Help for Clutter, Hoarding and Emotional Eating at NurturingHope.com

How Do You Deal With Feeling Overwhelmed?

Catherine — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 10:47:16 +0000

Last week, I sent an email to the Nurturing Hope email list with a link to a survey with questions related to our thoughts about clutter and emotional eating. I was amazed at how many people took the time to respond — thank you!

One question asked, “What is the single most challenging issue you face in relation to clutter and/or emotional eating?” Over 80 people answered this question. As I read through the answers, a strong theme stood out:

I just get so overwhelmed with it all, not knowing where to start or where to put things.

I was feeling overwhelmed.

The clutter overwhelms me. I do not know where to begin.

I get overwhelmed.

It is so overwhelming to look at the big picture.

I get overwhelmed with what to do with everything.

Overwhelmed: To be rendered powerless especially by an excessive amount or profusion of something.

“Overwhelmed.” What a perfect word to describe the paralysis that we feel when clutter and emotional eating seem to be controlling our lives. The clutter and the excess weight seem to literally drag us down and immobilize us.

I felt this way for years. Paper, garbage, junk, clothes and stuff piled up higher and higher as if they had a life of their own. And the excess body fat piled on in much the same way. I was literally drowning and yet I felt powerless against the tide of clutter and emotional eating. I felt overwhelmed in every sense of the word.

But then something shifted — not suddenly but gradually. Back then I felt overwhelmed. Now I feel empowered.

How did this happen? I took back control of my life in tiny baby steps. First one little tweak, then another, then another. Sometimes I would backslide — and sometimes I still do — but even when I backslid I was still further ahead than where I started. Three steps forward, one step back — or even three steps forward and two steps back. The sum of the little tweaks was always positive change.

Even now, I sometimes feel overwhelmed by life. What works for me when I recognize that feeling of powerlessness is to take back my power starting with the easiest thing first. I make our bed or I clear my desk or I start a load of laundry. I take a walk in the sunshine. I find some small and do-able way to exert power over my life that I know will make me feel better. I know I don’t have to deal with everything all at once.

“Small and do-able” varies from person to person and situation to situation. If you are feeling overwhelmed, what can you do, right now, to exert just a little power over your life or your home?

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Easy Soup Recipes for Cluttered Kitchens

Catherine — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 13:15:38 +0000

I adore soup. There is something so comforting about a big pot of hot soup on the stove, and my family always feels like they have had a “real” homecooked meal when it’s a soup night.

We make soup at least once or twice a week, especially in the winter. I make split pea soup, leek and potato soup, turkey vegetable soup, spicy tomato vegetable soup — the list goes on and on. A good soup has so much going for it:

It’s hot, homemade and delicious.
Packed with nutritious veggies, beans and/or grains.
Only uses one pot and the stove top — easy to prepare and easy cleanup.
Soup is peasant food, so the ingredients are typically economical and easy to find.
Hearty enough to be the centerpiece of the meal, with or without a crusty loaf of bread.
Yummy leftovers. (This is only a plus if you love leftovers, like our family does!)

Looking to start easy? Here is a list of yummy soup recipes that have no more than five ingredients:

If you’re an experienced cook or want to get a little more complex, try these delicious soups:

Soup night is my favorite way to get a healthy, economical meal on the table with almost no effort Enjoy!

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Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/roby72/

Designing a Winning Breakfast

Catherine — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 07:57:00 +0000

Last year, I started going to the gym on a regular basis. At first I would go in the afternoon, but then I tried going to the gym in the morning and something really clicked. When I work out in the morning, I feeling of calm and relaxation lingers all day. But there was something missing — I haven’t really created a good pre-workout breakfast routine.

Lately I started thinking that it would be really good to design a healthy, delicious breakfast to eat every morning before my workout instead of just grabbing whatever on the way to the gym.

My perfect breakfast would:

Feature yogurt so that I can make probiotics a daily instead of “sometimes” habit (yogurt is also a great source of protein).
Contain nuts and/or flax, both good sources of Omega 3 healthy fats and proteins.
Be delicious enough to eat every day without getting boring.

