Getting your house ready for the season

Ohh Christmas is just here, are you ready?   Here are some final tips for these last few days to ensure that you are ready for whatever over the next few days! 

De-Clutter.

Take a look around each of your party rooms.   Is there something there that shouldn’t be there?  Yes, well put it away.  Get it out of your sight for the next few days.  If you don’t need to see it either does any of your guests that are popping over.

Remember also that if you have a clear coffee table it is easier for people to leave down their drinks and not ruin your carpet by leaving a glass there.

Once you have your party rooms done – take a look over every other room in the house.

Bathroom

When throwing a party it is always essential that you have your bathroom perfect.  Make sure you have enough toilet rolls visible for your guests should the original roll run out.  Ensure your hand towel is clean and fluffy. I remember going to one party where the towel was damp when I got there.  Ewww I wasn’t impressed.  If you have a cabinet in your bathroom leave another towel or two out so people can easily move to another towel if they are not happy.   Always remember to make sure you have enough hand soap – go out and treat yourself to some fancy soap for the occasion.

Clean as you go.

Ok so you have the mega cleaning done on your house. But every day you need to make an effort so that you house is ready for entertaining.   Make time during most days to take out the hoover and give a quick run around.   Don’t forget to get clean down the kitchen as you go along.

Do you have any tips?

S

Organising My Weight Loss

You will remember last week I spoke about how I am struggling with my weight loss.  In fact right now I am going back to day one and starting all over again.  Not weight wise – weight wise I am still below goal (I hope!) but I know that I have gone above my own personal weight goal.  So I have decided to go right back and complete a cleansing and a reminder post of how I can get back on track.   I thought this might be useful for some of you out there also. 

Weight loss and organisation go hand in hand!

When you start any weight loss programme the first thing that you need to do is arm yourself with all the information that you require.  

Things you need are:

Your actual weight,

Pro points / tracking,

Renewed inspiration material,

Menu plans,

Exercise plan,

Your actual weight

This is one thing at this moment in time I do not know the answer too because I was too scared to go to my weight watchers meeting and get on the scales.  Yes I am a chicken!  There I said it!  Ok so as far as I know from my last weight watcher meeting I was 9 stone 10 pounds. I am hoping that I haven’t gone above it.  However in recent weeks I am eating – when I say eating it is more picking at food! I am annoyed at myself – in fact I am furious with myself.  Even when I am taking something out of the cupboard and actually eating it - I am beating myself up. Hence this getting back on track phase I am in right now.  So I need to know my actual weight – that will wait until my weight watchers meeting on Thursday – and if you don’t hear from me on twitter Thursday morning – give me a big shout out and telling off.

I weigh myself on my own weight watchers scales earlier in the week however I got conflicting results so I am wary on using it as an actual – first I was 9 stone 11 and then I was 9 stone 9 a few hours later.  So the actual weigh in is the one that counts for me.

Pro Points / Tracking

Knowing pro points in food that you regularly eat is half the battle – the other is having a pro points
(or points plus) calculator to hand.  How you want to record these points is entirely up to you but I use an app on my phone for both points and tracking.   I am in Ireland so weight watchers doesn’t have an Ireland app – so this works for me.

The Iwatchr app for the iphone is amazing.  You can calculate your points for both Europe and the US on it – there and then so you don’t need to bring the book with you.

You can also store in points of frequently used items so that you can reference them quickly and then add on to a daily log. Yes there is a daily log and you can also calculate the points that you have from exercise.

The phone app is great – as you can take it out in the supermarket and check the pro points of a product.  It is brilliant! When I first downloaded the app the next thing I did was go through the weight watchers book and added in the points of my frequently used foods.

Tracking is the best way to discover what you are eating and how many points you are taking each day.  So from today the point tracking starts –  I can no longer avoid it – it has to be done!  

Renewed inspiration material,

 I have spoken previously about my photograph that I use as inspiration – that needs to take front and centre in my mind.  My BFF also sent me a photo recently that really is worse than what I actually thought was my worst.  So I am off to print that now as inspiration and I am going to stick it on the inside of the biscuit cupboard also so that there is no avoiding it!  Never go back.

