[BillBlueEyes]

Welcome to the discussion group, support group, diet coach group, diet buddy group relating to the two books by Dr. Judith S. Beck:

The Complete Beck Diet for Life

and the first book

The Beck DIET solution: train your brain to think like a thin person.

The Beck Diet Solution is a psychological program, not a food plan. It provides a step-by-step program to learn specific techniques to stay on our diet, lose weight, and maintain our weight loss for life. The program is based on Dr. Beck's clinical research in Cognitive Therapy (CT).

The Complete Beck Diet for Life expands the earlier work and includes a food plan with suggested menus. From the cover:

With The Complete Beck Diet for Life you'll discover the 5 stages of successful dieting and maintenance. You'll learn how to motivate yourself, give yourself credit for every change you make, create time and energy for dieting, and handle hunger and cravings. Dr. Beck eases you into changing one step at a time. You'll master one task before moving on to the next. And you'll learn techniques to deal with challenging situations, such as sticking with ou plan at celebrations and dealing with "food pushers." With Dr. Beck's skills, you'll achieve a lifetime of healthful eating and lifelong motivation.

This is a place to discuss the Beck strategies and our daily efforts, to receive and provide support, and, for some of us, is where we serve as on-line diet buddy (coach) to each other.

If you’ve arrived from a search engine, you’ve landed at the site of 3 Fat Chicks (3FC), a remarkable place for those interested in a healthy life style, including mindful eating, exercise, and weight loss. More about the site, including how to register so that you can post, can be found here.

The books are available on Amazon through the 3FC store by clicking their names above; buying through 3FC helps to cover the costs of running this site.

You can find the list of previous (or more current) monthly Beck threads here on 3 Fat Chicks via:

List of Monthly Beck Threads for Support, Discussion, Buddy/Coach

[BillBlueEyes]

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Food was on plan, CREDIT moi. We continue to enjoy New Jersey blueberries in abundance. Dinner on the patio was Pasta Primavera and deviled eggs. Felt like our little corner of heaven. I used my leap second to covet a handful of roasted pecans - couldn't figure out how to actually stuff them in, LOL.

DW and I hiked (CREDIT moi) the Fells (Middlesex Fells Reservation area for those not in the local lingo) to continue our quest to include places where we have some elevation change to get ready for summer. The Fells is a dynamite chunk of land close to Boston with the look and feel of the White Mountains of New Hampshire. I carried a liter of water but no snacks; I've come to realize that carrying a snack when I'm only hiking for a few hours is one of those Thinking Errors - a fear of getting hungry thing. I don't get hungry in just a few hours and don't need an Energy Jolt to keep going. My body does need the water which I drink whether I feel thirsty or not.


onebyone – Neat idea that frozen bottle of water - especially for "but requires PLANNING." Ouch for the forces of nature in your garden. Some critters are deterred by rings placed around the plants but I have no idea about your cucumber beetles. Is that a cucumber beetle in your avatar?

Debbie (Lexxiss) – Kudos for making a plan despite difficult family dynamics. Lots on your plate at moment.

Nature Girl – Major Kudos for choosing your bike over all the fast food places in town. And Kudos for recognizing that your mom's anger is her issue, not something that you or your dad caused. Hope you found a rewarding place to enjoy dinner with your dad.

maryann - Welcome home. Major Kudos for sending back the dish with the nuggets of fried chicken - I love, love, love those. Took me forever to figure out that my fondness for General Gau's chicken was just liking KFC in disguise.

Tazzy - Seems time for a jump start back into your rhythm. Perhaps you can adopt a temporary food plan just so you can get back to making a plan. That Calgary Stampede looks like a big deal, and being ready for those long days is crucial. Yep, Kudos for posting and accepting as a platform to getting your mojo back.

Ann (Newlifestyle) - Yay for "on plan today." Hope you survive the heat.

