[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 – So I'm off to commune with nature. See you Saturday.

[Lexxiss]

Hi coaches!

Yesterday was a poor eating day at work. There was food flying around for the taking and I didn't resist. I have a better plan for today which includes no eating at work. I get off early and already have a salad made for when I get home. Credit. I forgot to weigh this morning I will do that when I get home.

[eusebius]

Hi Coaches,

This is me posting. (Duh!) Things have been going okay, but I don't have the consistency I would like. Today it's a new month and I want to start it off right. So I'm posting now and then heading to Weight Watchers for a weigh-in. I don't expect a huge loss this week, if any, but it's a fresh week and I will stick to my plan.

After this week all the craziness will start up again ... I have a new choir job Monday and Wednesday evenings so it will be even crazier than before. (Hopefully financially more stable, though.) I want to use this week to establish good habits so that they're in place when all the nutso stuff begins.

Happy September, I hope to see more of you all this month!!

[gardenerjoy]

CREDIT for meeting my exercise goals for August -- at 7 last night!

I'm starting September with these goals for exercise (same as the last several months): 1300 minutes, 21 days of at least 8000 steps, 8 strength-training sessions

And, for weight loss, to do these things every day: weigh, post, eat no more than 5 times (3 meals, 2 snacks)

WI: +0.1 kg, Exercise: +40 1310/1300 minutes for August, Food: 90% op, Read my Advantages and Responses: yes

Lexxiss and eusebius: Looks like a bunch of us are using September 1 as a great day to get things in order for a healthy month!

nationalparker: good for you for supporting the in-laws on a day when they needed company.

maryann: I'm glad you're finding something to do at the gym. I find it so helpful to hold the place for exercise in my life even if all I can do is a little yoga.

howyoulose: great to see you back. For me, what I get from Beck is the ability to get back on track more quickly.

love2garden: I react badly to narcotics. It's harder to stay away from them now that there seems to be a medical principle to make things pain-free. They don't seem to quite understand that patients can experience worse things than pain.

SuzLen: Yay for an OP school day!

curlyjax: glad you got back to us!

[love2garden]

Permission by Dentist to eat Ice Cream led to 2 pound overnight gain even tho I ate little. Obviously the Dentist hasn't read Beck's books.

However, I have and should have at least made the serving a small one.

Strange feeling on the different but non-narcotic meds, but less pain. Sure am glad I'm not working - can't think straight. Slept great.

[SuzLen]

Hello Coaches,

CREDIT for another day on plan!! I even passed up the cafeteria's homemade cinnamon rolls - the best part was it wasn't even a real temptation. Yay! Came home late tonight, so rather than eat and feel full, I chose a protein shake and will head down to exercise as soon as I post. CREDIT

I think some of my bad habits are breaking apart. Last year I ate on the run to school, ate while I worked at lunch, and ate mindlessly why preparing dinner. Just making myself sit and eat at the table is making a huge difference in my mental attitude towards food.

love2garden: had to lol about the thought of being given permission to eat ice cream. I am glad you enjoyed it though. I'm sure the weight gain is fleeting.

gardnerjoy: congrats on meeting your goals!

eusebius: so glad to hear from you again. Good luck with your new job.

Lexxiss: no eating at work, or no eating things you didn't bring to work? I get weak-willed at food flying around - I empathize.

I feel so good when I feel in control - it makes me wonder why I am so easily tempted....

Have a great night, all.

[nationalparker]

Strange day for me yesterday. Sister traveling across country texted that she'd be in town, could I meeet up for a late lunch? Then another text as they got closer. I debated fairly long on it since we'd had such issues last year, but figured I had my own transportation and could leave at any time. I left work early as I'd already eaten my own lunch (salad and small baked potato) and we met up late afternoon and I ended up ordering a happy hour mini pizza (3") ... delish and only $2.50. Ordered two salads to take home to go with our plans to grill for dinner, then DH said, well, do you just want to save these salads for tomorrow night and go back out there tonight? SO, in a strange twist, we got cleaned up and headed out there and sat on the patio and really enjoyed our evening. I ate lightly but had another salad, and then indulged in the dessert pizza that came with our dinner for two special that many downtown restaurants are offering now. I actually had no remorse, either - rare for me. The pieces were only a few bites each and I left satisfied but not full.

Scale is not really budging but I'm sticking with it all - with the season changing I want to create a new advantages card. I don't keep my old ones. Does anyone else? I thought I kind of wished I had, since it'd be nice to reread some of them. My last one had be more confident in my bathing suit and that's not a motivating factor for me this fall ... I DO want to feel more confident in it but I'll save that again for spring

We're aiming to go to another movie tonight - rare for us. I typically jot the titles down and we wait for DVDs to save money but I'd like to see the scenery of "A Walk in the Woods" with Robert Redford and Nick Nolte on the big screen. DH is a roll with the flow guy and is up for anything, so he's in.

[gardenerjoy]

I suppose that it was inevitable that as soon as I pledged to eat only two snacks a day, I would have a struggle about the size of the snacks. Sigh. I'll work on making them more reasonable today.

WI: +0.05 kg, Exercise: +40 40/1300 minutes for September, Food: 90% op, Read my Advantages and Responses: yes

SuzLen: I also think that "eat at the table" practice has been hugely helpful for me. If I'm making even that much effort to be mindful, I'm going to curtail the worst of the overeating that I used to do. I've been thinking about this, too: "I feel so good when I feel in control - it makes me wonder why I am so easily tempted...."

nationalparker: I do keep my old advantages and responses cards. I'm not sure it's that helpful but I fear there's some wisdom that I'll lose if I don't. So, I keep them to feel more relaxed about that.

love2garden: Hope you're feeling better today!

