Talk about Tuesday!

Happy Tuesday everyone! I've decided to work on a few of my personal goals and I'm blogging about it to try and keep myself motivated. I would like you to know that I in no way consider myself vain but the goals I intend to work on focus on my physical appearance. I'm not trying to catch attention. I just want to feel better about myself and be healthier. Everyone is looking for that fountain of youth, right? So here are my goals for this month:

1) Reduce Anemia by bringing iron levels from 9.5 to at least 11 or 12.
2) Visibly whiten teeth without dental bleaching.
3) Slim thighs by 1 inch.

So now lets visit each of my goals so I can explain them further. Goal number 1 is clearly a health risk to both me and my baby. Both my radiologist and my OB doctor have agreed that Ambria is in the bottom 10th percentile for growth and it can be a cause for concern. They said she could possibly not be getting enough nutrients so I'm going to do my best to fatten her up and keep myself healthy. For those of you who may not know, Anemia is a medical condition in which the limits the bloods ability to transport oxygen to the tissues, either because of too few red blood cells, or because of too little hemoglobin. This can be caused by too little iron or an inability to process iron; which happens to be my problem. Anemia causes a colorful array of symptoms such as:

-Fatigue and loss of energy
-Unusually rapid heart beat
-Shortness of breath
-Headache
-Difficulty concentrating
-Dizziness
-Pale skin
-Leg cramps
-Insomnia
-Hunger for strange substances such as paper, ice, or dirt (a condition called pica).
-Upward curvature of the nails referred to as koilonychias.
-Soreness of the mouth with cracks at the corners.
-Loss of sense of touch.
-A wobbly gait and difficulty walking.
-Clumsiness and stiffness of the arms and legs.
-Dementia
-Hallucinations, paranoia and schizophrenia.

Obviously, some of these symptoms are more severe than the others and really only occur with chronic anemia. I only have a few of the preceding symptoms and I'd like to work to make myself feel better; thus, my first goal. I am taking a vitamin B12 supplement and loading up on beans and meat to help but so far that has only kept me lingering at 9.5 on the scale. I recently bought a whole bunch of the oh-so-delicious (seriously!) Slim Fast. No I'm not trying to lose 20lbs while I'm pregnant, but Slim Fast happens to have 15% of my needed daily intake of Iron (according to the can) so maybe it will help? Time to do some research so I wont have to get weekly injections!
Goal number 2 I have decided to employ because of television. Yes, television. I was watching an episode of house when something caught my attention - the actors' teeth! They were all remarkably white! I realize they get invasive whitening on a regular basis and tv can make anything look white (or yellow) but I would like whiter teeth. Something about it just seems refreshing. Not to say mine are brown or yellow. I'd just like mine to be above the standard. I plan to do this by increasing my brushing to 3 times a day (when able) and using whitening strips. We'll see how they look in 2 weeks :)
Goal number 3 is purely for my own satisfaction. I have never liked my thighs, ever and I have finally decided to start doing something about it. I understand I'll never have super model legs, but I can settle for some that are just a little less jiggly. Perhaps some leg exercises are in order?

I better get to my cleaning! Have a great day everyone!