Spring Cleaning for Weight Loss Benefits in All Aspects of Your Life

[Alex Brecher 10,512]

When the snow melts and the sun comes out after a long winter, spring cleaning is a natural ritual for most of us. Almost all of us feel more energized when the air is fresh, new leaves appear, and birds are chirping. Spring cleaning your house lets you get rid of the dustiness of winter and give you the feeling of a new start. Did you realize that whether you are before or after weight loss surgery, your health and weight can benefit from cleaning your house? And what if you could apply your spring-time energy to cleaning up other aspects of your life, and in doing so, improve your weight loss?

You can! Keep reading to find out how you can live a cleaner lifestyle and give yourself a boost in the meantime. A bit of tidying up can help keep your weight loss on track, or help you break a plateau if you’ve been stuck for a while.

Spring Clean Your House

A large part of having cleaner home is about peace of mind and lower stress levels. Having less stress helps reduce hunger and lets you make better diet decisions. Beyond this, a clean home lets you be more efficient because you know where things are and you do not have to wade through piles of useless things. Housecleaning also burns calories, so it’s a good thing for weight loss! Sweeping, raking, washing windows and floors, and scrubbing counters all get you moving and promote weight loss.

As you clean, don’t forget to clean your closets. It is an excellent time to get rid of the oversized clothes that you plan to never be able to wear again. Seeing your progress can be extremely motivating, and removing these clothes makes room for new, smaller sizes that you will need to buy as you continue to lose weight.

Spring Clean Your Diet

You lose weight fastest when your diet is spic and span, and part of your spring cleaning should focus on your diet. Look carefully at whether your diet is as clean as it needs to be to stay healthy and lose weight. Are you measuring each bite? Are you choosing Protein and vegetables first, and avoiding sugary foods that will make you sick?

It’s far easier to follow your weight loss surgery diet plan when your kitchen is set up well. Get rid of any tempting junk foods that have snuck into your pantry and refrigerator, and stock up on healthy foods, such as tuna, vegetables, turkey, chicken breast, fruit and eggs. Dig out your food scale and measuring spoons from under the clutter, and use them consistently.

Spring Clean Your Commute

A nice side benefit of cleaning up your lifestyle is being able to help the environment. You can reduce air pollution and noise pollution by walking or biking whenever you can. If you are lucky enough to live near to your workplace, you may be able to walk or bike to work. If that’s not practical for you, you can still walk more and drive less. Take a healthy lunch to work instead of driving to pick something up from a restaurant at lunch time. On weekends, challenge yourself to drive less. Park further away from destinations, and walk the final few blocks instead of driving.

Driving is so ingrained in us that sometimes we don’t even realize that we could walk. Try to get in the habit of asking yourself whether you can walk from your home. If not, consider whether you can park in a central location and do several nearby errands on foot. You might be able to park in a supermarket parking lot to do your food shopping, and walk to the library, post office, or other stores without moving the car. Each half-mile that you walk burns about 50 calories.

Of course, if you do take the car to drop off and pick up your children, turn the engine off to reduce air pollution. Then get out of the car and give yourself a workout by walking until your children are ready to come home.

Spring Clean Your Schedule

Lack of time is a common excuse for all sorts of unhealthy behaviors. You might opt for fast food because you have no time to purchase and prepare healthy foods. You might not get enough protein during the day because you are too busy preparing your children’s lunch to focus on yourself in the morning. Maybe you regularly skip workouts because you do not have time to exercise. You may overeat because you do not have time to measure portions. And, whether or not you realize it, you may be cranky because you are too busy.

That stops now. Take a hard look at your daily and weekly schedule, and clean it up if necessary. There may be several ways to tidy up your schedule so that you can fit in the healthy behaviors that will help you lose weight.

• Search your daily schedule for wasted minutes. They add up! How much time do you spend texting your family and friends and updating your social media profiles online? We’re not suggesting that you stop these activities, but being aware of them can help you weed out the non-essential parts.
  
• Skip the television occasionally. Instead of watching a 30-minute television program, go for a walk. Or, instead of walking it from the couch, hit the treadmill or do some calisthenics while you watch.
  
• Multi-task to save time. For example, you don’t have to sit down to talk to your children about their days. Talk to them while you’re in the kitchen making dinner together or you’re taking a walk.
  
• Get better sleep. Sleep in a dark, quiet, cool room to get better sleep and wake up more refreshed after less time.
  

Spring is a time of new chances, and this spring, you can clean up your entire lifestyle to feel better and lose more weight. All it takes is a close examination of some of the different areas of your life, and you will feel better about your weight loss surgery journey.

[BigGirlPanties 957]

I was planning on shaking the cobwebs out this weekend, as a matter of fact!

[rome 156]

What a great metaphor!

Cleaned the house now on to the rest! Thanks for the article!

[☠carolinagirl☠ 18,721]

alex, another GREAT post

thanks for this

CG

[LilMissDiva Irene 3,282]

Spring cleaning from the inside... ahhh nicely said.

[chasingadream 1,311]

Definitely need to do some spring cleaning and re-evaluate my food choices and my level of exercise as of late!

Thanks for providing another great article that really helps me look at what I need to do to help myself.

[Bandista 7,466]

Great piece!

[Prudence Ticknor 75]

perfect timing! As I sit at my work desk with stacks of unorganized papers on it and I feel the anxiety it is creating in me. I am committing to organizing my office today! Thank you for the article!

[LinnsTime 1]

Wonderful article.

I am having a Garage Sale with all of the "cleaningup" I've been doing for the past month. As I downsize I am downsizing my surroundings.