by Shelly Watson, LICSW

For most of my life I was a yo-yo dieter. I went on my first diet at age 11, and spent the next 27 years either dieting, or rebelling from a diet - but never maintaining a comfortable weight. In my attempt to find peace from this obsession, I read every diet book known to man, learned the fat, calories, and carbohydrate grams of every morsel I put in my mouth, and generally became an expert on achieving permanent weight loss. Yet I couldn't achieve permanent weight loss. Sometimes A lack of information is not the problem. Sometimes we know exactly what to do to improve our health or to lose weight - but we just can't do it. Sometimes we need to uncover, heal, or learn how to manage the emotions that are unconsciously (or consciously) driving our unhealthy behaviors, in order for lasting change to occur. This is where Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) can help.

EFT is a mind-body technique used to alleviate physical and emotional pain. It falls under the umbrella of Energy Psychology and Energy Medicine - and is based on the ancient principles of acupuncture. The process of doing EFT is quite simple - you tap on specific meridian points with your fingertips while saying (or listening to a practitioner say) the emotions or physical symptoms that are bothering you. In this way feelings are acknowledged, accepted, dislodged, and allowed to move through us - and a surprising reduction of intensity occurs. Repeating this process a number of times - the distress is often significantly, if not completely, eliminated. Most people are understandably very skeptical at first - but the beauty of EFT is that you don't have to believe in it in order for it to work - you just have to be willing to give it a try.

Although the EFT procedure itself is quite straightforward, it can be utilized in a variety of much more complex ways. Its application can range from being a simple self-help stress reduction tool, to healing long-standing trauma. It can facilitate change of core, deeply engrained belief systems, as well as bring relief to chronic pain. It has helped such a huge array of issues that the recently released EFT documentary is aptly named "try it on everything" (www.tryitoneverything.com).

So how can EFT help someone who wants to lose weight or improve their diet? On one level, it can neutralize the surface feelings propelling us towards an unhealthy choice. For example, many of us can relate to the experience of waking up every morning feeling really motivated and sure that "today is the day that I am going to start my healthy eating". We're rested, we're not too stressed, and we're sick of where our unhealthy habits have brought us. Yet somehow by three in the afternoon all that resolve seems to melt away fatigue, stress, cravings, frustration, overwhelm, sadness, anger, somewhere between waking up and going to bed these feelings can derail even the most well- intentioned of us. But what if you had a self-help tool to shift you out of that bad mood, to neutralize that intense sugar craving, to sooth your anger, to relax your body, that is what EFT can do; and once back in that calm state of mind and body - making the healthy choice is a whole lot easier.

When we are aware of the feelings or discomfort that we are trying to self-medicate with food, EFT can easily be utilized in a clear and direct way. Within only a few minutes we can ease our pain, reduce our discomfort - and thereby eliminate the need to overeat. It is often the case, however, that we are unaware of this connection. If, for example, we developed the belief early on in life that it is not safe to feel our feelings, or to feel particular feelings, then we may have also developed an automatic response of engaging in certain behaviors when feelings arise; if the behavior we are putting in place of our feelings is eating - then we will likely become overweight (if it is a different behavior - such as gambling, shopping, working, drinking, etc - then those behaviors may become excessive and problematic). This process may be completely outside of our awareness - so that the moment an uncomfortable feeling arises it goes immediately underground, and the only thing we are aware of is the urge to eat. This is where EFT can be utilized on a deeper level than just simple symptom relief. It can help us to untangle the unconscious pairing of feeling and automatic behavior.

In the bigger picture, EFT can also help us to change the belief systems that may be causing us to stay stuck in our unhealthy behavior patterns. Often the decisions we make about how we take care of ourselves (as well as many other decisions) are influenced by beliefs that we are not conscious of; If, for example, we don't believe deep down that we are worthy of success - then despite the fact that our weight problem is causing us great pain - we may continue to sabotage our weight loss efforts. In order to bring about lasting change we must first bring these driving forces of our behavior into consciousness. EFT is an extremely efficient and effective way to do this. Without adding in this piece of the work, just knowing how to do EFT may not always be enough - because if there is unconscious resistance to losing weight, than we won't choose to do EFT when we need it - it will just become another thing that makes us feel better (like exercise, yoga, etc) that we don't do. This more complex work generally requires working with an EFT practitioner - a professional who can utilize EFT to help uncover whatever unconscious processes are interfering with us reaching our goals.

