There are some strategies that are very effective at helping you to slim down that are amazingly simple to apply to your everyday life. Some of these may be new to you and others may be pretty familiar. Over the next few weeks, I am going to share my Simple Slimming Strategies for effective weight loss.

 

IMG_0354Simplify

You may be thinking this is an odd way to lose weight, but bear with me for a moment. We live in crazy times where we spend our time running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Whether you are running the kids here and there or are trying to meet deadlines at work, you probably have a lot going on. Have you ever taken just a moment to stop and wonder why things have to be so crazy? Have you ever wondered what all of this craziness is doing to your body and your mind? Do you ever wish for simpler times?

You have the power to make the craziness go away. You have the power to make your life so much more simple and in the process, you can use the power of simplicity to help you lose weight.

How?

When we simplify our lives, we make room for the things that are most important to us. If losing weight is an important issue, it can now be front and center rather than blocked out by the million other things we have to think about. When our thoughts focus on what we want instead of what we have to do, we gain more motivation. And as we focus our thoughts and our motivation on what is most important, we naturally obtain the results we are looking for.

There are several areas that you can look at simplifying that can make a real difference in your efforts to lose weight:

Simplify your home.

I love my mantra “Outer order contributes to inner calm.” I don’t remember where I first heard it, but I use it quite often when I start to feel that the clutter in my home is starting to close in on me. Removing the clutter in your home is a great way to create space both physically and mentally. Also, having less to clean creates time for a walk around the block, time to take an exercise class, or just take some time to relax.

Simplify mealtimes.

This does not mean run through the drive-thru! What it does mean is that you don’t have to create 5 course meals each night or cook from scratch every single night. Simple one-pot meals are incredibly time saving and easy to prepare. Use a crockpot so that dinner is ready when you walk in the door. Also, cooking large batches on the weekend and freezing them for later are a great way to have dinners ready and waiting.

Simplify your to-do list.

Are there things are on your to-do list that you really don’t know why you are doing them? Or maybe there are things on your list that do not add any value to your life. Time is a precious commodity that we should not give away freely. It is to be treasured. What is one thing on your list that you could stop doing that would allow you to do something you REALLY want to do?

Simplifying your life is not a traditional type of weight loss technique. Yet it is an amazingly freeing and powerful tool that can help you to free up space in your mind and in your day to put your goals higher up on your priority list. When we remove the clutter, we make room for the most important things to show up and when we are able to focus our thoughts on what is most important, we make decisions that allow us to reach those goals.