Maintainers Vol 11
 

This is from the Beck Diet Solution....she's related it to dieting but it's also called "DISTORTED THINKING" (if you google it you'll find copious amounts of examples). I found it years and years ago and have been working on the specific ones I need to work on for years (it's a daily struggle sometimes).


Common Thinking Errors
People who have difficulties in losing weight or keeping it off display a pattern of thinking errors that are associated with overeating. We always tell our dieters: Just because you think something doesn't mean it's true. Some common thinking errors (and helpful responses to them) include:

All-or-Nothing Thinking (when dieters see things as completely one way or the other when there is really a broad range in between)

Sabotaging Thought: Either I'm completely perfect on my diet or I've completely failed.

Helpful Response: No one is perfect and everyone makes mistakes. It doesn't make sense to let one mistake derail me completely. I just need to refocus, recover immediately, and then I'll be right back on track.

Self-Deluding Thinking (when dieters rationalize eating something they know they shouldn't)

Sabotaging Thought: It won't count if I eat this because nobody is watching.

Helpful Response: Of course it counts. Whenever I take in calories it counts. My body doesn't know or care whether or not I'm eating alone or in front of 100 people; it processes food the same way.

Discounting the Positive (when dieters unreasonably discount their positive actions or qualities and do not give themselves credit)

Sabotaging Thought: It doesn't matter that I'm now instituting positive eating behaviors; I should have been using these techniques all along.

Helpful Response: I couldn't have done these things; I didn't know how before. I deserve credit for every positive eating behavior, and giving myself the credit I deserve is crucially important in building up my confidence and sense of self-efficacy.


Negative Fortune-Telling (when dieters make a negative prediction without recognizing that it is not the only possible outcome)

Sabotaging Thought: I won't be able to resist eating desserts at the party so I might as well not even try.

Helpful Response: No one will force me to eat. I've stayed in control at other parties and I can do the same for this one if I prepare myself in advance, including using the skills I learned and planning to have a reasonable amount of dessert.

Positive Fortune-Telling (dieters are overly optimistic about the most likely outcome)

Sabotaging Thought: I can get the larger bag of potato chips because I'll be able to have one serving, stop, and feel satisfied.

Helpful Response: History has shown me that stopping at one serving can be very difficult and I almost always want more. To save myself the mental struggle, it's worth it to get the smaller bag with only one serving.

Jumping to Conclusions (when dieters take one observation and assume it only has one possible implication)

Sabotaging Thought: Because I didn't lose weight this week, it must mean that this program isn't working for me.

Helpful Response: People just don't lose weight every single week, even if their eating has been exactly the same. There are a lot of physiological reasons why this is so. I need a lot more data in order to see whether or not my weight loss has plateaued, and even if it has, there are things I can do to start making it go down again.

Mind Reading (when dieters are sure they know what others are thinking, even in the absence of compelling data)

Sabotaging Thought: Everyone will think negatively of me if I eat differently.

Helpful Response: It's actually likely that some people will be proud of me for losing weight and eating more healthfully. It's also likely that a lot of people won't even notice my eating at all, or if they do, they won't think about it one way or the other. Losing weight is more important to me than trying to make sure that no one is critical.

Irrelevance (dieters link two unrelated concepts)

Sabotaging Thought: It's okay to eat this because I'm really upset.

Helpful Response: Just because I'm upset, it does not mean I need to eat. Yes, I do deserve to calm down and be comforted but I don't deserve to eat off track, feel bad about myself, and possibly gain weight. People without a weight problem manage to calm themselves down without turning to food and I can learn to do the same thing.


__________

Also, can't find the article she wrote about all or nothing thinking but what stood out for me was:

“if you fell down two sets of stairs, would you throw yourself down the entire stair case?” or “if you ran a red light, got stopped by the cops and given a ticket, would you throw your hands up and say “well, I guess I’ll just run all the red lights today, I’ve already got one ticket”…

That is excellent. I keep seeing references to that book. I am going to read it this weekend.

