http://http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/health/can-a-messy-apartment-keep-you-fat-yes-354556/;_ylt=Al128RPV6dayCdxodaIlRbJpbqU5

It's about clutter being connected to weight issues. I know it's not a new idea, but the article just really resonated with me.

We had a three day weekend, and the bulk of Saturday DH and I did a serious house cleaning. The weekend was great for me, foodwise and exercise wise. The house was in order. I had to run some errands yesterday, and by the time I got home it was later than I expected, and I still had lots of papers to grade for today. Also, snow was in the forecast, which got me excited, thinking I might have a snow day. Needless to say, in my rush to fix dinners and grade, I really messed up the kitchen and cluttered up the house with my school papers all over. I stayed up too late watching tv (just being hedonistic - I shouldn't have). I was exhausted when the alarm went off - not a flake of snow fell - and generally I have spent the day being irritable and stress eating!

Nah, I am usually pretty good at keeping the house picked up.

I made 2 rules about 5 years ago that really changed my life:

1. Never go to bed with dirty dishes in the sink. I try to keep it easy to do dishes instead of letting them stack up. When the dishes stack up (clean dishes in the dishwasher, a huge pile of dirty dishes in the sink) it just seems like too much work.

2. Never to to bed with clean laundry in the basket. I went through a phase of just pulling clean clothes out of the laundry basket. Everything was always wrinkled, I used to make myself late in the morning looking for matching socks, eventually I would lose track of what was clean, what was dirty. Now, folding/hanging the clothes is just part of laundry day and my life is so much easier!

Just those 2 rules changed my life - I love walking into a tidy kitchen every morning. The sun shines in, I make my tea, I prepare my healthy breakfast, I feel on top of things.

Claire- Thanks for posting this article! I completely relate to it, as well!!

When I stay on top of the clutter in my house, I definitely take better care of myself. I think it kind of works this way for me: if I'm keeping my house up to snuff, I'm running around and being active, so I feel more active and up for being conscientious of what I eat and making sure I'm getting sleep, etc. Also, when my house is tidy and I've gone through and cleaned and put things in their place, I feel kind of like I've kicked some butt and I carry that attitude over that I can do anything! Guess I better log off and go clean!

I think i have to agree with the article. I am definately much more at peace and harmony when my house is clean. Guess i haven't been feeling that way in the past few months because my house is a mess. But i'm working on getting it cleaned up. I was also reading another article linked at the bottom of this article and feel so inspired. It's the article about push-ups. I am definately thinking that when i'm done with my elliptical excersize...dropping to the floor and adding in some push-ups. I need to strength train along with doing cardio.

Glory - the dishes in the sink is not a big one for us... MOST of the time we do them before bed, but putting the clean clothes away is HUGE. We live in a doll house, and I don't have a closet in my bedroom (house is great but was built in 1895 so closets not a priority). The closet I use (in my husband's music room) is tiny and unorganized. I need to tackle the clothing situation - find a way to have a place for all my clothes and work on putting them away. I agree that would do wonders for me!

Lum - push ups are something else I need to add into my regimen. I think I'll do some today!

Nixie - I totally agree with your comments about feeling more energized when done cleaning because you've been active ... it just feels good to be productive.

I'm a pretty organized/clean person. It's actually one of the main reasons my boyfriend and I fight, so that will give you a clue of how clean I am.