Self-Care Tool #7 Diversify Your Joy 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 had one client, mentioned earlier in this book, who lived alone and didn’t have much outside interaction. Of all the joy she had in her life, 95 per- cent came from food. As you can imagine, she was not too excited to reduce her food intake 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 per- cent 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 QaXe MoD1sel+ \1oDC by PaXing Ca1e ! A66