Papers strewn everywhere. Beds not made. Dishes in the sink awaiting washing. Desk a mess. If this is your life, you may find it difficult to get your act together to lose weight. Why? Because being disorganized in one part of your life often means you don’t have your act together in other areas either. Here are three simple tips to help you get your act together and lose weight.
Why does it even matter?
Weight loss isn’t easy. It takes planning, a degree of organization, and a sense of staying in control of your eating habits. For people that struggle with organization, getting everything in line to lose weight is often overwhelming.
Think about it.
To effectively lose weight you have to plan meals, organize your grocery shopping trips, get your family on board, find time to exercise, manage your emotional eating habits, and stick with it all long enough to reach your goal weight. That’s not always easy.
Learning to be more organized in your everyday life will spill over into being more organized in your efforts to lose weight. If you’ve tried many times to lose weight without success, perhaps you need to spend some time getting more organized in preparation for another weight loss attempt.
The key to getting more organized is breaking big tasks into smaller pieces. A website that I enjoy is FlyLady. She recommends starting your path to a cleaner and more organized home by simply polishing your sink. From there, you gradually work into cleaning and organizing every room of your home.
Here are my favorite ways to get more organized and prepare yourself for a successful weight loss experience.
1. Map Out Your Day
A map helps you get from one place to another. Or at least it is supposed to unless you can’t read a map or your phone map gets your lost. In any case, mapping out your day is like giving yourself a daily direction to keep your life on track and get more done.
Start in the morning and think through your daily routine. Write down the things you do that never change like getting ready for work, driving to work, getting kids off to school, or taking time to catch up on your favorite Internet sites. Even though your day-to-day schedule changes slightly, there are always benchmark activities that consistently take place.
I like to use these benchmarks as a way to organize my day. For example, if I know some of the kids need to be at an activity at 2:00 p.m., I do not plan on cooking dinner or exercising during that time.
Once you have your daily routine basically mapped out, look for times when you can fit in meal planning, grocery shopping, exercise, or meditation time.
2. Clean Your House
My husband cannot start a new project until things are in order. Starting your weight loss effort with a clean house can serve you well in a couple of different ways.
A. You can get rid of unwanted clothes, food, and accessories.
B. You start your weight loss effort on the right food with everything in its place.
C. You can easily see what foods you need to stock up on, what kitchen tools you may need to purchase, and whether you have needed exercise equipment.
When I did this exercise, I realized I already had weights, resistance bands, an aerobic step, and some DVDs stored away and gathering dust.
3. Deal With Mental Clutter
Mentally cluttering thoughts are those that stand in your way from losing weight. In their book, “Get Your Mind Out of the Clutter,” authors Brenda Avadian and Eric Riddle share that physical and mental clutter can hinder you from achieving what you want in life.
There are several ways you can try and clear your mind in preparation for losing weight. One of my favorite techniques is simply taking a long walk. I bring along a little notebook and jot things down that are bothering me. By the time I’m done walking, I feel refreshed, focused, and realize that the things I’m worrying about don’t have to stand in my way.
Other good techniques for clearing your mind includes meditation or prayer, joining a support group, journaling your thoughts, and setting aside a specific time of day for self analysis.
