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Home arrow Nutrition arrow Weight Management arrow Tapping for Weight Loss: Does It Work?

Tapping for Weight Loss: Does It Work?

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Written by Edibel Quintero, RD
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Fact checked by Rosmy Barrios, MD
Last update: April 14, 2023
5 min read 1180 Views 0 Comments
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EFT tapping is an alternative therapy thought to support healthy weight loss, but what is it, and does it work? Find out the answers to all these questions and more in this article.

tapping-for-weight-loss

EFT tapping is thought to help you lose weight by reducing stress and encouraging lifestyle changes. While many medical communities do not recognize the EFT tapping solution, many alternative medicine enthusiasts consider it a good way of boosting weight loss and body confidence.

EFT encourages positive thoughts and helps to motivate you for weight loss. It should be combined with other weight loss methods for the best results.

If you’re wondering what tapping for weight loss is, how it works, and how it could benefit you, keep reading to find out.

Tapping for Weight Loss – Is It Working?

There are some ways that EFT can aid weight loss.

To begin with, EFT tapping is thought to stimulate the central nervous system and the amygdala (the part of the brain that regulates fear and anxiety). This can lead to lower cortisol levels in the blood and reduced stress.

Heightened stress levels have been linked to weight gain, food cravings, and other kinds of emotional eating habits. It may also cause your body to store more fat than usual.

Some research supports claims that EFT tapping meditations may reduce binge eating patterns, emotional eating habits, and other harmful habits that cause you to gain weight.

In addition, the positive affirmations that are used alongside the tapping technique may help change lifestyle habits. This helps to reduce overeating which causes weight gain.

Eating at a calorie deficit is the only proven method of weight loss. Eating at a deficit means consuming fewer calories than you burn each day. You can increase the number of calories you burn each day by increasing the amount you exercise.

Try taking regular walks, running regularly, or cycling to help create a more significant calorie deficit and boost weight loss.

The positivity and self-worth that comes from practicing EFT tapping is an excellent way to stay motivated, but it cannot be the only thing you do in your effort to lose weight. Try combining EFT with weight loss diets to help you lose weight.

What Is Tapping?

EFT tapping is a treatment that focuses on acupressure points, called “tapping points.” The treatment also includes other modern psychology techniques, including methods taken from cognitive behavioral therapy.

EFT tapping is based on the idea that negative energy in our body can impact our physical and emotional wellbeing. The tapping points are considered energy hotpots; by stimulating them, EFT tapping seeks to restore balance in the body.

This restoration of balance is meant to reduce symptoms of conditions brought on by negative thoughts, experiences, and emotions.

What does EFT stand for in therapy?

EFT in therapy stands for emotional freedom technique. EFT is sometimes compared to acupuncture and focuses on the energy hotspots around the body. But while acupuncture uses needles, EFT uses tapping.

The EFT technique of tapping on these points is believed to restore balance and aid conditions brought on by negative emotions or experiences.

EFT tapping is used for various conditions, including anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress, as well as for losing weight.

How Tapping Works

Practitioners of many alternative therapies believe that negative energy is stored in our bodies and can affect us physically and emotionally. EFT tapping seeks to rectify this.

The body has 12 acupressure points, but only 9 are used in EFT tapping. According to alternative medical practitioners, these meridian points are spots in the body that store great energy. Tapping on them is thought to reduce negative energy and restore energy flow through the body.

The EFT tapping solution also uses affirmative phrases, a technique taken from CBT, to enhance the practice.

Proponents of the technique claim that the tapping motion helps reduce anxiety and accesses the part of the brain that deals with stress, lowering cortisol levels, a stress hormone.

Benefits of Tapping

EFT tapping mediations come with a few benefits. They are thought to help restore balance to the body and could treat mental health conditions like anxiety and depression.

EFT tapping is an authorized treatment for war veterans with PTSD, and it is thought to have some effect on physical pain.

It may help to reduce stress levels in the body and may help with insomnia. It has also been used to treat weight loss.

Side Effects of Tapping

EFT tapping mediation has no known side effects and is considered safe for all to use. If you are using them for weight loss, it is essential to not rely solely on EFT tapping and to use it alongside other methods of weight loss, like eating at a calorie restriction and increasing the amount you exercise.

There is some concern that tapping may become a compulsion for people with obsessive-compulsive disorder, and it should be approached with caution by these individuals.

