Expert, part 2

My favorite part of the series. Often we are hanging on to more than just weight.

Blessings, Dawn

Part II
Hi Everyone,
This is the second installment in Dr. Carol Look's series on weight loss. This one is rich with quality wordings and Set Up phrases. It also contains an interesting way to approach unrealistic beliefs (I comment on this within Carol's message).
Hugs, Gary

This is the second installment in a series of cases that came out of one of my "EFT For Weight Loss" classes. As you will note, getting to the underlying feelings, images, and emotional drivers is a must if there is to be any progress.
"Jan" tapped along with the whole class for "Even though I have these chocolate cravings..." and "Even though I feel deeply deprived." She had used the "cravings" round on herself so often that she didn't have any real cravings when I displayed the chocolates to the class. The issue of deprivation didn't ring many bells either. It was not until I asked the class to tap for...

"Even though I don't feel safe leaving my comfort zone of weight..."
...that her ears perked up. The whole class tapped several rounds with various wording addressing the "Fear of leaving my comfort zone..." and "Even though I feel more comfortable staying where I am...." After these rounds, the meaning that surfaced for Jan was "With this weight, I know who I am...what would I really be like if I changed and lost the weight?" This was an important fear that was revealed.

After the lunch break, Jan announced she had finally gotten in touch with a primary block/ fear to her losing weight. She told the group she was afraid to end up old and wrinkly with dried up skin like her grandmother. This was not a newly uncovered fear. However, she had never experienced emotion attached to it before. (I suspect the morning's tapping cleared the way for this.) Jan tapped for "Even though I'm afraid to look like my grandmother..."
She then told the group that she was 100% convinced of the "fact," that everyone who loses weight will look old and wrinkly. She had other images of people who ended up just like her grandmother so we tapped for "Even though it's the truth that I'll look old and wrinkly if I lose weight..." We did a few more rounds for versions such as "Even though it's a fact I'll end up wrinkled..." and "Even though I'm convinced I can't lose weight and look good..." By the end of these rounds, Jan said she could relinquish her position on the "facts" about the end result, and said, "well, maybe it wouldn't have to be totally true."

GC COMMENT: This is an excellent way to approach a not-so-realistic belief. What Carol did was to attack the belief head on with several rounds of EFT. This has a way of loosening up the belief and allowing the client's cognition to become more realistic. I've seen this happen many times.

CAROL CONTINUES: Jan told the group that her grandmother was an extremely hard, critical and unpleasant woman to be around. "She was not a good part of my life." Jan had gone to see her in the hospital before she died and had a vivid memory of her looking skinny, ugly and completely shriveled up. She shuddered in front of the class when describing this memory.
So we tapped again, "Even though that image disgusts me, I deeply...." And "Even though I'm afraid to be anything like my grandmother..." as she had been told she already had a family resemblance to her. After the tapping, she said the quality of the picture had changed, allowing her to see herself differently. We also tapped for "I forgive my grandmother for being so mean and critical..." which led Jan to offer, "I guess she was only doing what she knew best."
In a follow-up phone conversation, Jan said that while I was addressing the class during her demonstration and suggesting some possible alternatives, (i.e., that she didn't have to lose all the weight at once if she didn't like the results) her "all or nothing thinking" began to fade. This was the first time she realized she had options and that she was the one in control.
Stay tuned for the next installment.

UPDATE: Dear Gary, Just a quick update on the recent post I sent you...that class participant (who was afraid to lose weight for fear of looking wrinkly and ugly) has lost five lbs in the one month since the workshop...She has continued to tap for her cravings for all things sweet and sugary, especially heavily sweetened southern iced tea.
Carol Look