I walked into the kitchen one afternoon in late August to find my wife and daughters sitting with their arms crossed. After close to forty years of marriage I smelled only one thing – trouble for me. When Joan begins with “Let me start by telling you how much we all love you…..” it usually means it’s the last positive thing I’m going to hear for the next half hour. I was half right, lol. She realized I’d been through a lot in the past six months with my dad passing away and my back injuries, but, she added, my weight had ballooned to a really unhealthy number. I’d gained back the eighty pounds I’d lost plus added another ten pounds to that. Like the government, she and the girls were here to help.

Their proposal was simple. We would all make a real conscious effort to live and eat healthy – from food choices to exercise options. Maybe that would help me get back on track. We did the ceremonial cleaning of the cabinets and stocked it with good stuff. Katie and Maggie both joined Weight Watchers. It’s what works for them. Katie is a lifetime member having reached her goal weight and keeping it off for a year a long time ago but by her own admission she had slipped a bit. Maggie said it would be good to feel good again. Joan has major food allergies so eating is always a challenge for her. She has always used a high protein diet with success and of course I use Spark People.

Our goal wasn’t to lose weight as much as it is to live healthy. In the past six weeks we have eaten out much less, gotten rid of the sugar and carbs that always tempt us and it’s been fun working out with my adulate daughters a few days per week. It’s been nothing to adventurous – walking and swimming. Joan and I exercise together in the pool three to four days a week and she and the girls have their own regimen. Everyone is much more relaxed. It’s good to turn to either side of me and know I have support at home as well as here at Spark. When I open the cabinet I see healthy options rather than all the junk. We go out to eat, as a family, every two weeks, and the options are healthy ones, fresh fish, chicken and veggies. The French fries are fading in the rear view mirror.

I weighed myself yesterday – a 1.4 pound loss for the week and a total of close to 16 pounds, in the past five weeks. Katie sat back and said, “Between the four of us we’ve lost right at 60 pounds. That’s a small child.”

It’s a child I’m glad to be rid of.

Namaste