Stress and Difficulty Losing Weight

We've all heard the latest scientific thinking about stress and weight loss, and we've seen the ads for pills that end the abdominal fat collection, without dieting and exercising. Do you believe those pills do the trick? Well, neither do I!

There are no magic bullet pills or anything else magic bullet for that matter. However, there is some truth to the stress weight gain theory. Let's take a look: the brain's response to all stress is the same. Fight or flight.

The amygdala senses danger, messages the adrenals to secrete cortisol and the liver to secrete sugar so we have strength and fuel to fight or to run.

When we don't run away and we don't actually go into combat, those emergency measures are stored as fat. Even "mild" stress instigates that response, and if it's something ongoing, a relationship or a job, say, or you wondering why you can't fit into your jeans, or wondering "when will I lose this baby weight?", that stress response becomes chronic.

This is the reason that eating well and exercise sometimes doesn't work as we expect. In 1979 Dr Roger Callahan discovered he could help his patients get over phobias, anger and even insomnia by having them tap on energy meridian end points at different places on their bodies. He was astounded that years of water phobia in one patient was completely wiped out in a matter of minutes. Later, Gary Craig, a student of Dr Callahan, designed a simple sequence of tapping points that worked for all sorts of problems.

Tapping is simply tapping with the ends of fingers gently on those meridian end points while verbalizing the problem.

Since then, multiple scientific studies prove the validity of tapping and demonstrate real success with many problems.

Particularly in the area of weight loss. A group of 89 women aged 31_56 years was qualified by BMI to be obese. They were instructed in tapping and they practiced it for 15 minutes daily over a period of 8 weeks. They did not change their diets or the way they exercised. On average, they lost 16 pounds each. And kept it off for more than 6 months, even though they stopped tapping after the 8 weeks were over. This worked at the level of releasing the stress at baseline rather than taking a pill to suppress the stress reaction. Side effects include self confidence, improved relationships, greater satisfaction in life and circumstance.

Women in the study were able to view themselves in a more positive way, even before they lost the weight. If you are thinking about yourself or someone you know who might benefit from this, or are interested in finding out more about tapping, please call me at 973 875 2992 or contact me via email at foundationalhealth@gmail.com