Lose the Clutter, Lose the Weight (51 page)
Read Lose the Clutter, Lose the Weight Online
Authors: Peter Walsh
Put the bags down and perform:
10 to 15
Close-Grip Triceps Pushups
against your (cleared-off) dresser
10 to 15
Mountain Climbers
Marching in place for 5 minutes
You've definitely earned your rest over the course of this week, and you should now have a bedroom that provides it.
The Clutter Chronicles
Tiffany Rehrig-Schaeffer, 40
POUNDS LOST: 10.2
AMOUNT OF CLUTTER REMOVED: 10 to 15 bags
When it comes to taming her home's clutter and managing her weight, Tiffany tells a very common story.
“I've started so many times to try to get my house in order, and I 'd do real well for a while and then the motivation would just go away. It was the same thing with, like, running a 5K. A couple of times I started it, and I just didn't follow through with it,” she says.
“I thought this was a chance to combine the two things I've been unsuccessfully starting and stopping, so I could work on both at the same time.”
Her biggest challenge was clearing out her four kids' clutter, both because of the sheer volume of it and the emotions she felt when she sorted through it. Getting rid of the excess wasn't always
easy. Tiffany felt a connection to toys that her three daughtersâages 6 to 12âand her son had played with over the years. But she worked through her feelings, and the outgrown playthings went to the local charitable donation store.
“We get a lot of hand-me-downs, since I have a cousin who has a daughter and friends with daughters. Lots of the stuff is really nice, but in all truthfulness my kids could probably go a month without wearing the same clothes twice because of all the hand-me-downs we get.
“That contributed to a lot of our clutter upstairs. The clothing didn't fit into the closets or the drawers. Something that stuck with me through the whole program is that you have to find a place for everything. You have to determine how much your home will hold. Anything above and beyond that is excess that you don't need. I went to each closet and each space, and said, âThis is what will fit.'”
Tiffany also struggled with the feeling that, despite her efforts, she could be doing
more.
“There were times when I got stressed and would think, âI'm not where I should be.' Then I would use a mindfulness technique. I would sit and calm myself down. It wasn't something that I did every day, but I used it when I felt that stress creeping in.”
Even weeks after the program finished, Tiffany was still making trips to the donation center. She wasn't finished decluttering, and that was okay. Unlike some of her earlier experiences, her motivation was still working for her.
“I'll admit that I would feel at times like I was not living up to my end of what I was supposed to be doing in the program. But if you do that, you can get into a downward spiral. You have to say, âYou know what? Tomorrow's a new day,' and just look at what you've accomplished so far!
“I think all of us set out with very good intentions and goals, but life just gets in your way sometimes. I didn't allow those times that I felt bad about what I
didn't
accomplish to overshadow what I
did
accomplish.”
Chapter 11
WEEK THREE: YOUR BEDROOM CLOSET AND YOUR BATHROOM
A
s we stood side by side, staring into the closet, I knew we were about to have an emotionally charged conversation.
The closet told me a few things about the lady of the house: She was much larger than she used to be, which she wasn't happy about. And the request I was preparing to make would force her to give up a daydream that was giving her temporary comfort.
Oh, and a camera crew standing by would capture the following moments for a TV show. (Your activities this week might not be easy, but at least you have some privacy while you do them!)
The Hidden Truths about Your Closet
Whenever someone asks me to declutter a home, I know with 100 percent certainty that at some stage in the process, I'll be sorting through an excess of clothes and clothing accessories. For some reason, clothing is at the top of the list of items that we buy in excessive amounts, hold on to for far too long, and invest more of ourselves into than we reasonably should.
It's no wonder that “the closet” has come to be a euphemism for the place where people hide their secret selves. Many people do the same thing with their actual closets, hiding many different versions of themselves that they would like to present to the world.
The clothes we own are more than just fabric that covers our bodies. Instead, our clothes:
Send a very clear message of who we believe ourselves to be
Provide the very first impression that we give to others
Convey a great deal of our feeling about style and fashion
The old saying is that “clothes make the man” (or woman). It's probably even truer that the closets holding our clothes tell the tale of who we truly are.
Based on what I've found while digging through strangers' closets, I suspect that you have two kinds of clothes in yours.
Clothing you wear frequently, portraying who you are now.
These are the clothes that are more or less the correct size for your present body shape. They're generally age-appropriate, and they reflect your occupation and your current interests.
The clothes that actually fit you are usually not props for an unrealistic version of yourself that doesn't exist, nor are they usually items that recall sad times or evoke bad memories. In general, these are not the clothes that are going to take a lot of your time this week . . . so long as you actually wear them.
However, most of us regularly wear only 20 percent of the clothing in our closets. The rest hangs unworn, gathering dust and taking up space. If your closet is bursting with clothing that might fit you but you never wear, then this is the week to address it.
That said, it's the
next
category that may require even more of your focus.
ARE YOU BUYING THIS MYTH?
People often feel that having more clothes in their closet makes getting dressed easier. That might sound reasonable, but it's not true.
In many overstuffed closets, a large portion of the clothes don't fit. If you're in a hurry in the morning and have to try on five garments that are too small, your fruitless quest reminds you that you haven't gotten around to addressing your weight. Rather than help you, your closet has insulted you and wasted your time.
An overabundance of clothes that actually fit can raise your stress levels, too. Spinning your wheels as you pick through clothes that you no longer enjoy, that looked better in the store than when you brought them home, or that resemble other items you like better is not a good use of your precious time.
Instead, stock your closet with fewer clothes of higher quality. Only buy clothes that you love and keep them only as long as you love them.
Every single time I help people turn their closets into a space that helps them efficiently and easily show their best self to the world, we can both feel their stress rapidly dissipate.