[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 - Another good enough day, CREDIT moi, again ignoring the call of the trail mix (which didn't seem to get the 'do not call' memo, LOL). At gym, CREDIT moi, the manager greeted me by name - a reassuring feeling that I've showed up enough over the last six and a half years to be noticed.

onebyone – What a month!!! Persist in victory. Professional success. Persist in victory. Emotional success. Persist in victory. Good times with your sister. Persist in victory. Body shedding in response to keeping to your plan. Persist in victory. AND a Calico kitty. Persist in victory. You can take all those positives back home to continue the momentum.

Joy (gardenerjoy) – Kudos for smashing your exercise goal for February. And Kudos also for continuing to set a goal each month - such a good demo of planning.

Debbie (Lexxiss) – Honking Big Kudos for leaving the brownie crumbs; I'm still a sucker for crumbs.

Beverlyjoy – Busy work can feel good when it's for a great cause - like your literacy project.

Donamari (fyreflie24) – Yoga sounds like a great complement to cycling. Kudos for moving forward out of your comfort zone to take advantage of your new size.

Readers -

chapter 6 Stage 3 The Challenging Situations Plan
challenging situations skills
Before the Event
4. Review your Advantages Deck. ...
It will be important to remember why it's worth it to stick to your plan when you encounter challenging situations. Try the following: Every morning, take the top three cards from your Advantages Deck or choose ones that represent benefits you have not yet fully achieved. Visualize the scene in detail: For example, imagine what a wonderful time you will have at your sister's wedding when you are slimmer and more self-confident, attractive, sociable, and at ease. Return those three cards to the bottom of the deck; next time, pull out the next three cards and to the same exercise.

Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), pgs 133-134.

[Lexxiss]

Hi Coaches/Buddies/Friends!

BBE, nice that the gym folks call you by name! It's what I love about our club, too. Great that you could stand down the trail mix. Thanks for todays reading....I'm going to give it a try with my cards.

onebyone, safe travels with KWK and congrats on your spectacular month.

gardenerjoy, kudos for surpassing your exercise goal and deciding to stive for more!

Beverlyjoy, maintaining your weight through your surgery and recovery is such a success! Credit!

Donamarie(fyreflie24), your yoga plan sounds spectacular! Best wishes!

Me:
Weighed in this morning and have a mental plan. We're headed to Costco and Whole Foods today but I don't have an issue with either place anymore. credit I'm still with limited internet KB's so I'll keep it short. I enjoyed my extra day of work (getting paid to exercise) but planned exercise IS on my list today.

[maplover]

Have been running around trying to get mom's things in order and then on travel (NYC last week and New Orleans starting Sunday). Have not been losing nor have I been exercising, but at least weight has not been going up.
Have also not been doing anything about Beck.
But I am back and making the commitment to go to the gym this afternoon and to read all my Beck cards and notes and to start seriously planning my food.

[maryann]

Good Afternoon, Coaches.

Welcome, March. I weighed in this morning and lost .2 lb which I will take because it was a very, very rough week at school. I wrote a post two days ago but the site lost it. Teaching is a powerful experience. It is an alchemic, fierce, emotional process that it turns the best of me to gold but at the price of incineration for my ego and pettiness. Whooo! Glad to be sitting quietly this morning. Food is tracked. 2nd month of my 333 project - 33 pieces of clothing for three months. It is interesting. I keep thinking. I have nothing to wear then I realize I have plenty to wear and have not done laundry for ten days. So much of everything in this world is perception. No exercise but I am mailing my MFA packet today so hopefully I will get moving.

BBE: Do they cry "Norm!" when you come into your gym? Then you will know you have arrived.

Maplover: Good to hear from you.

Lexxiss: Enjoy the whole food outing. Wish we had one here.

[Tazzy]

Hi Everyone,

The weeks been pretty good, weight up and down for a couple days but now down again. I managed to get through yesterday without diving into the chocolate chips bag. I do think that's because I was reading about really good dark chocolate on another website (Mark's Daily Apple) and having 1 good piece of that is much more satisfying. So I got a bar of Lindt 85% cacao and it takes me about 15 minutes to eat one square. I take a tiny nibble and let it melt on my tongue, its as far from milk chocolate as you can get I'm sure! And 1 square sure beats a whole bunch of chocolate chips. I'm doing okay with not wanting the starchy carbs and bread but am struggling with the sugar still. I need to find some good replacements for that.

onebyone Big credit for all of your successes while in Key West. Good luck with your travels back and with the new kitty. How difficult will it be to bring across the border?

