I am an admitted lazy, procrastinating, slob. Before I got this heavy, I could at least clean up my home to a semi-habitable state. Now, I have no energy to do so and it has become a veritable pig sty. I have 15 days to clean or at least straighten before my surgery. My mother is coming from KY to help out and has requested that I have at least a path to walk through. I just look around me and think, it's so bad, where do I start. Every day, I tell myself I am going to start and everyday, here I sit glued to this website. So, my question to you is, did your housekeeping skills get better after surgery and your energy levels picked up? Thanks Kelly 15 days and counting

Well---yes and no. I've never LIKED housework, but over the past few years it just got harder and harder. Losing 125 pounds has make it much easier, but it's still not something I enjoy. But since I have so much mroe energy now, I find I AM doing a bit more of it...

Kelly, I know how it is. I am not the best housekeeper but I can tell you that 4 weeks after the surgery my energy level was so high and still is. I remember waking up on morning and my kitchen was CLEAN all the dishes washed AND put away. I had to take a second look and say to myself.... 'who did that'... My house is a LOT cleaner and more organised now.. Messy house is a form of depression, yu will have a different outlook once you are on the other side. To help yu start, take one square yard at a time in one room at a time.. That's how I started..... after a few days the trash was really pilling up in one area...... then it was all out to the dump. Good luck Judy

Cleaning can be overwhelming at any body size. However, cleaning does seem to be more of a challenge the heavier you get, at least that's my experience... A few suggestions... Pick one area to clean, the kitchen counter, the side table next to your favorite chair, the bathroom sink.Have several paper bags - one trash, one bedroom, one kitchen and one bathroom. As you find items for those areas, put them in the correct bag. When done cleaning your specific area, move those bags to the appropriate room. Don't have to unload the bags until you pick that area to clean. Set a timer for 15 minutes. At the end of the 15 minutes take a computer break. It's amazing how much work can get done in 15 minutes. G'luck! -Edessa Michelle

Edessa Michelle, are you a Fly Lady???? Thank you all for your responses. I keep telling myself (and my poor, dear, sweet, puts-up-with-me husband) that it will all be better soon. Gonna go do 15 minutes in the kitchen. Thanks again ya'll, Kelly

Well, it may have taken me longer to do my house work before surgery, but I still somehow got it done! My Mom was a BAD housekeeper and I hated it growing up, so I am ANAL about my house. It was sure nice to be able to do it in no time after surgery tho......I think when you find you have more energy and feel better it willl get easier. Yesterday I cleaned my whole house (small 2 bedroom), rearranged the furniture in the living room and did 2 loads of laundry in about 1.5 hours.....prior to surgery it would have taken me all day AND I would not have rearranged the furniture!!!

Hi Kelly, I'm soon hopefully going to be approved this week -I hope, and let me tell you this my dear Girl. Now this is ME! I have a PROVIDER! And guess what? She does the cleaning and cooking! So don't be hard on your self. Some of us are just too big and SICK to do the things we should. Now I'm not telling you not to try, but I have been in a wheel chair for over 4 years, fractured my back from falling, and all sorts of stuff because I was Trying to do for my self. So don't hurt yourself if you really can't do it. Your so close to helping your self and don't need a fall or some injury to delay this. I have NO ENERGY! The little I find goes to the doctor! I do however get on a treadmill everyday! Walk one leg at a time to keep the legs alive! With MY PROVIDER! That's me dear Girl. So take it as you may, May God Bless YOU and I will be waiting to hear your Success Story when it's over! Arleigh

I got organized with "Sidetracked Home Executives". I work out of the house & needed to get more organized. My mom actually used a version of this years ago - it sounds archaic - putting tasks onto index cards & dividing them into daily/weekly/monthly/2x year/annually. But it really works & you can use a DayTimer or your computer instead. P~

Kelly - housework is NOT fun to me. I hate it and in the past have been the same lazy slob you describe yourself to be. However as much as I hate housework, I LIKE a clean house so I have to force myself to get off my a**. I am only 5 days post op right now so I can't speak of energy levels with impending weight loss. I can tell you, however, that housework is good exercise! Since you have to exercise after surgery to be successful in your weight loss journey - give it a try. Toe touches? --Pick up stuff off the floor (when you are healed enough of course.) Step Aerobics?--try bringing small piles of laundry up and down the stairs! Full body cardio?--Push and pull that vacuum or mop around with some upbeat music blaring! You are going to be a new you -- why not surround yourself with things that make you feel positive, starting with an uplifting environment! That's just my two cents. Good luck with the surgery Kelly.

Yes definitely I pooped out faster and sometimes it just doesn't seem to be a priority to me, clean clothes and kitchen are my biggies. As far as could I leave my house with a bed unmade and socks balled up in the kids room?! NO PROBLEM, but that is just me. I have gotten a lot better about it, just to fill my time I used to be sitting on my a$$ eating, or preparing more food. I think though that the way you are (other than being disabled) about housework kind of carries through, this surgery changes your body and some psychological things, but your basic personality and likes, dislikes are the same at least for me. I'd much rather be outside riding thehorse or cleaning a stall than vacuuming still. Matter of fact I am meticulous about the barn and horses, and not at all about the house. I keep saying that when all the kids are gone I'm moving out to the barn!!!!!!!! Good luck with the housework, and who says YOU have to do it all? Get some help from others, like your mom.