So the perfect solution for me seems to be muesli or granola with plain yogurt. I can make the muesli/granola from scratch (cheaper, and I know what has gone into it) and keep it in the freezer so that I only have to make it once every couple of weeks.

Here are a couple of recipes I’m going to try:

This power breakfast habit is going to be my tweak for March

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Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/christiansvaneskolding/

Decluttering Craft Supplies and Tools — Things to Think About

Catherine — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 15:09:55 +0000

First off, I have to be honest and say that I’m not a crafter. My mom is a talented and sought-after artisan quilter and I grew up watching her acquire and stash lots of crafting supplies. Now that she is retired and free to quilt a LOT, the stash has grown

Many crafters like to have a lot of supplies and tools on hand in order to be well prepared for current and upcoming projects. Many also have a number of unfinished or in progress projects to organize. The key is to balance your crafting inventory with the space available so that you can easily find what you need and spend your time enjoying crafting rather than searching for supplies and tools.

This is an incomplete list of ideas but I hope it will be a starting point. And if you are a crafter, I would love to see your comment here here about decluttering and organizing strategies that work for you.

You could think about what space you have to devote to your supplies and tools. What is the volume? How much, in percentage terms, of your stash would you have to cull in order to fit it into your space with room to spare? Perhaps you can highgrade and keep the very best tools and materials?
Do you have any duplicate tools? I have found that now that the clutter is gone, I only need one of each tool because every tool has a home. I always know where something is when I need to find it. Could you pass along all the duplicates and just keep the best of each item?
Who could benefit from the decluttered extras? Are there any schools or clubs who could use the supplies? What about posting your extras on Craigslist or Freecycle? Maybe you have a friend who is interested in getting started in your craft?
Perhaps you can take a look at your unfinished projects and upcoming planned projects. If you estimate, how much time total will these projects will take to complete. How much time do you have to devote to your craft? Are there any projects you can pass along to someone else who has the time to complete them?
Cara at Repurposeful suggests storing unfinished projects in reused plastic bedsheet cases.
For beaders, Geralin of Metropolitan Organizing suggests using florists “water picks” to organize those tiny beads.
Beth from MySimplerLife.com suggests, “Give yourself a time limit on unfinished projects. Either finish them or let them go. Letting go means room for new projects.”

Please leave your favorite organization and decluttering tips in the comments below!

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Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ambernussbaum/

Are You Churning or Decluttering?

How I Found the One

Catherine — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 19:54:34 +0000

Our Wedding - 2005

This is really a Friday Fun post, but it’s a day late )

In my early adulthood I didn’t have a clue about men or love. I made a lot of bad decisions. And then, shortly after I turned 30 I began adding Tweaks or positive habits to my life. Gradually, I began to realize that I am a worthy, precious person and I slowly started to treat myself accordingly.

Magic started to happen. I got happier and it showed. Men started to notice me. It dawned on me in a blinding realization that fat does not mean unattractive. I was an attractive, vibrant woman even though I was still very heavy.
Once I realized that there were in fact PLENTY of men who found me attractive, a funny thing happened. I got picky about men. In fact, I got super picky. I stopped considering men I would have dated out of desperation before. I stopped considering men who seemed “okay.” I was holding out for just the right one and I knew I’d find him.

And now the truly magical part: I did. One day I got a response at an online personals site that got my attention right away. An attractive man with a sweet, sensitive face who spoke to me in a way that made me think that he really read my profile and got it. We talked, and we talked and we talked some more. The sense of “this man really understands how I think and what I value” was overwhelming. I still wasn’t sure because we hadn’t met, so I was holding my heart safe. But then we met and he was everything he seemed to be, and he smelled good too! (Never fall in love with a man you haven’t smelled yet LOL — chemistry is critical.)

