[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 - Did some work preparing for the changes to the bathroom. It's disgusting to crawl around to look closely at a bathroom floor, LOL. The work progresses; I wish everything worked out faster. We continue to plan for our two weeks in Iceland starting at the end of August. It's difficult to discuss a city when you can't pronounce its name.

Dinner was eaten at our kitchen table because it was too chilly to eat on the patio. Yikes - just not right for the last day of July. I had too much snacking in the morning, but declared it to be lunch in an attempt to balance.


onebyone – Yep, Kudos for meeting your backup goal for the month. Congrats on a "not bad" day at the market.

Joy (gardenerjoy) – Good point. Before leaving, I always remember to ask myself if I need to pee - would think that I could extend that to ask if I need a snack to help stand down the temptations out there.

Nature Girl – Kudos for "right now is a great time to get on a healthy eating course." I do hope your foot heals up in time for the standing you have to do as a teacher.

maryann - Now you've made me put 45 Years on my movie list. Kudos for recognizing "I realize when I eat according to what I know works, I am not hungry or craving."

nationalparker – Mornings are indeed the best. I like your idea of having mornings for vacation and let work have the afternoons.

Karen (karenrn) - Backpacking in a bear canister is a sobering reminder of the real world. Yay for a successful trip.

ennay - Ouch for the wrist issue - do hope it works out. Kudos for working around it by having two wrist braces to you could continue with your vacation. I wish you well figuring out how to help your mother.

Readers -

Chapter 6 Family Traps

#4: The Vegas Mind-Set Trap

I suggested that Karen write down the advantages and disadvantages of staying in control of her eating versus the advantages and disadvantages of following her customary habit of eating whatever she wanted. Here's what she came up with:

Advantages of eating whatever I want

Feel freer

Don't have to think ahead and make a plan

Can eat what everyone else is eating

Can eat more, especially my favorite foods that I don't usually let myself eat

. . .

Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., Deborah Beck Busis, The Diet Trap Solution, Train Your Brain to Lose Weight and Keep It Off for Good (Blue book), pg. 142

[silverbirch]

Have done exercises today. Will have lots of veg for lunch.

Can do 140 chars but can't do long posts. Liked Beck Tweets thread way back.

[gardenerjoy]

I weighed myself this morning for the first time in months. I realized in the last few days that I'm resisting my good habits and structures because I could implement each one perfectly and still not get down to my low weight from 2013. Two renewed thoughts:

*maybe I couldn't maintain that weight because it was too low for me
*my structures are necessary to stop the gain and that's plenty good enough of a reason to implement them to the best of my ability

Great to see Nature_Girl, ennay, and silverbirch and everyone else!

[nationalparker]

I missed actually hitting Post Quick Reply on my note last night before closing the laptop. Nothing key in there - a good day with fresh foods. Dinner was reasonable (much less than I could have eaten or wanted to eat) bruschetta with the bread cut very thinly, so more of a crispbread than true bruschetta, in my mind. But gave us a good veg/bread ratio. DH said that thought would never have entered his mind. EVER.

Suggested a walk after dinner - DH said he wasn't going to go, so I leashed up the pooch and went to head out. He uncurled from his kindle and said wait for me. So the hardest part of a walk is with a leashed dog before you actually set OUT on the walk. She's antsy to go. Glad he went, though, I'm sure we went farther than I would have, thinking I needed to get back. For what? Nothing.

Scale is UP again but I feel that's a bit of an anomaly and will keep on with the good food in smaller portions. I did have some popcorn last night and think that pushed me over the edge with more salt.

Bill - I had missed the info that you were heading to Iceland. That is on our list and so looking forward to your recap/plans/trip journals. I get travelzoo with their phenomenal deals for there and have tried to plan separate 5-night trips there over the past few years when a "can't miss" deal would show up but always a work issue for one of us. Excited!

Welcome, NatureGirl! Good to have you join us! Hoping your fresh commitment will rub off on me a bit

Welcome home, Karen and Ennay!

GardenerJoy - Wishing I could send over some of my on-the-go food frugality to you to avoid errand snacks. Maybe pop in a bag of 100-cal nuts (even if you weigh/measure them out and put in a small container yourself for less expensive option ... or an apple. Then if it's true hunger, you've got two options. If not, you can get anything you like after you eat the apple. I find that nuts go down pretty mindlessly for me when I'm in an aggravated mood and driving around. But they come in so, so handy when on trips and I truly AM hungry.

Maryann - Good luck at WW. You made great choices in activity, mental health, food, downtime and no matter what the scale shows, you're doing SUPERBLY.

Silverbirch - Looking forward to reading your Beck Tweets! Small doses of credits, reminders and challenges beaten down will be motivating to us all!