BBE One reason I stopped going to boot camp was because the trainer did not remember our names and we were there every other day. Of course we weren't the cute, 20 year ones either and I think that was a big factor. Love my Zumba as we all know each other. Good for ignoring the trail mix, guess I need the Do Not Call on my chocolate chips.

maplover Sending as you continue to deal with everything around you. Take credit for keeping your weight the same through all of this, that is a great accomplishment.

pamatga Big hello to you, sounds like you are still a busy little beaver.

Hello to everyone else.

[Beverlyjoy]

Hi folks - today I am really struggling. All I want are carbs and sugar. It's been a long time since I've had the cravings so badly. I've eaten alot of ice cream. This time I wasn't willing to destroy it.

I am leaving on Saturday and will be at my son's home for five or so days. As much as I want to be with them... I am so nervous about being around all the varied food they have. I know I have to be willing. I know I just need to PLAN the best I can & make the best choices.

Not so sure what to do with all this. Will I ever be free of this food addiction. Sunday I will be sixty years old. Yikes. I really want it to be a healthy next portion of my life. I hope it's possible.

Thanks for listening. I know I always say to others... it's the past, forgive yourself and hop back on your plan. I guess I need to put on my hoppin' shoes!

Thanks for listening.

[fyreflie24]

Bill you sage! Baron Batiste, the technique of yoga I'm currently studying, talks about, stepping outside of one's comfort zone IN THOSE EXACT TERMS!

Are you a yogi man?

Personals soon! Hope everyone is doing well!

[gardenerjoy]

So, I decided a few weeks ago that I really wanted to get down to 165, just to see if I can. And I've been doing all the things that ought to make that happen. But it's not happening. I get as low as 166.5 and up as high as 171. My average weight so far this year is 169. I'm also exercising more and differently (doing the Slim in 6 series several times a week) and I know that I have muscle development going on because I can feel the muscles. I'm not ready to give up yet on the idea of seeing 165, but I'm starting to allow myself to get used to the idea that a muscular 170 might be what my body wants.

WI: +0.25kgs, Exercise:+30 30/1400 minutes for March, Food: 100%op, Read my Advantages and Responses: yes

[BillBlueEyes]

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Enough on eating plan, CREDIT moi. Exercise was a trivial bit of shoveling snow; we've had so little this winter. Achievement was to unpack the six boxes sitting in our bedroom, CREDIT moi. Three went back in the closet with organized and labeled contents. I've finally accepted that I don't have enough space to keep both winter and summer clothes in my chest of drawers - the short sleeved knit shirts have to be put in a box to make room for the long sleeved turtlenecks. DW has done this for years, but I resisted.

AND, I sent away a whole box of accumulated odd socks that I never intended to wear for the rest of my life even though they didn't have large holes in them - the only acceptable criteria for discarding clothes when I was a boy.


Joy (gardenerjoy) – Alas, bodies do seem to have opinions on their own. Yay for being able to feel your muscles.

Debbie (Lexxiss) – It continues to amaze me that you don't have an issue with either Whole Foods or Costco. Yay for a job that provides free exercise. Did you see the video of an experienced waiter spilling a tray of beer down the back of German Chancellor Angela Merkel? An inspiration for the front house.

Beverlyjoy – Only one more sleep until you're off to visit your DGS laugh therapist. He'll raise your spirits enough to stave off all tempting foods.

maryann - Congrats for mailing in your MFA package and for continuing with your 333 project. [They don't cry "Norm" but they don't cry "Jabba" either, LOL.]

Tazzy - It's so amazing that one small square of premium dark chocolate is worth a bag of milk chocolate chips.

Donamari (fyreflie24) – [I wish I were a yogi - to work that flexibility. When I gently did yoga some zillion years ago, I loved that I could stand on my head - easily - while the advanced folks still were having a hard time. I bet I still could, LOL.]

maplover – Kudos for keeping your wits during such a trying time. Continue to send supportive thoughts as you process the loss of your mother. Kudos for getting back into planning.

Readers -

chapter 6 Stage 3 The Challenging Situations Plan
challenging situations skills
Before the Event
5. Create new and review old Response Cards. Continue to read them each morning. If a challenging situation is coming up, take the most relevant cards and put them on top. If applicable, make new cards that apply to the particular situation. For example, Brian made the following card for his son's upcoming birthday party:

Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), pg 134.

[maryann]

Good Morning, Coaches.

Op yesterday. Tracked. Have a cleaner coming in today I can work side by side with and polish up the place - a gift certificate from dh. (I also got a gift certificate for nails and hair- part of a package.)
Food planned for the day and hopeful a walk this afternoon.

