[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 – Again, did Treadmill Boot camp at gym, CREDIT moi. It embarrasses me to work out next to young things who run at 10 mph for as long as I run at 5 mph. It's a good class that I hope to fit into my schedule for the next few weeks.

Cultural experience was to see the movie Inside Out. Despite being a Pixar cartoon flick, it seemed to me that it would give kids nightmares. (OK, it's not as bad as Bambi's mother dying.) Kids were racing up and down the aisles before it began providing much entertainment but causing (as I learned from the movie) my Jealousy to get active because their mitochondria produce more energy accidentally than mine do while concentrating on the treadmill. The visuals of storing and retrieving memories were neat. I ate nothing despite being surrounded by beers, ice cream sundaes, and MEGA popcorn. Lots of food going down. Enjoyed the blue moon as we left the theater.


onebyone – Let the Artist in Residence begin. Love the notion that you've got some of your big works back up in display. Yep, Kudos for trudging those stairs all day.

Joy (gardenerjoy) – I love watching that, having 110 minutes of exercise left to reach your July goal with two days remaining, you did 55 minutes.

maryann - Happy Fifth Anniversary on the Beck Forum of 3 Fat Chicks - wish we had a medal to send. Brings tears to my eyes that your 80 year old mother is getting her one year chip.

Sandy (love2garden) - Super Kudos to you for raising DD#3 who celebrates a promotion by . . . by . . . eating rationally. Whod've thunk!

SuzLen - Happy last weekend before school starts. I feel your anticipation of the exhaustion.

Readers -

Day 42 Practice, Practice, Practice

Also, recognize that rough patches are TEMPORARY. You'll soon be glad that you persevered, especially as you're getting compliments, fitting into clothes you couldn't fit in before, and seeing the number on the scale go down. I promise you that even if it doesn't feel worth it at any given moment, it will soon.

Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Beck Diet Solution (Pink book), pg 266.

[SuzLen]

Good morning,

CREDIT for eating on plan, even though I ate just a tad more lunch than I should have.

CREDIT for strength training.

CREDIT for writing in food journal and weighing everyday in July. Even on those "fail" days. My weight bounced up and down, but overall 3 lbs gone in July. CREDIT. It doesn't sound like much, but hopefully it is 3 lbs that is gone forever!

BillBB: Saw "Inside Out" just before I left to see the grandkids. Everytime I looked at the two month old, I envisioned the feelings looking back at me, ha! Congrats on staying away from the popcorn. Beer at the movies? I didn't know. Of course, I live in a dry county, so.......

onebyone: It sounds like yesterday was a good one, hope your week of residency has a lot of traffic.

maryann: what sweet memories of your family and the relationships that will continue to last. I am so happy for your mother - what a great accomplishment. And for you, too! I love the way you are looking at the positives - you deserve it.

Today I am cleaning some cupboards and drawers. I feel like my life will come to a crushing halt at 8:00 Monday morning, haha. Not true, but transition from summer to school year is pretty stark.

Have a great Saturday.

[gardenerjoy]

CREDIT for meeting my exercise goals in July!

Lunch went unexpectedly off plan and was way too decadent to consider a reasonable substitute. Sigh.

I stopped my compulsive overeating a week or so ago, but I did it by allowing for run-of-the-mill overeating. I'd like to get that under control now. I think that my pledge to weigh myself every day in August will help me reach that naturally without pushing so hard that I fall back into compulsive behavior.

WI: +0.45 kg, Exercise: +55 1300/1300 minutes for July, Food: 80% op, Read my Advantages and Responses: yes

Celebrating with maryann!

onebyone: love that you've got your big works up and on display!

[Lexxiss]

Hi coaches!

