[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 our 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 - Walked, CREDIT moi, in the failing sunlight included checking out our community garden. The sugar snaps are still there, uneaten by the sparrows that find them tasty. They are dissuaded by patches of cloth flying from string across the fence poles on each side. Real gardens don't look elegant, LOL. We passed about a dozen people, every one in a mask - the highest compliance I've yet seen.

As predicted, we cleaned the grill. I also predicted yucky; it was yucky squared. But it's done and won't be needed for a spell. One of my jobs was to take a pin and stick it in each gas outlet hole. There were many. I used a pixie pin - since this thread takes its types of pins seriously, LOL. The toothpick worked well in the holes that didn't need help but failed the ones still covered in hardened whatever. Now it works like a charm, ready for summer grilling. Despite all that, eating was on plan without daytime snacks, CREDIT moi.


Joy (gardenerjoy) - Kudos for meeting your April exercise goal - day early even. Yard cleanup does wonders for making the feeling of winter go away.

maryann - Super Kudos for continuing your no-sugar route. I've yet to try Googlemeets - just read that it's now free to try to wean those of us on Zoom.

Penny. - The Jungle isn't on my list. Looking forward to your review. LOL that diet books still have a miracle cure tone.

Readers -

chapter 1 Begin a New Way of Life

The Complete Beck Diet for Life is different from every other diet book you have read. It not only guides you in what to eat and how to eat, but also it helps you change your mindset about dieting. It leads you to make the psychological changes you need to be satisfied with your food choices, your ultimate weight, and yourself. Other diet plans focus exclusively on food. But they don't teach you what you need to do to follow the plan, day after day, no matter what the situation. This book is your instruction manual for motivating yourself for life.

Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), Pg 13.

[curlyjax]

Happy May Day! Just the word May makes me happy, it’s one of my favorite months. Plus hopefully we’re that much closer to things opening up a bit. It’s been rainy a lot and as a result the grass is looking great.
I’m doing terribly with food; yesterday I made some pumpkin cookies with chocolate chips. I did cut out half the sugar though, and they are still good. However i’ve been keeping my temper better and feeling emotionally good most days, so that is important too.
I broke down and ordered some TP from Target, I just don’t want to have to worry about finding it for awhile. Surprisingly, I couldn’t order flour from there; that is the other thing that is still tough to find around here.
I was sort of in the mood to do something productive yesterday evening, but then I started binge watching “After Life” on Netflix and just kept going. Maybe today.
Bill- I would like to get some lightweight but inexpensive binoculars for looking at the wildlife in my backyard. Do you have any recommendations?
Gardenerjoy- I tend to say “pushpins” instead of thumbtacks. Words are so interesting!
Ariadnestar- my takeout was indeed takeout from a restaurant, i am treating myself to something once a week. My resistance muscle is quite flabby currently.
Karen- hope your tech guy fixed your problems What time do you go to sleep to wake up so early? If I ever retired somewhere warm, you’ve convinced me AZ would be a good place to live!
Maryann- great job of 40 days without sugar! That is an accomplishment!
Penny- that is really interesting about Sinclair’s diet book! Good for you reading The Jungle, i’ve heard its pretty powerful stuff. Do you discuss books with your DH? I miss doing that.

Okay I guess this post is long enough! Happy Friday all,

[Penny.]

Good morning!

Yesterday was on plan and weight is still up.

It's another long work weekend for me.

Bill, never heard of the pixie pin term. Sewing pins? Thanks for the new monthly thread.

Joy, congrats on meeting your exercise goal!

Curly, I have never read any Upton Sinclair but it seemed appropriate to the times...still. (Poor working conditions in the meat factories). I do sometimes give dh an earful of what I'm reading. He certainly gives me an earful of every Redddit post he comes across.

[gardenerjoy]

Today, I'm going shopping. It's been two weeks, so I feel good about that.

But, I'm going to Whole Foods again, even though I'd hoped to make that a once-a-month thing. We didn't take into account that the weather would be getting nicer and we'd want to use the grill more. So, we've nearly used up the cuts of meat that we grill. That combined with fears of a break-down in the food supply, particularly for meat, makes us want to fill the freezer again.

