Diversify Your Joy to Lose Weight

As a weight loss coach, one of the first questions I ask
most clients is how much of their total joy in life comes
from food and food-related activities. When the percentage
is high, I understand why they are having a hard time
losing weight. I have worked with hundreds of clients who
get too much of their happiness from food.

I recently had am overweight client who lived alone and
didn't have much outside interaction. Of all the joy she
had in her life, 95 percent came from food. As you can
imagine, she was not too excited to reduce her food intake
in order to lose weight, as it was directly connected to
the amount of joy she would experience in her life.

Whenever this is the case, I don't start with the food, I
start with the joy. I didn't attempt to have the client
reduce her food intake until she added at least 50 percent
more joy from other sources into her life. In this
particular client's case, she made a list of all the things
in her life she could start doing that could bring her more
joy. She learned how to fish, she took a jewelry- making
class, she started walking, she spent more time with her
friends, and she joined a volunteer organization. All of
these activities started to fill her with joy and happiness
and a sense of contribution. At this point, it was easier
for her to stop overeating because she could rely on
herself for her joy instead of just the food.
A good rule of thumb is if you feel like you need more than
10 percent of your total eating per day to be just for the
sake of joy, you are most likely getting too much of your
joy from food. If you feel as if you are really missing out
on something when you can't eat 50 percent or more joy
food, that is an indication that your joy needs to be
diversified from food into other activities and practices
that can help you create happiness.

Finally, even if it isn't food you are getting joy from,
you still don't want to have all your joy in one basket. If
it's all wrapped up in a man, when the man leaves, you can
be devastated. If a huge percentage of joy comes from your
kids, then when they leave, you are left feeling empty. If
you get most of your joy from your work, when you quit or
get fired or end your career, you can be left feeling
unhappy. So spread out the joy in your life. Use all the
balanced sources in life from your family, your career,
your social life, and your spiritual life so they can work
together in bringing you a steady sense of well-diversified
joy.

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Brooke Castillo is the author of "If I am So Smart, Why
Can't I Lose Weight? and can be found at
http://www.coach4weight.com