What I love about EFT is its versatility. In terms of nutrition and weight loss, it helps to uncover any root causes of emotional eating, while also providing an incredibly powerful tool for combating day to day stress and other uncomfortable emotions that can sabotage the best of intentions. It can be utilized to change belief systems, as well as heal emotional traumas, in a very gentle and time-efficient way. EFT takes a little getting used to...it looks kind of strange at first - but I have found in my work with clients that any initial awkwardness they may feel is almost always immediately overshadowed by the startlingly positive results they experience. So if you're one of those people who has tons of great information about health and weight loss but have been unable to put it into practice; if you're feeling like you have tried everything and are starting to believe that you just can't change - EFT may just be the missing link to successful weight management you're looking for. I know it was for me.

If you would like to learn more about EFT, Please come to my free talk, "EFT for Weight Loss", on Thursday May 22nd at 7:00pm. Click here for more details and registration for this talk.

by Jodi Cabral

Leafy green vegetables are full of vitamins and minerals our bodies need to stay strong, healthy and energized. They are bursting with Vitamins A, C, E (all three are a good source of antioxidants found in food) and Vitamin K. Leafy greens have plentiful amounts of iron, fiber and calcium, so a cup of most greens, can give you a great start toward meeting the daily requirements for many important nutrients.

One of our favorites here at Simple Balance is collard greens. Collards have large, flat leaves that look like paddles. They are members of the Brassica family (more commonly known as the cruciferous vegetables) that also include kale and broccoli. Often associated with use in Southern cooking, the nutritional benefits of collard greens are amazing! As with most leafy greens, they are powerful cancer fighters, helping to reduce free radical damage in the cells. New research in the area of phytonutrients shows people consuming between 3-5 servings (one serving = 1 cup) per week of cruciferous vegetables have lower rates of cancer. When purchasing, be sure to choose organically grown varieties as their phytonutrient levels are higher than conventionally grown. Lightly steaming will help to retain most of the phytonutrients.

Interestingly, many of us think that dairy is the primary source of calcium but collards and other greens are a fantastic and much healthier alternative. A cup of cooked collard greens supplies 22.6% of the DV for calcium and about 50 calories.

When selecting collard greens, look for bunches that are firm with unwilted leaves. Collards will be deep green in color with no signs of yellowing or browning. Smaller leaves will be more tender and have a milder flavor. Collards should be stored in the crisper drawer in the refrigerator to prevent wilting and should be consumed within 3-5 days.

Before preparing collard greens they should be washed well as the leaves and stems tend to collect soil. The stem (the center vein) of the collard green can be removed by taking a leaf and folding it in half lengthwise and cut away the thick stem which is whitish in color. You can also use a knife to separate the leaves from the stem by cutting along the center stem.

A few serving ideas: steam in a small amount of vegetable broth or water until tender, drizzle cooked collard greens with olive oil and lemon juice. For a more complete meal sauté greens with tofu, garlic and crushed red pepper. However you prefer to consume them your body will say thank you - so try this month's recipe and let us know what you think!

by Jodi Cabral

Prep and Cook Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

Answered by Kelly Bollman

What is a Wheat Grass Shot?

A wheat grass shot is wheat that has sprouted and started to grow, but not too big. Tray-grown wheatgrass is grown in a warm greenhouse or indoors under fluorescent lighting, or with full sun. After growing for 7-10 days, the plant is approximately 6-8 inches tall. It is then harvested and juiced for consumption.

Said to be a complete food, wheatgrass is a source of beta carotene and the B vitamins, plus C, E, H and K, is said to contain 90 different minerals and 19 amino acids. 'More iron than spinach, more protein than meat, fish, eggs, beans or dairy.

If you have never tried a wheat grass shot you may want to start with just 1 ounce and work your way up to 2 ounces. It is best to have wheat grass on an empty stomach, 30 minutes before a meal.

For convenience you can find frozen wheat grass shots in your health food store freezer section.

If you have a question you would like one of our practitoners to answer, please e-mail your question to simplebalance@charter.net. We will select one question each month to answer.

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