This man is Martin, my husband, and we have been life partners for over six years. Every day I have to pinch myself because I cannot believe how fortunate I was to find such a tender, generous and passionate man. I know for certain that I found him because I waited until the right guy came along.

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Tweak: Replace Trans Fats with Healthy Fats

Catherine — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 10:15:16 +0000

I started to avoid trans fats in 2004 and I believe that it has played a big part in improving my health. Over time, as I gradually replaced or slowly eliminated the major trans fat culprits in my diet, I noticed that I was eating far less processed food — another big plus. Almost all of the foods we eat at home now are fresh “real” foods instead of packaged, factory-produced foods.

But this was a gradual change. I didn’t turn into a health nut overnight, and I didn’t stop eating processed foods entirely (I still eat them occasionally — perfection is boring). Doing the healthy thing most of the time — not 100% of the time — has paid off.

Fat has gotten a bad rap. Once upon a time, I thought that the sure way to weight loss was to eliminate as much fat as possible from my diet (remember Susan Powter?). But that just made me tired, have dull skin and hair, and I frequently got sick. Good fats give you a lot of bang for your energy buck because they can actively improve your health, especially the Omega-3s, as you’ll see below.

Trans Fats: What Are They and Why Are They Bad?

What’s the problem with trans fats? Study after study has established that consumption of trans fats increases the risk of heart disease, increases total blood cholesterol and reduces the “good” cholesterol.

Trans fats (trans-fatty acids) are created when oils are processed in such a way that they become solid at room temperature (hydrogenation).

Trans fats are not found in significant quantity in nature — they are produced by commercial food processing. Therefore, processed, factory- or restaurant-produced foods such as some commercial baked goods (crackers, cookies, etc.), fried foods (doughnuts and french fries), shortening and margarine are the foods to look out for. Check ingredients labels and look for the words “partially hydrogenated.”

Healthy Fats: Why Are They Good?

Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, on the other hand, lower the risk of heart disease by reducing the total cholesterol and also the “bad” cholesterol in blood.

Omega-3 fatty acids (a particular type of polyunsaturated fat) are particularly healthy. Omega-3s decrease the risk of heart disease, protect against irregular heartbeats and lower blood pressure.

Examples of Foods Rich in Healthy Fats

As I turned away from foods with trans fats, I increased my intake of healthy fats. For example, I snack on almonds instead of potato chips and I make carrot cake or banana bread at home occasionally, with sunflower or canola oil, in place of buying packaged cake.

Here are some good sources of healthy fats:

Monounsaturated fat: Olive oil, peanut oil, canola oil, avocados, nuts and seeds.

Polyunsaturated fat: Vegetable oils (safflower, corn, sunflower, soy and cottonseed oils), nuts and seeds.

Omega-3 fatty acids: fatty, cold water fish (e.g. wild salmon, sardines, mackeral and herring), flaxseeds, flax oil, walnuts, Omega-3 eggs.

I’d love to hear ways that you’ve made the switch to reduce trans fats and increase healthy fats, so go ahead and leave a comment!

Read all the posts about replacing trans fats with healthy fats here.

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Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/themadman/

Designing a Winning Breakfast

Monday Link Roundup

Catherine — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 12:45:15 +0000

Today’s Monday Link Roundup centers around hoarding and decluttering. If your home is seriously cluttered, beginning to declutter for 15 minutes per day is the single most effective tweak you can begin today to transform your life.

What do I mean by “seriously cluttered”? If you have areas of your home that cannot be used for their intended purpose, then your life — and your family’s – is being seriously impacted by the clutter. For example, sometimes a family cannot eat at the dining room table because it is covered with stuff. Or a sofa or chair is out of commission because it has a heap of clutter on top. Sometimes people stop using beds, bedrooms or even bathrooms because the clutter has taken over. Is this you? Commit to turning the problem around for just 15 minutes a day — I promise you will be amazed at the results of a little consistent daily focus.