Readers -

chapter 6 Stage 3 The Challenging Situations Plan
Confidently Follow Your Plan While Traveling

travel skills
When you travel, you have less control over your food for a longer period of time than in practically any other situation. You will probably need to use all of your Challenging Situations Skills, as well as some additional ones listed below.

Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), pg 160.

[Beverlyjoy]

Hi beckfolks, coaches, friends - We got our power back a couple of hours ago. That is my number one gratitude. We had a storm blow through Friday afternoon.. it was a micro burst - 80 miles per hour wind... yikes. (actually came about ten minutes after posting here - the sky got black.) We never expected this much impact. 300,000 households my area lost their power. Luckily my mom had power - so grateful for that.

At first the radio said our area wouldn't get power until July 3-7! To our happy surprise it came on a couple of hours ago. We kept our fridge and freezer closed - but, by the time we could find any ice it was too late for most of the food in our fridge/freezer. We threw away most of the food, except for some half thawed things in the freezer. Actually an unintentional way cleaning out the fridge. We will cook up those things today we could save.

It's all OK - we are all well. It was SO HOT & feel weary of this ordeal, though. We checked on mom and took a few things to her freezer. Spent time helping neighbors. We shot off some fireworks for the kids at dark.

Our neighbor, however, came over yesterday morning with a dozen donuts for us and a dozen for four other families, each, on this end of the street. I find it fascinating that is what they thought DH and would need to get us through the heat and mess. Actually, it was something that didn't need cooking or refrigeration. LOL So, yesterday I ate 4 donuts and we found a restaurant for dinner where I had a salad. Today we will go to the store for fresh food and things we tossed out.

It was kind of a lost healthy food couple of days. But, I will move forward. Tonight DH is cooking up turkey tenderloin, pork tenderloin, hamburgers, turkey burgers, chicken breasts and hot dogs = all on the grill. A couple of families are coming over. We'll take some to my mom, eat some this week, and freeze any of the cooked food that we can.

I've learned that I am way too old and fat to live in 100 degree conditions without a fan... let alone not air conditioning. Of course, I didn't have either as a kid... But, I am a softy on it now - literally and figuratively.

I hope you are all well, safe, & cool.

[gardenerjoy]

Okay. I'm hitting the reboot button. I've been having the sabotaging thought that I've really messed it up and I'll never get on track again. I finally had the helpful response that it can't be harder to fix things up after a month of off-plan behavior than it was when I started this originally. Then, I had to fix things after decades of overeating.

So, I'm going back to the beginning. I literally read some of my early posts from August 2009 and some of the beginning pages of the Complete Beck Diet for Life and I'm going to do some of the same things I did then:

• I've created a Mix and Match Meal Plan *credit*. I'm going to select from that for my nightly food planning.
• I've set up an accurate Ticker to track me back to my maintenance weight.
• I'll weigh daily and report here daily.

I also know that new things help when I'm trying to find enthusiasm for eating healthily so here are two new things:

• I'm going on a bread fast for the month of July. This is more of an appreciation for seasons than a diet measure. The 1st of August is Loaf Mass, rooted in an older pagan celebration of the first fruits of the harvest. One of the first fruits was wheat. In northern European climates, the first of the wheat ripened at the beginning of August and most folks had been out of wheat for weeks or months. That first loaf was sacred. So, a way of replicating that experience is to fast from bread for some period of time before August 1. I did it once before for a few days and always wanted to do it again for longer. Now's the time.
• When I want to veer off plan, I'm going to read from a book that I picked up at the library: 50 Ways to Soothe Yourself Without Food by Susan Albers.

I have a written food plan *credit* and have so far today followed it to the letter *credit*.

WI: +2.65 kgs, Exercise: +65 1400/1400 minutes for June, Food: NA%op, Read my Advantages and Responses: yes

BillBlueEyes: yay for a hike with water and without snack. I'm going to remember that for my next hike.

