Slacking off all over the show!

[pollycupcake]

I'm a perfectionist and I like having my life feeling ordered and under tight reign (e.g. I like to be careful with money, have a neat home, eat properly, etc). I admit, I never get it ALL right, but I've had a stressful time over the last few months (recovering from an illness - major stomach issues) and now my life is a MESS!
1. My diet is HORRENDOUS! I skip meals and then binge on processed junk.
2. My exercise regime is non-existant. (I used to go to the gym 3 times a week)
3. My home is in a constant state of chaos and clutter (to the point where I barely have any clean clothes to wear to work!).
4. I'm so unorganised, I end up getting stung for late-fees on overdue bills etc (and I have no Christmas presents bought yet!).

It's starting to take it's toll on my health (it's stressful living like this and crap eating/no exercise isn't good for anyone!) and now my work!

I need to get my life in gear again, but it seems hard getting back on track - any ideas?

[SireneB]

The only way to do it is small steps, keep track, stay accountable to yourself, maybe post your progress here.

It's hard to get back into habits that have slipped, but if you take it slow you can do it. And along the way, try to develop some strategies for stress so that you are not completely derailed if similar situations come up in the future.

..... this advice applies to me as well ... I'm partway back to where I used to be, but still a ways to go.

[The Cloud]

Originally Posted by pollycupcake

I need to get my life in gear again, but it seems hard getting back on track - any ideas?

The idea that you need to get "back on track" presupposes that you've become less intelligent, less effective, and an all-around worse human being with age and experience. Perhaps I am mistaken, but I don't think that's the case. I think your current state is an improvement, because it shows that at least your body, if not your mind, has an awareness of the unnatural mindset your previous "healthy" behaviors resulted from.

If you go back to the way you were before, you will always be limited in the ways that you were before. You will always be unable to deal with difficulties like illness and stress. It's telling that, in order to compensate for illness, you lost all those supposedly healthy behaviors. If the things you were doing before had really been good for you, wouldn't they have increased in response to illness?

Instead, your body chose to stop wasting mental energy on unhealthy behaviors in order to conserve strength to fight your disease. If you choose to go back, your body will make the same decision again. Whether you go backward or forward, you'll pay a price, so it's a question of whether the unknown price you'll pay for going forward is higher than the price you know you'll pay for repeating the past.

[Clint Cora]

You have stomach issues and you still fill yourself with junk? It seems that you have a serious motivation issue here. I think the best way for you to tackle this is to enlist some help from other people who are willing to push you a bit towards the right tracks again. It may be a few different people depending on the area. Maybe somebody to keep your stomach and diet issues in line and somebody else for fitness. Whatever you choose, you might not be able to get over this hump on your own as you may need others to help lead you the way bit by bit.

Maybe discuss this with your health provider (the primary professional who is overseeing your illness) and ask for any support groups that might be right for you.

Good luck

[CoolBee]

Getting your home under control will help you feeling more 'in control' generally. So, here's what I suggest:

AIMS FOR WEEK 1
- get home picked up - start with a short list and add a chore a day so by the end of week 1 it only takes about 15 mins a day
- get your stuff sorted for the next day on the previous evening eg know what you'll wear, what errands you need to run and so on.
- do this in a relaxed way.

AIMS FOR WEEK 2-4

Just keep up with the week 1 schedule and start thinking where you could add more exercise into your routine. Start planning your meals more than a day ahead to make sure you start having what you need in your cupboards and fridge.
If your reason for eating junk is quick pick me ups, make a big effort to get a decent amount of sleep so you're not so tired.

ACTION PLAN


So, next time you get home from work:

DAY 1:

1. Relax with a cup of tea for half an hour and think through:

What clothes do I need to wear tomorrow - does anything need washing now for tomorrow?
Do I need any special items for tomorrow - recharge my mobile, put gas in my car, whatever
What am I going to eat tomorrow - do I need to buy anything tonight or during the day tomorrow for all my meals?
Are there any bills I need to pay, birthday cards I need to post etc?

2. Action

Collect all plates, dishes, mugs, glasses, cups from around your home and wash all up
Prepare your clothes for tomorrow
Bag up any rubbish and put wherever it needs to go
Put your mobile on to charge
If you have to do any errands, go do
Eat a meal
Relax and go to bed at a reasonable time

DAY 2

same
+
Extra Action
- put all your clothes, bags, shoes away in their right place - ie clean stuff in the cupboards and drawers, stuff for washing in the laundry baskets

DAY 3

same as Day 2
+
Extra Action
- do a laundry load - if you have your own machine: if it's clothes, use the shortest wash cycle your machine uses
- if you don't have your own machine - do a small handwash of underclothes or whatever

DAY 4

same as Day 3 (by now you are getting all your washing up done , getting all your clothes sorted every day and going to bed every evening knowing what you need for the next day)

Extra action - cleaning a bathroom - squirt your toilet bowl with cleaner (anything will do if you don't have special toilet cleaner)

DAY 5

same as Day 4

extra action - if you have a vacuum cleaner, vacuum through - just do middles, no furniture moving. If you don't, sweep.

DAY 6

same as Day 4

extra action - mop kitchen and bathroom floors

DAY 7

same as Day 4


Have a 'beauty night'.

WEEK 2

keep up with Day 4 + floors

[Jaxi]

hi
it sounds like you totally rebelled against everything you used to do/be.

perhaps this was some part of an unconscious thought - that at times, you are really exhausted at living the way you were (all organized, etc) and when you got your stomach problems and it threw your 'schedule' off track, and in some small way, you took advantage of it (without you even realizing it) or you just didn't have enough 'energy' to keep this tight ship running the way you had it.

But you absolutely can get back on track. Decide to tackle one thing at a time. Since you are nothing without your health, i'd focus on that first. Get back to eating right. Just decide you are going to do it. Throw out all the junk food and processed stuff (dontate anything unopened) and start tomorrow. Be a bit more inspired by shopping for some things at an organic section/store. Your body has a lot of toxins in it from the processed food - give your system a break and go organic if you can. I'd up the antioxidants and the spirulina - all the things that will make your body run more optimized and give you energy.

Once you start eating better and have more energy b/c of all this, you know you will want to start to exercise, so that will come naturally. Once you have these to things more to optimal levels you will automatically feel more 'in control' of things and that most likely will spur you on (trigger your mindset) to want to go back to keeping your place neat and being more organized in your life.

[CoolBee]

It's interesting for me to see that when I saw the OP, from my personal experience, I selected 'home routines' as the priority for making a breakthrough, whereas other posters selected 'health'. For me, I can't enjoy good health in a muddly mess.

OP - where would you start? How does your 'feedback loop' get initiated?