Week 41

On Sunday, Briana was placed into a host home. The family seems very nice and Briana seems happy. When she came to see me, the first words out of her mouth were "We need to talk about my diet." "Okay," I replied. Let's get you started on the treadmill and we can talk. Once she got going, I sat down and she started, "You won't be happy about this. Last night, for dinner I had spaghetti." "Well," I said, "it was your first night in a new house so I understand." "You aren't mad?" she asked. "I'm not mad, Briana. We just need to sit down with your new family and talk about your diet. I will do that tomorrow when they pick you up." "Oh good," she breathed. "Since you aren't mad, I also have to tell you that I had a milkshake. An Oreo one with ice cream and milk." "Okay..." I said, keeping my thoughts to myself. "Then for lunch today I had peanut butter and jelly, a banana, and grape juice." Rather than saying "Are you kidding me?" like I wanted to, I said "I will sit down and have a talk with your new family and help them understand how important your diet is to you." Briana seemed relieved by this. I realized how challenging this transition was going to be and new I needed to act quickly to educate everyone so that Briana wouldn't suffer the consequences. My game plan for the week was to know exactly what Briana was eating. As long as I didn't get mad, she told me everything. By the end of the week she had eaten Taco Bell, spaghetti, an oreo milkshake, and pizza twice. She had consumed a lot of sugar through juices and jelly and desserts. She had a terrible week from a nutritional perspective. The only good news was that she was down another two pounds when I weighed her at the beginning of the week and emotionally she seemed like she was adjusting. Overall, she was happy but her healthy habits took a severe beating. Needless to say, I worked Briana extra hard this week. We did more cardio and I kept her moving with minimal rest. She was sweaty, tired, and sore. She did everything and only got mad at me once. At a minimum, I hope I helped her burn the calories she consumed. As we move into next week, I will continue to talk to her host mom and help her understand the high importance of a healthy menu for Briana. I pray that she will make the effort to get Briana back on track. I will also start educating Briana and let her know that she has to take a stand and advocate for her health. If they can work together, I know she will continue to get healthy and stay that way.