Beverlyjoy: so glad your power is back and you are all well and safe. Losing power in this heat is a scary prospect.

[onebyone]

Coaches

Went to the garden. Watered it. Weeded some of it. I'm just managing to keep the weeds from swallowing the garden. It's what I thought would happen. The soil in the garden is pretty poor too. Nothing is really taking off. Maybe this week.

*credit* weighed in: 254.0lbs. Happy to see that number. Still on track to have a week without dipping into my extra weekly points. My sister and I are both staying the course. Today was tough but it's done.

My kitty Looloo wasn't herself the past few days, but she seems to have turned the corner on whatever was bothering her. She's come out of hiding and that is a huge relief. This cat is more inscrutable than most.

G'night.

[Tazzy]

Hi Everyone,

Better day today, I woke up this morning and thought it's the first of the month, a fresh start and time to get back on track. While making breakfast I decided to calorie count again, it's worked in the past and there is no reason not to do it. I could come up with lots of excuses but that's not going to help me reach my goal. It might be harder for days when I'm working at events but I can plan accordingly and take food with me that will work.

For dinner tonight we had fresh rainbow trout and salmon done on cedar planks on the BBQ, fresh corn on the cob and I picked spinach and swiss chard from the garden. We all kept commenting on how good it tasted and I realized that we were not eating anything that had been frozen, canned, boxed or processed. Yay for a great fresh meal. After dinner DS wanted to treat his dad and I to something from Dairy Queen. He's got money burning a hole in his pocket I guess. I drove over to DQ but had looked in my calorie book before going and decided there wasn't anything there I would use calories for. So they got their treats and I came home and had a 1/2 cup serving of frozen yogurt. Just finished 1.5 hours of ironing and waiting for it to get dark to see the Canada Day fireworks at the equestrian facility next to our community.

I have to go to Costco tomorrow but will use my "no samples" technique which I'm pretty good with. I'm going to avoid bread as well as I do feel much better when I'm not eating it. Gardenerjoy, maybe I'll join you on the bread fast.

One other thing I have decided to change is recording my weight. In the pastI have weighed everyday and tracked it on a small calendar. I will continue to weigh everyday but will now only track it on Sundays. I know it's just a number but it's starting to become more than that and it's affecting how I handle my days. The journey continues.....

Thanks to everyone for all your support and words of encouragement.

[Nature Girl]

Better day for Mom today, so better day for everyone! I think today's motto is "Ride it out" which comes from my mt bike riding and x-c skiing: when I find myself at the top of a scary steep hill and want to get off and walk, I remind myself that I've done this before, and I need to "Ride it out" - don't panic half way down - usually it ends up exhilarating instead of scary. I'm not sure this experience has much potential for exhilaration, but I do need to remember, both with Mom and with eating issues, that once I'm on track, just "Ride it out"--stay the course--stick on the path--don't panic--no need to jump ship half way through the tough part.
Eating was on plan as far as the 4 rules go. I'm not sure we want to talk about breakfast after church--biscuits & gravy. But *credit* I drew a line down the middle & only ate half, and that kept me sustained until past dinner time without even a snack which is so unusual for me. And *credit* I'm getting so much better at planning to each meals or snacks so I don't get caught with low blood sugar and feel I "have" to grab fast food and eat in the car.
Headed in now to do PT strength work--that's the third section of my three pronged effort: nutrition, cardio, & strength. Right now I'm focusing on doing upper body work connected to the PT I had for shoulder surgery in January. Very soon I want to add in some lower body work and also abs/core.

[Elizabeth779]

Hi coaches -- I realize I went MIA for a couple weeks. I was totally overwhelmed with work, home, piano practice....wasn't just one thing, just was everything, and was off the internet....just did everything I needed to do and then was resting a lot. My days off changed at the end of June and that affected my rest/sleeping as well. Through all of this I have been neglecting myself and my commitment to health and fitness. Credit I'm climbing back up. Have Beck book beside me to read more, and have just ordered the other beck books on Amazon (great prices, you just pay for shipping).

