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:
Thursday - Chemist Joseph Priestley discovers "dephlogisticated air" (oxygen) (1774)
Diet Coaches/Buddies - Exercise was chase the (3.5 yo) DGD day, CREDIT moi. The hikes to the subway in 90 degree F temperature were hardly aerobic - we walked as slowly as possible to avoid overheating. The little wonder played non-stop at the Boston Children's Museum - methodically going through each room working it to her satisfaction. It's one more place where she's at home because we've taken her before. While having lunch she asked, "Can we go look at the ocean?" - the thing we do when we're down on the waterfront. Ships and gulls and boats and brouhaha all at once. We just love that she loves it.
Excitement was arriving at our house after driving her home to find ourselves blocked by a police car. The street tree - a Norway Maple - lost its major limb that hangs over the street. It fell onto the electric wires across the way - taking down our landline phone wires with it. Strangely, the phones were still working. The City workers arrived with their cherry picker and magic grinding truck to make it all go away. The phone line was rehung. The cable guy came and rehung the cable. The electric guy came only to be disappointed that no one had lost power. We ate a simple dinner very late.
Joy (gardenerjoy) - LOL at "The universe owes you three bucks." Ouch for your DH eating your lunch. BTDT.
maryann - Neat to hear your thinking back in teacher mode. Congrats on that compliment from a former student.
Karen (karenrn) - Interesting insight, "it is easier to take a pound or two off of our bodies than what is in our pack."
curlyjax - So good to hear that your job is feeling comfortable already. Kudos for figuring out in advance how you'll squeeze in dinner between other stuff.
Beth (bethturnaround) - Come From Awaysounds really neat.
Penny. - Hope those new shoes and compression sleeve fix the problem.
CJZee - Water exercise is super fun. Yep, the printer folks have copied the old cheap razor, expensive blades business model.
Readers -
Quote:
Day 32Prepare for Travel
Many dieters tell me that they feel anxious about gaining weight while on a trip. Tresa, for example, had been following a diet for several months and had lost a considerable amount of weight when the time came for her annual trip to the beach with her immediate and extended family. In past years, Teresa had gained an average of 4 to 5 pounds every time she went on vacation. She asked me, "How can I possible follow my diet when I won't be in charge of the kitchen and when I'll be eating out a lot?"
I told her what I tell all dieters: Whether you're traveling for business or pleasure, you can stay in control if you plan a strategy before you go.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Beck Diet Solution (Pink book), Pg 223.
Another long day. I am doing a ton of driving since i'm still going to the agency in the am, then driving an hour to the different sites each day. This will end sometime next week and i'll just drive to the sites, fortunately. Some of it definitely stretches my mental comfort zone, which will be good, but I do so wish I had my DH to decompress with. I am still quite weepy at the end of the day and sobbed away coming home from choir. The concert is this Sunday and its just a lot on the first week of a new job. I have a church meeting tonight but I think I may not go and just relax. It would be good to start walking after dinner now that its a little cooler.
Between a minor injury and a heat wave, I didn't meet my exercise goal for July, but I came close enough that I'm confident setting the same goal for August.
Today's challenge is that the best time to go to the grocery store is at a moment when I'm guaranteed to be hungry. So, I'm giving myself an option. If shopping while hungry feels too challenging, I'll come home and eat lunch. I'm willing to sacrifice efficiency to make it easier to stick to my food plan. I suspect that knowing that I have that option will be enough to let me shop, first, knowing that I can eat as soon as I get home.
Exercise: +25, 1055/1100 minutes for July
curlyjax: Sending hugs. You've got a lot going on.
This morning was hypnotherapy. It was quite interesting. Certainly I came up with some links to my past with compulsive overeating that I hadn’t really thought of consciously. The two big points being my identification with my mother who was the only one who ate compulsively in my family and my father’s value on beauty. I believe both of these points are pretty common. What wasn’t common was my four old self being sucked into their chaos and rage. An interesting question was about the last time I felt beautiful. I was very very young with curls - maybe 3 or 4. My mother cut them off for kindergarten. I hadn’t thought about that for years. Ironically I recently cut all my hair off so that just my curls frame my face. I love it with my salt and pepper. Maybe that is taking care of myself. The session ended with some affirmations.