Here are the links:

HoardHouse.com is an evolving media project by three Columbia University journalism grad students. The project explores the issue of hoarding in New York City, drawing from interviews with psychologists, social workers and hoarders themselves. Sometimes when you are in the middle of this problem it is comforting to know that you are not alone, and that others have similar or even more serious issues with clutter.
Does Decluttering Make Sense in Hard Economic Times? This is the question posed by the writers at OnSimplicity.net. When we feel poor or when we’re even worried about the financial future, the scarcity mindset kicks in and it’s harder to release clutter. This article makes excellent points about why it’s just as important to declutter now as ever.
“The Rules” About Paper. Does paper pile up as fast as you can eliminate it? ClutterDietBlog.com breaks down paper clutter maintenance and prevention into 10 straightforward rules. Great stuff!
Decluttering a Loved One’s Possessions. Sometimes the sad tipping point from a little bit of clutter into complete chaos is when a loved one passes on or has to go into long-term care. We are faced with their many possessions and no idea how to decide what to keep and what to part with. This thoughtful article suggests ways to bring clarity and effectiveness to the decision-making process.

Here’s hope for an abundant, joyful and productive week! )

Read all the posts about decluttering here.

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Interviewed on Moms Talk Network

Catherine — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 12:44:05 +0000

It’s been a busy week!

On Wednesday I was interviewed by the wonderful Kelly McCausey over at Moms Talk Network. You can find the interview on the Moms Resource Blog.

I talked about travel, my family and gave some advice for moms who are struggling with clutter and/or emotional eating. Go have a look!

A Treat for Valentine’s Day

A Treat for Valentine’s Day

Catherine — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 11:36:34 +0000

Jimmy Moore

I have been a fan of Jimmy Moore for years now. Jimmy and I have something in common. Like me, he too was once super morbidly obese and he has lost an amazing 170 pounds. His life’s work is to show others how to achieve the weight loss success he has had with low carb eating, and he shares his message at the popular Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Blog.

What I love most about Jimmy is that everything he does is an illustration of his enthusiastic, joyful approach to life.

This week, Jimmy interviewed Karly Pitman about Valentine’s Day and how to show love to others and, even more importantly, ourselves. Jimmy calls this interview “a soothing, hot bubble bath” and I could not have said it better. I hope you take some time today or this weekend to immerse yourself in this comforting and empowering message. Click here to listen to Jimmy’s interview with Karly.

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More Yogurt Benefits!

Catherine — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 11:59:10 +0000

Not only is regular consumption of yogurt thought to be a positive factor for weight control but a recent report from a study that followed 80,000 people in Sweden tells us that people who eat yogurt every day are less likely to develop bladder cancer.

This is another good reason to make yogurt a regular part of your meals. Remember, yogurt in the morning is a great way to add protein to your breakfast!

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bikinisleepshirt/

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Tweak: Daily Personal Grooming

Catherine — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 15:43:47 +0000

I have never in my life had a hair and makeup routine that stuck — 99% of the time I have worn no makeup and my hair has been wash and wear. This past weekend I took a few minutes to put on some makeup and straighten my hair (it was picture time). The difference was amazing. Why not show this face to the world every day? I have decided that making time for my makeup and hair styling every day will be my tweak this month.

Years ago during my dark times when I was depressed, I sometimes went days without even a shower. You may be in this place right now. When you’re not ready to face the world because you’ve let personal grooming go, it reinforces the isolated despair of depression.

You get to define what daily grooming means to you. Perhaps your goal when you implement this tweak is just to make sure that you hop in the shower or enjoy a bath every day. Maybe you want to take your personal presentation up a notch for personal and/or career reasons, and this means a more extensive grooming routine. You can revisit this tweak every now and then as you add something new to your grooming rituals.

When you choose the Personal Grooming tweak, you can also use the month to focus on other self-care you may have been putting off: a trip to the dentist, a new hairstyle or just a trim, for example. What about a spa treatment or, if the budget is tight, making time for some spa time at home? Treat yourself with love and care and enjoy it, because you are worth it!

