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!