[love2garden]

GardenerJoy Thanks, I'm off the pain killers and willing to be a bit uncomfortable and still think properly. Thank you for remembering.

National Parker we would like - "A Walk in the Woods" , too. thanks for mentioning it. Enjoy hearing about your couple experiences that give you both pleasure. Sounds as if he is also your best friend, too.

Hot here in the east, but pots are watered so the plants don't suffer even if I was in the heat.

Hopefully September evenings will cool off for walking.

[eusebius]

Quickly checking in again. Credit for exercise, staying on plan, going to WW meeting. Credit for planning an 8 pt salad to take with me to a potluck on Saturday. I feel a bit overwhelmed by all the work but I'm not going to let it derail me!!

[nationalparker]

SuzLen - I think I have an opposite problem as you - I have always eaten at the table, even for a serving of nuts from a small prep bowl. But I don't want the "evening to end" right after dinner and seem to want to linger too long at the table. We don't put the serving bowls on the table unless it's a larger family dinner ... but I need to end the meal without wanting more. Growing up in Europe, we had the table at a restaurant for the whole evening, so lingering and relaxing was common. We carried that back for larger family meals and I find that I still want to do that. In winter, I make a cup of hot tea and sip it at the table and then DONE. Now in the summer, I think I'm missing something some nights when I get up after a quick meal. I need a similar trigger You've got me thinking about this - why DO i want to stay at the table even if I'm not eating.

Joy - Interesting realization you noted that with the imposed limits on the number of snacks, that there's a mini mental rebellion that it might need to be larger than you planned. Can it be something like a banana or 100-cal pack of nuts that's portioned and single? Whenever I think of times that I can't eat at will (camping/hiking) I REALLY want more. Great job to realize that early! Nosiness has me asking, how often do you change out your Advantages Card?

Love2Garden - Hope today finds you even more painfree. Ugh on dentists. I am really looking forward to the movie now that I saw the trailer... Hope I don't build it up in my mind, which I sometimes do. My summer plants are mostly straggly now and a bit past their prime. I want to bring my gardenias in for the winter - never have they lasted this long. I carried them on the plane home from Florida as they remind me of my mom. I inhale that sickeningly sweet scent and breathe, childhood...

Eusebius - Credits for hitting the ww meeting and for preplanning for the weekend! Great job with the weightloss in only four months. That's awesome!! I want a dancing carrot. Or eight.

Lexxiss - It's a very rare day when you're eating at work, so hope you acknowledged that and released it. You show such restraint - day in and day out. A good role model for me. We have way too much around here and I am a partial culprit when I bake and bring it to work. But then when it's gone, folks come by and ask if I have more stowed at my desk. (Yes, I have two drawers full of biscotti. c'mon folks!)

[SuzLen]

Hello Coaches,

CREDIT for another day OP - at least until after dinner, but it wasn't bad or totally out of control, so I am okay with it. I looked at my calories and decided I could melt a little bit of dark chocolate for a quick ganache. As I was stirring the melted chocolate my DS asked, "Don't you want some ice cream with that?" (That is the way he likes to eat it.) I replied that I didn't have enough free calories for both, so I opted for the chocolate. He and my DH thought that was hilarious. The struggle is real

nationalparker: I have trouble with lingering with we have big family gatherings. EVERYONE gains weight because I have food all the time, and usually things we don't ever eat but I buy as a special treat. The grandkids love it, but the adults pack on the pounds. When we West for my son's wedding in November, I am really trying to think of ways to replicate those feelings without food being involved. I don't know if that is even possible.......

gardenerjoy:

I suppose that it was inevitable that as soon as I pledged to eat only two snacks a day, I would have a struggle about the size of the snacks.

That is some kind of karma - because as soon as I say something like that, the temptation comes.


I am off to exercise. The scales were kind this morning, but then again I haven't eaten chocolate for the last couple of days so tomorrow may be a different story. I can tell I am building muscle, so maybe that will help my metabolism a bit.

Have a good night.

[Lexxiss]

Hi coaches!

Yesterday was a planned off plan dinner and dessert with my husband. We haven't spent time together for quite a while. I did have my morning smoothie and a salad for lunch. Credit. Today is going to be an interesting day as we are headed to Aspen to consult with a doctor regarding my husband's shoulder issue. I have made a plan for healthy food. Credit. I'm on the run this morning as we need to leave here at 6:30 AM.

SuzLen, you ask about my eating at work. My situation at work is much different and less predictable than most. I'm a waitress in a busy restaurant and there is no time to sit down for a meal and no place to sit down for a meal. My shift is usually 8 to 10 hours. I've been there six years now, and although we get a daily shift meal I don't usually take it. If I do I make a very careful plan. Many times I have brought my own meal but right now I'm in a situation where I am able to choose healthy if I need to.

[eusebius]

Posting again quickly. Sigh ... I really am reading everyone's posts but time is just a rare commodity right now.

Credit - I did yoga yesterday and stayed OP with food. Credit - I bought a healthy grocery load. Credit - I made brownies with my daughter and ate only a few crumbs. Credit - I got up at 6:15 today to get my run and strength training in.

A weekend full of joy is coming up - my brother and nephew are visiting from the east coast. At the same time my mom will be going crazy showing her love with food, so I have to focus on my family members and not on indulging!!