The Tapping Solution for Weight Loss & Body Confidence (26 page)

Under Nose:
I need to hold on to all this food and eat it.

Chin:
This fear of letting go …

Collarbone:
This fear of being wasteful …

Under Arm:
These beliefs I picked up from my parents …

Top of Head:
I’m open to seeing this another way.

Eyebrow:
It’s okay to not finish what’s on my plate.

Side of Eye:
I’m not a child who will be scolded.

Under Eye:
I am a woman looking out for my well-being.

Under Nose:
In order to do what I thought was morally right …

Chin:
I’ve put my body under a lot of strain.

Collarbone:
Eating this food won’t make someone else less hungry.

Under Arm:
I find other ways to show gratitude and help someone less fortunate.

Top of Head:
I can throw out food that doesn’t serve my body.

The Dangers of the “Buying in Bulk” Culture

In a world where food is abundant and we are surrounded by so-called food bargains, many of us find ourselves stockpiling packaged food that is neither healthy nor nourishing. As we’ve seen, the same “food” that we can purchase in bulk and on sale is also engineered to make us overeat. But because many of us have been taught to hoard, when we find a sale, instead of buying one or two boxes of cereal, for example, we find ourselves buying six or eight or ten.

This mentality tends to flare up during times of financial struggle, when money seems scarce. Food marketers are aware of this and respond accordingly, knowing that when we see a sale for diet soda, we will buy it in bulk. While our conscious intention is positive—to save money—when we go for these deals, we are overlooking a critical question:
What does the body really need and want to feel great and be healthy?

In his book
Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think
, Brian Wansink, Ph.D., shares what he calls “The Curse of the Warehouse Club.” After conducting a two-week study of bulk food buyers, he found that people ate far higher quantities of bulk food “bargains” in the first week after buying them. After that, most people lost the desire for these foods. Some then forced themselves to overeat what was left to make room for new foods, while others simply threw away what was left.

For both groups, buying in bulk caused people to overeat “foods” that don’t nourish their bodies and weren’t even satisfying. As we’ve seen, these “foods” are engineered to make us overindulge, but because they’re convenient, cheap, and available everywhere at a “bargain” price, we gravitate toward them. What’s worse, we may even spend more money on so-called bargains than we would if we bought just the quantity of wholesome, nourishing foods the body actually needs.

Many of us who struggle with weight fall into that “force ourselves to overeat what’s left to make room for new food” category. Often it’s not even a conscious decision. We may even feel buyer’s remorse after purchasing something that isn’t aligned with our goals. Because we still have a lack mentality, however, throwing food out doesn’t feel like an option. Instead, we force ourselves to eat it and think,
I’ll start a diet tomorrow.

I used to have this exact same hoarding mentality. Every time I wanted to start a new diet, I first ate everything in my kitchen that was bad for me. This was not a leisurely, graceful meal—more like stuffing it all down my throat in a single standing. After all, I didn’t want to “waste it.”

The reality is that we can’t hoard freshly picked apples. When we’re talking about highly processed “food”—bars, chips, cookies, and premade meals—we need to face the facts. Eating these things won’t solve world hunger. The bottom line is that calling Doritos (and all highly processed edible products) “food” is questionable. It’s time to take a closer look at what we’re putting in our mouths.

What Is Your Body Trying to Tell You?

Even when we think we’re following all the “rules” of healthy eating, when we tune in to the body, we often realize that we’ve been ignoring the signals it has been sending us. When we look to the body as our guide, we see that the “rules” of what works and what doesn’t change from one person to the next. Relying heavily on advice and information from outside experts just doesn’t work.

The reality is that our food landscape has drastically changed and we haven’t been able to stop and consciously become aware of how these foods are impacting us. In fact, more and more people are experiencing adverse reactions to very common foods. A 2008 study published by the CDC found that between 1997 and 2007 there had been a 17 percent increase in food allergies in young people (under age 18). Some areas of the country have also seen a dramatic rise in hospital visits as a result of food allergies. While the reasons for these statistics are unclear, they do suggest that we each need to pay closer attention to how our own body reacts to different foods.

Food Allergies and Sensitivities

Sometimes, the foods we crave most—the ones we feel like we can’t live without and can’t stop eating after we take that first bite—are the ones we’re most allergic or sensitive to. That was the case for me with baked goods. Whether it was a box of crackers I had to eat in a single sitting or an enormous plate of cookies, my cravings were incredibly intense. Even after using tapping to overcome the emotional issues behind my cravings, I found that it was best for me not to stock these items in my house. As we’ve seen, many of these foods are designed to make it difficult to have only one.

When I eliminated wheat, what was left of my cravings vanished. I also lost an enormous amount of bloat, including in my face. I suddenly had much more energy, no longer struggled with constipation, and no longer had a runny nose each morning. I was amazed that one dietary change had made that much difference.

My brother Alex had a very similar experience with dairy. Nearly all of my childhood memories include scenes of Alex blowing his nose. Literally, for years on end, his nose was either running or attached to a tissue. My mom took him from doctor to doctor, who all kept prescribing allergy medicine. By high school, Claritin was a daily part of his life.

Years later Alex tried cutting out cheese. He wasn’t happy about it—cheese was his favorite food in the world! When he tried it, though, his body felt so good that there was no turning back. He no longer spent the first 30 minutes in the morning blowing his nose. He was amazed by how much better he felt.