Moving along on a Saturday. Food has been good and scale is good to me, too. I always weigh every day. It's really my best tool right now, because of the scale starts going up I start cutting back. Credit. Have been working on projects like crazy just trying to keep up. Lots of good exercise there. We got to start putting the greenhouse up yesterday and will finish today. Must run. My mason guy is calling me to come up and look at a railing he's putting in

[love2garden]

Bill rough to be beside those young fit people at Gym, and sweating just because it takes so much effort to do so little in comparison. I also envy the energy wasted on the young.

Debbie Agree that weighing daily gives me needed feedback so I can adjust immediately, and I do. Enjoy that greenhouse and I'll try to reign in my envy.

CREDIT: Strength training. CREDIT: 30 minutes on recumbent bike.
CREDIT: going to bed earlier and getting great sleep.
CREDIT: eating according to plan and stopping!

[nationalparker]

Walked a great deal today...ate very late lunch and DH says he'll not eat dinner. Doubt that. We're meeting my cousin and her family early before evening events and I said I was so hungry I didn't want to wait three more hours. So far ok ok good today.

Big exciting news for me it's that she wants to come my way inn a few months for a visit. It's been12 years since she's been to my city. We'll see. Keeping fingers crossed. She's like a sister.

More walking tonight...hoping I burn off some more. Eating to much

[BillBlueEyes]

Diet Coaches/Buddies – Special CREDIT moi for not buying a tub of Trader Joe's oatmeal cranberry dipping cookies. Stopped by during my walk to pick up strawberries and felt overwhelmed by my need for those cookies. They were calling from across the store. They have the trait that I eat them all myself - DW doesn't like them. And I eat them in large numbers. I could have done in the whole tub in a few days. They're trigger cookies for me. Hunger is not relevant. But I didn't.

Walk, CREDIT moi, included the sporting goods store to get t-shirts for gym workouts - just ordinary cotton t-shirts. The ultra-absorbent Under-Armor type cling to the body which, I suppose, will be good when I have solid six pack abs to display. Until then I'll use the cover-it-all t-shirt strategy.


Joy (gardenerjoy) – Your consistency with exercise is so encouraging to me, "Exercise: +55 1300/1300 minutes for July."

Debbie (Lexxiss) – It's so neat that you've got this strategy, "because if the scale starts going up I start cutting back." My DW would die for a greenhouse to extend her season.

nationalparker – Yay for your cousin's planned visit. Hope you can get enough time off to entertain her.

Sandy (love2garden) - Yep, Kudos for "going to bed earlier and getting great sleep."

SuzLen - Congrats for July's "3 lbs that is gone forever!" That's a pretty dramatic view of starting the school year.

Readers -

Day 42 Practice, Practice, Practice

reminders to think thin

If you think ... I hadn't planned to eat this food, but I'm hungry. I have to eat right now!
Remind yourself ... Barring a medical problem, I don't need to eat. I just want to eat. But I want all the benefits of weight loss much more than I want the momentary pleasure of eating.

Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Beck Diet Solution (Pink book), pg 267.

[howyoulose]

Ugh the last few days I went completely off plan. I didn't count or read my cards or anything. I hurt my back somehow so it's been inexplicably hard for me to move, I barely made it to work on Friday. Now my ankle is bothering me and I've yet to get to the gym which bothers me more than the pain in my ankle.

Going to read Beck now and keep moving. Because if I keep falling behind like this I'm going to hate myself come time to try on dresses. Credit for just trying to move forward.

[nationalparker]

Hello all! Walked for miles yesterday, literally. Dinner was completely fine. Piece of cake later was completely decent. DH had a few bites, but I ate too much of it and threw out a third. Large piece. Last day and fly out thus evening. Pictures we're taking don't lie. Weight gain is all fat. Somehow that didn't dissuade me from the slice of cake. My thought then was we've walked all over and so this won't be toooo much More. Hmm. Disordered thinking.

Checking in via phone this weekend ... Please excuse typos.

Excited to discuss cousin's travel plans. I'll put vacation in NOW if it'll come to pass.

