This may sound crazy, but I had a huge breakthrough in the last few days about my life and when I either stop being healthy or my healthy habits seem to disappear for awhile.
I realized that a HUGE trigger factor for me to binge on crappy food and sit on my butt all evening after work is when I let me house get messy. I had never thought about it before, but it's true. When my house is messy, I don't eat right, I don't exercise and a lot of the time I justify spending a lot of money on really fattening take-out, by saying I don't have clean dishes to cook, or I'm too tired to exercise and cook healthy food so I won't do either.
When I keep my bed made, have clean dishes, a clean living room and a spotless kitchen it's like I'm a whole different person. I cook something healthy nearly every night, I exercise when I can, I take to stairs more than 1 level and I sleep better. I'm even a happier more productive person at work.
I bet that I could probably track my times of weakness and weight gain to times in my life when I was living in a messy environment. I think realizing this is going to be a great help in my weight loss journey. And hopefully washing a few dishes will help me to continue to remove the weight.
Has anyone else noticed something about your lifestyle, that doesn't directly relate to weight loss, that has a huge impact on your own weight loss journey? If you do I'd love to hear about them.
When I keep my place clean and in order, I have a better chance at keeping my diet and other stuff in my life in order. It's like I'm taking care of myself in a loving way and I feel happy. Thanks, I'm cleaning and rearranging my kitchen tomorrow to make way for all the healthy foods I'll buy.
I'm definitely in this club. I can't seem to move forward with anything for me unless the house is tidy. And the house gets untidy because I'm not feeling well or I'm stressed and I check out with the TV.
My sons are out of school for the next two weeks, and after just one day, downstairs is looking disheveled again. I'm going to be riding my broomstick if they don't clean up after themselves, because I'm feeling really energized and healthy lately and I don't want anything keeping me from succeeding!
I seem to read that a messy house is a major stressor for you, so it would follow that eating, which is a major way to reduce stress temporarily, would be the natural consequence of your house being messy.
Identifying these stressors would be good for all of us, reducing stress and our need to eat to get rid of it.
So, you have given me food for thought. I'm going to try to be more aware of those things in my life that have me stressing out. Even little things.
I hate dirty dishes in the sink so I started using paper plates and bowls to avoid some of this. Now I feel guilty about not being green! But, I don't use the water or detergent.
I hate a dirty kitchen floor but I'm so fat it's a major deal to mop it frequently; so I bought a scooba. Now it's clean most of the time.
Yes, there is a book on this topic. It's called, "Does the Clutter Make my My Butt Look Fat?: An Easy Plan for Losing Weight and Living More" by Peter Walsh
I haven't read it, but I think there is a definite connection for some people (including me!). Here's a 3FC thread about it:
I'm exactly the same way. If my apartment is messy, I feel like I might as well give up, and be messy myself (by eating too much!) It's crazy, but I'm super conscious about doing the dishes asap and keeping clothes off the floor.
Last night, I came home after a long day working. I was exhausted, I was hungry, and I was crabby. My sink was full of dirty dishes. I almost lost it and ate everything in the house. But I managed to calm myself down, do the dishes, and make a reasonable dinner. It was so much harder than it would have been though if there hadn't been any dirty dishes!
For me, a messy house is not the trigger but just another symptom or effect. My trigger is being stressed at work. When I work a long or busy day, the only thing I want to do is veg when I'm done. I *know* that I'm supposed to see exercise and healthy eating as a way of taking care of myself, but it is still hard work! Sometimes I just feel like I can only handle so much in a given day. Result - when I am stressed at work for a week or more, my house AND my health suffer for it.
Thank you for posting this. I needed to see it. I am completely in this club too. Right now my fridge is a disaster. I am going to promise myself to clean it today. My house is also messy this morning--my kids go to school all Sunday afternoon so Sunday morning is extremely stressful getting homework finished. I think I will make hubby take them today though--I will stay home to get house in order.
Messiness is a symptom for me. If I'm not eating on plan, my apartment looks like a train wreck. I just don't have the energy to deal with it. But a few days on plan, and I slowly start cleaning up everything else.
I'm a really really messy person but I hadn't thought about that having anything to do with my weight, but now after reading this I reaslise it was the day that i completely emptied my wardrobe and spotlessly tidied my room that i also walked downstairs and said to my mum, right this time next year i WILL be healthy...which was last wednesday....
It may have also been the fact I went through all my old cloths and saw all the summer cloths I didn't even dare to fit into this summer...
BUT next year I won't want to fit into the size 16-18, no sir-ee I'll be buying gorgeous little cloths to show off my little healthy hour-glass figure lol...
Thank you for posting your realisation, as its made me realise i have the same junk trigger!
There's a definite correlation, but for me it's a chicken-or-egg question.
Is my house a mess because I am not taking care of myself?
Or am I not taking care of myself because my house is a mess?
Whichever came first, it IS a vicious cycle. You can usually tell the state of my mind and emotions by how my kitchen and living room look, and that directly relates to how my eating and exercise look too.
A lightbulb on lifestyle...
