How to Use EFT to Eradicate Irresistible Food Cravings & Late Night Bingeing
– by Rebecca Johnson
I discovered EFT shortly after I finished a graduate program in Marriage and Family Therapy. Toward the end of my program I started feeling very discouraged about becoming a traditional therapist because the modalities I was learning were not helping people make efficient and lasting changes. I wasn’t sure if it was just me, or if there was something missing.
Then I found EFT. I vividly remember the first time I tried it, because without expecting anything, I was suddenly crying. I had unwittingly tapped into some very deeply hidden emotions and something was letting go. The next day I felt different. I felt lighter and happier. I felt like the things I had discovered about myself were things I had never touched on throughout my entire training or in any private therapy I had done.
I decided I had to find out everything I could about this strange technique. I have been studying and innovating with EFT ever since, and still to this day, I have not found a more effective way of finding and releasing resistance, emotional blocks and limiting beliefs.
Hey! My Pants Are Starting to Feel Loose
Last year, I decided it was time for me to address my own relationship with my body and food. I have struggled with food issues and body image since early in high school and I decided I was ready to get to the bottom of it. Setting that intention has led me to discover so much about the hidden messages behind my cravings and to peel back the layers of my emotional eating habits. Using EFT, along with learning more and more about healthy food choices, and learning how to love and accept all of me, has been key for me.
The last few weeks I have noticed that my pants are pretty loose, and it’s not just because I am eating chia pudding and cauliflower soup. It’s also because I am listening to myself, learning to give myself what I really want and need, advocating for myself, and loving and accepting all of me. It feels great!
How to Start Tapping Away Your Food Cravings
Here is a tapping sequence you can use to get started on addressing a specific craving. I hope you find this helpful:
First think about or look at the food you are craving and identify where you are feeling the desire or craving for the food in your body. Then ask yourself what emotion you are feeling about the fact that you are having the craving.
Once you are aware of the emotion (it could be confusion, guilt, feeling conflicted, deprived etc…), rate on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the strongest, 1 being not very strong), how high the emotion is in your body, as well as how high the craving is.
Once you have identified what you are feeling, where you are feeling it on your body, and how high it is, you can begin tapping.
Karate Chop Point:
“Even though I feel (insert feeling), because I really want to eat this (insert the food you are craving), I deeply and completely love and accept myself anyway.
“Even though this (insert food) is calling my name, and that makes me feel (insert feeling) I love and accept myself anyway.
“Even though I don’t think I should eat this (insert food), and I really want to, I choose to accept this part of me that wants this (insert food).”
Top of the Head:
“This craving”
Eyebrow:
“This craving”
Side of the Eye:
“I REALLY want to eat this (insert name of food).”
Under the Eye:
“And even though I want this food, and I wish I didn’t…
Under the Nose:
“I deeply and completely love and accept myself anyway.”
Chin Point;
“I wish I could eat this and not feel (fill in the blank).”
Collarbone:
“But I do feel (insert how you feel).”
Under the Arm:
“And even so, I deeply and completely love and accept all of me anyway. I accept my feelings, and I choose to accept that I have this craving.”
Review and Recalibrate to See How You’re Feeling
Now take a nice deep breath and check in with yourself. Has the intensity of the emotion gone up, down or stayed the same? How about the intensity of the craving?
Take a moment to listen to your body and what else it wants to say and continue tapping through the points as you allow yourself to discover more about what is really underneath the craving. Let whatever wants to surface come into your awareness.
Let me know how this process works for you, and feel free to ask ANY questions you may have about how to tap into what you are really hungry for in the comment section below. We will be offering a series of FREE one-on-one EFT sessions for people who want to take it deeper and are willing to share their experience on the blog. If you’re interested and willing, please leave a comment below and let us know! You could be the next one chosen to share her story and success with our community!
Here’s to your freedom!
Rebecca Johnson