(clears throat) My name is Melissa, and I am a bad housekeeper..... I was, and I still am. Old habits die hard. I am totally swamped, and so is DH, so we are both in the same mess. Both of us work full time, and we are both full-time students (and my free time is spent doing homework, writing lesson plans, and SLEEPING!) Plus, apparently, I am a perfectionist, so if I can't get it all done at once the way I want it, then I find it hard to even start. I HAVE however, made some steps. I have literally a ton of clothes to go through, and I'm doing that. It helps that what I wore last month is too baggy to wear. I'm being brutal, too. My goal, over Christmas break from school, is to make some serious headway. Our biggest problem, other than time, is that we are both packrats, and both had 1000 sq ft apartments before we got married and moved into a house with less than 1500 sq ft.... (and its old, so there is hardly any closet space!) ugh. Melissa

Skinny , fat, inbetween. housekeeping slobs come in all sizes, shapes, colors, gender, etc. The key is having a plan and breaking it all down into small pieces that don't seem overwhelming. So stop thinking about all of it. Make a pledge to spend 10 minutes cleaning off the desk or kitchen counter. Later in the day, pledge 10 minutes to empty all trash containers and take it to the big trash can. Before you go to bed, pledge to wash every dirty dish. Although I've always been a meticulous housekeeper, the energy levels I have now (and it took a long time after surgery to get to this point), I can keep the house clean and still have time and energy to do other more enjoyable things. any chance you can enlist the help of a friend to work through the house. I know how intimidating it can be to have mom see how you live (it intimidated me and at my messiest, I was a better housekeeper than my mom!). Good luck. Ann

I COULDN'T clean too much pre-op, but now my house is immaculate- I love having this energy (although I did have to stop myself short of vacuuming the cats - they get that hair all over!).

two words........ FLY LADY!!!!!!! go to her website...it will change your life. Best wishes.. Kim

I use to have to hire someone to clean my house. There was no way physically I could manage it. Now, I have the energy, but hate it! I do it myself now though, although it's not as clean as when I had a housekeeper. Linda

Kelly, I was obsessive about my house before surgery....I cleaned all the time...Now I just keep it clean and If its not perfect no biggie...I guess because I was pretty much house bound before surgery..I felt I could control my life if I controled my house....Now I am living outside the house more everyday....I just keep things clean and I don't obsess about it now. Robin

I've always been something of a neat freak, although I'm not entirely anal about it. It was difficult to clean the way I wanted to when I was heavy though, and it would make me nuts to see all the mess around me and not have much energy to do anything about it. Now I can go through my house like a lightning bolt and get it all done in record time ... if I FEEL like it. Which nowadays I don't because I'm having too much fun doing other things!! You'll get there - just remember to give yourself a break after surgery because it will be a few weeks before the energy starts to kick in. Right after surgery I had NO energy for almost 3 months. It takes time. Give yourself a break and just look forward to what's ahead. Hugs, Jody

I was lazy about housework before surgery and I am lazy now, too! I hate housework. I used to have a lady come every 2 weeks and clean for me. In an attempt to save money, I quit having her come. I NEED HER BACK!!! Now that I've lost 88 pounds, I don't want to waste my time cleaning. I want to shop and do fun things!!! So, I will admit it - I'm a lazy housekeeper. Don't get me wrong, we don't live in filth. But, I could do a better job. ~ * Alice Ann * ~ 276/188/130ish

Oh Kelly, My house is much cleaner now. I had 2 huge closets full of clothes. Now I only have about 12 bottoms and 15 tops that fit, as I have sorted the rest into "resale" and "toss" and "Goodwill" piles and scooted them out the door to their new homes. Now I have room in my closets to put all the other junk that was taking up space in the livingroom and kitchen! Kidding (sort of) but it is cleaner, because as I get my weight under control, my life feels more under control, and I want to have everything else feeling simplified and neater and in control too, so cleaning my house just has become a natural extension of that. Still wouldn't want Martha Stewart to come over with her white glove test, but I'm getting closer. Good luck and God bless on your surgery! Donna

Yes yes yes! I have so much more energy now. I used to have to rest between bringing the laundry from the basement to the first floor, rest then up to the bedrooms, then rest before coming back down. Now I run up and down several times with out stopping at all. I even got up the energy to repaint 3 of my bedrooms and hang a nice wallpaper border, steam clean the carpets and move furniture. Went to IKEA and bought furniture, loaded it with minimal help into the truck and brought it home for DH to put together, I did manage to supervise him as well, LOL I also have the ennergy to work more hours at my job. I also have been doing a lot more yard work and LOVING every minute of it. I never could have done it all at 260 pounds, I was too tired and in too much pain from carrying so much on my small framed body. ( I get goose bumps calling myself small framed!)