[SuzLen]

Good morning,

Apparently my self-control thought August 1st was a holiday. Go figure. I ate something that I love but which now, because of age, makes me sick for the next 12-24 hours (getting old is rough). So I got what I deserved for eating off plan and will try to stick the consequences in long term memory so I remember how sick I felt for the rest of the day!

Good thing we get to start over.

nationalparker: good for you for throwing out the rest of the cake. I celebrate any self-control I can exhibit.

howyoulose: so sorry you are feeling poorly - hang in there!

BillBB: good self-control re: the cookies. The "cover-it-all" strategy is no-fail strategy.


Will spend the day pondering solutions to tomorrow's inevitable hurdles. No one brings lunch to PD, everyone goes out. That is five days of eating out. Peer pressure. And bowls of chocolate on every table. Temptation. Better break out the Beck.

Have a great Sunday.

[onebyone]

Coaches

Stepped (credit) on scale yesterday morning to see 44.85 BMI= reaching that 44mark I was looking for, and then this morning stepping on the scale (credit) and seeing 45.15 a rise of 2.2lbs overnight due to eating soup made in a store and probably the rotisserie chicken rotisseried on a metal skewer in a store.

While DH was downtown at an exclusive poker event with 700+ attendees (not a tournament just an exclusive party) I was home mulling over the 2nd day of my residence and why I felt so grumpy. The space is OK but being on my own means I can't enjoy the backyard because someone might come in. The fact that I have to be open and ready to sell things means I don't have uninterrupted work time and this means it is not really an artist in residence experience. And that's frustrating as ALL THINGS ARE FOR ME HERE WHERE I LIVE. *phew* Just wanted to get that out. But it is the best it gets. And if I sold something it would be great of course.

Yesterday my first 2 visitors were father and daughter looking for washroom. Then my potter friend and her husband. Then one guy who is student of another group member who takes classes there in the back room. But he is an artist himself and did come for a legitimate look. So that is good. Well it's all good but like I say, frustrating. I guess in order to get real work done you do have to be paired up but pairing means sharing space and having to "conversate"(trying to use this new dubious word here... does it work??)

Anyway, so, last night after dropping DH off at the subway I went to the grocery store for dinner (bad idea) but came out with the chicken and the soup and fruit and food for today. And this morning I took the photo that will be my next big suburban series woodcut so I can do that today and I'll feel better to see myself move forward. I did take a picture of the inside of the fridge. Three bottles of white wine. Some juice and old fruit on a plate. I might paint that. It's very tempting-to paint, not consume! LOL.

Short day there today once more-12 to 5. Enjoy your day.

BillBlueEyes I need you to go and see this when it is in Boston! You just have to be my eyes for me... http://www.bostonmagazine.com/arts-e...dbeest-boston/

SuzLen Sorry you're not feeling good. Maybe this could be a Beck response card so you write it down as a reminder instead of relying on your memory. Just remember to write a positive response like: "I remember how much I loved to eat ___ in the past but today it hurts my body and I love to feel well more than I love to eat ____." Something like that -- gardenerjoy would make it more succinct! You'll do ok with the next five days if you're taking a look at the issue today. CREDIT for planning ahead!

nationalparker Many successes there: walking a lot, eating a few bites, throwing cake out after. All good. Photos. yes, the bane of my existence right now. I know so many people who seem to know how to stand for the camera or make themselves look better/their best for the camera lens. I don't have that skill. I need to learn some of that while continuing to work toward improving my appearance. These days, a picture is just a trigger for my memory of that event, not a judgment call if I can help it. it does me no good to berate myself or feel "bad". That kind of negative feeling makes me eat. I cannot afford to indulge it. have a GREAT vacation.

howyoulose CREDIT, yes, for moving forward and for posting here. A few days off plan happens to us all. the important thing is to do what is on plan and keep trying. More on plan than off. We are not perfect. Wishing you speedy healing for your ankle and back.

[maryann]

Good Morning, Coaches.

