I’ve seen a lot about how clearing out the clutter from our life can make huge differences in our lives, maybe even helping us to get to a healthy weight, so I wanted to research it a bit and share what I found with you.  

The first piece of research shows that what you keep on your kitchen counters matters.  

Research from the Cornell Food and Brand lab shows that women with cereal, soft drinks and cookies on their counters weighed more than those without it.

Cereal left 20 pounds more and soft drinks gave 25 pounds more. In a more hopeful aspect of the study, those with fruit on their counters weighed about 13 pounds less.

Actually there is a lot of hope in the study, because this is something very easy for us to change. 
Go, clear off your counters and put all the foods that you want to eat only occasionally in hard to reach, faraway places. 

Then give the best kitchen real estate, the counters and the eye-level shelf in the refrigerator to the healthier food that you want to eat every day.  

Another piece comes from Sandra K. Tunajek, CRNA, DNP and consultant for the Council for Public Interest in Anesthesia; she sites research that found that clutter can lead to health problems including stress and weight gain from an unhealthy environment. 
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Basically living in clutter creates stress and anxiety which leads to poor sleep and fatigue. 

This impacts hormone levels and increases cortisol, which some researchers suggest ultimately leads to weight gain. 

I know that if I have a cluttered area of my home, say the buffet near my front door, it gives me the feeling that I need to take care of it and it is difficult for my mind to rest. 

“Clutter also drains us of our time.”  We might lose time looking for things and may even pay bills late, costing us extra money. 

We can use that extra time for whatever makes our heart sing, a hobby, resting or going out for a walk. 

I noticed after I cleared off the buffet near my door because we were having a large event at my house, that each time I walked by, it gave me some happy satisfaction. 

It sounds very worthwhile to put some time into decluttering your space.  Do you think this would work for you? 

I am working on it this weekend, who wants to join me? 
 
 

This is awesome for leftover Easter ham!

I love to bring this for brunches, it is full of veggies and lean protein, and since I am allergic to eggs it is a great substitute and feels really good to me, a very worthy meal!

The first time I brought it to a brunch I thought I would be the only one eating it, but everyone enjoyed it and now people ask me to bring it.

Ingredients
1 lb or about 2 cups chopped ham, lean or if use fat free save points!
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, medium, chopped
1 tsp olive or coconut oil
16 oz fresh or frozen baby broccoli florets
12-15 oz fresh or frozen sugar snap peas
8-10  oz mushrooms, fresh, frozen or canned work
3 cups fresh spinach, torn or ½ bag frozen
12-15oz frozen cauliflower rice or fresh (about 2 cups)
1 cup fat free cottage cheese
¼ tsp red pepper, ground
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. If using frozen veggies, you can save time by microwaving each bag 2-3 minutes to get them started.
2. In a large non-stick pot, heat oil, then sauté onions until translucent, add garlic and warm for about 1 minute.  Add ham, stir to warm through.
3. Stir in all vegetables, cooking until al dente but tender.
4. Stir in cottage cheese, until it melts then add salt and peppers.

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Yield: Serves 13, about 1 cup servings
1 Weight Watcher Smart Point

Total Time
20-30 minutes

Author
Kim Trotto