I'm taking a break for lunch right now, as I type this. This is the first time in a couple of days that I've actually remembered to stop and take a break. The event that we're working on is tomorrow so things are winding down as we tie up all the loose ends.

I feel pretty good about the fact that I've exercised every day this week. I realized this morning that the time I take in the morning to exercise, eat breakfast and get ready for work is the only time in the day that I have to myself. It relaxes me and fortifies me for my day.

Recently, we have had a lot of stressful stuff going on in our lives. Ordinarily, you have one or two areas that are stressful and the rest is smooth sailing, lately, it seems like family commitments, work stuff, finances...Everything's going to pot. Well not to pot exactly, we're sorting stuff out, we're just in a really messy transitional period at the moment. When I had my doctor's appointment on Wednesday, I sort of dumped on her and told her about all the stuff that has been going on recently. The result of all this stress stuff is that I've not been sleeping much and I've not lost any weight in the past month. I know that I've been eating too much in the evenings and the weekends are quite bad. She and I are both concerned that this stuff might cause me to undo my weight-loss. I know that the only reason I haven't gained a bunch of it back is because of the exercise.

She's prescribed a very mild anti-depressant for me. I haven't started taking it yet because she is suggesting that I try it and see if it helps me sleep. She recommended that I take it on a night that I don't have to be up the next morning, just in case. It wasn't something that I thought about talking to her about prior to my appointment but when I read up on the pill, and it's uses, I realized that it would be a good thing to try. We'll see how it goes! Once we get our plans sorted out as far as our extended family, finances and jobs go, things will sail much more smoothly for me. Getting decent sleep every night will help keep me strong until life gets less nutty.

My new years resolution for 2003 was about minimization. I wanted to clear out the clutter in our lives, in our homes, in our diet, everywhere. I see now that 2004 is going to be a continuation of what I started this year. I feel a lot better today than I have all week. I think that actually having made a plan is a big part of it. I can see a light at the end of the tunnel and am really focused on my goals now. Not just for weight-loss but for everything. Perspective rocks!!

Now, 2 days late, here's the Wednesday Weigh-In for this week:

Where do you stand on weight related surgery? Are you in favor of it? Why or why not? Do you agree with it in certain circumstances and what are those circumstances? Would do you it if you had to?

I don't believe that WLS is a good thing, not at all. At my starting weight, I weighed a lot more than many people I hear about who have WLS. Surgery does not address the reason you got fat in the first place. I know that you have to be counselled before surgery but I don't know that they actually treat you for whatever is making you fat.

A good friend of mine had WLS several years ago. She lost a lot of weight very quickly and looked fabulous. Slowly though, the weight crept back on and her metabolism was a complete mess. Her meals must be really small because her stomach capacity is nill; she often eats 8 or 9 small meals a day and has had a tonne of health problems as a result of her surgery. I have read a tonne of horror stories about the health risks of the surgery.

I figure if I can start moving my body and eating healthy and lose weight, anyone can. Once you have the right motivation and figure out what got you fat, you can stop doing that stuff and lose the weight (and keep it off). I hate hearing WLS folks say, "oh I tried everything and nothing worked." Read, they tried a bunch of fad diets and got tired of waiting to be thin. I know that this is going to sound really harsh but I think that folks who resort to WLS are lazy. They don't want to lose the weight slowly so they jump into WLS just like they jumped into cabbage soup or dexatrim. There is no easy fix for weight-loss. It's hard, boring work. It's tedious and it takes a long time but eventually it happens. You'r thinner and healthier and you've done it in a way that isn't endangering your life. I would never consider WLS for myself and I would not support WLS for anyone, under any circumstances.