Cried like a baby when mom took her chip. 28 years ago, I went to an Adult Child of Alcoholics meeting in that same room. 10 months later, I had realized the problem was me and stayed sober for 27 years. And I didn't leave before the miracle happen. She joined me. I think it was one of the most important experiences in my life.

Four good sleeping nights. No meds last night - a first. I am really starting to feel like myself again. The gong signaling the end of summer sounds tomorrow. I like work so I don't mind. My only fear is my physical limitations. One day at a time is the answer.

I have jumped back on the wheat wagon and don't know how I feel about that. I have walked consistently all week. Food is in MFP.

Love2Garden: Credit for eating and stopping. That is the big trick.

howyoulose: I can really sympathize with not being able to exercise. It sucks.

SuzLen: Five days of professional development is enough to drive anyone to chocolate. I have made the difficult choice to stop going out to lunch. This is a big deal in the teaching community. There was definitely a cost. In many ways, I was no longer in the clique. Then I see the weight of the clique members over the past five years and they have all gained twenty pounds. I now share an office with a gal who is slender. She eats carrots and does yoga. It is a better fit for me.

BBE: I liked Inside/Out mostly because it gives kids a way to understand their feelings. I will use it in the classroom when I teach word choice in writing.

I weigh daily along with gardenerjoy and Lexxiss. It is a great maintenance tool. Now I need a tool for weight loss.

onebyone: Credit for the courage of showing your work. It is very powerful to have all your creations out in the open.

nationalparker: Those photos are tough. But I guess they are another check for me.

[gardenerjoy]

I ate badly yesterday. I'm decided the problem was fatigue so I went to bed earlier last night. And, now, I'm moving on. I sometimes attach too much drama to these things, making it take longer to get over it -- I'm trying to avoid that today.

WI: +0.1 kg, Exercise: +45 45/1300 minutes for August, Food: 60% op, Read my Advantages and Responses: yes

[BillBlueEyes]

Diet Coaches/Buddies – Standard Sunday walk, CREDIT moi, which I haven't done in at least a month for a series of different reasons. Stopped at one yard sale on the way; it was easy to skip over young teen games. Stopped at one 'corner library' where it was harder to skip some books that I've already read and might want to read some future day. I still need to give myself the lecture that they also exist at my friendly library. This desire to own things doesn't diminish.

Food was just OK; CREDIT moi for that much. Snacks were larger than needed. Evening snack was watermelon served cold. DW found yet another sweet one. I don't tire of summer watermelons. My dream was to pick a few cherry tomatoes when I watered our community garden but, alas, they're still not ripe. It's not a good tomato year for us.


onebyone – LOL at "conversate" - does make it sound onerous if not immoral. Kudos for striving to find a way to make your artist-in-residence work for you. [Thanks for the link to Strandbeests, Wind-Powered Mechanical Beasts. I'm mesmerized and will certainly go.]

Joy (gardenerjoy) – Fatigue seems able to cause issues where unexpected. Thanks for "And, now, I'm moving on."

maryann - I'm moved by your mom's first year chip. Heartfelt Congrats to you both. [Just read that the Japanese version of Inside Out had to substitute Green Pepper strips for Broccoli since Broccoli is a beloved veggie there.]

nationalparker – Yay for vacation walking - what a way to get the exercise.

SuzLen - Ready chocolates when bored is a tough challenge. Ouch for the beginning of a hard week. Reading your Advantages is a good way to remember that you exist outside of the immediate tensions.

howyoulose - Ouch for that physical hurt in the back and ankle - hope things improve rapidly. Kudos for moving forward.

Readers -

Day 42 Practice, Practice, Practice

reminders to think thin

If you think ... Even though I've finished everything on my plate, I want to keep eating. I like feeling really full.

Remind yourself ... Trying to become overly full is a habit that is likely to lead to weight gain. I need to stop when the food I've planned to eat is gone. My hunger will subside within 20 minutes.

Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Beck Diet Solution (Pink book), pg 267.