One of the best ways that I’ve found to keep me focused on weight loss recently is getting organized.

Most importantly getting organized can take away some of the excuses for not working out or eating properly.

For many years my house and work space have been a complete mess. I first started with my workspace after reading a post titled “The Benefits of a Clean and Tidy Workspace”. I had papers all over the place, dust on my pictures and drawers overflowing with junk. In general everything was cluttered and only added to an already stressful day.

At the Office

Once I cleaned and organized my desk and drawers I made space for my healthy snacks, my food journal as well as a place to keep my “motivational” items. Which include a list of my goals and a picture of me at my heaviest.

In the Kitchen

This is the area that you will see the most benefit from getting organized. I have all my Tupperware, saran wrap and baggies organized in the cupboards. This makes it easy to prepare my lunches and snacks for the week.

In the fridge, everything has a place.

Fruits in the right drawer, veggies in the left.

Drink containers, Yogurt, sauces and spreads on the top shelve.

Larger veggies and fruit, like cantaloupe, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, cut up pineapples and watermelon, and romaine lettuce all go on the middle shelve.

Meats and milk stay on the bottom shelve.

Condiments and salad dressings go in the door.

The same kind of organization goes for the freezer and the pantry. Knowing where everything is reduces the time it takes to prepare your meals and some of the stress involved.

In your home gym or workout area

If you are like me they you have a space in your house where you like to workout and store all of your exercise related items. I have my treadmill, exercise mat, dumbbells exercise ball, and workout shoes stored in one corner of my basement.

I’ve recently started keeping my workout clothes down there as well. I keep at least 2 sets hanging clean and ready to go when I need them. When I’m done with my workout all the equipment gets cleaned and put back in its original place.

In your bathroom

The room with the mirror. This is where I weigh in, take my measurements and get a good look at where the pounds and inches are coming off. An organized bathroom is so important. It’s usually the first place you go to in the morning and can set the tone for the rest of the day.

My scale, measuring tape and record book are all neatly placed beside the vanity for easy access. I also have a spot on my mirror where I keep another picture of myself when I was overweight. It serves as a reminder of how far I’ve come.

Final thought on getting organized

A huge part of losing weight is changing your lifestyle. I believe that mess and clutter go hand in hand with your weight problems. I also think that for most people if their house and work space are constantly disorganized chances are that their thoughts are too. And that is where the real battle of the bulge is fought.

One last tip

I used to always forget to take my multi-vitamin in the morning. The bottle was stored in a cupboard with all the other odds and ends (medicine, gravy boat etc..). Since getting organized I have moved them to a shelve in the hall where I keep my keys. Now I can’t leave the house without seeing the bottle and I haven’t had a day without one since.

What if I told you that there is a way to eat where you could lose weight and have a ton of energy without starving yourself? Would you try it?

The best part is that you don’t need to pop any pills, register for any programs or buy any books. This is a simple eating plan that I follow religiously and have seen incredible results from.

Basically I eat 5 meals per day that range from a minimum of 300 to a maximum of 400 calories each. Each meal is as evenly spaced as I can manage. My hunger is in check and I have so much more energy now eating fewer calories than I did when I ate a lot more food.

Why It Works

For most of us, our bodies can only store 300-400 calories of useable energy in the form of glucose at any one time. Anything more that is not used gets converted and stored as fat.

So when you eat a large meal like a Big Mac combo. Which is roughly 1100 calories, 700 or so of those calories get stored as fat. This of course assumes that you are fairly inactive after the meal.

By eating 300-400 calories evenly spaced out this provides you with a steady flow of energy without adding to your existing fat stores.

For example: If I eat 400 calories at breakfast, which is 7am. That should provide me with enough energy to last until my next meal at 10am. Since I am just going about my normal day and not really doing intense exercise. My body shouldn’t need any more than that to keep me going.

By eating like this I have reduced my daily calorie intake to anywhere from 1500 to 2000 calories a day. This puts me in a perfect position to lose weight even without daily exercise.

Now I can eat pretty much anything I want to as long as it stays within that 300-400 calorie range. Junk food is not off limits and I don’t feel restricted as to the kinds of foods I can eat. That helps relieve some of the stress associated with a new diet plan.

My Eating Schedule

Meal 1 - Breakfast – 7am

Meal 5 – Dinner - 7pm

You can obviously tailor this to your own specific schedule. But try to keep 3 hours in between your meals. That should provide you with the maximum benefit. Anything longer than that isn’t good either.

Here is where the change in your lifestyle happens. After you eat this way for a week or so you start to really understand the importance of eating lower calories foods. You can eat a ton of fruit and veggies for a relatively small amount of calories. Leaner meats also have the same beneficial ingredients (protein, vitamins and minerals) but for much less fat and calories. Naturally you begin to look for healthy options so that you can eat more without sacrificing your waistline.

One Final Note

If you do plan on exercising while following an eating plan like this make sure you eat something with in 1 hour from the end of your workout. I have found this to be extremely helpful in recovering your energy for the rest of the day. You should also see better results from those workouts.