Do you reach for sugary or fatty snacks when you’re stressed? Do you have a bag of treats in your desk at work to soothe your frazzled nerves? If so, you aren’t alone. According to British researchers, women who feel stressed at work and at home are more likely than men to turn to unhealthy foods and to abandon their exercise programs. They also have a greater tendency to light up more cigarettes and drink more caffeine.
Dr. Daryl O'Connor, of the University of Leeds studied the impact of stress on the eating habits of men and women. He studied stressors like an argument with a friend or colleague, losing one’s keys, or a meeting with the boss tended to trigger unhealthy snacking, more caffeine and cigarettes, and less exercise. Dr. O’Connor said, “Our findings are disturbing in that they show stress produces harmful changes in diet and leads to harmful eating behaviors.”
The researchers emphasized the importance of adhering to a balanced diet. But they ignore the fact that women are 1) experiencing excessive amounts of stress and 2) are tranquilizing their stress by using food. Fortunately, Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) provides a solution that answers why some women turn to food to combat stress. It also delivers the ultimate stress management tool. You can learn all the basics of EFT by downloading the free EFT Manual.
A growing number of medical practitioners are addressing the emotional roots of stress using EFT. According to Dr. Eric Robins, a California urologist who uses EFT in his medical practice, “Whenever we are pushed above our threshold we become stressed and anxious. We then try to deal with that stress through a variety of coping mechanisms learned during childhood. These include anger, depression, fear, substance abuse, and overeating.”
Gary Craig, the Stanford-trained engineer who developed EFT, explains, “This technique balances the body’s energy meridian system (Chi or Qi) which becomes disrupted when under stress. We focus on the emotions that may be triggered by stress and when anxiety, frustration and fear are dissolved with EFT, overeating stops being the automatic response.”
We are not suggesting that all emotional overeaters have troubled, traumatic histories. However, most people who tranquilize themselves with food can identify a way that food was used in their families as a way to cope, as a reward, as a punishment, or to communicate love. These associations with food often continue into adulthood and until they are resolved with EFT, they are likely to result in eating for comfort rather than nutrition.
Dr. Robins agrees, "At least 85% of medical problems are physical manifestations of how stress/anxiety/past traumas are held in and processed by the body. The best technique to address these issues and to clear them out of the body is EFT.”
EFT Master, Dr. Carol Look specializes in using EFT to help people combat overeating. In a workshop setting, Dr. Look worked with Mary* who described herself as a purely emotional eater, and that she used food to numb out her feelings of anxiety, stress, loneliness and grief. In addition, she revealed that she also overate when she felt joyful or in a celebration mood. Mary said, “I ate to stuff any emotion I didn’t want to feel.”
Dr. Look guided Mary through the EFT process, focusing on her food cravings, as well as negative thoughts and feelings about food and losing weight. After the conference, Mary returned home and easily embarked upon a food and exercise program to complement her daily EFT routine. In four months, she lost 30 pounds, then she hit a plateau.
Mary reported a very stressful time following her 30 pound weight loss. Her mother was assaulted, and then her father died after a long stressful illness. In addition, Mary was feeling threatened and insecure in her workplace. But despite the intense stress, Mary did not return to her former coping strategy of eating. When she addressed her feelings of grief during this stressful time, she lost 8 more pounds.
Mary also experienced a dramatic improvement in her energy. She had control around food, saying she could choose to eat “just one” chip which was impossible before EFT. Mary said, “It felt like a miracle” to lose so much weight and feel so much better. “I learned what real hunger feels like. EFT allowed me to clear away unresourceful emotions … and helped me return to my spiritual tools.”
Please consult qualified health professionals before putting EFT into practice for yourself or others.
*Name changed for privacy reasons
Please note that in addition to helping emotional eating and stress, EFT has been a consistently effective healing tool for hundreds of other physical, mental and emotional ailments. For more information, you can explore the EFT website and its numerous success stories regarding fears, phobias, emotional traumas and physical ailments.