I think I’ll finish the five session set. I’m not one to be stuck in the past. I’ll see how things move forward.
Food is OP. Exercise was shopping for clothes which I love. I have some new outfits for school. I spent way too much money. But I’ll put it down for end of season splurge.
Maryann - Your hypnotherapy sounds fascinating. Am hoping it helps. Penny - I eat two meals also, but the first one is not until noon or later, except training days. GardenerJoy - Am enjoying reading about your self talk, which I am also finding very important as I progress. You think and plan everything ahead of time, which is what the Beck program really emphasizes. Curlyjax - I hear that you miss your DH so much. You sound like you had such a strong connection with him, and that connection is something many people never are lucky enough to experience. Bill - Your utility guys are really on top of everything. I’m thinking of getting rid of my home phone, but haven’t yet. The only calls I get on it are sales call or just silence on the other end which I always speculate about. Are they Russian spies? Beth - I’m going to be in Chicago in early Sept, and I checked out tickets to Come from Away, but it appears to be done by then.
Also, I absolutely believe sugar is addictive. I actually am quite disciplined in general, but around sweet (especially baked) things, “Katy bar the door” (as my mom used to say). The weird thing is, as I eat more and more of it, I don’t even want anymore, yet I continue to eat it. That has always puzzled me why I do that. The only way out is don’t eat it at all, or have a single serving in the house and nothing else.
I dug out some old, smaller clothes that I’m going to wear at my high school reunion. They seem to fit okay, but I don’t have a full length mirror in the house. Maybe that’s my problem, I can only see my top half. I usually think my head looks great, lol.
Had both my personal training session and my physical therapy session today. I told the PT that we should just meet once a week since mostly he gives me home exercises and there’s not enough time between sessions to assess any improvements. He agreed.
Friday - James Baldwin, American novelist and playwright, born (1924, Harlem)
Diet Coaches/Buddies - Walked, CREDIT moi, with DW to the subway to get to the Boston Esplanade for a free concert of African American composers. It had been scheduled for the previous evening but got postponed by the heavy storm that included a 'microburst'. I nearly cried when the bass-baritone sang 'Ol Man River. The audience went wild. The audience was a fun mix of generations, races, cultures, and dress code - as if we were in California, LOL. The variety of the audience was probably helped because it was FREE. However, FREE meant that I had to put extra money in the bucket because not everyone was and there are real expense to put on a concert with dozens in the orchestra and a hundred in the chorus. The weather was perfect for an outdoor event.
Eating was on plan, CREDIT moi, including a quick grilled salmon on the patio before rushing out for the concert. An earlier walk was to the library to pick up a book that I'd reserved for the DGD. My favorite librarian gave me a tip on an event next month at the zoo in my DD's town. Now that's full service.
Joy (gardenerjoy) - Feeling hungry while at a supermarket makes all their junk food look like it belongs in my cart.
maryann - That's remembering way, way back. Neat to end the session with affirmations.
curlyjax - Yay for getting your comfort zone stretched. Sending supportive thoughts as you feel the loss of your DH and mom.
Penny. - A long day would certainly challenge eating only two meals.
CJZee - I recognize "I don’t even want anymore, yet I continue to eat it." The old brain chases odd things.
Readers -
Quote:
Day 32Prepare for Travel
Making a Travel Plan
About a week before your trip, create a diet strategy. I want you to think about his in advance so that you can remind yourself of it every day before you leave. Decide how closely you'll follow your diet, specifically what exceptions you'll make and how much weight, if any, you'll allow yourself to gain. These decisions are individual. There are no right or wrong answers. Some people do better if they try to follow their diet as closely as possible when they're away, so that they don't gain any weight during this time.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Beck Diet Solution (Pink book), Pg 223.