I commit to July being "Better With Beck." I going back to "reading Beck as if my life depended on it." To do that I have to read "Beck First". I'm choosing counting calories, and just starting where I am with just counting the calories and tracking the food. The gym is there, beckoning.....I think it's time to walk in the doors and get moving.

Bill -- You sound on track with your maintenance. The pasta primavera sounds good and so does your hiking. You did say "I used my leap second to covet a handful of..."......Bill what is a "leap second"? It did prompt me to buy the other Beck book (and workbook to Beck book 1) though, figured there was more I needed to read/learn that could be helpful.

Beverlyjoy -- glad you're "back on the grid." I agree with you about wondering why people bring donuts. I've noticed this occurs when people bring food to families who have had someone pass away.....more often now it's sweets instead of casseroles, veggies, salad, etc. Heard about that awful storm -- glad you're safe.

Gardenerjoy -- you have lots of helpful ideas -- thank you. I like the food mix/match plan and am going to find a way to incorporate that. I went to look at your blog also -- very nice. I want to read that book about "Why Calories Count." I'll include that in my NEXT amazon order.

OnebyOne -- Congrats on the 254. I enjoy the gardening talk -- it still always reminds me how we need to "pull weeds" and "tend" our health and fitness "garden."

Tazzy -- I agree with you about with it being the frist of the month it's a time for a fresh start. I'm going to count calories also. Good for you for eating out of the garden and eating non-processed. You are our example in a processed and fast food world.

Nature Girl -- Great thoughts about "Ride it Out." I'm going to use that also. I actually realize I do that sometimes at the beginning (have been playing piano for church services for the last month) of a difficult hymn or mass setting....and sometimes at the beginning it does feel steep and scary and then I just "ride it out" or "get through it"....I'm going to apply that now to my fitness goals -- make a plan, I've been here before and done this before, just Ride it Out. This is a good idea you have presented....because sometimes for instance I've brought my healthy meals to work for my 10 hour workday but THEN will suddenly change plans and go through fast food or start to eat unhealthy stuff brought in by others (goodies, etc.).

Well to all of you thank you for inspiring me to get back on track and stay on track for July -- here's to us -- let's pull weeds, plan, study Beck, and "Ride it Out" -- if we do that, when we start our August thread we'll all be in a better place than we are right now.

[BillBlueEyes]

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Happy Canada Day to all our Canadian friends. Hope it's cool enough for your fireworks.

Eating was close enough to on plan, CREDIT moi. The bulge was a family celebration dinner with the standard restaurant portions. The Cambodian Salmon dish was just scrumptious beyond belief - that sort of restaurant meal that makes the prices feel OK since it's something we couldn't have made at home. We started at home with a toast and appetizers, then returned here for fresh fruit for dessert on our patio in the twilight. Twas a good use of the restaurant for the entree alone.

Got in some walking, CREDIT moi, that included a local book store to buy the printed trail map of the Fells, where we went hiking the day before using the web version. Buying maps is one of life's joys. Boston used to have a map store where you could browse and dream - it fell with so many other Mom-and-Pop stores around here.


onebyone – Ouch for a slow starting garden. Around here it's still not too late to get a tomato plant along with some good dirt. Maybe you can have a second wind. Happy vacation week with your DH.

Joy (gardenerjoy) – Bon voyage reboot. Like the idea of the month without bread to honor the early farmers without grain before the early arriving wheat. I'm slowly drifting toward accepting the notion that bread hasn't been the best thing to happen to civilization.

Nature Girl – Just love the notion of "Ride it out" - gonna steal that one. Glad your mom is having a good day. Yep, Kudos for choosing to eat only half that biscuit and gravy. My take is that you're winning every time you avoid the might-as-well-just mentality that seems so ready to pop up anytime we're not eating perfectly.

