering a salad I now know it's important to understand that different salad dressings and what is in the salad, such as cheese, make a big difference. These things are all important to the daily diet routine. One of my original goals was to be good 80% of the time and bad 20%, it appears weekends are now my 20%.

Skiing was awesome this month at Mont Ste Anne. I have never felt so strong and so ready to tackle the hills. I skied with a friend who is an amazing skier, I pushed myself to keep up with him and found I was able to do it. That felt great!

Ria
We spent March Break in Mont Ste Anne in Quebec and I loved it! It was great to ski there. We also went to Le Massif for one day and that was incredible. I love snowboarding and I was able to go on some of the black diamond runs! That felt really great. My boarding has really improved. I am thinking that maybe next year I could be a snowboard instructor. My instructor this year told me that I should try it so I'm thinking I will.

I am still running at the gym but only 2 times a week now. I tried to get up early in the morning with Mom but she gets up too early. So I go with her on Saturdays and then try to go with Dad one time during the week. I like running outside better than running on the treadmill so I will be happy when spring comes and I can run outside again.

Stefi
I had my first gymnastics competition this month and it was a lot of fun. I was really nervous the week before the competition because I had never done one before but it was okay. Once I started doing my routines I was not nervous anymore. I placed 5th overall in my group. I think that is pretty good for my first competition. I have 3 more competitions before the summer. I want to work harder so I can do even better on the next ones.

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