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Addictions

Food

How Mary's self sabotage kept her from slimming down

Important Note: This article was written prior to 2010 and is now outdated. Please use my newest advancement, Optimal EFT. It is more efficient, more powerful and clearly explained in my free e-book, The Unseen Therapist™.  Best wishes, Gary

Hi Everyone,

Here is a classic example by Carol Solomon of using EFT for the emotional issues that keep pounds on so many bodies. Even though you may not have a mother like Mary's, you are still likely to find useful parallels in this well presented article.

Hugs, Gary


By Carol Solomon, Ph.D.

Mary wanted to lose weight, but she kept sabotaging herself.  Being a gifted and highly skilled therapist, Mary understood the reasons.  When she was a child, Mary’s mother saw Mary as a competitor.  Her mother was constantly obsessed with Mary’s body, pressuring her to eat and then hounding her to lose weight.  By age 9, Mary was compulsively overeating and afraid to lose her mother’s approval.  Mary’s mother scrutinized everything she ate and began bringing her to diet doctors by age 11, even though she was never grossly overweight.

Mary was constantly criticized.  By age 16, her mother would say things to her, like “you look like an oak tree – your legs look like tree trunks.”  Obsessed with her own weight, her mother was full of rage and envy toward Mary anytime she would achieve success.  Mary feared for her life.

Even though Mary understood that it was her mother’s issue, it still affected her well into adulthood.  Mary was afraid of losing her mother’s love, afraid to be successful and afraid to lose weight.  Pleasing mom meant staying heavier than her.  She tried to avoid compliments or praise, and sabotaged her own success because it didn’t feel safe.  Her mother continually gave her intense mixed messages about food, weight and success.

“If I lost weight, she would stuff me with food and then scream at me for eating.  If I didn’t eat, she’d say – you didn’t like my food!”  It wasn’t ok to be thinner or smarter or to outshine her mother in any way.  As a result, if Mary did lose weight or if anything was going well, she would feel guilty and undo it.  If she had a perfect eating day, for instance, she would “overeat at night to wipe out the goodness of the day.”

Even now as an adult, if something goes well, she expects an onslaught of criticism and punishment to follow success.

Even though it’s not OK to lose weight…

Even though it’s not safe to change…

Even though it’s not OK with mom and it doesn’t feel safe to me...

Eyebrow: It’s really scary to change

Side of Eye: it’s too scary to lose weight

Under the Eye: I’d lose my mom

Under the Nose: She’d be angry

Chin: I can see by the look on her face

Collarbone: It would be too scary

Under the Arm: It’s dangerous

Top of Head: I’m afraid she’ll kill me

Eyebrow: It’s not ok to outshine her or any other woman

Side of Eye: It’s too scary to get thin

Under the Eye: She wants me to get thin

Under the Nose: But not really

Chin: It keeps me stuck

Collarbone: And I’m sabotaging myself

Under the Arm: It’s too scary to be successful

Top of Head: It holds me back

Eyebrow: I’m not supposed to look good

Side of Eye: I like the attention and I don’t like the attention (she laughs)

Under the Eye: I want to lose weight and I don’t want to lose weight

Under the Nose: Isn’t that the truth?

Chin: I hate admitting that!

Collarbone: I feel stupid and it’s not ok to be smart

Under the Arm: It’s not ok to be in the limelight

Top of Head: It’s not ok to get attention

Note: It’s often helpful to tap on the specific words that were said.

Eyebrow: She said I look like an oak tree

Side of Eye: She said my legs look like tree trunks

Under the Eye: That hurt

Under the Nose: I know that she had her own problems

Chin: And it’s time to let this heal

Collarbone: I’m ready to let go of all this … all of these issues … all of these emotions … all of this stuckness  … all of this sabotage

Under the Arm: It might even be ok to lose a little weight

Top of Head: What if it was ok to look good and be smart, even if mom didn’t approve?

Eyebrow: She could criticize me and that’s her issue

Side of Eye: I’ve decided not to compete

Under the Eye: I’ve decided to remove myself from competition

Under the Nose: I don’t want to take anything away from her

Chin: It’s all she has

Collarbone: Maybe it’s not such a big issue anymore

Under the Arm: I want to lose weight for my health and for my self-confidence and not sabotage it … not be worried about mom.

Top of Head: I’m ready to release this weight

Eyebrow: I’m tired of being stuck

Side of Eye: I’m ready to allow my success

Under the Eye: I deserve to allow my success

Under the Nose: I want to feel safe around other women

Chin: Even if I show my smarts

Collarbone: Even if I look darned good

Under the Arm: I can just enjoy it and not have to worry about them

Top of Head: I give myself permission

Eyebrow: It’s ok to look good

Side of Eye: It’s ok to BE good

Under the Eye: It’s ok to be smart

Under the Nose: I can allow my success

Chin: I have decided to enjoy feeling successful

Collarbone: I deserve success

Under the Arm: I deserve to feel safe

Top of Head: I have decided to allow myself to be successful

At this point, Mary recalled memories of feeling very uncomfortable if she didn’t eat.  Her mom would become enraged and sharply criticize her.

Even though I undo my success in order to please mom…

Even though it doesn’t feel safe to have a good eating day, I deeply and completely accept myself anyway and I’m open to forgiveness.

Even though I feel like I have to eat or mom will be mad...

Eyebrow: I have to eat

Side of Eye: I have to get something

Under the Eye: Or mom will be mad

Under the Nose: I don’t want to be criticized

Chin: I feel like I have to eat

Collarbone: It’s uncomfortable if I don’t eat

Under the Arm: I have to please mom

Top of Head: She’s be mad if I lose weight

Eyebrow: I can’t let that happen

Side of Eye: I have to undo it

Under the Eye: I have to get something to eat even if I’m not hungry

Under the Nose: I am open to creating a new story

Chin: Mom can’t even see me now

Collarbone: She doesn’t even know if I’m eating or not

Under the Arm: I can now start to see myself as being successful AND feeling good

Top of Head: It’s ok to be successful without feeling guilty

What occurred to me during this session is how important it is to love and accept ourselves, and how hard it can be if the key people in our lives aren’t accepting us the way we are.  The opposite of self-sabotage is ‘allowing,’ and in order to be successful, we need to ‘allow’ it.  It seems simple and makes sense logically, but the “writing on our walls” often gets in the way.  EFT can clear these stubborn blocks, which can thwart people for decades.

After this one session, Mary began to steadily lose weight; she went from a size 16 to a size 10 over the next 3 months.  She noticed other significant changes as well.  Mary had always felt guilty for the ease in which she filled her therapy practice.  She had been giving away her best referrals to her female colleagues “to make it up to them.”  After this session, she no longer felt she had to take care of them.  She stopped giving away her best referrals, and began to enjoy her well-deserved success without feeling guilty.  She also received an unexpected acknowledgment in the forward of a book that was published.  She was pleasantly surprised that she was able to take pride in and enjoy her work being recognized.

With love and gratitude,

Carol Solomon, Ph.D. MCC

FOR MORE EFT HELP ...

Explore our newest advancement, Optimal EFT™, by reading my free e-book, The Unseen Therapist™. More efficient. More powerful.