Organizing Expert, Peter Walsh was on Oprah again today, this time discussing the concept of his new book, Does This Clutter Make My Butt Look Fat?
Clutter and weight can be symptoms of an unresolved, underlying issue in your life. “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.”
The show featured Peter helping a family of four conquer the clutter in their home as well as their diet.
I taped the show and, as I did the other three times Peter appeared on the show, I jotted down the important points. Here are some of the things Peter had to say about clutter and its relationship with fat.
~ The house, the head, the heart are connected. You can’t lose weight if your home is chaotic and disorganized.
~ Your home should reflect the life you want.
~ Ask yourself “does this stuff create the mood you want in your house?”
~ If you are struggling, take the first step and from there everything else flows.
~ You can’t make healthy choices in a messy home.
~ Kids learn by what they see.
~ Create the environment that will help children make healthier choices.
~ Unless you are truthful with yourself there can be no progress.
~ If you have a house that’s organized and decluttered then it is much easier when you come to a decision, instead of going for the easy you go for the good.
The next point falls into line with our monthly kitchen theme:
The kitchen is the space that nourishes the family, no one can have a healthy diet in a kitchen that is cluttered and messy.
I thought the show was very interesting, it’s an approach I’d never considered before. I can see it as being somewhat controversial for sure. You can read more about the show on Oprah’s site. Please feel free to share your thoughts here.
Do you believe your clutter can make you fat?
~Amy says
I was flipping through the channels and saw the last few minutes of it. I wish I had of seen the whole thing. I’m glad you blogged about it.
~Amy
Jennifer says
If clutter made you fat then I wouldn’t have an underweight problem but an overweight problem. Hmmmm, this clutter is not helping me to gain any weight.
Maggie says
I DVR’d the show and watched last night. I agree with a lot of the sentiments. Like all things, It’s not a one size fits all proposition. At my house, we are not good at putting things away. But we are nowhere near the shape that people in a lot of these shows are. I did make the connection that while I want to pick up crafint again. My craft space is not conducive to creating. The area does not bring me joy yet. It irritates me becasue Hubby’s tool are still lying where they were set when we moved in last July. He has been very busy, but he is also a world class procrastinator. I did take the opportunity to tell him – in nice conversational tones that I watched this show and this was on my mind and could we get to it the Weekend of Feb 24th? LOL!
Susanne says
I can totally see his point that if your kitchen is a total clutter mess and unorganized, when you walk in to cook, one look and it’s overwhelming. You can’t find anything you need to cook with and therefore you choose easy (takeout or going out to eat) rather than cooking something good and nutrtious. That I get. And I liked his point on making your house how you want your life to be. My house was nowhere near what they showed. I consider myself fairly neat and fairly organized and I’ve definitely got pounds to lose. It’s hard to broad brush stroke deep issues like overweight with one stroke.
Gina says
I just posted my personal experience on the subject.
http://www.clutterpundit.com/archive/peter-walsh-on-weight-loss-and-clutter
momrn2 says
What an interesting perspective. Like you, I have not really ever considered a connection before. I’m going to think on this a bit more….
lylah ledner says
laura – once again….great post with very helpful comments from peter. and…thanks for your comment over at my blog…
btw…i took ivana to her second ballet class on wednesday and i died laughing…got some pics – on your next coffee break…come see the cutie patooney. blessings on all you do this day! me
Le Anne says
I TiVoed this show!!!!!!!! It sparked a great conversation between The Professor and me about respecting toys. He cries that he LOVES a toy when we try to get rid of it and we talked about the way you treat something when you love it. It also made me realize that if I love all of my treasure then they wouldn’t be stuck in the garage.
I just LOVE LOVE LOVED THIS SHOW. I want to go buy this book.
kris says
I wish I had tivo’d it. Darn it. I love Peter Walsh… secretly wish I was cluttered enough that he’d have to make a special trip just to see me. LOL He has such great insight. Thanks for posting this!
Le Anne says
I just read Gina’s post and agree that putting Oprah’s money into the project makes it more difficult for the family to feel the real benefits. I think that it would make it easier for them to fall back into old habits because they did not put anything of themselves into remaking the home.
