My husband has joined me in the pursuit of becoming "buff." Today marks the first day in our obsession with fitness. We are tired of feeling tired; we are tired of looking worse. It all started when we turned 30.

It was like the sky was falling. I never had a menstrual cramp in my life. I even had one pain-free birth -- literally arrived at the hospital fully dilated and ready to push. I thought I would coast through all things reproductive in my life. I was wrong.

My husband had a similar experience. He was an athlete all his life and very healthy. He turned 30 and started battling unexplained nausea and stomach upset. He finally went to the doctor last week and is set to run some tests. While he was at the office, he found out he has high blood pressure and a high pulse rate. He came home miserable AND determined.

So we are both keeping food diaries. In addition to our nightly activities with the kids, we are going to exercise aerobically three days a week and do strength training two nights a week. We have marked six weeks from today on the calendar to see how far we have come.

I'll keep you posted on the progress.