Bob Greene's Circle of Life
By Bob Greene

You know the pattern. You're angry about something. The solution: a fistful of chocolate chip cookies. You're down in the dumps for no particular reason. Nothing Ben & Jerry's can't fix. One of the greatest weight loss obstacles is fighting emotional eating — impulsive, unhealthy snacking triggered by stress, boredom, depression, and other factors. To halt these cravings that can sabotage your weight loss efforts, you have to determine what triggers those episodes of late-night cookies and straight-from-the-carton ice cream binges. What are you angry or depressed about that makes you turn to food for comfort?

A great self-discovery exercise for defeating emotional eating is the Circle of Life. It pinpoints your life's most important areas, determines their current status (going well or needs improvement), and then helps to develop a plan to correct the problem areas. It not only can put an end to your emotional eating, but also address other troubles spots that may interfere with your health and wellness.

Here's how it works. Draw a large circle on a blank sheet of paper. Divide the circle into several sections so it resembles a sliced pie. Each section represents an area you feel is an integral part of a fulfilled life, such as career, family, health, fitness, friendship, romance, finance, relationships, etc. Aim for at least six categories and write them in each pie slice.

Next, ask yourself how everything is going in that area — and be brutally honest. Going well, write a positive sign; not so well, make a negative sign. Examine the slices with a negative sign. How could you improve that area? What is something you can do every day to stimulate positive change? Write at least one item in each section that you can do right now to improve that category, and then commit yourself to it.

Some examples: If a friendship has soured, write a letter, send an e-mail, or pick up the phone. If your fitness has stalled, rejuvenate it: begin an exercise journal, buy some new workout clothes. Not eating healthy enough? Clean out the refrigerator and fill up with fruit and vegetables. Relationship woes? Consider joining a social group, or bond with co-workers after hours. Re-vamp your financial situation by meeting with a financial planner, update your resume, or review your household budget (or draft one).

People who struggle with weight gain often want instant gratification. But if you're patient and take small steps every day, the results can be powerful. If you can consistently do at least one thing daily to change a negative to a positive, I promise that powerful change will occur in your life after one year. If you can do three things daily you won't recognize your former life. The philosophy is similar to losing weight. If you eat healthy and exercise, you don't feel any change on a day-to-day basis. Yet, you can look back a year later and see a profound transformation. You'll also discover that since you addressed negative feelings about a relationship or money worries, your emotional eating episodes have vanished.