Tapping is most effective when we actually have the food we are craving so we can see, smell and feel it in our hands. But if this feels too tempting right now, you can start by just thinking about it. Research shows that EFT/Tapping (Emotional Freedom Techniques) works wonders for cravings. It can reduce cravings by a whopping 74%! But we have to actually use it! I know that when I have an urgent craving coming on, I am often not in the mood to tap on it. Sometimes I need to work up to it so I start with some...
Refusal Tapping
Tapping is so helpful to reduce cravings, BUT sometimes a part of us simply doesn’t want to give up that particular food. So we are NOT going to tap!!! Refusal Tapping allows us to state our truth in the moment. And it lets our inner rebel express itself. This is an essential part of working with resistance. Some part of you resists, and for a good reason, even if you don’t know what it is. Resistance comes up and needs to be heard. When we open to that, we make space for more insights to come up, and in shifting our nervous system state from over-activated and resistant to a calmer state, we make space for change in our attitudes, feelings and possibilities.
- Name that food that you are craving – maybe it’s fresh bread, chips or cookies or chocolate.
- Name the exact form it comes in – warm fresh bread with lots of butter, salt and vinegar, chocolate chip or maybe it’s a specific brand of chocolate bar.
- Think about that food and what you like about it. Maybe it’s smooth and soothing or crunchy and stimulating. What feeling does it bring to you? Peace? Confidence? Safety? Give yourself a minute to write down what this food does for you and why you don’t want to give it up.
- Imagine you have a cup in each hand. One labeled Give up this food (name it) and the other labelled I Refuse to give up. If you had 10 pennies, how many are I the Give Up cup and how many are in the Refusal cup? Maybe you have 2 pennies in the Give it up cup and 8 in the refusal cup. Write that down.
Now just start tapping on the side of your hand and say the setup: (Setup statement is done on the side of the hand 3 times.)
Even though I crave this food __________________, part of me thinks I should give it up. And another part of me says NO WAY. I accept I have some resistance right now.
Then go around the points starting on top of the head and say:
- I’m not going to give up this ___! (enter your own food here.)
- You’re not the boss of me, you can’t make me!
- How could I ever give these up?
- I love these _____________!
- No way I’m giving these up!
- I love these ________________!
- I refuse to give these up!
- Part of me won’t let these go!
Take an easy breath and check back into those 2 cups. Has the balance shifted one way or another? If the refusal cup still has more pennies than the Give it up cup, then do some more tapping. If these cups are more or less balanced, then move onto the next exercise below.
Tapping for Cravings
After we have expressed our resistance and taken some of the steam out of it, we can now look at how much you crave that food right now. We do a set up that directly acknowledges our craving. This is an example only – replace chocolate almonds with whatever food you crave and change the wording to feel right for you. Hold the food in your hand if you can.
How intense is the craving on a scale of 0 to 10. If it’s 10 or above, just do some tapping and breathing until the intensity goes down a bit.
Setup is done 3 times.
- Even though those chocolate almonds really smell good and I want them, I love myself anyway.
- Even though I really deserve those chocolate almonds, I love and accept myself anyway.
- Even though I feel guilty about wanting those chocolate almonds, I accept that’s how I feel right now.
- Tap around the points:
- They smell so good
- Gotta have them
- Love them
- Yum!
- Solve all my problems
- Really want these chocolate almonds
- They’re so good!
- I want them!
When we think about the foods we crave, we usually have lots of words to describe why we love them, what they bring to our lives and what we don’t want to give them up. You can list those words to craft your setup and reminder words so they reflect how you feel about these foods.
Tap until your craving comes down and listen for other thoughts coming up. A you tap, you may get some other voices piping up. Maybe voices that say "you shouldn’t have that" or "you’ll feel tired after you eat that" or even, "I think I might not need that right now, maybe I can have some tea instead or take a walk, or maybe I’ll keep tapping till I feel better…..etc. Keep track of those and tap them in once the intensity of your craving is 4 of below.
Create New Possibilities with ‘What if’ Tapping
Whatever food we crave most will probably show up in our lives repeatedly so we can build our capacity to resist cravings by doing some work in advance. Try this before you go to the grocery store, restaurant or party. Observe how this can create new possibilities for you!
Tap on the side of the hand and say 3 times:
Even though that food _______ (name it) will be there _______ (name where, grocery store, restaurant, party etc) what if I can choose something else? Then tap around the points saying:
- What if I can choose a healthier food? You might want to name a healthier alternative.
- What if I don’t need that food?
- What if I can simply tap into relaxation and not need that food at all?
- What if I don’t even want that food?
- What if I can let go of this craving?
- What if I can tap to soothe this future craving right now before it happens?
- What if I’m stronger than I think?
These are only a few ways we can start to build a healthier and more satisfying relationship with food. I hope they are helpful for you.
Click here If you’d like to further explore how you can Reset your Relationship with Food or visit my website here for more ways we can work together.
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