I am just finishing self compassion and can see some common ideas.

Great post Ishbel!

I agree great post!! I'm going to look for the book and start reading it asap....only 2 more weeks before I get to officially join the 'maintainers'

That was great Ishbel! I think you should post in a new thread so all the others can read. There seems to be alot of people struggling and this is really good information.

I really like the Beck Diet Solution, it doesn't matter which diet you're on her advice works. I think I liked it because I knew cognitive behaviour 'therapy' works for me. I've been trying to 'reframe' how I think about things since I was in my 20s and didn't know that's what I was doing. Then I found out about 'distorted thinking' and REALLY identified some areas of me that needed to grow. So finding the Beck Diet Solution was like a 'godsend'. I knew KNEW it was exactly what I needed. I downloaded her book and listened to it for almost two weekends while I painted a fence during my Phase 1...she just really makes sense to me.

Yesterday's post via facebook was:

Wednesday Sabotage: I’m just going to eat this because I don’t feel like thinking about it. Response: Even if I decide to eat and ‘not think about it,’ I’ll definitely still think about it when I get on the scale, when my clothes don't fit, and when I’m feeling angry with myself because I'm stuck at a higher weight. No matter what I’m going to think about it, either now (by making healthy choices) or later when I’m facing the consequences.

I said "WHOA" when I read it and VIP said "what?" so I read it to him and he said "did you say that to someone!??!!" and I said "no, that was the beck diet solution..love it" LOL

If you find her on facebook you just keep liking her stuff she'll show up in your newsfeed. It's a good quick little daily reminder to stay focused.

https://www.facebook.com/#!/BeckDietSolution

They aren't all as stark as yesterdays lol!

Hmm... The Beck Diet Solution. I've seen references to this book here before, and it sounds like it's definitely worth a read. Thanks Ishbel for all the great info.

I'm chuggin' along... nothing drastic to report one way or another. Guess that's why I've been fairly quiet this week. This morning's check on the scales has me 1 lb higher than when I started maintenance on Monday. I've set 150 as my upper limit, so as long as I fluctuate somewhere between 147-149ish, then I'm not bothered about it. I had the highest calorie day so far yesterday though, and the sodium intake was pretty high, so it's probably just water retention. I also got into the natural almonds yesterday and ate more of them than I should have... I can see that I'm going to have to be careful with almonds. :( I buy them whole and throw them into the food processor to make my own almond meal - I'd best do that with most of the rest of what I bought yesterday, so they're not sitting around to tempt me. Maybe leave a handful for a treat today - and the rest get zapped into almond meal!!

Just wanted to say 'Hi'. Hope everyone is having a good day.

I love the Beck Diet Solution book. I'm not finished it yet because I'm trying to give myself to work through each day's activities and thoughts before I rush on to the next page.

Evepet: one of the solutions I've done for myself to prevent the over-eating of snacks like almonds is to pre-separate the desired amount for one sitting into small snack baggies at a time when I'm in control and not eating them. Then when it is time to snack, I grab one and walk away to sit and thoughtfully eat. If I think I want more, then it is a conscience thought to get up and walk to grab a second container. That has been sufficient time to talk myself out of taking too many. (This is a concept I developed from the Beck book.)

I'm doing okay but have been quiet this week because of so much going on. I'll do a bigger update this weekend. I'm stressed but mostly not reacting to it because my allergies are hitting me full on and I'm just too physically worn out to react. I know we are at risk for flooding around my province but I really could use a good hard rain to clear up the snow mold and winter dust.

Anyone try or use Isopure whey protein powder? My coach gave me that name as well as syntax Nectar to use while on maintenence. The isopure powder has 1 g fat, 210 calls, 0 carb, 50 gm protein. That seems like a lot, doesn't it?

Good idea about separating the almonds into serving sized baggies. I think I'm safer though to turn most of them into almond meal!! Then if I'm tempted to buy anymore (until I need to make meal again), I'll just buy the small packet size. :) Can't lead myself astray so much with that size, and I'll save myself the temptation.

