Raising my health consciousness for my family!

I am absolutely excited about this journey.  It's not just a "green" journey, though that would be great.  It's not even just a "health" journey, although I definitely need to be healthier.  It's a journey of discovering how to take of myself, both physically and spiritually, so that I can be a greater influence on my family and others around me.
I absolutely, resolutely and without a doubt, need to be a healthier mama.  
(I say all of this at the moment when my knee joints are aching from having climbed the stairs one time too many and I feel...well..."clogged up", for lack of a better word. Keep reading and you'll find out why).
I have been toying with this idea for years- the idea of slowly evolving into a family unit who is extremely conscious about what we put into our bodies.  It hasn't happened yet, although I've dreamt of it since the day my 9 year old daughter was born.  I have always envisioned being a "knower"- the kind of wife and mom that knows how to prevent and treat physical ailments.  The kind of mama who discovers something is going wrong with a child and able to hop on the research before ever having to wait for the symptoms to occur and accrue medical bills.
It's a dream of mine-- but it is not a reality.
I like the idea of it.  I like the sound of it.  I like what it stands for and what it means.
But this is a journey, and I haven't arrived yet...so I'm not perfect.  I still love my Starbucks and enjoy a weekly chocolate fest whenever I can!  My kids still consume sugar -although not tons, and I still enjoy California Pizza Kitchen or a juicy hamburger from In-N-Out Burger. (This weekend's fieldtrip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium with the kids was an all-day outing and that meant lots of last-minute, unplanned junk food for us...hence, the "clogged-up"-ness).
I don't necessarily like where I am physically (I exercise off and on, I have all kinds of joint and lower back issues, and I get tired way too easily).  And I also don't care to think about the fact that one of my kids already has higher cholesterol than average for her age.  
What have I been doing-- or better yet, what have I NOT been doing?
This is where my journey into "Healthy Mama" begins.