I took the advice of the Doctor's Center at RealAge: Drs. Mehmet Oz and Michael Roizen says that a better indicator of health is your waist measurement, rather than obsessing about weight. That advice struck a nerve with me because I have been conscious of my poor core strength.

For the past two-three weeks, I've been concentrating on getting core work in almost every day, even days when I go to my yoga classes. Lots of yogic crunches, bicycle crunches, side and regular planks, kind of working all sides of my trunk so that I don't overwork my abs and distort my muscular balance. This week I took out the tap measure and was rewarded with a full inch drop in my waist. I'm down to 38 inches. Optimally, I need to lose another three inches, and that would probably go a long way to getting my weight down.

Another reward: in my yoga class last night, I noticed that in trikonasana (triangle pose) I rested my lower hand on the floor. Before, I had to place my hand on my ankle or lower shin.