Is your home making you fat?
By Debra D. Bass
POST-DISPATCH HOME EDITOR
01/20/2006
A snapshot of your home's interior offers visitors a look into your inner sanctum. Your home opens a window into your personal style and sensibilities. Assumptions can be made about your social views, your character traits, your hobbies, your quirks, your marital status. So why did it surprise us when a magazine used the same sort of logic to make assumptions about an inhabitant's weight?
"Is Your House Making You Fat?" confronts the headline in Quick & Simple magazine. It's one of those "how long have you been beating your wife?" presumptuous questions that is at first a bit insulting. Then it shifts to being oddly amusing and, suddenly, it inspires a pensive "hmmm." Do we finally have something to blame that can't defend itself?
We've all heard of the sick house syndrome - too many allergens and not enough ventilation - but "fat house"?
"At first it was just a funny, interesting idea. Then we found a lot of studies that said this stuff bore out in science," said Cary Barbor, the diet, health and fitness editor for "Quick & Simple," in a phone interview from her office in New York City.
"After we knew it was valid we put many, many brains together and jumped to the flip side: 'What are you going to do about it?'," she said.
The article in the magazine edition, which hit newsstands on Tuesday, goes on to address potentially hazardous interior design choices in the living room, bedroom and kitchen.
We asked around, and most people tended to raise an eyebrow at the concept, but then quickly conceded that it makes sense. Not convinced? OK, hear us out.
"Your home affects your overall well being. So it can affect your energy, your outlook, your motivation," explained Laura Forbes Carlin, one of two sisters specializing as home and lifestyle consultants in Los Angeles, who spoke to us by phone. She reasoned that a home full of energy can inspire you to achieve certain goals. Therefore a home lacking energy can discourage those goals and lead to stagnation, depression and sloth.
Her sister Alison Forbes said that your home is the vehicle to drive you to your goals. The sisters subscribe to a belief in feng shui, an accent Chinese art of interior design that seeks to optimize your potential in every aspect of your life by placing objects according to a precise doctrine.
"I don't know about all that relating to someone's weight, but it's interesting," said Beth Henk, director of the Washington University Weight Management Program. She explained (without any sarcasm, thank you) that the program doesn't address interior design, but it does address behavioral issues that, perhaps, can be associated with how people organize their space.
Some of the suggestions from "Is Your House Making You Fat?" are common sense. Banish the candy dish and the TV trays. A lovely crystal dish of treats might seem like the perfect centerpiece for your coffee table, but it's a constant reminder that "Hey, you could be eating right now." And eating absent-mindedly in front of something colloquially called the idiot box is not a good idea, either.
Among the other suggestions are sealing bedroom windows in colder months. We also recommend heavy or layered drapes to help keep out the chill. The rationale is that when it's cold in the morning, you are less likely to get up a half hour early to make a nutritious breakfast or exercise.
Red and orange walls were judged to be no-nos in the kitchen and dining area because they stimulate the appetite. And the trend toward huge, ultra comfy, cushy sofas that cradle your tush like a well-tended glove is probably not in the best interests of your waistline, either. Cozy generally means that you're moving as little as possible, and that can cost you about 350 calories a day, according to the Quick & Simple article, which cited Mayo Clinic research.
So opt for a sleeker couch next time and compensate by encouraging more movement now. The article advises that you put the remote on the coffee table or in a drawer in between channel changes, not in your lap. Place the phone on the opposite end of the room, not next to the chair. Or better yet, Quick & Simple says, get off the couch and stretch out on the floor.
"What your home reflects is what your life becomes. If you have this vision of greatness, but your home is still kind of messy and chaotic, your vision follows," said Alison Forbes, who dispenses lifestyle wisdom with her sister at www.artofeverydayliving.com.
The same goes for any vision of your life, not just weight, she said.
"We've done lots of consultations for single women who have a goal to meet someone, and we walk into their bedroom and they have one lamp, one night stand and one piece of female inspired artwork featuring one woman," Forbes said. Her point is that bedrooms should show things in pairs and include romantic artwork. If you like works featuring one person, animal or object, that's fine, but buy two.