I can see Peter’s connection between weight and clutter. Here is an example of how it happens for me:
I want to get more veggies into our diet, I buy them at the store, when I get home there is no counter space to cut them and prep them for quick snacks, I don’t want to clean the whole kitchen to clear the counters, I just throw the veggies in the fridge and they soon go bad, everytime I see them in the fridge going bad I feel guilty for wasting the money and grab something else from the pantry to snack on.
Now that I have a new island in our kitchen with lots of space I found myself preparing a very healthy lunch and dinner yesterday and really enjoying the process.
So, for myself, his points seemed to “hit the nail on the head”.
Annie says
The only true answer to the question “does this _______ make my butt look fat”? No your butt makes your butt look fat!! hahahaha I love that one!
Barb says
Jennifer, clutter may not make you fat per se but it isn’t helping you get healthier (in your case, gaining weight). I believe that a cluttered house reflects a cluttered mind and a cluttered body, everything is connected!
Susanne says
Laura, I had to come back and do another comment. There was something eating at me about the show but I couldn’t pinpoint what it was until I rewatched some of it and thought on it.
What was bothering me in the back of my mind was that the woman that was on the show, also had the huge issue in her life of kidney failure. She had 10% function and was awaiting transplant. Now for transplant she had to lose weight. But learning from our friend Kelli here in the blogosphere there is huge weight gain from kidney meds and dialysis and it’s very hard to keep weight gain off. And I also learned from Kelli that long term illness affects everything about a person. Sometimes your so sick you can’t clean and cook and organize. You just survive the day. I guess what was really bothering me was I hope in being the guest family on the show, she doesn’t think that now that the Oprah team has swooped in and fixed all the clutter and mess that the pounds will just magically start dropping off of her. I hope she realizes it’s only a step in getting control back in her life of what is a very devasting long term illness. I hope she has a back up of other support once the Oprah team disappeared out of their lives. I don’t know if I’m making any sense, but that’s what was sort of eating away at me. She had way more extending issues than just being overweight and unorganized.
Laura says
I only wish they’d actually highlighted a family that had already lost the weight as a result of reducing their clutter. I hope they do a follow up show.
AnneMarieZ says
hey! I TOTALLY believe that clutter can make your butt look fat and have said this for years!!
seriously, I am overweight but have not had a place to myself except for sharing space with a friend in college and then we ate sensibly, had a great apartment.. all was in it’s place. I loved it!
now.. I had to share in a different way with my dh and it drives me crazy!! Our kids are super healthy and try to be organized.. there is so much to this but I super duper agree! I thought of you when I watched Peter on Oprah. So glad you took notes because it was crazy with homework in our house…
oh, and didn’t I tell you.. my house got crazy.. yep, we are expecting #4.. and my little one is commanding the show. I am so unorganized, cluttered and it saddens me. I am trying to get back on track and have felt some momentum this last week- finally!! I am ready to tackle things.. even rearrange.. yep, it’s gonna get better and I want things on track!!
I could go on and on but this isn’t my blog! lol!
Sandra says
Great post Laura, wish I had seen him on Oprah, but thank you for all the great tips you shared with us, it helps a lot and really makes me wonder if all the clutter I have is necessary or even what I want to have around my house.
My problem though is that I get emotionally attached to objects, certain objects remind me of a certain time in my life or they were given by someone close to me, so even if I don’t need them I can’t part with them. Ugh! LOL
Jenny says
For some people definately.
I am fat, but live in a house that isn’t cluttered.
I could see with some of the people featured on the show. They had some serious emotional baggage that was hitting all aspects of their lives.
I know that I just eat too much, in my somewhat clean, semi organized home!LOL
Melissa says
I love love LOVE Peter Walsh. I love that Oprah is finally putting Peter Walsh out there for millions to hear his message.
My fav part of the show is when he was showing the mom how all of the utensils and kitchen gadgets are bought with the shopping mentality of this is who we want to be. “I want to be a baker so I’ll buy this fancy cookie cutter”
That really hit home with me. I’m a neat an organized person, but even I sucumb to this thinking sometimes. For every time I give into buying the cute kitchen gadget, there were probably 9 other times I resisted in the store. Don’t know what that says about me, other than I wanna be Martha Stewart but know that I’m not.
