Lose the Clutter, Lose the Weight (37 page)
Read Lose the Clutter, Lose the Weight Online
Authors: Peter Walsh
Tell your friends that you're about to start this program and ask them to check in periodically to see how you're doing. This holds you more accountable for sticking to your plan.
Find a mentor who has worked hard to conquer a major challenge. Most of us know someone who's lost a lot of weight, stopped smoking, struggled with an addiction, or learned to manage depression or anxiety. Ask if you can talk about your progress with your home, your weight, and your mindset if things get tough.
Bring your family on board.
You'll especially need the support of everyone else who lives in your home. Since you're probably going to be rearranging rooms they useâand you'll likely want to get rid of some of their stuff while
you're declutteringâyou'll want them to have some appreciation for what you're doing.
Convene a family meeting to outline your plan. Tell them what you'll be doing to each room. Tell them how you're going to be spending your time. As you develop a philosophy that guides your decisions to keep items or get rid of them, tell them how the process works.
Let them know that you take this program seriously and that their support and cooperation are critical for the success you expect. Even better: Have them join you in your decluttering and weight loss activities whenever possible! When your family is involved, they are far more likely to be committed to the changes you hope to achieve.
The Clutter Chronicles
Joe Shigo, 51
POUNDS LOST: 21
AMOUNT OF CLUTTER REMOVED: Seven large bags of trash and three bags filled with items for donation
Joe shed a lot of pounds on the
Lose the Clutter, Lose the Weight
program by gaining a new vision.
He calls himself “a big guy in general.” But when Joe showed up for the program's launch, the 51-year-old telecommunications specialist was surprised by the number on the scale.
He used to keep his weight under control with 45-minute workouts on his lunch hour. But when he injured his already-aching knee in 2011, his exercise time dwindled.
He started the 6-week program carrying 301 pounds.
“I said, âThis ain't happening!' I felt totally unhealthy and unhappy with the sluggishness and tiredness that comes with the weight,” he says. He had a more urgent motivation to lose weight, too: He was
scheduled for knee-replacement surgery in a few months, and his doctor told him that if he lost weight, he would put less stress on his new knee.
Physical activity wasn't easy for him during the program, but he found that he could manage his eating choices very well. He stuck to 2,000 calories per day, and he carefully controlled his portion sizes. If he was planning to enjoy a special treat at dinner, he'd cut back on what he ate earlier in the day.
He also learned to find healthy foods that wouldn't break his budget.
“People say that eating healthy is more expensive. It may be if you go to a regular supermarket,” he says. Instead, he made regular trips to farmers' markets and a chain of stores in his area that offers reasonably priced fruits and vegetables. For the cost of a trip to a fast-food restaurant, he could buy more produce than he could eat at one sitting.
While his willpower and his ability to track down healthy food bargains helped in his weight loss, he credits a different mental tool for making the real difference.
“The biggest thing I got out of this program, and it really impressed me the most, is to have a vision. If something in a room helps you achieve your vision, that's good. If it doesn't, then get rid of it. It's the same with food.”
After the program, Joe discovered that he had shed the most weight of all the test panelists, a whopping 21 pounds in 6 weeksâmore than 3 pounds a week! He also lost 6 inches off his waist.
With a new knee (and presumably smaller pants), Joe is spreading the importance of having a vision.
“We're redoing a buddy's shed. It's where we go on the weekend to watch the race or the football game. We have a computer and TV out there, but the place is totally a mess. I told him, âYou have to sit there and think of what your vision is!' We're close to being done with fixing it up, and it absolutely looks fantastic,” Joe says.
“I also find myself telling my daughters, âWill
that
help you achieve your goal? Is this friend helping you to better yourself in life, or is she pulling you in the other direction?' That's what I got out of this program.”
Chapter
9
WEEK ONE: YOUR COOKING AND DINING AREAS
T
he kitchen is one of the most important rooms in your home.
More than just an area for preparing food, the kitchen is the place where you pass along values to your children, demonstrate the joy of conversation, and as a family participate in the ancient ritual of sharing a meal.
Your kitchen and your dining areas are also tightly linked to the inner workings of your body and your mind. When you're clearing out an overstuffed life, I believe you have to start here. Your kitchen strongly influences your food choices, so this is also the natural place to begin when decluttering your waistline. It often provides enough space for you to stash away hundreds of thousands of calories' worth of foodâhealthy or otherwise.
As you declutter and reorganize your kitchen, the key question to ask is “Am I using this space to hold foods that help me create the body I want?” Are the supplies in your kitchen helping you stay lean and strong? Or do you pack your pantry and fridge with foods and drinks that fuel your journey into obesity and poor health?
This week, you'll also give thought to how you use your dining area.
Perhaps your dining room (or whatever area your home provides for eating) is a welcoming space for your loved ones to share their joys and challenges of the day. Perhaps it's where your family comes together to be nourished and grow closer. Maybe you block out the rest of the world, letting it carry on without you while you dine together in your refuge.
Or is a completely different scene playing out in your dining room? Maybe your table is covered with hobby supplies or schoolwork or laundry. Maybe you
eat standing up in the kitchen. Maybe everyone in the household eats silently in front of the TV, fork in one hand and smartphone in the other.
Deciding What Your Eating Spaces Mean
For most of us, the kitchen and the dining areas are the places in the home where we connect with our food. By “connect,” I mean both eating the food and processing emotions related to it.
These spaces can be a stage for you and your loved ones to maintain your bodies, and even heal them, with good food choices. You can focus your mind on enjoying your dishes, not just with your sense of taste but with all of your senses. Here you can connect with your family, too. You can experiment with new foods with your spouse or partner or relax with old favorites. Kids might become more talkative and accessible during mealtime when they escape their usual distractions.
The warm feelings that your family can generate at mealtimes may help prevent or reduce household stress that builds up at other times of the day.
On the other hand, you may be letting these opportunities for physical and emotional maintenance pass you by, like so many people do nowadays:
You hand over the responsibility for feeding you to restaurants, where the cooks are typically more interested in your business than your health.
You eat whatever's convenient rather than making choices that specifically meet your needs. This goes back to the notion of asking “What do I want
for
dinner?” (something fast, something tasty) rather than “What do I want
from
dinner?” (foods that give me my daily dose of nutrition; a meal that won't provide a bunch of needless calories that will stick around as fat).
You eat without paying a bit of attention to your food. It's on your plate, in your mouth, and gone. You're unable to say exactly how much you ate or what it even tasted like.