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Blog: An Organization Diet -- Lose the clutter and drop the weight
 "Stepping" into good health!
Well, I'm finally back home from sunny Florida. I got back just hours before the northeast was hit with a big snowstorm! Two full weeks within a small month feels like I was gone forever! And, I will admit to you, as I have in the past during other travel trips, it is always a challenge to keep on a healthy diet when you consistently eat out at restaurants!
One interesting thing that I told you I was going to try this year when we got to Disneyworld in our second week away was the use of a pedometer. I don't know, I guess I never used one because the ones I have purchased in the past never seemed to work correctly. One of my in-home organizing clients gave me another one to try just before I left and thankfully I remembered to pack it! I always wanted to know how many steps or miles the average person walks at a major theme park. Well, one full day at Magic Kingdom with the kids proved to be over 26,000 steps! I'm figuring that's about 5 miles of walking. Boy, my sore feet were actually aching by the time we got back to our time share condo. Sat in the hot tub by the swimming pool that evening for an 'orthopedic soak'! I will tell you this…that little pedometer hooked onto my pants waistband really got me hooked! Despite my feet being sore (okay, I guess I don't usually walk that much on a daily basis!) I realized I didn't eat as much during the day, and I really felt so much better the next morning…like I invested some healthy exercise time for my body and didn't want to blow it with a junky breakfast. Besides, I really did use my organization diet cards while I was away, and my Breakfast card was always the first one I tucked away each morning after making sure I started the day with something healthy. The next day, we walked over to Epcot center for a half day and evening and still managed to rack up another 17,000 steps! Maybe this could be the thing I need when I get back home. Using a pedometer daily might just be a great fall back tool for those days you can't get to the gym or don't have the extra energy to jump onto your exercise bike or treadmill.
It is said that for optimum health, adults should log in at least 10,000 steps daily.
Well, the results were great for me. Using a pedometer plus my organization diet cards (I keep them in a travel envelope rather than a file box while on vacation) helped me not only lose a few pounds while on vacation (something usually unheard of for me!) but getting back to my daily routines, once home, somehow seemed easier this year. I would highly recommend purchasing and using a pedometer of your own. They are not expensive (approx $8-$20 depending on brand). Once home, on a day I didn't get out very much because of the snow, I logged in 2,000 steps for that day…obviously way short of the 10,000 steps I supposedly need for the day. Well, that lower number actually motivated me to get onto my treadmill for 20 minutes so I could tuck away that daily exercise card…that sometimes remains on my counter staring at me and begging me to 'just do it' already so I can tuck him away with my water and diet cards! Oh, another help for me this year, while on vacation, was having a 'water consumption buddy'…my ten year old daughter. The two of us made sure we drank our 8 glasses of water each day (something we sometimes forget about when we are away from home)…and trust me, if I was lagging with my water consumption, Lindsay was the first to remind me that she was on her sixth or seventh water, "how many waters have you finished, Mom?" Okay, that would be enough for me to pull out my water bottle and start drinking!
It was nice to hear from so many of you while I was away. So many new readers have just found this blog and are enjoying it. I do suggest to those new readers to scroll back through some of my previous blogs, such as the first week of January when we started the Organization Diet program to pick up on some of the basics of the program, such as creating your initial base cards. Then you can start with current blogs and when we're done with this leg of the program, feel free to head back to the January blogs to later begin those weeks you had missed. I did try to respond to most of you while away, but I was using an old laptop that wasn't the most reliable, so if my emails seemed sketchy, I apologize. Please continue sending me your comments and progress notes on the program…along with what part of the country you live in. I am collecting testimonials to share in the book I am working on. I will never use your last name unless you say I can. I also have a diet & de-cluttering questionnaire I welcome participants to fill out. Please email me to request your copy of the questionnaire! [email protected]
This week we begin WEEK 8 on the program. Can you believe it? Isn't it nice to see your homes finally taking shape again? We are more sensitive to our environments than you think! It really is easier to stick with healthier living habits when our surroundings promote clarity.
Instead of a weekly pit stop card this week, I want you to create another daily organization card. On another file card, write the words "Make BED daily". Now, this might not apply to all of you. If you already make your bed each day, you've got an easy week ahead of you! It occurred to me, while away on vacation…even when I had a hotel maid come to the room each day, I always have to at least 'semi-make' the bed before she comes, quite simply because I cannot stand having a non-made bed in my view! My husband always laughs at me making the hotel bed because I can't wait until whenever the maid gets to our room! But that's when it occurred to me that I should include a daily make-bed card in the organization diet program. When I was working on my first book "SIMPLE STEPS: 10 Weeks to Getting Control Of Your Life", I was astonished at how many people I came across that simply never got into the little 2 minute habit of making their bed when they got up each morning! And if you read that chapter in the book, it might open your eyes to the many benefits a made bed can offer you. Quite simply, since the bed acts as the anchor (or focal point) of the bedroom…and it's the first room you encounter when you wake up….a fresh made bed offers you a taste of instant tidiness to begin your day with! Something so little can be very empowering!
The clutter critter to get rid of this week: Any and all straggling laundry baskets filled with dirty or clean laundry! Okay, this doesn't necessarily mean that you will actually be 'throwing out' the clothes (unless you haven't used the clothes sitting in the basket for months!) but finally getting them into the washing machine to get laundered or tucked away into drawers and closets! I have found, in my many years as a professional organizer that the biggest laundry problem people have is not allowing enough time to complete the laundry cycle: gathering, washing, drying, sorting, folding …and putting the clothes away!!! It's amazing how many people leave clean clothes sitting in laundry baskets on the floor of their laundry room or bedroom. This week, let's work on clearing the floors, stacking up the laundry baskets till laundry day and making an effort NOT to place a laundry basket on the floor again!
Remember to keep up with all 18 base cards now! Continue and complete any organization project you have started, eat healthy….and start using a pedometer today!
Stepping into good health is what The Organization Diet is all about! Good luck, till next week…Lisa (email: )  posted on: 2/26/2008 12:30:00 PM by Lisa Lelas
category: Special Populations
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An Organization Diet -- Lose the clutter and drop the weight
by Lisa Lelas
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About Lisa:
Lisa Lelas is an author, life coach, professional organizer and speaker on the subject of simplifying, enhancing and organizing one's life. The owner of Life Styling, in Guilford, on the Connecticut Shoreline, Lisa has been featured on Oprah Winfrey, the Today Show, NBC news, Redbook, Ladies Home Journal and more. She is the creator/host of the country's first daily talk radio feature "The Organizing Minute" and has come to be known in New England as "the organizing lady" from her many regular segments on local TV network affiliates, radio & the press. Lisa is the author of the bestselling 'Simple Steps: 10 Weeks to Getting Control of Your Life', 'Simple Steps for Every Holiday', Simple Steps Audio-book (6 CD set), an all new Simple Steps wall calendar 2008, and creator of a retail line of floral hand painted and collaged organizing bins called 'Blooming Bins'. Lisa lives in Guilford, CT with her husband, John, two daughters, Lindsay 10 and Lexy 8 and her very spoiled, very cute maltese dog, Daisy!
Lisa's Website:
www.lifestylingwithlisa.com
Lisa's Products:
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