laptop

I am not good at working out. Yoga never seemed to be my thing, and now I have a new baby to take care of.

And that’s exactly why I wanted to give Gaiam’s new video subscription service, GaiamTV.com, a try.

After one month of using the service (OK, to be honest, my workout routine was pretty sporadic), I trimmed my waistline by 1.5 inches and my hips by 3 inches, and I lost 1 lb. of stubborn baby weight. I can only imagine what the results would have been if I had been more consistent.

I was skeptical that this sort of thing wouldn’t appeal to me for the reasons mentioned above. But after giving it a go, I think new moms like me are ideal subscribers. Here’s why:

I won’t have a computer, an iPod or even a cell phone on my nature trip. So don’t e-mail, voicemail, Facebook or even try to call me. Don’t even phone me on a landline. I can’t be reached. When I travel, I purposely sever all lines of communication with my everyday life. I think you should, too. Because when you don’t, I get annoyed.

Maintaining a clean computer is not just a matter of aesthetics or even hygiene, although both are improved when you do this regularly. A regularly cleaned computer can actually last longer than one that is allowed to fester in dust, crumbs and other debris from your daily work habits. However, one wrong move – too harsh a cleaning product, too wet of a rag – and you’ve got trouble which may drastically shorten the life of your computer. Proceed at your own risk!

Look down. Is your keyboard replacing what should be used to catch crumbs, like a plate, a napkin, or, in extreme cases, a bib? Are your keys lined with a dull grey or, even worse, the black residue of fingertip history?