I did a 3.5 mile walk with a compression sleeve on my knee and new shoes, and felt fine after. I just need to get that up to two stretches of 5 miles.
Maryann, very interesting about the hypnotherapy.
CJ, how fun to be able to put on the smaller clothes in your closet! Time to get a full length mirror. How else are you going to pick out the shoes? lol
Bill, the concert sounds like it was a good one. Free always packs the cultural art center when they have concerts.
Credit for shopping while hungry, but waiting until I got home to eat. And, sticking to my list.
Today's challenge is a meeting at a bakery. I will have a cup of tea and treat the display cases as an art exhibit -- beautiful to look at but not edible as far as I'm concerned.
Yesterday was OP calorie wise but lacking in fruit and veggies. Today’s plan will have more. I have Pilates class and then a few hours at school. I want to finish some laundry and maybe walk on the treadmill. Sat. I head to Tahoe for a family reunion. There is a ten mile round trip hike scheduled.
CJZee: I think I keep eating the baked goods after the pleasure is gone as a form of self punishment. I am trying to treat myself with love and compassion. I don’t have to do that anymore.
Just a quick check in. Food has been okay, not great, but weight is stable. I'm doing the final packing and will leave before 5 a.m. tomorrow to get to Bishop where my friend will leave her car and then on to Mammoth, CA. If any of you are prayers . . I start my hike on Monday morning and any prayers are appreciated. Looks like the weather should be okay at least for the start, but there is a small fire right near our resupply. Could be it is already out. I'll have my phone and will post a message when I'm back to internet coverage.
Maryann - Kudos for having a 10-mile hike scheduled during a family reunion! You must have a very athletic family. Most people sit around and eat and drink at family reunions.
GardenerJoy - Lol at looking at the display cases as an art exhibit. Whatever works.
Penny - May I ask where you got your compression sleeve for your knee? I have never had a problem with my knees, but some of the exercises in the gym bother them, so maybe compression sleeves would help?
Bill - LOL at your “as if we were in California.” That was very funny. Sounds like a wonderful concert. And I really like that you are posting the Prepare for Travel tips since I am going to be traveling soon.
Today I didn’t do any formal exercise, just the PT exercises which are morphing into an ever longer list. I actually had to type up a sheet to keep track of them all. I think the therapist doesn’t really know what to do with me, so he’s throwing spaghetti at the wall.
My calories were fine today and I ate good food. I spent some time on the Precision Nutrition website reading about Dr. John Berardi’s experiments with intermittent fasting. He’s a PhD, not an MD, and he’s a real experimenter. He tried every intermittent fasting protocol on himself, then wrote a 118-page eBook (which you can download as a .pdf if you’re interested) that explains in detail his results. This guy is a nerd on wheels. I love him.
Anyway, I think I am on the right track with my plan of generally not eating until noon and stopping by 6:45 pm. I’m not really a morning eater, so waiting until lunch isn’t a big stretch for me. I did think stopping eating at 6:45 would be a real problem and that I would be hungry after dinner. But honestly it’s been so easy, I can’t believe it. (Knock on wood.) I don’t really feel like eating anything after dinner. HOWEVER ... my DH has been at our other house for the last few months, so when he gets home the dynamics of dinner will change. We shall see.
I also have never been one to like a bunch of tiny meals scattered throughout the day. I would rather have two larger meals, and because the window for eating is rather compressed, that’s what I end up doing. And I’m trying to eat really nutrient dense foods, and I am also counting calories so I don’t overeat. So far I really like this plan. Wish me luck.
I went to bed early last night and forgot to post--but am definitely not forgetting two nights in a row!
DH and I saw And Then There None tonight. It was pretty enjoyable. We may not get season tickets for this theater again next year unless their line-up is amazing--they just aren't as good as the other one we go to (or the Broadway in Chicago series I go to with DD). At intermission, DH got a cookie or something--not sure which--and got me a bottle of water. I had a product during intermission--but didn't even realize he'd had a cookie until we were leaving!
