Weeks 21 and 22

The good news is Briana lost another two pounds. She is down to 197 pounds for a total weightloss of 30 pounds!

The not so good news is that week 21 was a rough week for Briana. After the weigh in, she worked hard and did a wonderful job. Then, by the time I saw her again on Friday she was complaining about her shoulder. Anytime she tried to move her arm, I could see the pain on her face and she would say "Ow!" At one point, she looked like she might cry. I asked her if she had fallen or done anything to injure herself. "I don't know. It just hurts." She tried telling me that she would be fine, but I insisted that she take it easy that day. I didn't want to push her or aggravate her shoulder, so I told her we would do all of the leg exercises and let her shoulder rest. Although the workout wasn't our most productive, it was better than nothing. More importantly, Briana seemed to feel successful. I sent her home with some ibuprofen and instructions to rest her arm and ice it over the weekend.

By the time Briana came back on Tuesday, everything was better. Her shoulder had no pain at all, she was feeling better, and her mood was lifted. During her treadmill warm up, I told Briana that we would start walking more now that the weather was getting nice again. I told her that Wednesdays would be our walking day. She was apprehensive and doubtful. She didn't like the idea of walking outside for some reason. I assured her that we would start with a short distance then increase over time. It took some gentle coaxing,but she finally agreed to try it.

When she arrived on Wednesday, the weather was perfect. Briana told me that she wanted to walk by herself. I explained that it was my responsibility to make sure she was okay and that I needed to go with her. She was not happy. Knowing how important her independence is to her, I agreed to let her walk ahead of me. I lingered behind her, close enough to hear her cheering herself on, "Come on. You can do it. You're almost there."

Listening to her made me smile. Every so often she would wave her hand back to me and say, "You stay there. I'm doing this myself."

When she made it to the end of the street, I caught up with her to see how she was feeling.

"I feel good! I did it myself," she said.

"Yes, Briana, you did it yourself. I am very proud of you," I assured her.

She took a deep breath then turned around to walk back to my house. Again, I lingered behind and let her walk ahead. The entire walk was less than a quarter mile and took about ten minutes. I was pleased with her effort and told her it was a great start.

"Next time, we are going to walk a little further. Then each time after that, we will walk a little further," I told her.

"Okay. I need some water now," she replied.

Her reply made me happy. When Briana agrees to do something, I know she will do it. So I gave her a water bottle, and we headed downstairs to finish the rest of our workout.

Hooray for Briana, and hooray for Week 22! We are back in business!

Week 20

It was time to change up Briana's routine. After observing her for a full week, I realized that her workout consisted mostly of upper body exercises. Although I had a few lower body strength exercises plus the cardio intervals to work her legs, I felt like she needed to be challenged and pushed to do more leg work. With her increased sense of balance and agility, I knew she could handle more at this point.

On Tuesday, I told Briana that we were going to add three new exercisies to her routine.

"Oh good," she replied in a way that told me she was ready for the challenge.

As she warmed up on the treadmill, I told her we were going to add more exercises for her legs so that she could get even stronger than she is now. She was excited and happy to hear this news. Right away, she began to talk about the fashion show. "I am definitely going to be in it now. I can't wait!"

The first exercise we added was on the reformer. After her footwork, I taught her "reach and pull." Although this is technically an arm exercise in Pilates, I had to combine it with legs for Briana. I increased the resistance for her so that she could pull with her arms and push with her legs at the same time. She found the timing and coordination to be awkward and became frustrated several times. I only had her try five repetitions knowing that we would smooth it out over time. Regardless of the agitation she verbalized on the reformer ("I HATE this, I'm not doing it. You cant make me.") while doing the exercise, she was more than pleased with her effort when she was done and standing next to the machine. I just chuckled and gave her a hgh five.

The next exercise we added came after her standing strength and cardio intervals. I showed her how to hold the weights in her hand and do squats to make her legs strong. "Oh. I got it," she said. She took the weights from me and did her squats. I tried to correct her because she was going really fast and locking her knees. I didn't want her to hurt herself.

"Oh be quiet. Leave me alone," she grouched. Now I knew she was working outside her comfort zone, exactly where I wanted her. I smiled and kept quiet and each time she did the exercise correctly, I simply said "Wow!" This was enough to encourage her without agitating her. Plus, it helped her self correct her form.

The final exercise we added was leg raises with ankle weights. While laying on her back, Briana had to lift her leg with a five pound weight wrapped around her ankle. She asked me to hold her hand, so I did. I encouraged her as she started and I could tell it was a challenge for her. She was determined to finish and was proud of herself when she did. She was able to do ten raises on each leg. I felt like this was a great start.

I feel optimistic about this week's workout. I am impressed with Briana's dedication and commitment. I know she will continue to make progress, and I know she will accomplish her goal. I am happy and thankful that I get to be there every step of the way.