[karenrn]

Good morning coaches,

Just wrote a long message and by the time I hit submit, I had been logged out.
Not going to spend the time to write again.

Food on plan yesterday, credit. 5 1/2 miles on the elliptical this morning and a food plan for the day, credit.

Have a great start to the week everybody!

[Nature Girl]

Last night’s credits:
Cleaned the kitchen (good bye caramel sauce and chocolate chips! :/ )
Made smoothie baggies for the freezer with kale, etc. Green smoothies are new for me.
Ate small piece of dark chocolate while watching TV instead of at bedtime…better sleep.

Today’s credits:
Planned meals (ok, only in my head) and stayed on track.
Took a protein bar when shopping so when my blood sugar dropped, I didn’t need to buy M & Ms
Stocked up at Costco on only healthy foods to fit my Supefoods food plan
PT today – counting that for exercise
Planning a bowl of farmer’s market marion-, black-, and raspberries for evening snack…yum

[BillBlueEyes]

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Successful session with a plumber - CREDIT moi for doing what had to be done. I was beating up on myself that I didn't do the work myself. However, the space was tight and he had serious difficulty getting the job done - I'd have never been able to do it.

Walked, CREDIT moi, without a backup umbrella in an attempt to lure the rain. It didn't work. We continue to be in need.


Joy (gardenerjoy) – "Perfectly" is such a cruel Sabotaging Thought.

Nature Girl – Many Kudos for being able to throw away chocolate chips. My attempts to do that always ended badly.

silverbirch – Brevity good. Yay exercises.

nationalparker – Would think that The "good veg/bread ratio" Diet could be the next big thing, LOL.

Karen (karenrn) - I just hate lost posts. I wonder if George Eliot every lost part of her Middlemarch.

Readers -

Chapter 6 Family Traps

#4: The Vegas Mind-Set Trap

Here's what she came up with:

Disadvantages of eating whatever I want

Always feel a little guilty
Feel out of control
Feel heavier in my body
Struggle with food decisions
Feel more self-conscious in bathing suit
Worry about whether I'll be able to get back in control when I get home
Gain weight
Undo my progress
Reinforce bad eating habits
Poor role model for kids
Won't want family to know how much I'm eating so I'll sneak food, which feels bad
Feel overstuffed at time, especially after big dinner and dessert

. . .

Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., Deborah Beck Busis, The Diet Trap Solution, Train Your Brain to Lose Weight and Keep It Off for Good (Blue book), pg. 142

[onebyone]

Coaches:

Got DH out of the house for a long drive to visit my new friend's new place in "cottage country". It was nice, lots of interesting spaces, it has a (very very very low) river running through the bottom of his property. He's got an extra building which will be an art gallery, plus a bunkie for visiting artists up top, and his workshop is attached to it, heated and lit, for him to do his own work. DH and his DW seemed to speak the same language which was good. so, a nice day out together. Rare and unusual this year.

I am back at the residency today through Thursday. Today I get to realize a printmaking dream: can I print with a lawn/sod roller? I'll report back tonight.

[gardenerjoy]

I'm going to want to re-establish some good habits if I want to see the scale move down. The first one to focus on: No eating while standing. And, it's corollary: No eating in the car.

WI: +0.55 kg, Exercise: +30, 30/1100 minutes for August, Food: 70% op, Read my Advantages and Responses: yes

[karenrn]

Good morning coaches,

Food on high end of calories yesterday, but I made it. Today's exercise will be the Group Power class at the Y and hopefully some elliptical too. I certainly have time for both. Last night I took a whole Costco sleep aid and had the best nights sleep in probably two weeks. Being here and there, sleeping on the ground and whatever had me completely out of sync. Hopefully I can stay on a streak of some good sleep now.

My friend told me about a salad she and her husband make. I tried it and my husband loves it. It is baby spinach, fruit of some sort (I used blueberries and strawberries), a few chopped walnuts and a little feta on top. The dressing for 2 is 1 T avocado oil and 1 T fig balsamic reduction. Very tasty.

GardenerJoy My initial thought when you said "no eating while standing" is that I don't do that much. Boy am I kidding myself. I have a bite of many things that are going into the recipes I'm making, including nuts and cheese. I had better be more mindful too.

Onebyone That does sound fun making a print using a sod roller. Next thing you'll be on road making equipment, but I guess that would probably break your pattern set-up.

Bill I hand it to you for doing as much of the maintenance/repair as you do. When dh and I were first married he didn't know how to do anything. Over the years he has gotten some practice at some things, not as much as you do. I appreciate every job he is able to do, but sometimes it's just better to call the professional.