Kristen says
I think this is applicable to some people, but certainly not all. My parents always kept a very organized and clean home, but they were still very overweight. Sometimes is isn’t your environment, it isn’t your surroundings. Sometimes it’s just that you eat too much and don’t exercise.
MomOf3-Danielle says
This was very interesting! I am in the process of organizing my home AND trying to lose weight. It is nice to know that there may be a connection!
Summer says
That’s a question to really think about. I know I have trouble focusing and working in a cluttered environment. If my space is not organized, my mind is not organized.
Melissa says
This is so amazingly convicting! I took this to heart and spent the day in my kitchen. I wrote about it and quoted you in my post–hope you don’t mind!
I feel so much better after accomplishing something in my kitchen!
Blessings,
Melissa
Proverbs31 says
I love these statements, little golden nuggets of wisdom.
Jena says
I was never so disorganized as when I was skinny! I can’t say there’s a connection. I also posted a reaction on my blog too. Love your stuff Laura–always thought-provoking and inspiring.
Dot says
I watched the show today that I recorded on my DVR. I do think it depends on why you are fat and why you are cluttered if there is truly a connection.
I feel my fat has caused certain areas of my house to become cluttered rather than the clutter causing the fat…and at this point they are both going away….but the clutter didn’t start to disappear until I started losing weight.
I do think that family did have that connection and I can’t wait for an update….I’m really pulling for them to have great success!
Patty says
It was a very enlightening show. For a year I have been making my house leaner, living with less and in that space of time, without really working at it, my eating has changed, more simple, less fussy, and I have become leaner.
lea says
What a great post! I dont want Oprah that much anymore (she’s not cartoon and there are no singing animals for the kids. sigh) so I missed that show. What a spot on link. I hadnt thought about it but it makes total sense. It makes complete sense to me about the buying and eating to fill a void, and its almost impossible to change it without dealing with it. I also do think discipline plays a role. Not that clutter means you lack discipline but to a point there is a certain amount of personal discpline to keep a more clutter free house and most certainly to put down the ice cream. At least for me.
Again a great post!
Diane says
The aha moment for me personally was choose the good not the easy. I beleive that least for me when it comes to choices of food I go for the easy not the good neccessarily. I am working on changing this slowly . I am not overweight or anything but want my family to be healthy and set a great example for my daughter. We have been working on this one since the beginning of Sept. We started with our lunches and we have made those so much healthier the next step is suppers. I just find I am so tired when I get home I go for the easy not the good or healthier option. I need to work on this. I went to fixing dinners website and I am working on making weekly menu plans from them. They say that each meal is under 15 minutes for prep , cooking might be more but that would be okay with me.
Sorry it is so long .
Mindy says
I LOVE Peter Walsh and I somewhat agree with him. I am overweight but my house is not that unorganized. But after watching him, I went down to my kitchen desk and totally organized it. Laura, I love your blog and you definitely help me be a more organized person!
Downshifting Diva says
We have time shifting on our TV. So I watched it at 4, 5 and 7 pm. I love Peter Walsh too.
Commenting on the good vs. easy conundrum: this is a silly excuse but I hate to make two meals. So if my husband and I like a ‘good’ variety of foods (taste, texture, spices, etc.) my kids tend to like the ‘easy’ bland food so we go for the easy. I do believe that making ‘good’ means having variety. The easy just keeps life simple… but really… what am I teaching my kids?
I am looking forward to hearing Peter speak at the NAPO conference in April in Reno. Are you going Laura?
Thanks for the thought provoking post Laura.
Kate says
This is really interesting and thought-provoking. I’m so glad you blogged about it – I wish I could have seen the programme. One theory: tidying my house would sure use up a few calories. . .
Jennifer, honey, I wish I could send you a couple of extra pounds. . .
Sarah says
*Sigh* I LOVE Peter Walsh.
Amy says
I wanted to see that show but I was stuck at a doctor’s office- arrghh!
Flylady has said the same thing for years now– you can’t feel good about yourself and make good personal decisions if your home is making you feel stressed out. She wrote “Body Clutter” a couple of years ago as a follow-up to her home decluttering book, “Sink Reflections”.
It makes sense to me. I’m constantly trying to declutter and also trying to lose weight.