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/appaloosa/

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Monday Link Roundup

Catherine — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 07:48:05 +0000

Happy Monday everybody! I hope you had a weekend filled with inspiration, relaxation and renewal. As you start this week, take a moment to sit with yourself, breathe deeply, and tell yourself, “I am enough and I have enough.” Because you are and you do!

Here are some web pages that caught my attention last week. Take a look and see if you find some helpful information and new perspectives:

Frugal Dad asks “How Much Does it Cost in Life Energy?” When we buy things, how often do we translate the purchase price into the actual after-tax time it takes us to earn the money for the item? And don’t forget about interest if you’re buying on credit. This is an excellent question to ask oneself, and I will go one further. Also try asking yourself, what is the energy cost of the time this possession will require for its organization and maintenance during the time that I own it? I recently read something that rings so true, “The more stuff you own, the more your stuff owns you.”

On a related theme, the Dollar Stretcher has a piece on the hidden cost of clutter. I say that clearing clutter makes way for abundance, and this article illustrates one of the reasons why this is true. As soon as you start to declutter, you’ll see your budget starting to get healthier.

Thinking about or working on the Eat Consciously tweak? My Body Tutor has 17 tips to help avoid mindless eating.

A couple of weeks ago I blogged about decluttering a sentimental item. The other day I found an excellent article on Clutter Diet Blog with a number of creative strategies for clearing out clutter that still has some sentimental attachment.

Have an abundant and loving week!

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A New “Now” Picture

Catherine — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 21:04:21 +0000

I’ve put this off a long time! The previous “now” picture you’ve seen here was from our first trip to Florence, Italy in December 2007. I have spent my whole life being afraid of the camera, because for most of that time I was never happy with the images it took.

Old habits die hard I had been planning to do new pictures ever since I began working on NurturingHope.com. But I always put it off. I need a haircut, I should wait until I have this or that new item of clothing — the perfectionistic excuses went on and on. Even though I’m happy with my size and how I look most of the time, I have good days and bad days like everyone does.

So finally today, thanks to encouragement from a wonderful new friend Andrea at www.TheJuicyWoman.com, I took the plunge and had my husband Martin snap a new picture for the site. Here it is!

(I love the tile wall behind me — this is taken on our front terrace in the lovely little home we have rented for our stay here in Tunisia.)

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Celebrate Your Progress

Catherine — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 21:33:05 +0000

It’s so easy to focus on our shortcomings and ignore the amazing progress we make on this journey. This is called discounting the positive, something a lot of perfectionists tend to do. Many of us who clutter and emotionally eat definitely have perfectionistic tendencies. I sure do!

It’s like a gift when I have a flash of insight that turns my perception of reality upsidedown. Most of the time, I love those moments of sudden clarity and today I had one of them.

It’s been just over a year since I walked away from diets and eating plans. A year of eating whatever I want. And I’ve still been slowly and steadily burning off the extra fat my body carries. Some people call this intuitive eating; my goal is to eat what I really want when I’m hungry and stop eating when I’m full. It sounds easy, but of course it isn’t.

Learning to eat intuitively is a process and I’ve had lots of ups and downs. I don’t always honor myself by taking the time to think about what I really want to eat and then making sure that I feed myself what I want. I don’t always stop eating when I’m satisfied. And fairly often I still eat when I’m not hungry. I sometimes eat out of boredom, eat when I’m frustrated, eat when I’m fearful or angry or sad.

I know it’s not helpful to beat myself up when I fall short of the ideals of intuitive eating. But of course I feel disappointed and guilty sometimes when I know I have just eaten emotionally instead of out of hunger. Today I was pondering this and that is when the flash of insight struck.

Before I set out the goal of eating when hungry, I ate without any consideration whatsoever of whether I was hungry or not. I ate whenever I had the urge to eat, physical or emotional. (I was able to lose a substantial amount of weight eating whether I was hungry or not because I alternated between a plan that cut carbs and a low-fat, low GI plan. Neither plan restricted portions. However, eventually I reached a plateau at about 260 lbs and could not seem to go lower.)

