If you’re struggling to lose weight, just how organized is your home? If you have a dining room table piled high with papers and clutter heaped on kitchen countertops, it can actually hamper your weight loss progress.
How is clutter linked to weight problems? Simply put, disorganization leads to stress, which in turn raises cortisol, which increases your blood sugar. This results in increased insulin, making you hungrier and more prone to grab the wrong foods.
According to organizational expert Peter Welsh, in his book Does Clutter Make My Butt Look Fat?, your head, your heart, your hips and your house are all interconnected
Organize Your House First
Organize your home before working on your body, advises Mr. Welsh. If the rooms in your home are cluttered with useless items, just the sight of household confusion can give you a feeling of failure. No wonder it’s more likely you’re sloppier on your diet when you feel overwhelmed at home. Here are a few tips Mr. Welsh shares in his best-selling book on household clutter and body fat…
Clean Out Your Pantry and Refrigerator
Start with your kitchen, the heart of the home. If your kitchen is overstocked with junk food, as well as disorganized, how can you make the best food choices?
A kitchen jumbled with high calorie snacks is not conducive to losing weight. First, purge all the wrong foods that aren’t on your food plan. Do you still have holiday candy and treats calling your name? Then toss them. If you’re worried about waste, then realize that those chocolates are better off wasted in a garbage can than stored on your hips.
Also, thoroughly clean out your refrigerator and freezer. Although it’s a lot of work, there’s a sweet reward in knowing you have a clean and safe refrigerator, free of the junk food that pulls you back into your dangerous food addiction.
Your Kitchen Triangle
Rather than having to dig for pots, pans, and other kitchen items, arrange your kitchen tools so those items you use the most are closest to your work area. Mr. Welsh notes that your stove, refrigerator and sink form a “magic triangle” and it’s this area that should be used for cooking and cleaning up. Welsh further believes keeping your most-used kitchen gadgets closest to that triangle will help you keep your kitchen organized, as well as allow you to work more efficiently in your kitchen.
Try to keep your countertops as clean and free of stuff as possible. In other words, as soon as you use an item, put it away in its proper place.
Eat at Home
Once you’ve decluttered your kitchen you’ll want to eat out less. When you eat at home more rather than eating out or having take-out food, you can better control portions, as well as know what’s included in your meals. By cutting out much of the fat, sugar, and salt used in restaurant food, you’ll be on your way to a better weight loss.
FlyLady Website Declutters Both Household and Body Fat
The popular website, “FlyLady”, that’s helped thousands of housewives living in CHAOS (Can’t Have Anyone Over Syndrome) also contends that fighting clutter at home helps you deal better with combating body clutter. In addition to sharing household organizational tips, FlyLady also emails daily diet and fitness reminders on the importance of nutrition and consistent exercise.
Once you’ve organized and decluttered your home, you’ll feel more positive about yourself. This new confidence will result in your losing weight.
Venice Kichura - Venice Kichura is a freelance writer who writes on a variety of subjects. She holds a special passion for topics relating to art and ...