MemeGRL says
Agreed with Susanne about picking a woman dealing with severe medical issues BUT I thought that was a great reason to help her family over many others with the same problems…AND I figured that’s why they didn’t ask for a follow-up on the weights of the family (unless I missed that bit). I too hope they do a follow-up…hoping she comes through all ok, and what a blessing for her family to have a vision now of what life can look like, uncluttered…
faithful chick says
Girl, I love me some Peter Walsh. I saw this episode and it is so great that you provided this recap. Wasn’t that something when that lady freaked out and ran out of the house?! Peter did a great job calming her down and putting everything in focus.
Love the blog. I lurk from time to time and just wanted to say “hi”.
Lynnebee says
I have lurked for sometime at your site, marvelling at all the great ideas for clutter control, not implementing any of them of course. (I can also watch exercise videos eating popcorn ya know.) My outer home is a clutter catastrophe. My drawers, however, are neat as a pin. I am overweight, and cluttered on the outside. But my inside loves the Lord with all my heart and soul. I don’t think you can make a blanket statement about weight and clutter, but I can say this: When I feel especially low about how I look, I DO go shopping at times, and buy more “stuff” just because. Not that I need it at all. I could be a reality show…The Biggest Clutter-Keeper. I’m just saying…
Vickie says
Laura,
The pictures look great! What a wonderful idea. It gives people the vision for the food. I can’t wait to check out your friends food blog.
Blessings!
Vickie@PursuingSimplicity
Jennifer, Snapshot says
I think that Sandra Felton (who I think you’ve read as well) makes this point about clutter and other issues as well.
What I didn’t like reading from your notes was about my kids learning. That’s why I’ve been trying to start some better habits.
crockpot lady says
we have a decluttered home. I do feel stress when I “feel” it’s cluttered (and to many, it would not be. I don’t like any piles, anywhere) and am more likely to cave into take-out, etc.
I am also less likely to exercise if the house needs to be picked up—taking time for myself is unfortunately at the bottom of the list. The laundry comes first, or I can’t relax, for instance.
Melissa says
I think that clutter can have an ill effect on our health, and not always a weight issue. It could be as simple as an issue of how physically fit we are. Clutter I think keeps us inactive. For some people inactivity translates into weight gain, some people inactivity translates into a loss of physical strength and endurance. If your clutter limits your room you may not move other then to go to the kitchen to eat (which may cause you to gain weight and allow you to avoid organizing and decluttering) or go to the computer to blog (which keeps you from gaining weight as well as from organizing your home and decluttering)those are just to examples I personally love to spend time checking out blogs. I do agree that clutter contributes to our physical health.
Kelsey Norwood says
Very interesting and enlightening show, although I never appreciate the sensationalism and drama – I feel like they are exploiting these poor people when they are at their lowest. It’s despicable, but that’s show business I guess.
Aside from that, the show was very interesting. I also had never considered clutter to be connected to weight, but I think he has a point. I can really see how a chaotic living space leads to rushed and unhealthy eating choices. I know that when any space of mine is messy I can’t concentrate or focus on my goals or tasks.
And when my kitchen is messy, the last thing I want to do is cook. There’s no room! And no clean dishes! So getting the kitchen to the point where it’s ready to be cooked in would take an hour and I’m hungry now! So I’m going to eat the first thing that I see or think of. I understand the mentality.
However, I don’t think that a messy kitchen is the only factor in being overweight, but it definitely doesn’t inspire you to make a great change in your lifestyle, which is what losing weight requires. I think that getting rid of clutter, especially in the kitchen, is a good start to living the life you want for yourself.
Megan@Disorder2Order says
So, because the house, head and heart are all connected is that why 10lbs. have made their way onto my “butt”? That actually makes so much sense… 1/2 my life is packed up in storage and the only thing that makes me happy lately is Whoppers… 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Scratchin' the Surfa says
I can believe clutter makes it harder to get a healthy meal on the table, so you go out, or pickup fast food – again. I can believe clutter makes broke – you don’t know what’s in your cupboard so you buy, again. Yes, absolutely I can see the rightness of this thinking. I’ve read over and over that the #1 reason for weight gain in women is lack of sleep, and being disorganized has to affect that as well. A vicious cycle I’m determined to break!