When is the Right Time to Get Started?
Most people start a new “plan” on a Monday. This is to give themselves the chance to get ready, as if they are starting a race. Think instead of starting a new eating plan as beginning a hike or climb – you are going to take one step. It can be today, it can be tomorrow, it can be in the middle of the day (new concept!). You’re taking just one step, not the whole trip.
That first step isn’t so difficult unless you’ve decided you are going to make drastic changes, especially if you are trying to avoid all the things you like the most. That plan won’t work for the long-haul, and can be part of the reason you find it difficult to get started, or you keep “getting started” over and over.
If I’m trying to convince myself I’m never going to do something ever again, I know it’s a lie, and it will be much harder to make the real commitment. Instead take it easier and just choose one habit you’d like to change, one food, one day of the week. Think in terms of small changes; eating three pieces of fudge instead of the whole pan for instance.
But What About the Holidays?
Are you sitting in the fence because the holidays are approaching? “I don’t want to be dieting at Thanksgiving.” “I can’t diet now, I have cookies to bake.” Oh, the excuses. They run so fast this time of year, don’t they? Just chase them right out of the room. Excuses are like asses, we all have one, just some are bigger than others.
There’s no better time than right now to get started on the path to lifelong freedom from a weight problem. I enjoy the holidays, I love to bake, I eat all the goodies, and I don’t gain weight. Read how I made the mind-shift one Thanksgiving Day and lost weight without dieting. That was the turning point for me, and all I did was decide I was going to eat until I was satisfied, not gorge myself but eat all I wanted, eating slowly, enjoying every bite.
I was going to make a point to taste what I was eating. The turkey wasn’t going to jump up and run away, I didn’t have to rush and get it over with. I wanted to enjoy the meal and the company fully, instead of groaning in pain a half hour later.
Have you ever been so full you thought you’d burst and just then someone says, “Who wants pie?” “I do!,” most of us say, thankful we wore an elastic waistband. Deciding to enjoy but not overdoing it means when that question arises you know if you want dessert now or would rather wait a bit. It’s not a crime to wait 30 minutes or an hour. The
pie is not going to float away, and if you are worried it will be gone, then you’re eating out of a fear of scarcity, which at my house just is not a problem. We generally have about half a pie per person, easily, not counting all the other goodies.
That one Thanksgiving dinner changed my life. I still remember how awestruck I was when I realized I felt wonderful, satisfied, full, and I’d eaten everything I wanted. I waited until I felt hungry again (hunger returns, yes it does), and then I ate again, and I’ve eaten tens of thousands of times since then including many more Thanksgiving dinners.
The holidays are a great time of year – this year let’s enjoy them more fully.
EFT suggestions for the Holidays
The holidays can be a time of year fraught with emotional ties. If being with your family distresses you, start now to lessen the emotional intensity and you’ll breeze through the holidays this year. If you know certain people will push your buttons, practice now.
“Even though I hate the holidays, I deeply and completely accept myself.”
“Even though my family makes me crazy, I deeply and completely accept myself.”
“Even though last year Aunt Edna said I looked fat and why didn’t I stop eating, I deeply and completely accept myself”
“Even though I know my husband’s wife Big Bertha is going to give me ugly looks and say mean things and I just wish I could stuff a big sock in her mouth, I deeply and completely accept myself.”
Don’t worry if you have tag-on thoughts while you are tapping. I often do. Things like, “Aunt Edna is a cow,” come to mind. Sometimes things you might think but would never say in polite company are quite appropriate while doing the tapping. These thoughts may make you smile, even laugh out loud, and that’s a good thing. It’s okay.
Keep Your Issue In Mind
The main thing is to keep your issue in mind while you tap (that’s why you keep repeating the reminder word or statement). If the emotional intensity is present (even though it may be muted) while you are tapping, then you will release the intensity of the emotion and interrupt that well worn pathway (the path is the regular routine of upset; how just thinking of an event can make you upset for instance). Don’t be afraid to bring up the issue you want to release.
That’s how EFT works.
(These are general ideas – if you can plug in specific names, places, events, it works all the better.)
Now is the right time – start now. Use EFT on your holiday issues. If you need ideas, send me a note. Have fun with it, give it a go and let me know what happens.
