36 pounds lighter…

Not me, my house. That’s right. As an update to my previous post, “cluttered ramblings” I have been very busy purging. These were my original goals:

1. Paper purge – I am going to go through the papers piling up on my desk, some of which are obvious trash. I will also go through the mail…boo. If I have time I will move on to the file cabinets.

2. Closet purge – I am going to go through my closet and dresser drawers (even though I just did this in October) and rid myself of any clothes, shoes, socks, etc. that I can.

3. Bathroom purge – I will go through the bathroom and get rid of any old bottles of hair products, makeup, etc. This shouldn’t be too hard since I don’t really keep a lot of these types of products around. Also, Michael organized our bathroom a few months ago, so I won’t have too much work to do (no, ladies you cannot have him). I know there are some items I can toss, however.

I had hoped to accomplish this all in one week, but I didn’t get through all of it.

I did spend a significant amount of time going through paper, bills, mail etc. I managed to get rid of 27 POUNDS OF PAPER!!! There is still a little bit of mail left and our file cabinet is in a really inconvenient place in our garage, so I was unable to go through it.

I went through my closet and got rid of 9 POUNDS OF CLOTHING. Yes, I weighed it. I am neurotic. I went through my sock and underwear drawers and got rid of things I never wear. I still have yet to do the bathroom purge. It is really not going to take me long, but I just couldn’t ever convince myself to do it. All in all, I am feeling pretty good about my progress.

So, did anyone see Oprah last week? She did an episode based on Peter Walsh’s new book, Does This Clutter Make My Butt Look Fat? I never really watch Oprah anymore, but when I read the title of the episode, I was very intrigued. I was even more thrilled when I found out the connection to Peter Walsh. Being the organizational freak that I am, I love him. Who remembers him from Clean Sweep on TLC? The following are a couple of things he said on the show:

"People were contacting me … saying that, 'Suddenly I discovered that by clearing my space, I'm making much healthier food choices and I am starting to lose weight,'"

"Eating more and buying more is an attempt to fill the need for something more," he says. "Until you get those underlying issues dealt with, all the rest is a waste of time."

I really do find this very interesting. It is something I realized a long time ago. When my house is a mess, I feel lethargic and incapable of getting much accomplished. On the flip side, when my house is perfectly spotless…I feel like I can conquer the world.

So now that I have purged 36 pounds of ‘clutter’, will my body be 36 pounds lighter? If only…