I also have some lovely pins over on Pinterest – why not follow me.  Take a look at them and take some that will help you get through as inspiration.

Menu plans

As I said at the start of this post – weight loss and organisation go hand in hand that is why planning your meals is very important.

Sit down at the start of the week or even the start of the day if you don’t have that much time and plan what you are going to eat for your dinner each week/day. I use dinner as my main - because for me that is the most pointful meal of the day.  From there I back track on my points for the day and divide out.

It is hard to plan out meals but if you can take some time today or this week do so – look at meals that you can have and look at the points.  Taking this little bit of time will mean the most to you in the long run!

Over the coming weeks I will add some of my favourite meals up here pointed out so that you can try them as well.

Exercise plan

Exercise is important – and it cannot be ignored when it comes to losing weight. I am still walking which is my exercise of choice.  But unfortunately my food choices are sabotaging my efforts with walking.  So hopefully getting back on track with my food will help me see a loss on the scales.  Remember that everyone can find time to fit exercise in to their day  - all it takes is twenty minutes a day –  remember this can even be fitted in to your lunch hour!  It really is that simple!

I promise that I will keep everyone updated on my weight loss over on twitter – please follow me to keep up to date and I will post another update here soon.  Hopefully all good news.

Do you have any tips or words of hope for me during this struggle with my weight loss!  Please leave them in the comment section on the blog or on twitter.

Stay strong

S

De-cluttering and organising - Mondays are a great day to start

This is something which has been a passion of mine for quite some time – but when I say this I really mean something that I have wanted to do for so long but just never got around to it. 

I have read various blogs on getting organised and how you can declutter your life in so many easy steps, but I never put any of it in to practice. That is up until recently.   I have started a declutter and organising regime within my house and my life.  Think about it – every now and again we go through our wardrobes and we give away clothes to charity that we are finished with and we tidy those wardrobes with the greatest of intentions of never letting it get that bad again.  But for me, I never really looked at other aspects of my life.  How do I declutter the rooms in my house, the thoughts in my head. How do I organise my finances?

This is what I am currently doing –   clearing things out is such a therapeutic thing to do but something which is not done often enough. So this is where I am at.  Isn’t there a saying clean house clear mind or something to that effect – so I have started tackling the house – one room at a time. 

It was a spare room / junk room / office – whatever you want to call it  - it never had a purpose.  So I have cleared it out and can finally say it actually now looks like a home office.  Bits and pieces of items are still there and need to be sorted but you know what – I can actually see the floor, which is a miracle in itself. 

If you decide to declutter and tidy here are some small simple tips and tricks that will help you.  Firstly start with a plan – know where you want to start –and just get on with it.  Starting like with anything else in life is the hardest thing to do but once you do – it will make all the difference.  I am actually sitting in my new office now writing this blog post to you guys now.  

 Note – these are not my ideas but taken from a faboulous lady in the blogging world. 

Jars – Everything has a spot right – so paperclips and tacks instead of being deadly items in a drawer can go in to a old jam jar or coffee canister. 

Labelling – it is so simple and I bet you never even thought of doing it (I didn’t)   you can simply just print out what labels you need.  You don’t need any fancy label maker.   

Filing – there is no way that you need to go out and buy a fancy tray for your filing and paperwork that you have.  Guess what you can use – a cereal box !  Look at this great idea from organising made fun 

 

This is wonderful !  Really imaginative. 

Shoe boxes - you know when you are in a store and the assistance asks do you want it. Say Yes! These are a great way to separate items and store things that you need.  I have recently used a shoe box to store cables that I found while cleaning out the junk room.   I will be honest I don’t know what the cables are for – but you know the minute you throw one out you will need it.  So I have put them all in a shoe box. 

Tissue Boxes – say what ! I hear you say. Yes Tissue boxes.  You can use them to store items from post it notes – I suddenly discovered I have a penchant for collecting post it notes of all different colours and styles and I needed somewhere to store them.   You could also use them for storing your childs crayons – or even your make up.   (remember to label which is which)

 For more ideas check out this fab lady - http://organizingmadefun.blogspot.ie/

Do you have any ideas for items around the house that you can use which will help declutter and organise your home?  Why not leave them in the comments section 

S