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Tapping certain points should not only decrease your cortisol levels, but cut your cravings and lower your weight
Starting a diet is one thing — but sticking to it, as we all know, can be quite another. Little wonder, then, that the average weight-loss regime lasts just 15 days, with 35 per cent of dieters gaining more weight than they lost, once it is over.
The real diet saboteur, according to experts, is not chocolate, crisps or chips, but emotional eating — that irrational craving for sinful snacks or sugary treats that sees us eating to sate our boredom, sadness or stress, rather than actual hunger.
But according to a new book, Tapping For Weight Loss, there’s a revolutionary solution at our fingertips.
It involves no forbidden foods or bouts of fasting. Instead, it promises to give you the mental tools you need to beat the root cause of cravings before you reach for the biscuit tin, helping you not just to lose weight simply and easily, but keep it off for ever.
Extraordinarily, claims author Jessica Ortner, all you need to do is ‘tap’ certain acupressure points on your face and body, and those cravings will disappear.
Also known as Emotional Freedom Technique, tapping is a scientifically backed method developed in the Seventies by psychologists who discovered it can radically reduce stress and anxiety levels.
It sounds bizarre, but experts say these areas (such as the forehead, chin and collarbone) are places we massage instinctively when under stress.
Stimulating these points, according to a Harvard Medical School study, decreases activity in the amygdala, the part of the brain that controls production of the stress hormone cortisol, which is linked to increased appetite, sugar cravings and levels of abdominal fat.
Tapping these points, then, should not only decrease your cortisol levels, but cut your cravings and lower your weight.
KEEP THE WEIGHT OFF
As you overcome emotional eating, you need to re-educate yourself to take pleasure in food, rather than using it as a drug or a stick to beat yourself with.
- Before you begin eating, notice how you feel. If it’s negative, tap before you start.
- Eat slowly so you don’t gorge and you give yourself a chance to notice when you’re full.
- Sit down. Many binges happen standing up. Kitchen counter ‘picnics’ should also be avoided as they encourage you to feel furtive about your eating.
- Turn off distractions such as the TV, as these put your brain into autopilot and stop you noticing what you’re eating, how it tastes and when you’re full.
- Embellish your meal. Whether it’s candlelight, relaxing background music (avoid anything fast or jarring, which will act as a distraction) or pretty plates, consciously bringing pleasure to food will help reinforce the connection between healthy eating and enjoyment in your mind.
And it seems to work: a recent clinical study on 89 women showed those who tapped for 15 minutes a day lost an average of 16 lb in eight weeks, without following a strict diet or exercise plan.
Remarkably, they had kept that weight off six months later.
Here, we show how a series of simple tapping exercises can help you overcome over-eating for good. As you’ll see from our case study, the results can be astonishing.
HOW TAPPING WORKS
Think of the times you’ve tried reasoning to rid yourself of an emotion, perhaps telling yourself you shouldn’t feel envy or resentment, but not being able to shake it off because you feel it in your body: a tightness in your chest or lurching in your stomach. Trying to stop over-eating can be very similar.
If you’re trying to lose weight, you undoubtedly know all of the healthy eating guidelines and are already cutting out junk food. But when a craving hits, it can still be hard to talk yourself out of indulging it.
What tapping does is bridge that gap between your mind and body, combining gentle touch with sensible thoughts to send a calming signal to the brain. This helps dissipate the root cause of these cravings, removing the physical urges they bring with them altogether.
If you’re on a strict diet such as Weight Watchers, tapping will keep you on the wagon. And if you’re just trying to eat more healthily, it will help stop emotional eating sabotaging your best-laid plans.
WORK OUT WHAT’S WRONG
The underlying stresses that cause emotional eating aren’t always directly related to your weight.
So before you begin tapping, work out what’s really bothering you most. It could be a row with your husband or a comment from an over-critical boss.
This is your ‘tapping target’, and once you have identified it, you need to work out exactly why it’s stressing you out so much.
A crucial thing is to work out exactly what is causing your stress that is behind your emotional eating
So while a general tapping target might be ‘I’m stressed about my weight’, a better one would be: ‘I’m stressed because I saw an awful picture of myself and feel angry that I’ve let myself get that fat.’
Even mild stress, like worrying about how fat you look, or why your jeans feel so tight, can cause an increase in cortisol levels — not just leading to an overwhelming urge to snack or binge, but also encouraging your body to pile the fat converted from those excess calories around your middle.
But by focusing clearly on the root cause of your stress, you will be better able to rewire the brain’s response them.
SCORE YOUR STRESS
Next, you need to give what’s bothering you — your tapping target — a stress score from 0 to 10.
Notice the feelings it brings up in your body. A 10 would be the most distress you can imagine, a 0 would mean you feel nothing.
Don’t think too much about it, just go with your gut instinct. To see a change in an issue, start with something you can rate 5 or higher. By doing this, you’re able to appreciate the progress you’re making.
Ear's an idea
The ear has more than 200 acupressure points, each for different parts and functions of the body.
The ear has more than 200 acupressure points, each for different parts and functions of the body.
SPELL IT OUT
Now it’s time to create a set-up statement, which goes like this: ‘Even though [put the tapping target in here], I accept how I feel and I’m OK.’ Acknowledge the negative emotion, but with conviction that it won’t control you.
TO BEGIN: THE KARATE CHOP
Start by gently tapping (with two fingers) on the ‘karate chop point’ — the soft part of the hand beneath the little finger — while you repeat your set-up statement three times. You can tap with either hand, on whichever side of the body feels best.
