Does this Clutter make my butt look fat?

JJJ

Active Member
I started reading that book over the weekend and it makes so much sense. He talks about how if you are overweight, chances are your house is a mess and so are your finances. This is so me. The idea is to picture the life you want and make progress towards it.

He says to start by decluttering your kitchen to make it a comfortable area to be, to cook and eat healthy food; to throw out all the stuff you haven't used in 6 months, all the bad-for-you and expired food. I'm taking a break right now because I have 5 full garbage bags of expired food and two bags of bad-for-me food that I'm giving away. Some of the expiration dates are from 2004!! Yuck!!

Now that I know that we will have a minimum of 6 months of Kanga in Residential Treatment Center (RTC) and possibly longer, I have renewed energy to declutter my entire house before the school year ends so that I can just have fun with my littles doing physically active stuff and repainting the whole house! I'm hoping that while Kanga is doing the work she needs to do at Residential Treatment Center (RTC) to get healthy, I will be able to get healthier here so we both start off on a better path when she comes home. I have 100 pounds to lose and I can't do that in 6 months but if I can even lose half of that, I would feel so much better.
 

Fran

Former desparate mom
JJJ, I can relate. When I am feeling like I am overwhelmed or difficult child is out of control or my weight goes up, I don't want to wear decent clothes. I wear my rag clothes, never wear perfume, barely care about make up. Don't want to go out and in general feel like a nothing. My house is disorganized and nothing seems to bring me joy.
If I am in control with eating or difficult child is on a stable path, I am organized, easy going, feel at peace. Competant. Life is too short to suffer with chaos and low self esteem.

Good luck to you. Taking the first step towards regaining control of your own health is hard but you will feel much better.
 

JJJ

Active Member
Thanks Fran. I now have 10 bags of garbage and 4 bags of food to give away. I cannot believe the stuff I am finding. To think I thought I did a good cleaning of my kitchen last summer..lol.

Well, back to the grindstone,
 

LittleDudesMom

Well-Known Member
JJJ,

well I don't believe the analogy the author drew in my case - I am overweight but my house and my finances are in order.

Good for you for beginning to declutter. You know you were part of the inspiration to bring this board about in January. Glad to have you with us!

Now you may get back to the decluttering. Hope the trash man comes soon!!!!!!!!

Sharon
 

JJJ

Active Member
Hi Sharon,

Yes, I remember my post in January and I've had several false starts to get motivated but I'm going to keep trying until I get it right :)
 

LittleDudesMom

Well-Known Member
We are looking foward to holding your hand through this. Goodness knows those of us with a lot of poundage to loose can use all the support we can get. Hopefully together we can help you meet your goal!

Sharon
 

'Chelle

Active Member
Well, to declutter my house I'd have to get rid of husband first. The majority of the "clutter" is all his "stuff" that he accumulates when he gets a new obsession. Right now it's plastic model kits of WW airplanes. He's got entire shelves of them. Doesn't put them together, just buys the kits. Even once he's over an obsession (sort of) I still can't get rid of the stuff. He's got John Wayne stuff, James Bond stuff, Star Trek stuff, workout stuff, National Geographic, darts stuff......and other stuff I can't think of. One of the reasons I'm convinced he's Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) himself.

Good luck on the decluttering. Sounds wonderful to me.
 

scent of cedar

New Member
Here is a site I love that will help you get started without feeling overwhelmed. The first step, so says Fly Lady, is to clean your kitchen sink. If you do that, you will feel you have a handle on the chaos.

It works, too!

www.flylady.com

Barbara
 
N

Nomad

Guest
I agree about the kitchen sink. Keep it clean and it is a nice start to keeping the house in better order. It makes a person feel much better. I enjoy the fly lady site, but didn't want to participate. I could NOT keep up with all the constant emails. They drove me nutso. However, I did pick up a few good habits and am more aware of things as the result of going to the site several times. Another good habit: make the bed in the mornings. by the way, I am not a fanatic about these things. I try my best to clean the kitchen sink at night. If I am over tired legitmately, I make sure that it is done the very first thing in the morning. If I am over rushed in the morning, I pull up the covers and do my best. I think the point is to try to do these things more days than we are not.

by the way, I have somehow for the most part, gotten past that "thing" were the house is a mess and/or I gain weight if difficult child is acting out. Sure, I might falter slightly, but it doesn't go beyond that. What I've done is just simply make a conscious effort not to "go there." And if I have to alter my exercise routine...that is simply what I do. I don't give up on it. I think the key words are alter and adjust. Then, when the negative situation passes, I pick up where I left off. I often say to myself things like "how will overeating help in this?" And since it never does help and in fact will likely make me feel worse, I am usually able to make a better choice. It took a long time to get to this place.
 

LittleDudesMom

Well-Known Member
See, my deal with the clutter or the mess is that my upbringing keeps these nagging thoughts running through my head. When we were growing up, we got out of bed, turned around and made our beds. Mom felt it was all about personal responsibility.

I grew up in a formal, very clean and organized home. It kinda became part of me. I'll never forget my mother saying to me when I was out on my own, "If you are driving home from work and see a friend you haven't seen in years, you should never be embarrased to ask them back to your place."

Lesson, never leave dishes in the sink! Those things that my mother engraved on my brain don't seem to ever leave. Now, I'm not saying that my house is always perfect, but I don't leave dishes in the sink and my beds are always made first thing!!

Sharon
 
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