So back to the insight! Today I realized that while, yes, I do still eat for emotional reasons sometimes, I am always conscious of doing so. I know when I’m eating to satisfy hunger and I know when I’m eating to try to stuff an emotion. And so of course I do far less emotional eating than I have ever done before in my life. I realized that I have a level of consciousness about my emotional eating that I have never, ever had before and that this consciousness has become a truly ingrained habit.

That’s progress! Instead of feeling disappointed that I do sometimes still emotionally eat, I can feel proud that I am so aware of my body’s hunger cues and my urges to eat for emotional reasons.

Can you turn your perceptions around to see if there are any victories hiding behind your disappointments? What are they?

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/furryscalyman/

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Christmas and Emotional Eating

Tunisian Food — A Great Example of the Healthy Mediterranean Diet

Catherine — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 18:12:49 +0000

Ever since we moved to the small North African country of Tunisia last summer, I have been thoroughly enjoying eating Tunisian food, both at restaurants and at home. I’ve also lost about 20 more pounds and I’m smaller than I have ever been since I was 21 years old! I don’t think this is a coincidence. Here’s why.

Tunisia has a long Mediterranean coastline and its cuisine is a fine example of the Mediterranean diet, rich in fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and beans, fish and poultry, nuts and good oils. These foods are high in antioxidants and fiber and nutrient-rich so they are naturally satisfying and healthy.

Tunisians love spicy food, and the national condiment and an ingredient in many dishes is a paste called harissa, made from garlic and smoked hot red peppers.

Some of the highlights of Tunisian food culture help illustrate why the traditional Mediterranean diet is so healthful:

Couscous is one of the most popular meals in North Africa. Couscous appears to be a finely-textured grain but the individual grains are actually made from semolina dough like pasta. I buy wholewheat couscous to increase the fiber and nutrient content. Couscous is frequently served with a stew of vegetables, sometimes with meat, chicken or poultry. Couscous can also be served as a desert steamed with dried fruits, nuts, spices and drizzled with honey.
An abundance of fruits and vegetables are grown in the northern coastal regions of Tunisia, where we live, and they are sold in the vast outdoor and indoor market nearby. Depending on the season, we can buy fresh dates, citrus fruit, apples, pomegranates, nectarines, pears, peaches, plums, strawberries, melons, tomatoes, eggplant, artichokes, green onions, leeks, cabbage (red and green), peppers, fennel, potatoes, sweet potatoes, cauliflower, fresh and cured olives and so much more.
Dried beans, chickpeas, and lentils are sold in bulk. Where we live, the most popular street food is a baguette filled with hot chickpeas, drizzled with olive oil and garnished with olives and tuna, egg or sardines. I had this for breakfast the other day before the gym — my husband and I split one sandwich and I was full for hours.
With such a long Mediterranean coastline, fish is a popular dish. Fresh grilled fish, fresh and canned tuna, octopus and squid all figure prominently.
Delicious Tunisian mint tea is made from green tea, black tea and mint. Full of antioxidants and, when purchased at a cafe, unfortunately sugar. I want to try substituting stevia for sugar.
What do Tunisians eat when they want a snack? Well, along with the deep fried sweets that are popular (we have these for a very occasional treat), a favorite snack option are the freshly roasted nuts and seeds that can be bought in little bags at ubiquitous little Fruits Secs stands.

Want to experiment with cooking Tunisian food? You can check out some yummy Tunisian recipes here.

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Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/skrb/

You Are Enough and You Have Enough!

Catherine — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 17:43:44 +0000

If you subscribe to the free Nurturing Hope newsletter you may have noticed that I frequently remind readers, “You are enough and you have enough!” This is an affirmation that I was given by my wonderful life coach, Bill Baren.

