If you're struggling to stop overeating and lose weight, here's one outside-the-box trick you could try -- and no, I'm not pushing an Internet hoax on you. A new book claims you can use "tapping" for weight loss. The Tapping Solution for Weight Loss and Body Confidence by Jessica Ortner harnesses the power of what's called Emotional Freedom Technique, or EFT, to get out of the habit of eating when you're stressed out. All you have to do! Is tap yourself in various places around your face and body while you repeat a mantra like, "Even though I feel anxious about wearing a swimsuit I love and accept myself."
Yeah. And if you believe that, I have some "vitamins" I could sell you that will give you superpowers. EFT sets off my BS detector like crazy, but I think it could actually work. Here's why.
Okay, so the idea is that one of the reasons we binge eat is because the feelings we're feeling are so overwhelming we have to throw food at them to get them to shut up. (I'm paraphrasing the science of stress eating here.) So the next time we find ourselves digging into that bag of candy we stop and pay attention to our feelings. Then we methodically tap our faces and mutter to ourselves.
Is it the tapping? Hell no. EFT has been discredited by the legit science community. It's the stopping and the noticing. The important thing is that you become more aware of the feelings that cause you to overeat, and you do something instead of eating.
What science says does work is mindfulness and finding ways to make snacking just a little less convenient. So whether it's tapping yourself or having to unwrap a chocolate rather than grabbing a handful of M&Ms, if you have to slow down you'll eat less. Or maybe not at all.
So EFT is just a placebo, but sometimes placebos work, even when we're aware of them. Anything that gets you to slow down and pay attention to your feelings could help you snack less. And that's why this one weird trick could actually work.
Do you think this technique would work on you?
Image via Alan Cleaver/Flickr