Stuff Your Face or Face Your Stuff: The Organized Approach to Lose Weight by Decluttering Your Life

by Dorothy K. Breininger

While organizing the lives of her many clients as an organizing expert and a frequent guest on A&E's Hoarders show, Dorothy Breininger learned to face her own clutter, and lost seventy-five pounds in the process. In this one-of-a-kind book, she tackles downsizing from the much-needed perspective of what lies underneath our clutter—metaphorically, physically, and emotionally. With some of the most extreme and memorable true stories from the Hoarders show, Breininger reveals what our clutter is trying to tell us and how it relates to our struggles to lose weight and keep it off.

Whether you're a packrat, a neat freak, or trying to tame the hoarder within, Breininger reveals why, to be successful on the scale, you must first master the clutter within you and around you. With the same no-holds barred candor that resonates with TV viewers, she offers advice to help anyone face their stuff, with an organized, step-by-step approach to either toss it, tame it, or tailor it to fit their lives. Filled with personal stories from clients, her own success story, and tips from fitness coaches and organizing experts, this practical book gives everyone the tools to declutter their way to their dream size.

Genres: Self Help, Nonfiction, Psychology

288 pages, Paperback

First published April 2, 2013

Reviews

[Vivian · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I can see the value of some of the ideas in this book, and there seems to be a clear connection for some people between overeating and over-accumulation of stuff, the disorganization of this work doesn't make a strong case for Ms. Breiningers' vaunted skills as an organizing expert. Her points are all over the place, there are distractions and detours aplenty, and I had a hard time figuring out how to connect the dots she dropped all over the place. This books could have used a better editor, because I'm sure her points were valid, I just couldn't find them in all the extra "stuff" that padded out the core message.

[Lena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dorothy is an absolute queen. A ray of sunshine. An angel sent from the heavens. I would trust her with my life.

This book is basically a guide to self-care, putting yourself first, changing bad habits, and fixing your whole damn life. The title refers to weight loss, but you can also ignore the weight loss parts of the book and still get so much out of it. I really enjoyed hearing Dorothy's stories and all of the things she went through in her life, and I also think there was a lot of great advice in this book. Not just based on her own experiences, but taken from research in psychology, counselling, addictions, etc. But I think the advice is more powerful coming from someone who's lived through it all, rather than just another self help guru. I like that this book feels more personal.

I would kill for Dorothy to narrate a new version of the audiobook though. Or start a podcast. Like a podcast with the entire Hoarders gang? I would lose my goddamn mind!!!!!!

[Vvvvv · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disappointing. A collection of personal stories from the author (all of them "see how low I went, but I'm very successful now") interspersed with what felt like blog posts from collaborators. The premise of the book seemed revolutionary, but the execution is oh so far from expectations.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed reading this book but that may be because I'm a fan of Dorothy Breininger (via watching Hoarders episodes) rather than the writing itself. I went into this thinking that it was about hoarding and decluttering and really it's about weight loss. Dorothy realized that, for her, packing on extra pounds was hoarding on her body. She did an amazing amount of work realizing this and dealing with her food addiction problem. I liked Dorothy's writing style and the personal stories but your mileage may vary. I think she's the only person I've heard 'say' (write) "Jeepers!" other than my mom.

[Pug · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good! I waffled at first; I really like "Hoarders," but I don't care about the losing weight thing. But this book is really more than just hoarding and/or dieting... it's about baggage of all kinds. And that I can relate to! Her writing was interesting and straight-forward, and she examined personal issues from many different angles.

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Skimmed the book but read many sections over the course of the day ... lots of good information ... the material seemed disjointed in parts

[Rachel Jaffe · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was very scattered. Dorothy was an engaging writer (although at times her folksy manner could grate), but the info was a mile wide and an inch deep. There were a lot of portions where she deferred to great-friends-and-awesome-experts that sounded a bit infomercial-ish. There was some good food for thought (ha!) if you've never thought about issues like how your emotional stuff can manifest in food, clutter, etc., but if you have and are ready to do work, you'll probably need a different book.

[Carol Palmer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Dorothy Breininger, but I believe this book focused too much on her own problems and too little on helping the reader. I do like to eat and have the extra pounds to show for it, but I'm also someone who can have snack food sitting around and not eat a whole package of potato chips or a 1/2 gallon of ice cream in one sitting. I was hoping this would give me more advice on trying to organize my basement and guest room and how that would lead to losing extra pounds.

[Joann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fabulous book primarily about weight loss. The author is an organizing professional and has been featured on the TV show, Hoarders, as a consultant. She brings a unique perspective to the weight loss arena given her own struggle in this area. The relationship between our "stuff" and our weight is explored in this book. I found it enlightening and entertaining. I'd definitely recommend it.

[R · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is well written, providing a lot of information surrounding weight loss and food addiction. There are lots of references for further reading. The information was provided in an engaging and entertaining way - this is the first self-help book I have ever read cover to cover. There are lots of useful tips and such, but the thing that I really took away from it was a subtle change in the way I think about food. This book has facilitated a huge positive change in my life.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I suppose I am not the target audience. That said, I like the idea that physical clutter leads to emotional clutter and decreased initiation to do healthy things. I feel inspired to de clutter my life and maybe reduce some bagage.

Again, I disnt know I was getting a reality tv 'star' when I checked out this ebook. I blame the small icon of the cover.

[Elizabeth Grieve · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can see that there may be a connection between uncontrolled eating and uncontrolled 'stuff' in our lives, but to be honest this author did not inspire me on either count. I'm sure there might be nuggets of useful information in this book, but it was hard to continue looking for them amongst all the personal stories.

Review of a preview copy from the publisher.

[June · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book for those who have problems with clutter and emotional eating (find out how they go hand in hand in this book). The author jumps around a little so I took a star off for that distraction.

[Shari · Rating 4 out of 5]

P.6 first you need to understand that some of your issues about food may be more about emotional cravings. Than physical ones.
P.41 state the goal,write down the steps, and begin to take action.

[Lorna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yet another organizing book! This one actually deals more with weight loss. I did glean several good ideas about clutter control.

[Jamie Holloway · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will be posting a review on my blog soon.

[Luis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good tips to lose weight to what other way to lose weight like.https: //bit.ly/2MiWPFb