Hey Karen,
I know how you feel! I've been feeling much better this last month after being on the diet since summer. I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much either.
Yesterday I received my Carol Sinclair book in the mail, and was greatly encouraged by what I read. As I have 4 boys, I'm hoping to move their diets in this direction also.
Yesterday you asked about the exercise with the broomstick.
I'll try to explain as best I can.
I lay on my back with knees up. I tighten my lower abdominal muscles so that area flattens. Your pelvis will roll back and your lower back will begin to flatten toward the floor. You should be able to breath normally while maintaining the muscle contraction. Then I bring my knees up and down - like I'm marching. You don't need to lift very high. I do this about 20 times. (10 on each side). This balances the sacro area. Then I do 20 bridges. This I do daily to build stability. If one side feels unbalanced, immediately after I do the marching and the bridge, I take a stick the width of a broom handle, and place it under the knee of the side that hurts and over the knee of the side that doesn't hurt. You bring up your knees and push down on the bar with one knee and up against the bar with the other knee at the same time. I do 5 of these and hold each one for about 5 seconds. I'll do this 1 or 2x a day as needed. Don't do everyday as you will over- correct. Make sure you walk around a for awhile afer. I hope this makes sense!
Linda