Using EFT for Weight Loss: 3 Key Areas to Address

Today's post is the first in a series that I'll be doing on EFT & Weight Loss over the next few weeks.
EFT can be an incredibly effective tool to help with weight loss. In fact, as a former dietitian and personal trainer, I am really excited about EFT's potential to help people lose weight permanently without dieting or struggle! Oftentimes, EFT is used on a rather superficial level to help eliminate food cravings. While this can certainly be a useful start to addressing weight issues, it is necessary to go beyond surface issues to reach the full potential of what is possible with this technique. To maximize EFT's effectiveness, I recommend that three specific areas be addressed:

1. Your relationship with your body and with food

If you have struggled for years to lose weight, it's likely that your feelings towards both your body and food are less than joyful. You may have feelings of guilt and shame about your physical appearance and/or your eating habits. You may feel angry that your body seems to gain weight easily while other people's bodies stay slim effortlessly. Food may seem like the enemy, or it may seem like your only friend, one that you aren't willing to give up in order to lose the weight. EFT should be applied directly to each of these issues. A good place to start might be the Make Peace with Your Body and Body Appreciation tapping scripts I posted a few weeks ago.

2. Limiting beliefs around losing weight

If you've been trying to lose weight for a long time, it's likely that you've developed a lot of limiting beliefs around weight loss. These could include:
-It's really hard to lose weight
-It's always going to be a struggle
-I have to deprive myself
-I have to do a lot of unpleasant exercise
-I can't eat the foods I enjoy
-I have to eat foods I don't like
-I have a slow metabolism
-Everyone in my family is fat, that's just the way it is

These beliefs may all feel incredibly true to you, however, they are only as true as you choose for them to be. Using EFT, it is possible to release these limiting beliefs (and any others you may have come up with) so that losing weight can be accomplished with joy and ease.

3. Core beliefs underlying resistance to weight loss

This is the area that is critical to address if weight loss is to be permanent: The underlying emotional reasons why you are carrying the extra weight in the first place. These reasons are not always obvious and may require some detective work! Some of these issues may be very intense and complex; this is where the assistance of a skilled EFT practitioner can be extremely invaluable. Some of the core beliefs that have come up when I have been working with clients include:
-Skinny people are weak
-I deserve to suffer (because if I don't ______ will happen)
-I'm afraid of being sexually attractive
-I don't want people to like me just for being thin, how will I know they like me for ME?
-My mom/husband/best friend will be angry/jealous if I lose the weight
-What if I still can't get what I want even after I'm thin?

As the above examples illustrate, the extra weight you're carrying is really a form of self-protection. A good question to ask yourself to help find core beliefs is "Why isn't it safe for me to lose this weight?"

In the next few weeks, I will be exploring each of these areas in more detail. If you have questions about how to best use EFT for weight loss, please let me know, and I'll do my best to address them throughout this series!

Image by Michal Marcol, courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net