CHOOSE A REMINDER
Now choose a short phrase of just a couple of words that will bring your tapping target to mind. So if your tapping target is anger at yourself for the weight you’ve put on then the reminder phrase might be ‘this anger’.
The side of the eye, by the edge of the socket) is one of the ''great eight' tapping points
THE GREAT EIGHT
You are now ready to run through the eight points of the tapping sequence, while repeating your reminder phrase. These are:
- Eyebrow (at the innermost point of the brow)
- Side of the eye (at the outer edge of the socket)
- Under eye (lower edge of the socket)
- Under nose
- Chin
- Collarbone (near the clavicle)
- Under arm (just below the armpit)
- Crown of head
Tap each point seven times, although if you feel like tapping 100 times, then do. The idea is to spend enough time at each point to let your reminder phrase sink in. Try to tap for at least 15 minutes a day alone in a quiet place. If you feel particularly stressed, do it for longer or more often.
To watch an instructive video, visit thetappingsolution.com/chapter2.
Rate your stress again.
At the end of a round of tapping, ask yourself these questions: Did the issue shift? What thoughts came up while tapping? How do I feel on the 0 to 10 scale now?
Do five rounds or ten if you need it. The more commitment you have, the better the result will be.
You should quickly notice that you can still have the troublesome thought, but without feeling physical anxiety in your body.
GET POSITIVE
The first goal of tapping is to lower the stress you have around negative thoughts.
Once you feel your stress score is lower than 5, you can incorporate how you would like to feel, instead.
So instead of your tapping target being ‘I’m stressed because I saw an awful picture of myself’, it might be ‘I’m happy that I can look at photos of myself without judgement’.
This will lower your levels of stress further, improving your ability to lose weight.
HOW FAST WILL IT WORK?
Unlike a crash diet, tapping won’t make you lose a large amount of weight in a small number of days. While many people begin shedding pounds in the first few weeks of tapping, everyone will lose weight at their own pace.
Given that the point of tapping is to release the stress and pressure we put on ourselves to lose weight in the first place, it’s counterproductive to obsess about the result. Instead, put away your bathroom scales and watch your waistline steadily diminish as a pleasurable side effect of feeling better about yourself in general.
Extracted from The Tapping Solution for Weight Loss and Body Confidence by Jessica Ortner, published by Hay House at £12.99, © 2014 Jessica Ortner. To order a copy for £11.49 call 0844 472 4157.
I've finally beating my cravings: How tapping helped Gill overcome a lifetime of yo-yo dieting... and lose 4st 8lb
Gill Pinnington, 45, is a former personal tutor turned eft practitioner who lives in Eastbourne. Since starting tapping, she has lost 4st 8lb — dropping from a size 20 to a size 14.
‘I’ve always struggled with my weight, it has been up and down throughout my adult life. I was at my largest in my mid twenties weighing 16½ st, which at 5ft 5in is a lot.
Before I discovered tapping, I was a classic yo-yo dieter. I’d lose a bit, decide to ‘reward’ myself and pile the weight back on.
When my marriage ended seven years ago, I was very low, but nobody would have known it. I was bubbly on the outside but anxious and depressed underneath. Food was my comfort.
At my worst, I’d spend £10 on biscuits, cake and crisps, then consume them all in one go. I’d stand in the kitchen gorging on ‘treats’ before the rest of the shopping was even unpacked.
Five years ago, weighing just under 15 stone I found my low mood so overwhelming that I sought help from a psychotherapist, who introduced me to tapping. It’s been a revelation.
One thing tapping uncovered was the insecurity I feel around relationships. I’d go out and meet someone nice, but when it didn’t work I’d blame myself and comfort myself with food.
Tapping has given me enough self acceptance to begin losing weight. When that sunk in I was able to love my body. I stopped comfort eating, started a Weight Watchers plan and the weight fell off.
I’m now 11st 13lb, play badminton once a week, visit the gym and also walk regularly.
I have weak moments and still avoid ice cream, as it’s one of those all-or-nothing foods for me. But usually, when I have cravings, I’ll stop and tap through them until they disappear.’
‘I’ve always struggled with my weight, it has been up and down throughout my adult life. I was at my largest in my mid twenties weighing 16½ st, which at 5ft 5in is a lot.
Before I discovered tapping, I was a classic yo-yo dieter. I’d lose a bit, decide to ‘reward’ myself and pile the weight back on.
Having always struggled with her weight and been on countless yo-yo diets, Gill reached her heaviest at 16st 7lb
At her worst, Gill would spend £10 on biscuits, cake and crisps, then consume them all in one go
When my marriage ended seven years ago, I was very low, but nobody would have known it. I was bubbly on the outside but anxious and depressed underneath. Food was my comfort.
At my worst, I’d spend £10 on biscuits, cake and crisps, then consume them all in one go. I’d stand in the kitchen gorging on ‘treats’ before the rest of the shopping was even unpacked.
Five years ago, weighing just under 15 stone I found my low mood so overwhelming that I sought help from a psychotherapist, who introduced me to tapping. It’s been a revelation.
Now a trim 11st 13lb and size 14, Gill says she continues to ward off cravings using tapping
One thing tapping uncovered was the insecurity I feel around relationships. I’d go out and meet someone nice, but when it didn’t work I’d blame myself and comfort myself with food.
Tapping has given me enough self acceptance to begin losing weight. When that sunk in I was able to love my body. I stopped comfort eating, started a Weight Watchers plan and the weight fell off.
I’m now 11st 13lb, play badminton once a week, visit the gym and also walk regularly.
I have weak moments and still avoid ice cream, as it’s one of those all-or-nothing foods for me. But usually, when I have cravings, I’ll stop and tap through them until they disappear.’
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