“I am enough and I have enough,” immediately resonated with me. Many times in my life I had found myself trying to make up for a sense of inadequacy by putting other people’s needs before my own. In the workplace, I worked long hours and took on unreasonable responsibilities. I got into relationships with people whose addiction issues ensured that I’d be called upon to rescue them. Instead of taking the time to truly nurture myself and put my needs first, I ate as a shortcut way to comfort myself. I ate when I was tired, I ate when I was angry and I ate when I was sad or lonely. I tried to make up for my perceived inadequacy by spending money and buying stuff.

And I always worried that I didn’t have enough or, worse, that I could not trust that I would have enough to survive in the future. If I could afford the food I craved now, I should buy a lot of it and eat as much as I could. Who knows when I would be able to buy it again! I bought my son piles of toys at Christmas because what if next year we were too poor to enjoy Christmas? And of course, when you don’t trust that you’ll have what you need in the future it’s natural to hang on to possessions as much as possible and as long as possible.

I have come to believe that emotional eating and clutter/hoarding both stem from a scarcity mindset. We fear that there isn’t enough love, approval, money, or comfort in the world, and we try to protect ourselves against this scarcity by eating and hoarding.

Where did this scarcity mindset come from? Many of us who struggle with emotional eating and clutter/hoarding didn’t get what we needed as kids or teens. This deprivation takes many forms: abuse or neglect or abandonment from a parent or parent figure, poverty or periods of financial insecurity, trauma or grief to name a few. We gather our piles of possessions around us and eat when we’re not hungry to try to eliminate the fear of not being enough or not having enough.

It’s natural and good to want to keep oneself safe and protect yourself from deprivation, but in the case of emotional eating and clutter, this normal and positive instinct to protect ourselves backfires. The result is a cluttered home and a body weighed down with fat.

What I’m asking you to do when you begin the Tweaks system is to start to trust. Trust yourself and trust the universe to give you what you need when you need it. I know this is scary, but I promise you that offering this trust is a critical part of transforming your life so that you can experience true abundance. When you trust, you can learn to nurture yourself in positive ways and gradually release the stuff that crowds your life and the extra weight that pulls you down.

Photo credit: Abundance by http://www.flickr.com/photos/euthman/

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Christmas and Emotional Eating

Tweak: Cook at Home

Catherine — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 16:09:46 +0000

If you are not already cooking at home most of the time, good news! You have an opportunity to make a single lifestyle change that will have a huge impact on both your health and your financial wellbeing.

It’s counterintuitive, but the fact is that many (if not most) people who suffer from obesity are also malnourished. I firmly believe that the first step on the road to a healthy weight is to add essential nutrients back into our bodies, rather than restricting or dieting. We need to nurture our bodies, and we can do this by cooking easy, healthy foods at home.

So not only can you save a great deal of money cooking at home, but cooking at home is the path to eating healthier foods and feeling better in your body. When you build a habit of cooking regularly at home, you learn to experience food with the joy and respect that it deserves.

Cooking at home does not have to be a lot of work. Even though I am a trained chef (I apprenticed in fine restaurants for three years in my early adulthood), I usually cook from a very simple repertoire at home. I cook using fresh vegetables, meats and grains — real food. Most of the time I don’t bother with fussy recipes. I just stick with the basics that my family enjoys — poultry, soups, pastas, roast vegetables, bean dishes, stews, salads and couscous.

Here are some pointers for building your new cook at home habit:

Cook the food you like. This might sound obvious, but you should think about the types of food you like to eat and start cooking that sort of food at home. You don’t have to cook what your mom cooked — if you like Mexican food, for example, take a look at some Mexican recipes. If you love soups, find some good soup recipes to try.
Buy real “convenience” foods. Real “convenience” food is food that usually comes without an ingredients label. Always keep some real convenience foods on hand because they are easy to cook with and require minimal preparation. Think of foods like: frozen veggies, frozen berries, chopped cabbage and bagged baby carrots, eggs, cheese, canned tuna and salmon, pasta and couscous.
Stock your pantry. Some of us tend to hoard food, so be careful not to go overboard with food storage. But it’s good to have a few basics on hand in the pantry — canned or dried beans, pasta, rice, canned tomatoes, nuts, olive or sunflower oil, powdered or canned chicken stock, spices. Only buy what you know you will use. Consider keeping your grains, flours and nuts in the freezer if you have room — they will keep much longer that way.
Keep it simple. Cooking doesn’t have to be complicated. What about a broiled chicken breast, salad, and microwaved sweet potato? Or scrambled eggs with green onions and red peppers served along with a slice or two of wholegrain toast? Take a look at this list of five-ingredient recipes to see how easy it can be to get a meal on the table.
Do you like leftovers? There are two kinds of people, those who like leftovers and those who hate them. If — and only if — you like eating leftovers, try cooking enough for two or three meals at a time. Then you can warm up extras fast to save on cooking time for subsequent meals. For us, this works with soups and with couscous. I always make enough for two meals, and the kids swear that it tastes better the second day.
Think color. Try to cook meals that contain at least one or two vegetables, the more varied and deep in color the better. I like to make vegetable soups with chicken stock, squash, carrots, chopped chard or kale, green peppers and white beans or chick peas.

Once you start cooking at home, before you know it you will have a short list of favorite meals that you can throw together quickly. You’ll save money and nurture your body with real food!

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/manueb/

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What’s Your Dream?

Catherine — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 19:57:55 +0000

Ever since I was a kid, I have dreamed of travel. I wanted to go to Europe, the Caribbean, Asia, South America. I read travel guidebooks and magazines nonstop.

Somewhere in the poverty and emotional struggle of my teen years and early adulthood the dream got buried under the clutter, the emotional eating, and my resulting obesity.

But after I turned my life around, the dream of travel was suddenly within reach. We moved abroad several years ago and the novelty of living in new places means that day-to-day life is interesting and stimulating. Just before Christmas we took our kids to the Sahara Desert for a few days. Yes, I rode a camel 8 miles into the desert and back out again! And last week we made an unforgettable trip to Florence, Italy backpacker-style with our three teens.

This all would have been impossible seven or eight years ago. It’s hard to pack for a trip when your home is chaotic and it’s hard to leave a house when you would be embarrassed to have anyone come look after it while you’re gone. When I weighed over 350 pounds, it was even physically difficult to travel — airplane seats didn’t fit and I worried about going anywhere that might have chairs with arms. Walking long distances was painful.

I’m writing this to encourage you to ask yourself what you would do if your clutter and your weight no longer held you back. What are the things that you are truly passionate about? What experiences are out there waiting for you? What would you do and whose lives could you touch if you could find a way to release the clutter and find your way back to a healthy size? What does the life you are supposed to be living look like?

What’s your dream?

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/decadence/

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Monday Link Roundup

Catherine — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 18:28:30 +0000

Today marks the beginning of Monday Link Roundup. There are a lot of great blogs with useful articles and on Mondays I’ll be sharing my favorites with you:

10 Cheap But Healthy Foods: With food prices increasing and budgeting at the foremost of most people’s minds, here are 10 easy-to-find foods that are inexpensive and full of nutrition.

Take Pictures of Your Mementos to Reduce Clutter: I love this idea for saving the meaning and memory behind the mountains of possessions and keepsakes we have that we feel we can’t bear to release.

How to Add More Wholegrains: Wholegrains are better than refined starches for a number of reasons: they are more nutritious, get metabolized into blood sugar more slowly, and contain more fiber. But it’s one thing to know we should eat more wholegrains and another to do it. This article lists six easy ways to start to make the switch.

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Mommy Bloggers Carnival

Catherine — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 14:45:25 +0000

The Mommy Bloggers Carnival, which is being hosted at SisterlySavings.net this month, featured my post about decluttering, 7 Steps to Declutter Your Home in 15 Minutes a Day . Take a look at the Carnival for other interesting posts written by mommy bloggers including:

Thanks to SisterlySavings.net for hosting the Carnival!

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