Sorry to hear about your allergies - hope you get some relief soon. I remember watching the news about the major flooding of the Assiniboine & Red River in the past ... hope it isn't like that this spring - once we FINALLY get spring!

I used both in P1 and have used them in recipes now in maintenance. I picked up a low-carb cookbook (Extreme Lo-Carb Cuisine by Sharron Long) at a yard sale (great recipes) and a lot of the recipes call for the plain protein powder and I have the Isopure and use it.

To me, it's an adjustment from P1 label reading to maintenance label reading. We're so "brain washed" to look for no fat, no carbs. Maintenance is a change.

Molly

I also liked the Beck Diet Solution. I got the tapes and would listen to them on my way to work. Her workbook is helpful. She is excellent at identifying self sabatoging thoughts and offer good solutions!

Thanks Ishbel. That was very helpful.

Momto2cs: Thanks for sharing your 2 year success story. The all or nothing feeling is hard. I find the irrelevant decision one that I have to work on..ie i am anxious so I deserve to eat something good.

Gazelle: Thanks for the exercise information. I know I need to step up my cardio and change..just dragging on doing the change. I easily increase my weights.

It is quiet week here also. Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday. I am trying new Asian recipes.

I can change my marker to one year and 6 months. Hooray.

Thanks Ishbel, now I have one more book to buy :)

Just reading volek and phinney's guide to low carb eating for athletes. Hoping this helps me do Jillian michals workouts

I have always been low on energy, better now, but I know I can be the energizer bunny!

Last week on the cruise I realized carbs suck me in a vortex of over eating

I am thinking about low carbing for maintenance. Still trying to figure out maintenance.

Have ordered a blood glucose monitoring system to measure ketones, want to lose a few more pounds.

Just wanted to share something that's on my mind a bit this morning, since sharing the Easter weekend with my family. I've noticed others in maintenance reporting on similiar experiences, and can see how I'll have to watch for this too. Even though I spent Easter with family members who've been 150% supportive of my dieting efforts - are thrilled at my success, and certainly want to see me be successful in maintaining - I still got a few 'pokes and prods' to 'take a taste' and 'not worry so much' about sampling the wide array of calorie and sugar/carb laden foods that were available. While they knew I was actively dieting, they didn't do this... but now that they know I've reached my goal, there was occasionally that encouragement to loosen the restraint and indulge. Thinking about it this morning, has just made me really aware that now I'm at goal and 'look normal' people somehow expect me to 'eat normally' again. And I think there's an inclination for them to fear that I've gotten neurotic about weight maintenance, if I don't 'indulge' with them occasionally. I'm not sure if I'm expressing myself clearly, but does this make sense to you others in this situation?

Evepet, that makes absolute sense to me. I'm sure now that we look "normal" people think we can just eat anything and stay this way. I even notice myself feeling that I can ease up a bit. But I know I really can't.

I always go back to Ishbel's quote: if we go back to eating the way we ate, we'll look the same.

I KNOW that we are different now. I think the special gift of IP is twofold:

1) We have learned to reframe our relationship to food. I want this new relationship to last for the rest of my life. I want to continue to value people's company more than the food we are eating when we are sitting together. I want food to be pleasant sustenance for my body, but not the center of my life and definitely not my reason for living, my comfort for stress, etc. I want it to remain in the right perspective. AND

2) We have learned how to prepare healthy, delicious food! I love the way that I now cook my meat, fish, and poultry protein! I love my new vegetables and the way it's so easy to grill and roast veggies! I love the way roasted vegetables and salads taste!

The other gift is that we have had the time to accustom ourselves to this new way of thinking and eating. For me, it's been 9 months of readjusting my relationship with food - and my new body. I want to stay here for the rest of my life and not go back!

So, can we "ease up a bit?" I've yet to find out. Perhaps we can order the salad without saying "hold the carrots," but I'm still not sure how I'd do with pizza and sweets.

I guess the question is how can we give the impression that we are "easing up" but remain true to our new way of living?