Beverlyjoy – Ouch for that burst of foul weather that took your power. Glad you're back on line so quickly - news says that some folks won't get power for days yet. LOL at donuts as the emergency food, but it's neat to have thoughtful neighbors.

Tazzy - Kudos for choosing Calorie Counting for you eating plan. That meal with all fresh greens from your garden has me drooling - as does having both Rainbow Trout and Salmon on one grill. Good luck on your "no samples" Costco trip - my take is that indulging in their samples makes all the humongous sized stuff seem like a good idea. Every trip to Costco I think that a case of mangoes is just the best idea ever. It's not - mangoes is a great idea in the portions that DW buys them on a regular basis.

Readers -

chapter 6 Stage 3 The Challenging Situations Plan
Confidently Follow Your Plan While Traveling

tip: If you eat
unplanned food, don't use it
as an excuse to continue eat-
ing unplanned food until your
trip is over. Read your Cheat
Sheet. Answer the questions
and get back on track imme-
diately. Don't compound the
problem by continuing to eat
more, because it's just not
worth it. If you overeat at
the beginning of the trip, you
might gain a little weight. If
you continue to overeat, you
might gain a lot of weight.
Which scenario would you
prefer?

Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), pg 160.

[gardenerjoy]

Nice to get a satisfying whoosh of weight loss on my first 100%op day in recent memory. I kept myself very busy, which distracted me from the fleeting moments of hunger. The worst was after supper while watching a movie. Mentally closing the kitchen worked.

WI: -0.45 kgs, Exercise: +60 60/1400 minutes for July, Food: 100%op, Read my Advantages and Responses: yes

onebyone: your competition with your sister is working. I'm finding your current efforts inspiring.

Tazzy: glad to have you making a fresh start on the same day as me!

Nature_Girl: yay that your mom is getting better. That was a good strategy with the biscuits and gravy -- eat half and skip snacks -- especially if it doesn't happen too often.

Elizabeth779: great to see you back here! And welcome to the group of us who seem to be using July as our month to be "Better with Beck."

BillBlueEyes: I remember map stores! I encountered a fairly large collection of maps when I was cleaning the bookcase, but they are neatly stowed so I left them there.

[maryann]

Good Morning, Coaches.

The beginning of every month, I change my ticker. Credit for honoring that commitment especially when the number went up two pounds. It is just information. I am vacationing in Tahoe. The weather is beautiful and I am determined to relax. My goal for the day is to feel a little hungry and to stop before I am full. What I eat is less important although I will get in five fruits and veggies and play a little tennis.
I hope to catch up with everyone's post soon.

Best.

[Lexxiss]

Hi Coaches!

Still trying to be mindful during this continuing difficult time.
~weighing everyday
~bringing lunch to work and pitching all toast edges

I had a legitimate taste at work today, which turned into two. Seeing an issue I gave the rest to the dishwasher. credit.

DH and I are now sitting down in the morning and planning his day on paper. It's helping him to stay focused from one day to the next AND it's helping me get that dinner thought out and recorded early in the morning. We stuck to our plan tonight. This is working now and when we need to change it we will.

Gnight....long and tiring day.

[Nature Girl]

One step forward, two steps back...not a great day for Mom today. Lots of indecision re: what is the best next step for her now. And there are deadlines looming...arghhh! Only good thing: I did not eat over it. *Credit.* My main goal for these 9-13 days is stick to the rules re: sugar, booze, eating in the car or standing up. If I can make good choices in other areas re: food, well, good for me. But those are bonus credits. When I get home I will assume those four habits have stuck and start refining the actual content of the meals, etc, and looking at other Beck strategies that will help. It's a journey, folks! And sometimes it seems like a journey right up the side of a steep mountain, across a desert, or through rush hour traffic.

