How Clutter Hinders Weight Loss

By FoundTime On June 29th, 2010

Organizing Your House Helps You Lose Weight

Feb 20, 2008 Venice Kichura

Are you struggling to lose weight? Is your home also disorganized? Decluttering your house could be the first step to shedding unwanted body fat.

 

If you’re struggling to lose weight, just how organized is your home? If you have a dining room table piled high with papers and clutter heaped on kitchen countertops, it can actually hamper your weight loss progress.

How is clutter linked to weight problems? Simply put, disorganization leads to stress, which in turn raises cortisol, which increases your blood sugar. This results in increased insulin, making you hungrier and more prone to grab the wrong foods.

According to organizational expert Peter Welsh, in his book Does Clutter Make My Butt Look Fat?, your head, your heart, your hips and your house are all interconnected

 

Organize Your House First

Organize your home before working on your body, advises Mr. Welsh. If the rooms in your home are cluttered with useless items, just the sight of household confusion can give you a feeling of failure. No wonder it’s more likely you’re sloppier on your diet when you feel overwhelmed at home. Here are a few tips Mr. Welsh shares in his best-selling book on household clutter and body fat…

 

Clean Out Your Pantry and Refrigerator

Start with your kitchen, the heart of the home. If your kitchen is overstocked with junk food, as well as disorganized, how can you make the best food choices?

A kitchen jumbled with high calorie snacks is not conducive to losing weight. First, purge all the wrong foods that aren’t on your food plan. Do you still have holiday candy and treats calling your name? Then toss them. If you’re worried about waste, then realize that those chocolates are better off wasted in a garbage can than stored on your hips.

Also, thoroughly clean out your refrigerator and freezer. Although it’s a lot of work, there’s a sweet reward in knowing you have a clean and safe refrigerator, free of the junk food that pulls you back into your dangerous food addiction.

 

Your Kitchen Triangle

Rather than having to dig for pots, pans, and other kitchen items, arrange your kitchen tools so those items you use the most are closest to your work area. Mr. Welsh notes that your stove, refrigerator and sink form a “magic triangle” and it’s this area that should be used for cooking and cleaning up. Welsh further believes keeping your most-used kitchen gadgets closest to that triangle will help you keep your kitchen organized, as well as allow you to work more efficiently in your kitchen.

Try to keep your countertops as clean and free of stuff as possible. In other words, as soon as you use an item, put it away in its proper place.

 

Eat at Home

Once you’ve decluttered your kitchen you’ll want to eat out less. When you eat at home more rather than eating out or having take-out food, you can better control portions, as well as know what’s included in your meals. By cutting out much of the fat, sugar, and salt used in restaurant food, you’ll be on your way to a better weight loss.

Read more at Suite101: How Clutter Hinders Weight Loss: Organizing Your House Helps You Lose Weight http://weight-loss-motivators.suite101.com/article.cfm/how_clutter_hinders_weight_loss#ixzz0sHAB4IWx 

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Adult ADD/ADHD: Coping at Home and Work

By FoundTime On June 29th, 2010

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Time Management for Adults With ADHD

By FoundTime On June 29th, 2010

Meeting deadlines doesn’t have to be painful, even with adult ADHD. A little structure, lots of reachable mini-goals, and scheduled down time, can bring success.
By Jean Rothman
Medically reviewed by Niya Jones, MD, MPH Print Email Time management can be a struggle for many of us, but for an adult with ADHD it can seem like an insurmountable task. The symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder affect the “executive functions” of the brain including the ability to remain organized, the awareness of time, and what’s called working memory — the kind of memory that helps us retain information we’ve just encountered.

Because these parts of the brain are influenced by ADHD, adults with ADHD may find it extremely difficult to manage tasks in a timely manner whether at home or on the job. Add to that some of the other symptoms of ADHD, such as difficulty concentrating, and it’s understandable why managing time successfully is especially hard for people with ADHD.

ADHD and Time Management: Know Yourself

If you have ADHD, there are different strategies you can use to help yourself become more adept at time management. The first recommendation is to become aware of the kinds of environments and conditions under which you do your best. For example, do you work better in a noisy room or are you easily distracted? Does listening to music help keep you on task or keep you from concentrating? These questions apply whether you’re at work managing a project or at home paying the bills. Once you’ve identified your best work climate, you’re ready to create an individual time management plan to suit your specific needs.

ADHD and Time Management: How to Improve Your Skills

“Structure can be very helpful,” says Edward M. Hallowell, MD, a child and adult psychiatrist and founder of The Hallowell Center for Cognitive and Emotional Health in Sudbury, Mass. “Although it can be tedious to set up a structured environment, the payoff is great.” Learn more tips for personal and professional success with ADHD.

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Many techniques will help you stay on top of your tasks, such as:

Using lists
Color-coding materials
Leaving yourself visual reminders
ADHD and Time Management: Specific Strategies

Try these guidelines that help adults with ADHD hone their time management skills:

Break down large tasks. Take apart a task to create a bunch of mini-projects, and then attach an individual deadline to each. This can seem much less daunting than a single large project. Or ask your supervisor or a co-worker to set deadlines for you to help you remain accountable for your share of the work. Gather your thoughts.  Don’t schedule back-to-back events. Leave time in between to think about and prepare for whatever is happening next; ease yourself into it. Carry a notepad wherever you go. If you think of something important or remember something you need to do, you’ll be able to write it down. Use technology. Set one of the devices that you always carry with you, like your cell phone, to ring or buzz in order to alert you to upcoming appointments. Buy some planning software. Program it to notify you a few minutes before every meeting or other events on your calendar. Waste some time. Like everyone else, adults with ADHD need time to recharge their batteries and simply relax each day. And that’s okay — no need to feel guilty about it. So take that nap or watch TV. If you think about it, taking time to chill is time management, too. ADHD and Time Management: Getting Extra Help

If these guidelines are still tough for you to follow, hang in there. You can seek help from a professional organizer. In addition to seeking extra help from a coach, career counselor, or therapist who works specifically with adults with ADHD. They should be able to help you tailor time management strategies to suit you. Don’t hesitate to ask your doctor to recommend a therapist or counselor. Just remember that your time is valuable — and it’s worthwhile to learn how to make the most of it.

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