I've done some decluttering, and weight I struggled to lose has seemed to magically disappear without my doing anything different. I didn't think this was related, but several friends report the same thing. One friend said she got rid of 27 pounds of clutter and also 27 pounds off of her body. Another friend said Peter Walsh of "Clean Sweep" even wrote about this.
Has this also happened to you guys?
YES! About the same time I started Weight Watchers, I started to declutter. I think they are related because you are not only sorting through yourself to find what works for you, but in all areas of your life. I do have the book, "Does this clutter make my butt look big", but funny thing, I have not read it. This is weird too..because I have lost 27lbs in the last couple months too. Cleaning is still an exercise for body and soul.
Decluttering can only succeed if it is done mentally and physically. Physically means junk outside your body along with junk inside your body. Mentally means the junk in your brain.
At least that's my take on it.
i think when you have a clean uncluttered house you are less likely to just plop down and eat whatever b/c you are to mentally distracted to bother eating healthy. its easier to prepare a healthy meal when you have space and motivation to do so. Its easier to stay motivated when there is space and you are not looking around and being overwhelmed by mess and clutter.
There must be some magic in the number 27. I too have lost 27 lbs. on Weight Watchers and began uncluttering about the same time i joined. There is definitely a connection. Losing weight and clutter are both liberating. What charmed just said about eating mindlessly and clutter is SO TRUE.
Wow this is freaky...maybe all of us who lost 27lbs will find out we all have some kind of alien implant and had been used for experiments!!!!! We need to figure this out...we could make fortune...or end up just another story line for Doctor Who.
Yes, I would be willing to purchase one of these weight-loss implants.
One of the things I remember from when Peter Walsh had his TV show--Clean Sweep?--was that for people who had clutter all around, not just a little here and there--clutter to the extent that they could barely walk into the room-- once they cleaned the kitchen or dining room, they could actually use those rooms for their intended purposes. They made meals again, rather than grabbing pizza or chicken on the way home from work, and sat together as a family. If you can't find the pots and pans or get to them because other stuff is in the way, you don't use them. (Well, in my case sometimes it's just cuz I don't like cooking!)
The very basic theory, to me, is that attacking the clutter is one way you are treating yourself better, treating yourself with respect by realizing you don't need to live in disarray. And you're probably treating yourself better in other ways, like how you eat. (And moving boxes, taking them to the dump or wherever could probably burn a calorie here and there.)
(Foilhead: Get rid of the book. You don't need it--you are living it and coming to the conclusions yourself!)
Pammyfay has hit upon a good explaination here. People beginning to live their remarkable life will be more likely to be mindful of lots of decisions. My DH struggles with clutter and procrastination as well as clinical depression. It keeps him from making decisions about things. I struggle with clutter and stress. I eat when I am stressed. Clutter is one of the things that causes me stress....I eat more, the cycle continues.
Positive change tends to decrease stress and increase my hope and energy. I have lost a couple of pounds (on my way to 27). It's amazing how much more free, positive and creative I feel since starting the uncluttering lifestyle.
Go Sunshine! A couple of pounds is a great start!
hmm...i think i really need to do more uncluttering
Thanks, AnotherDeb! It's encouraging to receive a compliment. :)))
I worked on uncluttering magazines this weekend and will have a full box to take to recycling tomorrow. (We have paper recycling dumpsters in our area. Local charities/schools earn money by filling the dumpsters.) It was a little easier than I thought to let go of most of the magazines. I am planning to cut back on my buying and subscribing habits. Love to look at recipes and home improvement ideas....lots of dreams....
For me decluttering has been part of a whole lifestyle change. I resisted for a long, long time - "I love my stuff" and I was fighting the whole minimalist trend (plus, waste not... be prepared... all that) but realistically it was just inertia. Laziness.
Admittedly my diet was draining my energy. It wasn't till I discovered that I had a wheat sensitivity that I fixed that. (I'd been cutting out all the wrong foods - 'bland' biscuits (cookies), toast and pasta was what had to go! Who'da thunk it?)
And at the same time as I decided to stop making excuses about the junk that I eat, so I can't have any more exucses about the junk that surrounds me. So I've decided that I really wanted to create the kind of space that I wanted to live in, and that won't happen by itself. So for me it's kind of going hand-in-hand.
Wow, congrats to everyone on their uncluttering progress and weight loss! I do think that uncluttering is conducive to wiser lifestyle choices all around, including eating better, being more active and more aware of one's health. I can definitely see a change in myself as well, though the weight loss hasn't followed my uncluttering efforts.
When I got my first office job, I promptly gained about 20lb in just a few months -- was NOT used to sitting for 8h/day! So I joined a gym, got a trainer, started running, and lost around 15lb. Now I'm about 10lb from my goal weight, and have been for almost 2 years. It's not a huge deal, which is probably why I'm not as motivated to work as hard for it, since all my clothes fit, I don't feel embarrassed to wear a swimsuit etc. Maybe I just need to quit my day job... :P
Nope, for me - less clutter has led to a weight gain. Maybe I need moere stuff to declutter?
Congrats to everyone!
Badkitti: Come on over to my house and help me organize and run a garage sale! There are lots of boxes to move around, and you might have to go up and down a few flights of stairs. That'll turn things around for you!
(I think I've also determined that the 4 levels of my townhouse are good for losing a pound or two! Although doing all those steps at once makes me annoyed--my pup runs up faster than I can get to the top! Show-off!)
A timely article on this subject!
http://www.weightwatchers.com/util/art/index_art.aspx?art_id=55071&tabnum=1&sc=4393&subnav=Mind+and+Body+
Congrats on all the weight loss everyone! Unfortunately this has not happened for me :/ I have 5-10 lbs to lose, so nothing too major, but somehow I thought it would just magically melt away when I cleaned my basement :) Not so.
I heard once that people who can't seem to lose those last 5 lbs are "storers", meaning that when they eat, instead of just eating until they are full, they eat a little extra. Makes sense, and I can see how this kind of thinking translates to stuff, too.
Yeah, this definitely hasn't happened for me. I've been in the process of decluttering for the last 2-3 years (having to move to another state twice in that time span will do that to you!) and I actually gained weight instead. =\ I'm glad to see that it actually does work for some people though, because I was more than a little skeptical!
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