[Lexxiss]

Hi Coaches/Buddies/Friends!

I had great news last night-I get to work tomorrow! Yippee for getting paid to exercise! It did require that I go to bed very early last eve so I could get up very early and complete my end of the company books so mom can peruse and make corrections. Done.
Now I have a bit of time to get more familiar with my new computer BEFORE I install our new tv (combined BD presents). I overheard DH chatting w/his friend last night. As he described the TV and all its' benefits he said,(reading the box), "It even has WIFI, whatever that is.". An experienced sea navigator, he is proficient with charts and stars and is proud to say he can't even turn on a computer.
Now to Beck:
Going good, despite evening nibbles, which were at a minimum last night.
Observations:
~Yesterday after spending two hours washing and storing my new cache of organic veggies and fruits I noticed how much better it feels when it's done and I whipped out a healthy fresh dinner instead of heating our healthy pizza.
~I forgot to weigh until I was half dressed this morning and decided it was ok to weigh anyway even if the number was higher. (It was lower, so I disrobed to see the difference (-2), which really was lower) I couldn't resist.
~I actually passed some of my precious WF lunch to DH yesterday, because I'd gotten more than I wanted to eat.
~I came up with several new ideas to streamline shopping and actually ordered a case of my super-duper smoothie powder. I felt freedom in doing that.

BillBlueEyes, yay for getting rid of the old socks. BTW-my moms socks are always mismatched AND have giant holes and I recognize in her socks my inability to let go of material goods. BTW-I tasted (and purchased) some Sumo Mandarins at WF-very delicious...and interesting. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/22/di...ange.html?_r=1

MaryAnn, how sweet of DH to acknowledge his love and your successes with housecleaning and gift certificates.

Beverlyjoy, I do believe our food addictions become more manageable but don't think mine is "going away". After many years, I still have an old twinge at a glass of wine or spirits even when I know it really had me beat. Best wishes as you travel.

gardenerjoy, thought of you as I processed my veggies.

Tazzy, now that is slow and mindful eating with that dark chocolate!

maplover, I think your maintaining your weight right now, even without exercise, is very Beck oriented. It shows that you are being mindful during a stressful time, even if you aren't aware of it.

[Beverlyjoy]

I am hoping that all of you are safe from the storms going through the US now. Take care.

I am checking in.... Hi coaches, friends.... Today was a better day. My stomach is upset from eating unhealthy foods yesterday - for a healing digestive system. Frankly, I have to be careful about what I eat, still.

Am anxious to see my family and GS. I am taking my Beck 'stuff' as a reminder of what I must do.

Lexxiss/debbie - yes, I agree. I think a food addiction is like other substance addiction... we just have to manage it. (of course, there are the other addictions we can just quit... ie... cigarettes for me. I quit 30 years ago) Kudo's for so many credits... your living the Beck life well.

Billbe - good to move those boxes around for a bit of exercise.

I hope you all have a great weekend.

[gardenerjoy]

I share Beverlyjoy's concern that everyone stay safe. I especially thought of pamatga this evening when I saw warnings in Georgia.

WI: +0.3kgs, Exercise:+0 30/1400 minutes for March, Food: 100%op, Read my Advantages and Responses: yes

[BillBlueEyes]

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Did my first "Boot Camp" at gym, CREDIT moi. I need to be in good shape for an active summer and feel I've drifted a bit. Boy am I right; found myself struggling to keep up for the hour and also was constantly being told to lean back, that leaning forward was an attempt to cheat and could hurt me. It felt good when it was over. I need more of these.

Eating was 100%, CREDIT moi. It helped that we went to a concert for the evening where there wasn't food and returned late enough that I didn't feel the need to cram in an evening snack before bed.


Joy (gardenerjoy) – And I hope you're safe as well, especially since the map shows tornadoes right outside of Saint Louis.

Debbie (Lexxiss) – Kudos for tending to your organic fruits and veggies - time well spent. LOL at a sea navigator shying away from a computer; I'd love to learn to shoot stars with a sextant, especially since it would justify buying a super accurate watch.

Beverlyjoy – Waving as you head off to visit your family.

maryann - Yay for a spanking clean house. Double Yay for such when someone else does the heavy lifting.

Readers -

chapter 6 Stage 3 The Challenging Situations Plan
challenging situations skills
Before the Event
5. Create new and review old Response Cards.
Immediately before- and during the event, if needed - read your Response Cards along with your Advantages Deck.

Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), pg 135.