You think you're doing the right thing when you have that diet soft drink rather than the full strength variety, but what you don't know is that those diet drinks contain artificial sweeteners that are even more toxic for your system then plain sugar.

Recently there have been articles circulating the internet on how to use the common artificial sweetener, Aspartame, to kill ants. This works because the ant's bodies are so small that the toxin overwhelms them immediately whereas in humans it takes longer for the toxin to build up and the effects to manifest.

The human body is the ultimate survival mechanism. When we take in toxins, the body does whatever it can to eliminate them. If the body cannot eliminate all toxins, such as artificial sweeteners, the body will STORE IT IN FAT tissue to protect the vital organs.

This applies not only to soft drinks but to any foods that contain artificial sweeteners.

Regardless of what I, or any other expert says, I suggest you test this for yourself. Use your common sense about your current health and medical conditions. A good test is to go one whole month without 'diet' anything and see how your weight (and general well-being) improves. Preferably go off soft drinks altogether but at least eliminate 'diet' anything.

You may feel a little off and have cold & flu type symptoms for a few days after your stop because you body is finally getting the chance to expel the build-up of toxins from your body. Stay with it and you will be rewarded for your persistence.

If, after one month, you haven't noticed any improvement, then go back on the diet stuff. It's your choice and your body so take on the responsibility of testing things for yourself.

Later in this newsletter, I'll give you some specific tapping to reduce and eventually eliminate your cravings for anything.

One of the great things about EFT is that it is easy to learn and can be self-applied. The best place to start is with the free EFT Get Started Package available from Gary Criag, the founder of EFT.

The Get Started Package includes the free EFT Manual which can have you up and running in just a few minutes and a subscription to the incredibly rich EFT Newsletter.

To take your EFT to the next level, there is the series of 5-Star EFT Training DVDs. These amazing sets of DVDs include the EFT Course, From EFT to the Palace of Possibilities, Borrowing Benefits, and the new Using EFT for Serious Diseases.

There is a generous 40% discount on all orders over US$100. With each set worth US$60, buying any two sets really makes sense. Two great sets for beginners is the EFT Course and Borrowing Benefits.

The EFT community's goal is to have one person in every home familiar with EFT. What a different place the world would be with everyone experiencing more personal peace from the use of this amazing tool.

Maybe it's soft drinks, maybe it's chocolate, maybe it's cheese, maybe it's hot chips, maybe it's a cigarette? You probably have at least one thing that you crave almost irrationally. Here is an example of how to use EFT reduce and control your cravings.

This procedure will put you in control of your craving and, with persistance, will eventually eliminate the craving altogether. The faster that you can get to the emotional cause behind the craving, the faster you will completely eliminate the behaviour.

The best time to do this tapping is right when you have the craving so you may want to print this out and keep it handy.

Have what you crave right in front of you so that you are really tuned into it. On a scale from 0-10, where 10 is "must have now!" and 0 is "don't want it", rate you level of craving. Write this down. Now work through the tapping points as follows:

Setup - Tapping on the karate chop point say,
"Even though I crave this really badly, I deeply love and accept myself. Even though I know this is not healthy for me but I deserve the treat, I deeply love and accept myself. Even though I'd feel deprived if I couldn't have this, I deeply love and accept myself."

Then continue on to the other tapping points:
Head: "This craving for chocolate" (I'll use chocolate as an example but substitute chocolate for your specific item.)
Eyebrows: "This craving for chocolate"
Side of Eyes: "This craving for chocolate"
Under Eyes: "This craving for chocolate"
Under Nose: "This craving for chocolate"
Chin Point: "This craving for chocolate"
Collarbones: "This craving for chocolate"
Under Arms: "This craving for chocolate"
Wrists: "This craving for chocolate"

Now re-evaluate you level of craving. Has it reduced, changed in some way, or even increased? You may need to do a few more rounds to completely reduce the craving but remember that you need to be persistent.

An additional factor in food cravings is whether you are eating the right balance of protein and carbohydrates. If, after eating a meal, you crave something sweet then the ratio of carbohydrates was too high compared to protein. Note that vegetables are included in the carbohydrate macro food group. For more information about getting the right balance see The Metabolic Typing Diet on the Tap4Health Resources pages.

The Freecycle Network is made up of many individual groups across the globe. It's a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns.

The idea behind this is that "one man's trash is another man's treasure". I love this idea. The purpose of the web site is to keep rubbish out of landfill. The idea is that you can offer absolutely anything to the people on the network. This is not an auction or trading site! Everything is offered for free. And when you offer an item, you choose who to gift it to. There are thousands of sites around the world. Freecycling encourages community spirit and giving. Truly a great idea.