I need an exercise program.

Period. Yes, I just said that publicly. Why??

1. I have extra me that I want to lose.

2. My brain is about as foggy as London (which is about as foggy as foggy gets, right? I mean seriously- it is imperative that my head stay attached to my body at this point. Otherwise I will lose the damn thing.).

3. I want to firm up my arms and increase muscle mass.

Now, I started stair-climbing last Friday on a whim at my job while on a break. In this Texas weather, when it can be too windy one day and/or too cold the next (then too hot!), I needed something I could do away from the elements. Wow, it's challenging; much more so than I expected! Seeing as I have a two-story house, I expected it to be fairly easy. Well, getting to the second floor was. Beyond that, it becomes challenging. But let's re-visit last week.

Friday, I climbed up to the fourth floor (out of 10) and by the time I reached the mezzanine, I was out of breath and my heart pounded. Now, my heart still pounds a bit, but not nearly as much. Until I reach the fifth floor, that is. Then I am just as winded as I was last week at the fourth floor. I still haven't decided when I want to move up to the sixth floor (ha), but I think I'll take my time on that one, as I am in no rush and want to not only get in shape, but want to STAY in shape. Now, while I can't work on the arms this way, I can at least firm up the gleuts.

And now that I have discovered the goodness that is gelato, I really need an exercise program.

Wait, was I supposed to take the picture first?

I want to do all of the above, and not go to the gym (as for why, that's a whole other post). So please help me... what are some good home workouts I can do? Preferably not too noisy since I would be doing them either very early in the AM or while the girls are napping, assuming it takes place at home.

Keeping my gelato would be great, too. ;)

~~CrazyMom

My, how time flies! One month already!?

My little Jessica Nicole turns one month old today. That's right- one month ago today, I was in epidural heaven in L&D just waiting for the good word to start pushing her out, which was very close at this time. Once all that was said and done, I held a beautiful, 8 lbs 2 oz , 20.5 in. long little girl in my arms.

Today, that not-so-little girl has blossomed up to 9 lbs 12.5 oz, 21.5 in. long and has a 15-inch head! Yikes! I know it's just a matter of time before I'm posting here about her first real attempt at crawling. Lately she has been shimmying (is that a word?) up and down Daddy's and my chests when we hold her in the evenings.

She is becoming more alert these days, with the exception of today- she had her second Hep B shot. It stung her like h-e-double hockey sticks and seemed to make her sluggish today- Her Snowiness had a few choice words (which I will kindly omit here) about it, but once the pacifier was advised by mommy all was ok. She will get a few more shots next month at her two-month visit (but not all 7- mama's skeered of her having a bad reaction to that many viruses in her system. Let's not overload her!). Gotta think about the long term here- she'll be immune to these awful diseases!  Please note that this topic is not open to debate, though... we have made up our minds on this. :)

It's just so hard to believe that this is what she looked like exactly a month ago (OK, minus a day... I had NO energy for pictures right after she was born.. lol).

And this is Her Snowiness today:

Look at how much wider-open those eyes are today!

Some disturbing facts...

...about health guidelines. Courtesy of the Google, I found this article regarding the "new" BP guidelines being applied to patients. Once I saw them, especially the most recent, I balked. Guess I know why now.

This is an excerpt from the article: "
Jean Godden felt as fit as a 71-year-old could hope for. Then a medical panel published new guidelines for treating high blood pressure, and her doctor tried her on three different pills.
One of them almost killed her.
Godden, a Seattle City Council member and former Seattle Times columnist, had lived with moderately high blood pressure since her 40s and took a daily diuretic to head off potential problems.
Diuretics, or "water pills," stimulate the kidneys to remove excess water from the blood, reducing pressure on the heart. They have been a proven hypertension treatment for a half century, with minimal side effects other than more frequent urination.

Godden's father had died of heart trouble at 49, so she was glad to take the white generic pill that cost pennies a day.
"Naturally, I want my life to be saved from a stroke or heart attack," she said.
By avoiding salt and caffeine, exercising and taking diuretics, Godden held her systolic blood pressure — the first number in the two-number reading — to between 140 and 150.
For years, doctors considered 120/80 to be ideal and anything under 140 to be OK. But a change took place in May 2003, when American doctors got new advice from a government-sanctioned medical panel called the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure."

There is a whole series devoted to all the health guidelines, from BP to diabetes to BMI.
This is a link to the series' main page. Here is a link to a chart showing conflicts of interest in this decision-making process. WTG Seattle Times for running this series. It is from 2005 but I think it really brings the point home of just how broken our healthcare system is. I always thought these guidelines struck me as a little fishy and now I know why.

Sheesh.