Monday, July 30, 2007

Clutter Battles - Part 4 - Turning the Tide

I forgot to take a "before" photo.

This past week was a clutter battle blitz. For a variety of reasons, the universe conspired (in a good way) to give me some space and mental capacity to get rid of some of my clutter - primarily in the area of children's clothing. So far, I have gotten 23 grocery bags out the door to new homes. Yes, I really said twenty-three!!! So where did they go? Most of them were "recycled".

* 5 bags to a friend who is having a boy
* 5 bags to a friend who is having a girl
* 5 bags to Goodwill
* 2 bags to a consignment shop (and now I have $61 credit there)
* 1 bag to another consignment shop (where my daughter got two skirts as trade)
* 3 bags paper recycling (2 of them were shredded on our new shredder)
* 2 bags to other friends (one is clothes loaned to my kids, one is clothes we are giving to someone else)

I also got my office painted and my shelving units installed. I have put my already organized bins onto the shelving units and am hoping to move my desk back into my office this week. We have a lot of work still to do but it feels so great to be making progress. It is very freeing!

Another area I am working on at the same time as working on my clutter is my health. One habit that I am finding hard to break is not eating within 2 hours of bedtime. During the week I do ok but on the weekend, especially Sunday nights, I have a hard time. I have heard that it takes 21 days to form a new habit. Does anyone out there have any good ideas for breaking this habit or replacing it with a new, healthy habit? I'd love to hear from you.

6 comments:

Bob Gately said...

So, the question to me is, "What's the trigger?". Where is your difficulty coming from? Why is Sunday not like the other 6 dyas in the wek? Are you sitting down and eating some chips while you unwind after the children are in bed? Are you nibbling as you make lunches for yourself for the next couple of days? When I quit smoking I had to change the trigger that caused my right hand to reach for the pack. You have to discover the trigger and eliminate it.

Anonymous said...

Maureen here -- I agree with Bob. See if there is a trigger, even if it's just that you have time on your hands.

My recipe:
- Keep boiling water at hand -- either in your hot water keeper or as I do, in a thermos.
- add herb tea to giant mug [I mix different ones together, mint plus something else most often
- fill mug 1/2 way with hot, and the rest with room temp. water
- when I've consumed 1/2, I add more boiling water and continue doing so all evening.

I often find that when I think I crave food, hydrating helps. Plus there's a warm comfort fro me from the hot bev. Nice if you're just needing comfort food.

Anonymous said...

Maureen [Again] - Erin's given me permission to upload any/all ideas I have on this topic. I was enjoying a glass of Cranberry Emer'gen-C last night -- a fizzy, yummy, vitamin powder that is added to water -- and thought "what if you made a ritual out of enjoying your Cran C beverage on Sunday night, and add your vitamins, and a few luscious pieces of fruit?" Then you would be turning a habit you're not completely fond of, into one that you can savor and feel good about. Then, play Scrabble!

Oh, or take a bubble bath!

ering said...

Thank you for your comments. I don't know what the trigger is. Perhaps it is just that making it through 2.5 days with the children makes me a little crazy...and I compensate by eating too much. How would I change that trigger???

I do like the idea of trying to find something besides food. Tea might be a good one for me. There are so many teas to choose from these days. I also like the idea of the Emergen-C. We haven't gotten that in a long time. I will have to get another box. And cranberry is definitely my favorite.

As for the bath...I will have to pass. I am definitely not a bath person.

Anonymous said...

From Maureen: It occurs to me that it might be a habit simply because you had no choice but to consume a great deal of calories and vitamins while pregnant and nursing twins. The sheer volume of calories it takes to do that.... I'm not sure I can wrap my brain around that!

ering said...

If I had to guess...I would say around 4000 calories per day! It has been hard to break that cycle of eating.