 |
| A lone survivor |
But it wasn't easy. In fact, it was as I said it would be...overwhelming.
I opted to skip Project 333 and do what I have successfully done in the past: go through each piece and determine if it fit and if I liked it. The thought of only saving out 33 pieces of clothing, shoes and accessories for the next 3 months was actually more overwhelming to me than the process of actually cleaning out the closet in the first place.
The task went as follows:
First, I pulled out all clothes that I knew no longer fit and placed them in a neat pile on my bed.
Second, I pulled out all warm weather clothes I knew I would not be wearing for a few months and placed them in a second neat pile on my bed.
Third, I tried on the remaining items to determine if I liked it or could still wear it. If I could no longer wear it, I added it to the first pile.
For the first pile of clothing that did not fit, I divided it up into sizes. Then I filled a plastic storage container starting with the smallest size working my way up to the largest size. This will allow me to pull out the clothes I can wear as I lose weight without having to go through them all again. I then placed this bin neatly into a far corner of the closet so that it is still easy to access, but out of the way.
For the second pile of clothes, I had purchased an under-bed storage bin with casters to store my seasonal items. After it was filled with my fun summer clothes, it was easy to roll it under the bed out of the way, and again, easy to access when needed.
As someone who is trying to minimize and simplify, it may not sound like I did much of that by just re-organizing my closet instead of tossing or donating the things that didn't fit. In fact, I had even read an article about not keeping ill-fitting clothing as they would become out of fashion by the time you reached that size again. So, maybe I can be considered a *fail* on that note.
However, since I'm on a mission to also declutter my body, too, I know from experience that the next size down is and will be achievable by spring. I only kept a couple of pair of blue jeans in the next size down that I was able to fit into a year ago (yes, I'm kicking myself for gaining two dress sizes in one year). My hope is to be back down to that size by fall and to be done with the size I am now.
It's actually been a bit depressing to be packing up the clothes that I was only wearing just a couple of months ago in the means of fit. I like the clothes I have and have always had fun dressing up and trying to look nice. Right now, I just don't feel like doing that. The body clutter is just in the way of feeling good about myself like I once did. I know I can get back on track, and am doing what is needed to do just that.
Body clutter isn't just about what you eat or how much exercise you get in. It is an emotional and psychological issue as well. Body clutter can be gathered through bad circumstances in our lives. For me, it was a break up and a series of health related issues. I know for me, those are temporary issues that one can get past, but they don't happen just overnight. In fact, the body clutter doesn't happen overnight either.
I'm not planning on trying any new (or old) fad diets. I'm not going on a fitness craze. I'm doing this through *mindfulness*. According to Wikipedia, mindfulness refers to the psychological quality that bringing one's complete attention to the present experience on a moment-to-moment basis. So, my goal is to bring my attention to what I'm doing in the present. Being mindful of what and why I'm eating. Is it because I'm bored? Is it because I'm hungry? What is my mood at that moment. If I'm bored, why not get up and go for a walk. If I'm hungry, eat only what I need to satisfy my hunger. The object is just to be aware of what is going on and what I'm doing.
Clutter isn't just a physical thing. It's an emotional thing as well. Cleaning out the physical closet isn't the only place we need to focus. Sometimes the internal closet of our being is needed, as well.
Comments
Post a Comment