Alex had a very obvious and fairly fast shift, which isn’t always the case. What’s interesting is that when Alex visits our family in Argentina, he can eat his favorite indulgence—grilled provolone cheese—without any reaction. That may be because it’s hand-crafted local cheese, not processed cheese.

For Alex and many others, it’s not just what we’re eating but the quality of what we’re eating that matters. The more processed a food is, the more likely it is that the body will have adverse reactions to it. The key for Alex was being able to notice how his body reacted to certain foods and adjust his diet accordingly.

Make the intention to eat slowly and notice how your body feels after a meal. Excess weight, bloating, gas, constipation, diarrhea, stuffy nose, low energy, and frequent headaches can all be signs that you’re having an adverse reaction to a certain food. Become your own detective and discover how you feel when you eliminate certain foods. When you invest more time in your relationship with your body, you can see that it’s not betraying you; it’s simply trying to get your attention. It’s time to listen.

When Your Body Confuses You—Cravings and Detox

As we’ve seen, our strongest cravings can be for the foods we’re allergic or sensitive to. Sometimes when we eliminate those same foods, we experience detox symptoms for several days. That happened to me when I stopped eating wheat. All of my symptoms—bloating, low energy, constipation—got worse at first. I was also incredibly emotional, got bad headaches, and felt very shaky. When I tapped on those symptoms, they diminished. Without tapping, there is no way I would have been able to complete the process. Once I did, I literally felt better than I ever had in my entire life. The differences in my mood, energy, and body were huge.

For some people, tapping prevents detox symptoms. That was the case for Ellie, whose body responded immediately when she was finally able to end her Diet Sunkist addiction by tapping. In addition to feeling less bloated and having less gas, she was amazed by how easy the process was with tapping. Before, she explained, “I was seriously powerless when it came to a can of Diet Sunkist. Now, nothing … I have gone through some serious stuff and thought that I would have to have a Diet Sunkist to feel better. I had one. Nothing. No thrill, no calm, just nothing. It wasn’t even tasty. I didn’t finish it. For real and true, it is in my past and out of my body!”

If you decide to try eliminating various foods to see how your body reacts, make sure to use tapping, and don’t let standard detox symptoms deter you. They’re a normal and healthy sign that your body is getting rid of substances that interfere with your health.

Your Body Is Hungry for Nutrition

Now that we’ve looked at the ways processed food products may be negatively affecting health, the question remains—what
should
we eat?

The ultimate answer to that question is one only you can provide. Once you’ve tapped through your limiting emotions and beliefs, you’ll be able to get in touch with your body and your intuition. When that happens, your body will usually tell you what it needs. So many of my students and clients find themselves effortlessly gravitating toward fresh fruits and veggies and away from processed foods.

Let’s do some tapping now around getting in touch with our bodies and learning to trust them to guide us:
Karate Chop:
Even though I don’t know what to eat, I choose to feel calm and trust my intuition. (
Repeat three times.
)
Eyebrow:
As I quiet my mind …

Side of Eye:
And feel centered in my body …

Under Eye:
I begin to notice the extra love and nourishment my body needs.

Under Nose:
I trust my intuition as it leads me to healthy choices.

Chin:
I become curious about how to support my body.

Collarbone:
This is fun and easy.

Under Arm:
I take it one choice at a time.

Top of Head:
I’m attracted to foods that help my body thrive.

Eyebrow:
I bring new awareness to how my body feels.

Side of Eye:
What I thought was my body betraying me …

Under Eye:
Is my body trying to get my attention.

Under Nose:
I become curious as to how I react to foods.

Chin:
I begin to experiment to find what’s right for me.

Collarbone:
I let go of needing to know the answer now.

Under Arm:
I am open, curious, and patient …

Top of Head:
As I become aware of how my body reacts to certain foods.

While the body often knows best, it’s also important to understand that the body needs nourishment and nutrition. Food products that contain ingredients that are unfamiliar and/or unpronounceable probably aren’t real food. And food products with very long ingredients lists require a closer look.

Again, the labeling of food products is incredibly misleading. As one example, the Nutri-Grain yogurt bars label reads, “More of the whole grains your body needs” and “Excellent source of calcium.” Even its name, “Nutri-,” suggests that the contents are nutritious. When you look at the label, though, these bars contain 56 ingredients. Why is that? Personally, I’ve never cooked anything that needs 56 ingredients. Also, I’m no diet expert but I do know that “Red 40” doesn’t grow on a tree, and most of the other ingredients are impossible to pronounce. Common sense tells me this is not ideal for my body even though other things on the label tell me otherwise.

When we consume products like these, the body can become deprived of the actual nutrients and nutrition it needs. In his book
The Gabriel Method
, Jon Gabriel explains how this lack of nutrition impacts weight. “Your body interprets a lack of essential nutrients as yet another form of famine. When we finally do eat things containing the nutrients our bodies are starving for on a daily basis, our bodies get the message, ‘OK. I’m not starving anymore. I don’t need this fat anymore. It’s safe to be thin now.’”

For me, when I began focusing more on nutrition, I decided that I wouldn’t eat it if my great grandmother Rosa hadn’t eaten it. She could do headstands in her 80s and was passionate about using food as medicine. If I’d given her a Slim-Fast shake and told her it was lunch, she would have looked at me like I was crazy.