It’s April already. What happened to your New Year’s resolution to lose weight? Are you losing, or is the disorganization in your life preventing you from staying on track? I am convinced there is a correlation between weight and the amount of control you have over your life. I see it every day when I work with clients. If there is a disorganized issue in their home, there is often a weight problem as well. Our environment and our health are linked. Research indicates this. Clients often tell me that they get stuck when there is clutter and chaos in their lives. They can’t seem to go forward with their weight goals. It makes perfect sense.
You cannot and should not try to tackle all of your clutter issues all at once. You will get frustrated and shut down. Choose a couple areas of your life or home that are specific to weight loss and work on those. My suggestion is to work on the kitchen and your workout clothes.
Specifically:
KITCHEN (time budget: 2 hours)
Declutter the counters. Archive or donate anything that you don’t use often – small appliances, utensils, excessive bottles of oil and vinegar. Use that newly freed up space to prepare healthy meals and snacks and display fruits for snacking.
Buy healthy food. Canned beans, oatmeal, nuts, brown rice, quinoa, fruits and vegetables.. You know the drill.
Organize your cabinets and refrigerator. Toss any food that is old or expired, that you no longer want, that is unhealthy. Put the healthy food at eye level to make it easy to grab.
WORKOUT CLOTHES (time budget: 2 hours)
Purge. Take out all of your gym clothes and lay out on the bed.
Organize. Separate clothes by type – leggings, shorts, sports bras, tops, jackets, shoes, socks. Evaluate each pile and decide if you need all of those leggings, for example. Are they in good shape? Do you still like them? Are they in style? Do they fit well?
Store sensibly. Make your workout clothes and shoes accessible -- in a top drawer, in a hanging shoe bag, in baskets or bins dedicated to workout clothes and/or shoes. You do not want to have to dig through a bottom drawer or in the back of a closet.
Clean out gym bag. Only keep what you need.
Total investment: 4 hours. And you’re on your way to losing some of that weight! Or hire The Clutter Whisperer of New York City! :-)