I'll share my art journal page, because it helped get out some of my feelings about shopping, right now.

Weigh-in: N/A kgs Exercise: +45, 1355/1300 minutes for April

[maryann]

I was slightly hungry all day yesterday. I know it was because I am antsy to get home. Thank goodness I have been off sugar long enough to not have to battle such intense cravings. I definitely was able to identify that it was fangs (or mouthwatering) and not real hunger.

This morning I woke up and broke 170 on my mom’s scale. Wow!!! That has been a longtime coming. I won’t change my stats until I get home on my scale.

So grateful I didn’t have to follow the same old pattern of treating myself poorly when around family.

“Off” to work.

[ariadnestar]

I everyone. Happy Mayday to you all. Have had a good couple of days on plan, and the trick I guess is to not go completely off the rails at the weekend! Work is a weird mix of very slow and far too stressful - I think it's the lack of certainty about what's going to happen next that causes it. As soon as we see a plan for the near steps, I think I'll start to feel better.

BillBlueEyes - interesting that you're noticing more mask compliance - the Scottish and UK governments have now started to tentatively recommend them, although there's no hard and fast rule yet. Pixie pin is a new one on me also - I recognise them but I think I would have just called it a pin, no qualifier. Isn't language interesting? I like pixie pin, it's lovely and whimsical.
curlyjax, pumpkin cookies sound lovely - that's also something I've not encountered before. Kudos on cutting down the sugar - once you are eating less sugar, you do find you don't need as much, don't you?
Penny, wishing you lots of stamina for your weekend of work.
Gardenerjoy, The art-journal page really sums up the turmoil that is shopping right now - I look forward to it as it's a trip out, but it's also so stressful and I'm relieved when it's done.
Maryann Well done on breaking 170 - hope the two scales match for you.

Have a good day all!

[karenrn]

Good afternoon coaches,

Yesterday I took a drive to Tucson to deliver 3 storage bins of photos and albums to my friend. We brought them up here thinking she would go thru them when she was up here a couple of months ago and then when she was here she didn't really do it. Now that she has lots of time and is at home (no galavanting around the globe) she has time to do it there. It is a two hour drive each way, but I was glad to get out on the road. We had a visit on her patio for a couple of hours and then I drove home. She was delighted for me to visit and it was a nice change for me too. This morning I left the house to begin my hike at 5:10. I didn't eat breakfast, but did take a protein bar which I felt I needed some of by the time I was heading up the steep hill. On the way back down I moved off the trail for an uphill hiker and proceeded to trip over a rock and fall when I was starting down again. Boy was I pissed at myself. Not only did I skin my knees and elbows (only a little), but I really hurt my right thumb and must have landed in some nasty weed cause my arms were stinging the last hour of the hike. The base of my thumb is quite swollen and bruised, but I did ice it when I first got home and after the 4 Advil took hold I think I'm going to be okay. My initial reaction was "I'm done hiking. I don't like being hot, I don't like sweating, I hate the little bugs that are out when the Saguaro cactus are in bloom. I think I'll be one of those ladies who only wears dress clothes and always has her make-up on perfectly and nails done." Well, I got over it, but I wasn't feeling so great for a short bit. Food has been on plan and weight is very slowly heading down.

Ariadnestar Yes, for sure it is better to stay on plan every day of the week, even is weekends are a tiny bit looser. When I think about the weekend being Friday afternoon until Monday morning and think about what a large percentage of the week that is, it is no wonder I don't lose weight when I go off plan for the "weekend". Good luck staying the course for the weekend.
Maryann Good job breaking the 170 barrier. That feels so good and also making a new pattern for yourself at your Mom's.
GardenerJoy I was worried about meat, but then I read this morning that the price of tenderloin steak is going down 40%. Who knows. Anyway, I hope you had a successful shopping trip. From the looks of your art, it is more stressful where you are.
Penny Take care at work. It sure looks like you Oregonians have done a good job with the distancing and whatever else you are doing there.
Curlyjax Arizona is beautiful, but you will soon be hearing about me complain about the heat for a couple of months. I typically am in bed by 8 or 8:30 watching a little tv or reading a book. I wake up by 4. Keeping your temper and feeling good emotionally are both so important. I'm glad you're feeling good. Oh and dh had the computer fixed in no time. It just needed a reboot.
Bill I bet it feels good to have a clean grill. When I'm cleaning I really like it when there is a noticeable difference.

