EFT and Weight Loss
The problem
Many people have had great success with diets such as intermittent fasting and low carb. The problem is that often, that weight ends up coming right back! Grrrrr, why is that? In many cases, people find their new eating habits hard to maintain. We get stressed or side-tracked by life and just give up and back comes the weight.
What if we were able to address all of the issues that keep us coming back to food? Some find stress relief in food, others find comfort, while others have ingrained habits and addictions that they have carried around for years.
How stress and anxiety keep us from losing weight
When we have stress or anxiety. our brains go into the fight or flight mode. Stress can cause our body to release the stress hormone cortisol.
Cortisol is involved in regulating many body functions, including:
- Blood pressure regulation
- Glucose metabolism
- Immune function
- Inflammatory response
- Insulin release
High levels of cortisol are linked to many health issues, including inflammation, high blood pressure, lower immunity and increased insulin secretion.
High insulin secretion has long been associated with obesity. When we stay stressed, it doesn’t matter how much willpower we have or what we eat. As long as our insulin stays elevated, we will continue to gain weight or have difficulty losing weight.
This is a simplified explanation of how stress keeps us from losing or keeping off weight.
Let’s address the stress and anxiety associated with weight
What if, instead of just relying on our willpower, we actually address the underlying causes of what drives us to food. If we can alleviate our cravings and find joy in taking care of ourselves in ways other than food, we can actually enjoy the process of eating for nutrition and the weight will naturally fall off.
Enter EFT for weight loss
EFT, also known as tapping, is a powerful tool to help alleviate stress, cravings and food addictions. We can tap on acupressure points on our bodies as we focus on the craving, the stress, whatever the problem is. This sends calming signals to our brains and allows us to feel relaxed and in control.
- Tapping can reduce stress and anxiety by 41%
- Research shows that tapping can calm the Amygdala in our brain (which triggers our fight or flight response), thereby regulating our nervous system.
- By regulating our nervous system, tapping boosts the immunes system and allows our digestive, reproductive and endocrine systems to function normally.
- EFT Tapping lowers the stress hormone cortisol by 43%.
- EFT Tapping reduces food cravings and actually changes “the brain’s neural pathways involved in addiction and food cravings.”
By using this powerful tool, we can address all of the underlying issues involved with stress.
We can also use this powerful tool to address other underlying issues such as body image, fear of losing weight – what will our lives be like if we lose weight? There are so many issues involved with weight that are not just the physical issues.
Does what I eat matter?
What foods do you reach for when you’re stressed? Often, we reach for carb-heavy foods. Potato chips, french fries, cookies, cake . . . you get the idea. Why do we reach for those?
Studies show that carbs stimulate regions in the brain involved with pleasure, reward and addiction. Apparently, the more carbs you eat, the more you will crave them. Carbs increase insulin which signals our bodies to accumulate fat. When our cells store energy in our fat cells, our other cells feel neglected because they are being starved. This makes us crave more carbs.
What a vicious cycle!
Maybe not just what you eat, but when you eat as well
Dr. Jason Fung has had a lot of success with using intermittent fasting along with low-carb/keto eating. Many people think of fasting as starvation. Fasting is actually very different from starvation. Starvation is involuntary whereas fasting is voluntary. People have fasted for centuries for spiritual, health and other reasons.
Fasting is just the absence of eating for a chosen amount of time. Of course, fasting may not be for everyone, but it has been a proven way to reduce insulin levels and signaling the body to start burning stored energy, weight loss and reversing type 2 diabetes. I recommend reading Dr. Fung’s book, The Complete Guide to Fasting. There are many types of fasts including:
- 12 hour fast – basically just normal eating during the day and then no eating between 7pm and 7am.
- 16 hour fast – Abstaining from food for 16 hours. For example – fasting from 7 pm to 11 am.
- 18 hour fast – same as above, but add a couple more hours to the fasting time.
There are also more extended fasts:
- 24 hours – also known as one meal a day.
- 36 or 42 X3 – also known as alternate day fasting. This one is more challenging, but has yielded great results for many.
- Anything over 42 hours is considered an extended fast.
As I said, fasting is not for everyone. if you are interested, check with your doctor to see if it is safe for you. Many people who fast, also follow a low-carb or keto diet, focusing on whole, real, unprocessed foods.
If you feel that fasting is not for you, just focus on whole, real, unprocessed foods and stay away from the high-carb, highly processed foods and, of course, address those underlying issues!
Bringing it all together . . .
By addressing the underlying issues that keep us eating in the first place, our addiction to carbs and all the things that cause us to secrete excess cortisol, we can then address what we eat and when. EFT Tapping, along with intermittent fasting, low carb or keto can be the answer that we have been looking for
Want some help with tapping and losing weight? Join me for Weight Loss EFT for Christian Women. This membership group provides weekly (or more) zoom meetings for tapping, tips, and support, premium content that is not found on the main Pathlight website. Additional tapping videos and a members-only Facebook group for community support and friendship.
The introductory cost is $9.99 for the 1st month and then $29.99 per month thereafter. You can stay as long as you like and cancel at any time