Nature Girl Good for you for cleaning the temptations from the kitchen. Occasionally I'll have a few things and think I can handle having them around. I am usually wrong. It feels so wasteful to throw them out, but it's the right thing to do.

I don't recall how much I said about my recent backpack. At the time my friend wasn't sure she would want to do any more of the trail, mostly due to the elevation and how she felt. Luckily I felt fine. I was short of breath up the hills, but that is to be expected at that elevation with 35 pounds on my back. After giving it more thought she has decided she could make a few changes and do more. Yea! I also have a permit for a Grand Canyon backpack from 11/9 thru 11/14, starting at the North Rim, coming across to the South Rim with a side trip to Clear Creek (which I have not seen). I love to have things to look forward to . . . .and I do! I think my biggest problem on the trail was not having the backpack on for a bit prior to leaving. My hope is to lose 10 pounds and really work on getting stronger over the next year.

I think I'll get some filing done before heading off to the gym. Have a great day everybody!

[maryann]

Good morning, Coaches.

Yesterday, I received the keys to my classroom at the high school. Not a bad room except for the floor. I spent 2 hours with a long scraping tool and Goo Be Gone to rid one half of the floor of carpet gum. This was truly a humbling experience for someone who thought she was going to resurrect the written word in teenagers. I have another four hours of cleaning and then I'll move my stuff in. I think I'll hang the scraper on the wall for all who dare to bring gum into my class. They make a mess from now on, they clean it up

I count that as my exercise for the day.

Off to Ashland, Oregon this morning for the Shakespeare festival I am very excited DH could come along. These little family jaunts are becoming more precious as DS begins high school. Dh and I know our days are numbered. We are selfish and want every second with him we can have.

I had coffee with a friend. She has paid $1,000 to go through a weight loss clinic that has her injecting herself in the belly with HCG (?) hormones. She eats 500 calories day and gets a Vitamin B injection in her behind once a month. She doesn't exercise because she is too tired from too little calories. She has lost 27 pounds in a month. Now, all of you know my thoughts. "Would this work for me? Maybe it would be easier. Maybe. Maybe. then I remembered my gold standard rule. If weight loss was could be injected, ingested, or lathered on, Oprah Winfrey would be thin. She could buy anything.

I have a bad feeling about how my friend's story will end. I hope not. I hope this is her solution. I know it is not mine. Exercise and healthy foods in healthy portions are my long term solutions. I may not be the weight I want to be, but I am also not the crazy over 200 pound girl I was. And let us not forget, I wore that Hawaiin dress from 20 years ago, so my yo yo days are seemingly behind me. i was to keep it that way.

[ennay]

Morning coaches

duh! If I don't subscribe to the thread, I wont see the thread.

Yesterday big credit is getting off my behind and finding a new Primary care doctor since my last one ditched my insurance. Was able to get an appointment same day and got xrays and referral to an ortho for my wrist. I tend to procrastinate stuff like this because i hate making phone calls. Food mostly on plan. Exercise has been curtailed until i see ortho. also, I am sick, so I am pretty much just sleeping.

maryann I have so many friends who have done the HCG diet. Most have regained all of it eventually, at least two say their metabolism is wrecked.

[Nature Girl]

Ooh off track already!?! But good save and back on plan quickly: one nice rum & coke at my pedicure (which was already against one of my 4 rules) and I was ready to skip the healthy eating thing. Talked my friend into Taco Tuesday and ordered another drink there, but only one, and only a single. Had three tacos (they’re small) and that’s it; watched BFF and DH eat extravagant desserts without a whimper from me.
And didn’t come home and search around for yummy stuff…credit me. Usually alcohol lowers my resistance and I let myself be talked into treats and off plan indulgences. Not this time!!! That's why rule #2 is No Booze, except for 1 drink on Friday nights.

Karenrn and BBE, it actually felt quite powerful and rather dramatic to toss out that stuff!

Gardenerjoy those are two of my four “rules” – maybe habits is a more positive word. A lot o’ calories can disappear between the drive-through and the back door. And the standing up rule helps a ton especially at work, in the staff room to avoid ‘drive by’ eating…the treats that you grab on your way through the office and finish as you walk down the hall, etc.

OK back on track – no food since we got home so it was a small detour and there’s no reason to give up.

[nationalparker]

Another day of a few successes and a few demerits. Nothing to propel me forward. Nothing to careen me backward. Evening plans were scuttled for other things.

Karen - your hiking plans and recaps sound great. I love hearing about them and am impressed at how you find new hiking partners for new trails. Kudos!

I'm just going thru the motions the past couple of days. Not journaling. Not feeling like I'll ever EVER (in teen girl dramatic voice) make progress. Yet i need to. And i will.