Yesterday, I came THIS close to scarfing a huge Bird-In-Hand Bakery apple fritter.
BIHB makes the best fritters in the world. They are HUGE – six inches in diameter and an inch high – and scrumptious beyond description. Loaded with chunks of soft, caramelized fruit, raisins, cinnamon and, of course, sugar, they are my absolute favorite indulgence. I would guesstimate the caloric yield at 800-1000 – around half my daily allotment. As I’d already gained about 5 lbs. as a consequence of not dancing for a month (knee issue), I knew treating myself to a fritter was not in my best interests.
But I wanted one.
I wanted one badly.
Because I was depressed.
We’ve been having a lot of rain where I live. Lack of sunshine erodes my mood faster than a Donald Trump sound bite. Not being able to dance doesn’t help.
So, at two o’clock in the afternoon, hungry and bummed, I was thinking seriously about heading off to the farmer’s market and anesthetizing myself with a fritter. To really grasp this situation, you need to know I used to be an emotional eater addicted to sweets. I was 65 lbs. heavier in those days. I do not want to go back.
EFT saved me from that fritter, as it has from so many of its addiction-rekinkling cousins. Here’s how.
I used the set-up phrase (check emofree.com if you don’t know what that means) even though I really, really want a fritter, I completely love and accept myself, and tapped a few rounds. Then I checked in with the fritter-craving and it was still there, if a bit diminished. I switched to, even though I know a fritter would be really bad for me, I want one. Tap, tap, tap. The craving came down a bit more, but was still formidable. So I switched to an EFT variant called the Choices Method. I completed multiple tapping rounds, alternately reciting phrases such as these:
I really want a fritter and I can choose to give myself one.
I absolutely can have a fritter, but I might decide not to. It’s up to me.
I can have a fritter and gain weight, or I can choose not to. I’m in control here.
Finally, the thought, I could eat lunch, and if I still want a fritter, I can go get one, came to me. I tapped a few rounds on that. Another thought, I could skip having a fritter this week and have one next week, came, so I tapped on that. After about 20 minutes of tapping, the powerful desire for a fritter passed. I loved myself by having a health-promoting lunch – salad, a bowl of soup, and some protein. The sense of power and control was almost as good as the fritter would have been.
EFT works. Try it.
