I read through the Canadian Air Force XBX program and did level 1 yesterday. Except for the pushups I finished level one easily without effort.

The program is 10 exercises that you are to do in 12 minutes. The exercises work on flexibility, mobility, strength, endurance, and muscle tone. You stay at a level until you can do the exercises without strain or fatigue. The number and difficulty of the exercises increase as you move up in levels, but the 12-minute time frame stays the same. There are 48 levels in all.

Everything was fine until I got to the part of the instructions about setting goals. Naturally the goals for teenagers are the most ambitious. But women my age are told to aim for level 11.

Just level 11 out of 48 levels?!? And worse, they recommend that I stay on each level for 8 days before moving on to the next level. I feel discriminated against. Why such low goals for 50 year old women? My expectations for myself are much higher.

For the sake of the push-ups, I'll stay on level 1 for 2-3 more days. But I'm moving on before day 8!! And I'm aiming for the top of the chart.

I promised myself last summer that I would not blog about American politics, and I have no intention of changing my mind. However in watching election returns last night I could not help notice how many news commentators were struggling with GERD. In the middle of sentences they were burping and gulping for air. I know they were stressed, and they probably hadn't taken time for a decent meal all day. I suspect that every time the camera turned off they were popping antacids. I wanted to e-mail them the BTD web address or mail them a copy of "Live Right for your Type."