Barbor told us that the point of the article is not to blame your house, but to point out that making changes to your home can make a change in your life. She said that reaching your goals - including your goal weight - is hard enough without compounding the problem with bad habits that are encouraged because of your home's design.
Our experts chimed in with some things to consider, such as maybe you need a screen so that the kitchen isn't the first thing you see when you come home. Maybe your running shoes need a prime location by the back door, not behind your boots in the upstairs closet. Maybe the mini fridge in your home office was not such a good idea. Maybe taking the clothes off of the stationary exercise bike and relocating it in front of a window will encourage you to use it.
"I guess I knew a lot of these things, but it's good to see it in black and white," especially advice like don't eat in the dark, Barbor said. The article encourages people to eat with the lights on high and the drapes wide open if there's natural light outside. Why? People may eat more if they feel they are doing it in secret.
" If you want a cookie, have a cookie . . . just don't make it easy to eat the whole bag," Barbor said.
Take a bite out of your home's fat content
Keep the kitchen clean. You're more likely to cook and less likely eat out if the kitchen isn't scary.
Start small. Organize one small space that you use every day, even if it's a drawer.
Create open space. There is probably one surface, maybe your kitchen table or counter, where you tend to pile things up. Look at vertical options for storing keys. Trash junk mail immediately.
Put like things together. If you've got hobby items scattered around your home, r collect all the pieces in one spot. If you need them to be portable, think baskets or carry-alls.
Don't block traffic. If it's in your way, don't step over it. Pick it up and take it where it needs to go. Do this every time you walk somewhere in your house. Don't leave a room until you've picked up three things. Keep doing this, and you'll clean up in no time.
Teach your kids fun organizing habits. Enforce putting things in their proper place. Give a prize for cleanliness. End the day with a 15-minute clean-up.
Rethink your furniture. If you can't walk around the room briskly without bumping into things, you're probably not moving much while you're in the space.
Ask for help. So people make a living cleaning up for others. It's not a sign of failure. Afraid of the cost What's your peace of mind worth?
POST-DISPATCH HOME EDITOR
01/20/2006
A snapshot of your home's interior offers visitors a look into your inner sanctum. Your home opens a window into your personal style and sensibilities. Assumptions can be made about your social views, your character traits, your hobbies, your quirks, your marital status. So why did it surprise us when a magazine used the same sort of logic to make assumptions about an inhabitant's weight?
"Is Your House Making You Fat?" confronts the headline in Quick & Simple magazine. It's one of those "how long have you been beating your wife?" presumptuous questions that is at first a bit insulting. Then it shifts to being oddly amusing and, suddenly, it inspires a pensive "hmmm." Do we finally have something to blame that can't defend itself?
We've all heard of the sick house syndrome - too many allergens and not enough ventilation - but "fat house"?
"At first it was just a funny, interesting idea. Then we found a lot of studies that said this stuff bore out in science," said Cary Barbor, the diet, health and fitness editor for "Quick & Simple," in a phone interview from her office in New York City.
"After we knew it was valid we put many, many brains together and jumped to the flip side: 'What are you going to do about it?'," she said.
The article in the magazine edition, which hit newsstands on Tuesday, goes on to address potentially hazardous interior design choices in the living room, bedroom and kitchen.
We asked around, and most people tended to raise an eyebrow at the concept, but then quickly conceded that it makes sense. Not convinced? OK, hear us out.
"Your home affects your overall well being. So it can affect your energy, your outlook, your motivation," explained Laura Forbes Carlin, one of two sisters specializing as home and lifestyle consultants in Los Angeles, who spoke to us by phone. She reasoned that a home full of energy can inspire you to achieve certain goals. Therefore a home lacking energy can discourage those goals and lead to stagnation, depression and sloth.
Her sister Alison Forbes said that your home is the vehicle to drive you to your goals. The sisters subscribe to a belief in feng shui, an accent Chinese art of interior design that seeks to optimize your potential in every aspect of your life by placing objects according to a precise doctrine.
