Archive for August, 2008

Food Cravings: How to Practice Patience

During holidays and parties you may try to “plan ahead” so you can avoid some of the rush. Last year at Christmas I realized I had to take three major dishes for Christmas Eve dinner and it suddenly dawned on me that I’d have to bake the cake the night ahead.

Baking a cake then waiting to eat it is not my favorite thing at all. I’ve always had a difficult time in making a cake a day ahead, in fact I tend to avoid receipes that say it needs to sit eight hours. (Whenever you catch yourself saying the word “always” that’s a hint something to use EFT on is coming to mind and notice I said I always have a difficult time with this? That’s when to use EFT).

My past behavior has been to want to eat the cake as soon as it’s finished, so if it must wait for a day, it’s torture. I also prefer making huge three and four layer cakes that take up the entire refrigerator causing me to see the cake and nothing but the cake every time I open the refrigerator door.

Practicing Patience in Eating

Patience can be practiced all day every day. It is necessary when dealing with strangers, family, and most of all yourself. Just because you usually give in to your immediate desires for food doesn’t mean you must do so. Maybe you are trying to avoid feeling deprived but practicing and learning to exercise some patience may be of good use.

If I bake a lovely cake and see it in the refrigerator, it beckons to me. Knowing I cannot take a slice without ruining the presentation doesn’t seem to help me avoid the siren call. I could be sitting, minding my own business, when I suddenly snap my head upright, as if I’ve heard a ghost, “Come and get a piece of cake,” it calls to me. “I’m waiting,” it cries. “Stupid cake, I think.”

Leftover cake isn’t such a big problem because I plan ahead to have at least one piece, sometimes two every day as long as it lasts. That’s another reason I prefer baking to take it somewhere rather than just making it for home.

Rather than trying to analyze why I have this strange desire to eat cake, I’m just going to tackle it head-on with some EFT. I may also use the Swish Technique (taught in the Ending Emotional Eating workshop, Session 4).

If you’ve had similar struggles, try these suggested EFT phrases, or devise some for your situation. (EFT is easy to learn and use–see my site for worksheets and instructions specific to weight loss or visit http://www.emofree.com for general information on learning EFT).

===== EFT for Patience in Eating

While tapping the P.R. (psychological reversal) point say,

“Even though I want to eat the cake, except I’m not supposed to because it’s for tomorrow’s dinner party, I deeply and completely accept myself.”

Repeat that statement three times and say it like you mean it.

Then tap the rest of the face and body points, using a short reminder such as, “eat cake.” The entire time think about that cake and how much you want it and how delicious it would be. Make it as strong a desire as you can (this is how EFT gets a strong neuropathway to disrupt so don’t fear you’ll make your cravings stronger, it actually will do the opposite).

“Even though I can’t stand waiting, I choose to give myself permission to wait.”

Reminder: “Can’t wait.”

“Even though I hate this waiting and I’m going to stick my face in it right now, I deeply and completely accept myself anyway.”

Reminder: “Hate being told what to do.”

“Even though I can’t seem to deny myself what I want, I deeply and completely love and accept myself and give myself permission to wait.”

Reminder: “Can’t deny.”

Practice this on some food or beverage that seems to call to you, and see whether it helps ease that pull. If you are reluctant because you are afraid you’ll lose the desire for the completely (and this is you favorite food so you don’t want that to happen), don’t worry. That’s not going to happen. You may come to want it less often and certainly you’ll no longer feel a compulsive need for it, but most people discover they still enjoy the food just as much, they just no longer feel out-of-control about it. The control issue is what is being addressed. The desire or compulsion to have something that seems beyond a rational desire, that is what you are working to reduce.

Smile today at every person you see, and practice patience. Think of an inside joke, remember a happy moment, or a funny movie you saw. Put a happy memory in your head and carry it around with you, then whenever you see someone just smile to yourself. Even in the crowded stores, people will treat you better when you put a happy bubble around yourself, and you’ll lift their spirits as well.

~~ Kathryn Martyn, Master NLP Practitioner, EFT counselor, author of the free e-book: Changing Beliefs, Your First Step to Permanent Weight Loss, and owner of EFT, Emotional Freedom Technique, Energy Healing, Energy Psychology

Long thought of as a stage show or act of trickery by many, and as a dangerous practice which left the mind vulnerable to some, hypnosis is finding a new popularity among people these days. The growth of the use and acceptance of alternative treatments in the use of the 21st century individual has seen a corresponding surge in the number of people who are using hypnosis to treat problems. Hypnosis patients overwhelmingly use hypnosis in areas where they need a boost in will power to achieve a specific goal. The two most common areas for the use of hypnosis are among people who want to either quit smoking or lose weight.

Hypnosis should not be confused with cartoon depictions of sinister Lucifer like characters droning You are getting sleepy in monotones while swinging a pendulum. There is no circling of the pupils, and in fact the subject does not actually fall asleep. Hypnosis uses a method that most people already know about, and that has been in use by various companies since the advent of radio- the principle of subliminal messaging.

Many people have seen documentaries of images of Coke or popcorn flashed too fast for the mind to register on a movie screen. The result is an increased desire for the patrons, whose eyes were fast enough to register the image but who do not actually remember it. While distracted by the movie, they were open to subliminal messages.

The same process is how hypnotism works. Anytime a person is concentrating hard on a given task- whether it be reading, driving, or watching television- she is open to messages quickly and unobtrusively projected at her. Hypnosis seeks to implant a message in the brain while it is vulnerable to unobtrusive data.

For this reason, the phenomenon of self-hypnosis is gaining in usage. It is possible to design a program wherein the subliminal message ignore your cravings or something along that line is planted firmly in a subject s mind. Again, this process has been common knowledge for some time, as most people have known the strategy of placing a cassette under a pillow while asleep to help achieve a certain purpose.

Hypnosis is just like any other treatment- sometimes it will work, and sometimes it will not. There are many routes to go, whether you choose self-hypnosis, clinical hypnosis, or the use of a professional showman such as Romein. Any of these usages could result in success in terms of your goal, or failure.

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