I teach an independent school where the employee pool is small enough that if someone sneezes, our insurance premiums double 50% plus a dollar the next year (only slightly a stretch). Part of my employer's effort to reduce healthcare costs has been to hire a trainer who runs us through routines M-W-F mornings at 6am. I tried this last year about this time without much success. I lost about 10 lbs, but couldn't control my eating. Without being able to do that, I gave up around the first of October.

Once the doctor cleared me a month after surgery, I gave it a week (mid-July), then started again. It was easy to get up during the remainder of the summer and go. Not bad during the first weeks of school. I now despise that I require two alarm clocks with multiple settings on both (in different rooms) to haul my butt out of bed to get there on time. That's in addition to walking 4-6 days a week for an hour. I feel like I should be losing faster!

Doing a plank for a minute last year wasn't an option. Never-mind doing alternate side planks. Today I did a set of two planks with alternating side planks. It took every ounce of effort I had, but I held it. Tonight, I actually looked at my arms. I've still got a lot of pudge there, but it's so much better than it used to be. Either there's more muscle there, or less fat. Not sure which, but either will do.

My weight loss has slowed from the first two months, but my clothes keep fitting better. I had to buy new pants a few weeks ago. The really bad expand-a-pant waist that I've always wore (however in flat front, which I've never felt comfortable doing). I do have one pair that are not the expandable waist of that same size. I realized today that I can wear the expand-a-pants without needing the extra elastic. I'm on the last notch in one of my belts.

The scale isn't budging much or very rapidly. I'm trying to take stock where I can. Hope you all are doing well.

ChowChows - hope your GB surgery goes/did well. I'm lost as far as posting timelines go now.

Congrats on the progress.

BTW you alarmed me for a second. I thought you were saying chowchows was having gastric bypass surgery, but then I remembered it was gallbladder surgery LOL!

ChowChows - hope your GB surgery goes/did well. I'm lost as far as posting timelines go now.

Congrats on the progress.

BTW you alarmed me for a second. I thought you were saying chowchows was having gastric bypass surgery, but then I remembered it was gallbladder surgery LOL!