"I don't know about all that relating to someone's weight, but it's interesting," said Beth Henk, director of the Washington University Weight Management Program. She explained (without any sarcasm, thank you) that the program doesn't address interior design, but it does address behavioral issues that, perhaps, can be associated with how people organize their space.
Some of the suggestions from "Is Your House Making You Fat?" are common sense. Banish the candy dish and the TV trays. A lovely crystal dish of treats might seem like the perfect centerpiece for your coffee table, but it's a constant reminder that "Hey, you could be eating right now." And eating absent-mindedly in front of something colloquially called the idiot box is not a good idea, either.
Among the other suggestions are sealing bedroom windows in colder months. We also recommend heavy or layered drapes to help keep out the chill. The rationale is that when it's cold in the morning, you are less likely to get up a half hour early to make a nutritious breakfast or exercise.
Red and orange walls were judged to be no-nos in the kitchen and dining area because they stimulate the appetite. And the trend toward huge, ultra comfy, cushy sofas that cradle your tush like a well-tended glove is probably not in the best interests of your waistline, either. Cozy generally means that you're moving as little as possible, and that can cost you about 350 calories a day, according to the Quick & Simple article, which cited Mayo Clinic research.
So opt for a sleeker couch next time and compensate by encouraging more movement now. The article advises that you put the remote on the coffee table or in a drawer in between channel changes, not in your lap. Place the phone on the opposite end of the room, not next to the chair. Or better yet, Quick & Simple says, get off the couch and stretch out on the floor.
"What your home reflects is what your life becomes. If you have this vision of greatness, but your home is still kind of messy and chaotic, your vision follows," said Alison Forbes, who dispenses lifestyle wisdom with her sister at www.artofeverydayliving.com.
The same goes for any vision of your life, not just weight, she said.
"We've done lots of consultations for single women who have a goal to meet someone, and we walk into their bedroom and they have one lamp, one night stand and one piece of female inspired artwork featuring one woman," Forbes said. Her point is that bedrooms should show things in pairs and include romantic artwork. If you like works featuring one person, animal or object, that's fine, but buy two.
Barbor told us that the point of the article is not to blame your house, but to point out that making changes to your home can make a change in your life. She said that reaching your goals - including your goal weight - is hard enough without compounding the problem with bad habits that are encouraged because of your home's design.
Our experts chimed in with some things to consider, such as maybe you need a screen so that the kitchen isn't the first thing you see when you come home. Maybe your running shoes need a prime location by the back door, not behind your boots in the upstairs closet. Maybe the mini fridge in your home office was not such a good idea. Maybe taking the clothes off of the stationary exercise bike and relocating it in front of a window will encourage you to use it.
"I guess I knew a lot of these things, but it's good to see it in black and white," especially advice like don't eat in the dark, Barbor said. The article encourages people to eat with the lights on high and the drapes wide open if there's natural light outside. Why? People may eat more if they feel they are doing it in secret.
" If you want a cookie, have a cookie . . . just don't make it easy to eat the whole bag," Barbor said.
Take a bite out of your home's fat content
Keep the kitchen clean. You're more likely to cook and less likely eat out if the kitchen isn't scary.
Start small. Organize one small space that you use every day, even if it's a drawer.
Create open space. There is probably one surface, maybe your kitchen table or counter, where you tend to pile things up. Look at vertical options for storing keys. Trash junk mail immediately.
Put like things together. If you've got hobby items scattered around your home, r collect all the pieces in one spot. If you need them to be portable, think baskets or carry-alls.
Don't block traffic. If it's in your way, don't step over it. Pick it up and take it where it needs to go. Do this every time you walk somewhere in your house. Don't leave a room until you've picked up three things. Keep doing this, and you'll clean up in no time.
Teach your kids fun organizing habits. Enforce putting things in their proper place. Give a prize for cleanliness. End the day with a 15-minute clean-up.
Rethink your furniture. If you can't walk around the room briskly without bumping into things, you're probably not moving much while you're in the space.
Ask for help. So people make a living cleaning up for others. It's not a sign of failure. Afraid of the cost What's your peace of mind worth?
posted by Russell T. Nolting at
6:45 PM
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