I found the amazing story of Matt McKenna online tonight. 1 1/2 years ago, Matt weighed in at 500 pounds, and he was only 34 years old. He couldn’t walk from his house to his car without becoming short of breath, he struggled to breathe, and his joints couldn’t support his weight. Matt decided to change his life on October 3, 2005, and through diet and exercise, lost over 250 pounds!

My husband and I are extremely blessed, in that it took us no time at all to concieve our children. Barring a few complications (including pre-term labor and gestational diabetes), we had three beautiful children. Sadly, it’s not that easy for everyone. I have too many friends who have not been able to get pregnant, or become pregnant and miscarried. Sometimes, the solution isn’t as simple as trying hormones and having your husband wear boxer shorts. Sometimes, you need to turn to invitro fertilization, or IVF.

IVF is a method of assisted reproduction. A woman’s eggs are extracted and combined with sperm in a lab. Once the egg is fertilized and cell division begins, the egg (which is now considered to be an embryo) is placed back into the women’s uterus, so that it can continue to develope. Many women have multiple eggs fetilized and placed back in the uterus to increase their chances of a pregnancy, which is why multiple births are high among IVF patients.

If you’re in Illinois and looking for a doctor who can perform a Chicago IVF, check out Dr. Randy S. Morris, M.D. He specializes in invitro, PCOS, and PGD, as well as many other pregnancy options. His website is also a wealth of information for women wanting to know more about IVF and other options, including male fertility and egg donation.

My son is built like me. Actually, one of my daughter is built like me too. By “built like me”, I mean tall, and skinny. We’re not concerned about the skinny daughter, because she eats like a truck driver. I’m quite sure she’s getting enough food and calories. My son on the other hand, is an incredibly picky eater. He hates meat (unless it’s a hot dog, or bologna) and what he does eat, he takes in very small quantities.

I’ve just recently become more concerned about this, because he’s had another growth spurt, and he’s too tall for his pants. He was wearing size 5 pants with an adjustable waist (he wears them to school as part of his uniform.) And the adjustable waist was cinched ALL the way in. Now his size 5 pants are hitting him at his ankles (where’s the flood?) and we need to go up a size, but even if I cinch in the size 6 pants all the way, they’re still hanging off him like a gang banger.

We’re going to make an appointment with his doctor to talk about it – maybe it’s time to get him more calories with something like Ensure. (Blech!) Other than altering his pants, I don’t know what to do!

I try to stay on top of current events in health and such, especially when I need to use it for content on this blog. Sadly, health news is usually buried in my hometown newspaper, on page 17 of section Z, or it ends up being a 20 second segment on the news. Who the heck has time to WATCH the news? I found a site with current health and weight loss information articles that I’ll be bookmarking – perhaps I’ll be inspired by something I read there and will end up blogging about it here!

I’m in a contest, and I need your help! RealRock 101 (WJRR-FM) is sponsoring a contest with PayPerPost, where we were invited to share our most outrageous, exciting, or embarrassing concert experience! Watch my video and see what you think of our story about a VERY embarrassing incident at a Jimmy Buffett concert in Tampa.

The 3 videos with the highest # of views on YouTube will go to a finals round on the RealRock 101 website, and they’ll be voted on there.

Here we go – have a laugh on us!

Skiing is great exercise. Not only are you outside, getting tons of fresh air, you’re working out muscles on your body that you didn’t even know existed. I’ve skiied in North Carolina, and Colorado, and I’d love to travel overseas and ski there too, like at Chalets St Anton. Could you imagine skiing in the Alps? Quite a difference from the small runs in North Carolina I’ve experienced. St. Anton offers a huge vertical ski area from nearly 2700m down to 1300m – that’s amazing. What a great way to get a cardio workout!

A UK study has revealed what I’ve known for years – owning a dog is good for you, and it’s better than owning a cat.

Now, before the cat lovers out there throw things at me – let me explain! The study found that owning a dog can prevent you from getting ill, help you to recover quickly when you do get sick, and live longer. Dogs help you to destress, and get more physical activity (due to walking your dog, playing, etc).

I’ve always owned a dog, and I’ll never be without one!

Jim and I are looking forward to taking a vacation together this year, to celebrate our anniversary. I’ve been actively looking into getaways and locations and sharing my thoughts with him. I cam across a site offering yoga retreats. I can’t say that it’s something I could talk my husband into, but it would be a fabulous little trip to take with girlfriends. And a great way to bond and unwind after something like the 3-Day. I’m picturing a spa atmosphere, with classes all day, massages, facials, and feeling like a limp noodle when I crawl into bed at night. Bliss!

One of my most recent bright ideas was to ask some moms I know in town if anyone wanted to work out together at the YMCA. I need someone to hold me accountable. Just knowing that someone is expecting me to show up at the gym at a certain time is enough – I can’t slack off that way.

I couldn’t find anyone with a YMCA membership! WAH!

Have you ordered contacts recently? How much did you pay for a box? When I got a box before vacation, I spent $50. EEK! I actually ended up getting my money refunded to me, because my eye exam coverage through work pays for contacts, but still – $50! That’s a lot of money for little bits of plastic that I’ll wear once and throw into the garbage.

If I hadn’t been on a deadline, I would have ordered my contacts from Discount Contact Lenses. In the meantime, I’ve been telling everyone I know about the site. You can order contact lenses online and save a lot of money by going thru their site. They don’t just offer one or two brands either. In fact, they’ve got all of the major contact lens manufacturers – Acuvue, Bausch & Lomb, Biocompatibles, Boston, Ciba Vision, Cooper Vision, Johnson & Johnson, OSI/American Hydron,
Vistakon, and Wesley-Jessen. You can also choose from daily disposable lenses, conventional, RGP, colored, or even bifocal. I think that’s a bigger selection than my own eye doctor offers in his office!

In addition to having low prices, you can also find rebates on certain brands of contacts, and shipping on orders over $89 is free. That’s right baby – free. They’re not making any money on the shipping, like some companies that charge you no matter how much you spend!