I've been back on all products 12 days now--it's pretty straightforward and I've lost my cravings for sweets and snacks. Really interesting webinar today from Susan Peirce Thompson (Bright Line Eating) talking about the science of hunger and eating--I'll have to watch it again to be able to repeat the details--but basically took away the message--the sugar and flour we eat actually keep us from recognizing that we're full and we should go do something. It was a bit of an infomercial at the end but the first 50 minutes wasn't. She's pushing the bright lines of no sugar, no flour, planning, no snacking, but you can do that without buying her bootcamp :-) I want DH to watch the video. He's an after dinner snacker--eats more between dinner and bedtime than he does all day. But he weighs 25 lbs more than he wants to--and he's not happy about it--and it's the snacking, not the eating.
I was on plan today with products and with water. Still not doing any exercising. I count the webinar as my staying in touch with what I need to be doing for myself.
Spent a bunch of time today planning our Europe trip in September--I'm excited about it--and now have the framework of all the travel parts in place. Hotels next :-)
I'm also gaining peace with the "I have to give up sugar if I want to be the size I want to be" and that I just have to accept that--and I can accept it without liking it. That's pretty powerful.
CJZee: Intermittent fasting is so interesting to me. I'm diabetic so have been unwilling to try it--but perhaps I will once I get my blood sugar back where it needs to be. I know a lot of people find it really workable.
karenrn: I hope you have a great trip!
maryann: Enjoy Lake Tahoe--we just drove be there once and I was struck by its beauty. Eating baked goods after the pleasure is gone strikes a chord--just wanting to keep eating but not really tasting them anymore or actually enjoying them--but they keep going in my mouth
joy: Credit for shopping while hungry--and waiting until getting home to eat. Sticking to a list is the only way I can manage to buy the right things--no list, and we end up eating out all the time because I didn't buy meals, I just bought stuff.
Penney: Great that the compression sock helped your knee!
Bill: Credit for eating on plan salmon--one of life's great pleasures
Saturday - American sprinter Jesse Owens wins the 100m (1936 Berlin Olympics)
Diet Coaches/Buddies - Bought steaks at the supermarket for our big dinner last night. We managed to sit eight, including the (3.5 yo) DGD on our patio because the weather was clear enough to just set up a card table next to our small patio table. Dinner worked well because the DGD pulled aside an adult for one-on-one sessions while the rest of us partied on.
Dessert was a watermelon - my birthday watermelon - in a tradition that I started 13 years ago when I realized that my beloved Boston Creme Pie wasn't on my plan. A half-melon was pre-sliced into convenient chunks placed upside down in a large bowl so that the candles were stuck in the rind. Kinda neat that when I blew out the candles I wasn't blowing directly on food that was about to be consumed like one does with a cake. I ate rationally, CREDIT moi, despite facing a lot of meat. That means that I have good steak for leftovers. What could be better?
Joy (gardenerjoy) - What a terrific idea to treat a bakery display as a work of art.
maryann - Ten miles is a long hike - Kudos for knowing that you're in good shape to do that.
Karen (karenrn) - Waving back toward your hiking departure. Have a good trip.
Beth (bethturnaround) - Dealing with sugar is so wise. We'd all be better off if sugar was banned.
Penny. - Congrats for extending your span of comfortable walking.
CJZee - Selecting nutrient dense foods is such a good plan.
Readers -
Quote:
Day 32Prepare for Travel
Making a Travel Plan
This strategy, however, is totally unrealistic for most people. If your eating rules are too strict, you might get fed up and abandon your diet altogether. A better strategy might be one of the following:
Allow yourself a few hundred extra calories every day. (This is what I do.)
Follow your usual plan every day but add minor splurges on a few occasions.
Follow your diet every day except for a splurge on the last day.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Beck Diet Solution (Pink book), Pg 223.
Beck Diet For Life/Solution – August 2019 – Support, Discussion, Buddy/Coach
Thursday - Chemist Joseph Priestley discovers "dephlogisticated air" (oxygen) (1774)
