Overeating Problem with Obsesive Compulsive Patterns

by S. F.
(Kentucky, USA)

Eloisa, first i just want to say thank you. i realize that you must stay very busy answering questions about eft. on my end, however it is great that i have someone with a complete understanding on the subject that i can call on with my questions. your time is greatly appreciated.

first, i briefly need to give you a little background info on myself. 32 years old, rough childhood. abusive, abandonment. diagnosed obsessive compulsive. recovering opiate addict. on opiate recovery maintenance with suboxone. (opiate maintenance drug)

for my last year of high school, and about five years after, i had super high confidence, self discipline, and a lean muscular healthy physique. some underlying desire,,, a feeling of being incomplete, a void that persisted drove me to experiment with drugs, and next thing that i know im hooked on opiates for about ten years now.

not only drugs, but that same void made me somewhat successful to a point. i obsessed with creating a business, obsessed with knowledge on any subject that interested me. im that kind of obsessive compulsive. i dont count tiles on the floor. anyway, meanwhile other areas of my life are suffering.

while i excel in a few areas, my weight has climbed about 70 pounds, and my confidence, and self discipline plummeted. i know that i have a lot of work to do. but if i can resolve this underlying reason for overeating, and slim down, i believe that my confidence will rise, self discipline will rise, and start kind of a chain reaction to help me attain my goals.

i have read and researched eft enough to say that i have the basic concept. for some time now. i have tried it, and honestly i am not seeing any results. i am wanting to lose 70 pounds. as much as i want to, my discipline isnt great enough. i eat and feel pathetic and remorseful afterward, yet am powerless it seems in stopping. i have been doing it for about three consecutive days, and my desire to eat is just as great as ever.

what could i be doing wrong? i phrase it," even though i am fat,, even though i eat to much, even though i want carbs, etc, i love and accept myself. am i doing something wrong. i know you cant diagnose me through an email, but this is all i got now. any advice you have is greatly appreciated. please tell me how i can get the results that i read about everyone else getting from eft. thank you, thank you, thank you,,,,,

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Jan 30, 2013
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starstarstarstarstar 		EFT Help for Overeating and Reversals
by: Eloisa Ramos, EFT Master

With overeating you need to find the underlying feelings that drive the behavior. Feeling "incomplete" could be a part of this. Eating could be another way of trying to fill that "void".

I too had a feeling of incompleteness in high school and college, not as intense perhaps. It was an emptiness that said I was missing something. Since it appeared that the only thing I was missing was a boyfriend, I got one, but it did not solve the problem.

I too was an achiever then and developed a weight problem. I would linger at the dinner table to postpone for a few minutes the homework that awaited me.

Later I noticed that at the end of my meals a feeling of deep dissatisfaction showed up. It seemed like the meal had left me unfulfilled and I longed for something more satisfying, usually something sweeter.

What cleared the "emptiness" was taking a gentler approach in how I judged myself. I decide I was an OK person even if I did not meet all of my expectations and did not do everything to my full satisfaction.

You wrote, "as much as i want to, my discipline isnt great enough. i eat and feel pathetic and remorseful afterward, yet am powerless it seems in stopping". You will need to tap on, “I feel pathetic, remorseful, powerless and undisciplined”. Tap on them individually. Those are added layers on top of the overeating problem.

Tapping on our reactions to the problem will often lead us to the core issues underneath the problem. The tapping may bring up past memories of childhood trauma that needs healing.

You may also find a "reversal" around letting go of these issues. You can read more on my “Self-sabotage” page in my website, and this would help explain why EFT is not producing results for you.

Some "reversals" occur because we see benefits in keeping the patterns underlying the problem. In your case if your compulsive obsessive patterns contribute to your success, your mind would be in conflict about releasing those patterns if they are a part of the overeating.

Another “reversal” could be at the set-up statement. Listen to what you are saying: "even though i am fat, even though i eat to much, even though i want carbs, etc, i love and accept myself”. Do you really love and accept yourself even if you are “fat”, “i eat to much”, “I want carbs”? The non-acceptance causes the reversal.

In this case the “I deeply and completely love and accept myself” would need to be strongly emphasized. This can overcome the reversal though temporarily, yet long enough perhaps to have the tapping work.

So, connect to the underlying feelings (physical sensations, emotions, images, etc.) when you feel driven to overeat and tap on what is there to help lessen the impulse.

Use words like "feeling deprived", "feeling insatiable" or “impossible to satisfy” to start with if you can't identify what is there. You can also tap on feeling “out of control”. But definitely tap on the reactions you have after you overeat to help you get to the underlying roots.

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