In addition, if you plan on using this method for mental health conditions, it is always best to try it with a trained professional first and speak with a doctor to ensure the technique will not worsen any diseases or injuries.

How to Do Tapping for Weight Loss

Before you begin tapping for weight loss, you’ll need a positive affirmation. Affirmations for weight loss could include “I want to feel more confident in my body” or “I want to make healthier choices.”

The idea is to use the EFT tapping process when you feel tempted to overeat or make poor choices concerning food. At this point, you would say your affirmation aloud while tapping on each of the meridian points in EFT.

The pressure points used in the tapping techniques are:

  • Karate chop (the center part of the fleshy area on the outer edge of each hand)
  • Eyebrow
  • Side of the eye
  • Under the eye
  • Under the nose
  • Chin
  • Start of collarbone
  • Under arm

If you struggle to understand the process of tapping meditation, it might be best to try the technique out with a licensed professional who can give you step-by-step instructions before practicing on your own.

As mentioned, it is best to couple alternative therapies, like EFT tapping techniques, with proven weight loss methods like eating at a calorie deficit and a regular exercise program, like running long distances.

While self-love, exposure therapy, and positive affirmations can help to motivate you to lose weight, you will find that changing your eating and exercise habits is the best way to see actual weight loss.

FAQs

How often should you tap?

There is no minimum or maximum requirement for how often you should use EFT tapping when trying to lose weight. You can use the technique whenever you feel anxious or like you’re going to overeat or practice it at set times each day.

What do I say while tapping?

If you’re using EFT in the hopes of losing weight, it is best to come up with a positive affirmation for weight loss. This could be “I want to feel good in my body” or “I want to make healthy choices with food.”

Does tapping work for anxiety?

Tapping is thought to be an excellent alternative therapy for anxiety. It stimulates the central nervous system and reduces cortisol in your blood. This can reduce stress and anxiety. It is also thought to stimulate the amygdala, the part of the brain responsible for fear, which too can reduce anxiety.

A Word From Our MD

EFT tapping is an alternative therapy that couples acupressure with cognitive behavioral therapy to restore balance to the body’s energy system. It is thought to be an excellent way to relieve pain, reduce stress, and even be beneficial for losing weight.

The technique couples positive affirmations with the tapping of the meridian points on the body to stimulate the nervous system, the brain, and the energy in our body. It is designed to restore balance and aid in conditions brought on by negative thoughts and emotions.

Practitioners believe that our body’s energy contributes to physical and psychological health and that each meridian point constitutes an energy hotspot.

By stimulating these energy hotspots through tapping sequences, one can restore overall wellbeing, meet weight loss goals, and inspire lifestyle changes. It is thought to help you feel confident in yourself.

Like many alternative therapies, the actual scientific evidence for the benefits of tapping meditation is limited. While anecdotal evidence attests to its ability to boost wellbeing and health, research is still ongoing.

Tapping can significantly increase motivation and even alter negative habits like overeating and emotional eating, helping you to get into the mindset for weight loss. Still, it is unlikely to help you lose weight if you do not make other changes alongside this therapy.

Conclusion

EFT tapping is alternative medicine used to restore balance in the body and heal conditions brought on by negative emotions, thoughts, and experiences. It involves tapping specific points on the body while repeating affirmations.

For weight loss, it may reduce stress and boost positivity and focus, contributing to weight reduction. Still, it is unlikely to produce any actual results without being paired with other weight reduction methods.

EFT tapping sees the most positive results when used for weight loss when practiced alongside eating at a calorie deficit and regular exercise, such as pilates, swimming, or walking for weight loss.

Written by Edibel Quintero, RD
Edibel Quintero is a medical doctor who graduated in 2013 from the University of Zulia and has been working in her profession since then. She specializes in obesity and nutrition, physical rehabilitation, sports massage and post-operative rehabilitation. Edibel’s goal is to help people live healthier lives by educating them about food, exercise, mental wellness and other lifestyle choices that can improve their quality of life.
The article was fact checked by Rosmy Barrios, MD
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HR_author_photo_Edibel
Written by Edibel Quintero, RD
HR_author_photo_Rosmy
Fact checked by Rosmy Barrios, MD
Last update: April 14, 2023
5 min read 1180 Views 0 Comments
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