[BillBlueEyes]

Diet Coaches/Buddies - I just don't get tired of eating on our patio in the evenings. Our resident Blue Jay has accepted my presence sufficiently to attend to his (her?) bath three times when I was sitting not three feet away watching. Splashes half the water out; keeps a wary eye toward the sky; takes a break and dashes to the nearby tree to be sure he isn't being followed. Food was on plan, CREDIT moi, including a moment of scanning the fridge for something-to-eat before my conscious brain recalled that I don't do that. As a kid we repeatedly were told, "An idle mind is the devil's workshop." I had no idea that the devil was interested in what I ate, LOL.

Gym was gym, CREDIT moi. Walking home managed to pick up two hardback books for a buck. One is Bridges over Madison County - because it's so short and I think I've only seen the movie, but I'll find out for 50 cents.


Joy (gardenerjoy) – Yay for "a satisfying whoosh." I gotta remember that "very busy" helps to prevent nibbling before the next thing.

Debbie (Lexxiss) –Yep Kudos indeed for "gave the rest to the dishwasher." And Kudos for some serious planning - "on paper" even.

Nature Girl – Seems wise to choose four key points to stick with while in your trying days helping your mom. Like the visual, "It's a journey, folks! And sometimes it seems like a journey right up the side of a steep mountain, across a desert, or through rush hour traffic."

maryann - Lake Tahoe, fruits, veggies, and tennis - sounds lovely.

Elizabeth (Elizabeth779) - Oh Yes, "'Ride it Out' -- if we do that, when we start our August thread we'll all be in a better place than we are right now." Kudos for "climbing back up" - certainly the best way to be at a good place for August. [Re Leap Second: In order to keep time aligned with the earth's rotation - which dawdles a bit from exactly 24 hours in a day - the navigation community inserts a second into time now and then to wait for the earth to catch up. This matters when navigating since the earth spins about 500 yards at the equator in a single second.]

Readers -

chapter 6 Stage 3 The Challenging Situations Plan
Confidently Follow Your Plan While Traveling

Before You Go: Pack your dieting supplies. Bring this book, as well as your Response Cards, Advantages Deck, Cheat Sheet, and Diet Notebook. Consider bringing your food scale and measuring cups and spoons, if you will be eating in. Some dieters, who know they won't have the opportunity to buy their own food when they are away, like to bring snacks, such as nuts, canned tuna, cheese, fruits, or high-fiber/high-protein bars. Other dieters know it is better for them to make do with whatever food is available because carrying extra food is too tempting.

Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), pgs 160-161.

[gardenerjoy]

I was 100%op yesterday until after supper. Sigh. I had been resisting going back for a second serving of rice, so when the leftovers wouldn't fit in the container, I ate the part that wouldn't fit.

Two new responses to fix that problem:
1. I need to measure the cooked grains that I'm eating this month instead of bread. If I'd measured the rice I had with supper, I wouldn't trick myself into thinking that just a bit more would still be on plan. For now, I'm going to consider 1 cup a serving of cooked grain. That may need to shrink but it will get me into the habit without too much resistance.
2. Take out two containers to put away leftover rice!

Credit for an on plan lunch from the hot bar at Whole Foods and for buying fruit so that I could actually eat the fruit that I wrote into my plan.

WI: -0.15 kgs, Exercise: +50 110/1400 minutes for July, Food: 80%op, Read my Advantages and Responses: yes

maryann: hope you have a lovely relaxing time at Lake Tahoe!

Lexxiss: cool that you and DH are planning the day together and dinner plans slip right in. I hope that practice works long enough to get both of you through this difficult time.

Nature_girl: thinking of you. Those are such tough times when it's not clear what the right path is for someone who is ill. As you noted, it's hard enough trying to figure out how to get our own selves up the mountain, much less helping to make life decisions for other people.

BillBlueEyes: I hated Bridges over Madison County. Obviously, I was in the minority. And, it had something to do with when and where I read it. So, I'll be interested to see what you think.