Week 15

If I were to pick one word for Briana this week, it would be "consistent." She continues to ahcieve steady weightloss, losing an average of one and a half pounds each week. When she weighed in on Tuesday, she was down another three pounds. Briana's current weight is 204 pounds, a total weightloss of 23 pounds! If she continues at this pace, she will be half way to her weightloss goal of 50 pounds in just three more weeks!

After this week's weigh-in, Briana began her warm up on the treadmill. Now that I don't have to stand by her side and hold her back and cheer her on to keep her going, I am able to sit where she can see me and have conversations with her. Rather than leading the conversations, I like to wait and see what is on Briana's mind. This week, she was very interested in talking about food choices.

"We are having a potluck at my program tomorrow," she started.

"A potluck?" I asked.

"Yes, and I was wondering if I could take some applesauce as my snack."

"Well, what kinds of foods are other people bringing?" I asked.

"Oh, I don't know. Probably treats and cookies and stuff like that. I won't eat it. I promise. Can I just take applesauce for myself?"

"So you're asking if you can pack applesauce in your lunch box and eat that at the potluck instead of eating unhealthy foods?" I confirmed.

"Yes. Would that be alright with you? I just wanted to ask," she said.

"Briana, I think that is a fabulous idea! You can definitely have applesauce as a snack at the potluck. Thank you for checking," I replied.

Smiling, Briana said "Yep! Now I'm done. Come press stop."

And she was done. She had reached ten minutes and 12 seconds on the treadmill. I pushed stop, helped her off the treadmill, gave her some water and let her recover before we started the next segment of exercises.

As we began her Pilates exercises, I let Briana know how proud I was of her for thinking ahead. Making healthy food choices is not always easy. I have come to realize that it is especially difficult for Briana. It seems that she is always celebrating something at her program. They have parties quite often and have treats even more often. When she refuses, they still serve her. She eats what she is given then feels guilty and tells me about it when I see her. I feel proud that she is already thinking ahead and making a plan for the potluck. Many people could benefit from following her example. I tell her throughout the workout that I am so impressed and so proud of her.

In addition to taking a major leap forward with food choices, Briana also had a big achievement in her Pilates work this week. She has been working on an exercise called arm circles. In this exercise, Briana lies on her back and puts her hands in two seperate straps. The straps are attached to springs. When she pushes the straps down toward her hips, the springs add resistance and make the movement more challenging. Being able to push into the springs requires strength and concentration.

In arm circles, the goal is to circle the arms through the air, push into the springs toward the hips, then return to the starting position with control. Briana has successfully made the circling motion using her hands rather than her arms. This week, for the first time, she was able to make the circle with her arms and actually push into the springs! Needless to say, when I called attention to her achievement, she just beamed. She repeated the movement over and over again, delighting in her newly discovered ability and proving that consistency really does pay off.