Okay, dh is home for lunch and then I'll head to the post office to mail a couple of things. Take care everybody!

[BillBlueEyes]

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Received a high school graduation announcement from a dear great niece. With sadness since there's little chance that she'll have a graduation ceremony. We'll send a nice reply with a great-uncle-appropriate check. Hard to write, "contribution to your Senior Prom Gown" since she's unlikely to have that also. Maybe say, "to upgrade your Internet connection running Zoom." Just makes me feel sad being confronted with yet another minor loss in this shut down period.

Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Dinner was plantain soup - part of my Christmas present from my DS and his SO. Was a different taste for us. Glad we had it since we'd never had it before; won't request it again next year. I understand that half the world absolutely adores plantains. I'm just not in that half. Full Disclosure: I copied the name "pixie pins" from Amazon because I couldn't remember what we called them; as a kid, they were always called "sewing pins" to differentiate from "straight pins" with tiny steel heads instead of the larger, round, plastic heads.


Joy (gardenerjoy) - Thanks for the journal page about shopping. Hard to believe that shopping has become a thing to plan for like an invasion. Maybe the meat shortage will help us drift toward a more vegetarian diet. Question: Why isn't it spelled 'wierd' instead of 'weird'? You know, i before e ...

maryann - Kudos for accepting feeling hunger. It was hard to believe Beck when she first told me that "Hunger is not an emergency."

Karen (karenrn) - That was a long round trip drive; you're a good friend. Ouch for your fall and subsequent mix of emotions. Hope that thumb comes back into full function.

curlyjax - Kudos for feeling good - what could be better? [I do have some binoculars thoughts; I'll collect them and pass them on later.]

Penny. - Thanks for going to work for the long weekend even without the proper protective gear. Yep, "sewing pins" was right; couldn't remember that.

ariadnestar - I recognize that "weird mix of very slow and far too stressful" - seems to be happening to a lot of us.

Readers -

chapter 1 Begin a New Way of Life

My healthy eating plan teaches you how to maximize low-calorie filling foods - foods that are rich in protein, fiber, and healthy fats, as well as those that are low in sugar, refined starch, and unhealthy fats. These foods will help you feel full after eating fewer calories, so you won't have to battle the overwhelming hunger you may have experienced on other diets. My plan also teaches you how to include your favorite foods, as often as every day.

Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), Pg 13.

[curlyjax]

Not much to report. My work days feel somewhat unreal, like i'm settled into my own cocoon and ignoring the outside world. Today I have to hit the bank drive thru, go to the dump, and have a walk planned with a friend for later afternoon. That gives me something to look forward to.I do wish there was somewhere I could unload some old books, etc, i look forward to the swap shop being open and getting rid of some stuff.
Joy- I can definitely relate to your shopping trip art! When I'm waiting in line, I think- which is the most important that i should rush to?
Bill- parents of HS seniors are petiioning for an in person graduation in early August. We'll see what happens with that.
Penny- good luck with your weekend. yes, very timely book.
Karen-I love the morning, so later on in my life I may try to sleep from 9-5. When I live alone and don't have anyone bothering me at 10:00 pm I'm glad you had a nice time with your friend, i'm sure she really appreciated the visit.
Maryann- great job on breaking 170!! I admire your perseverance in these trying times.
Ariadnestar- yay for couple good days on plan! yes, the less sugar you eat the less you want- i just am not there yet. at all.

[gardenerjoy]

Shopping went fine, but took most of the day by the time we put things away -- some in their new unusual places. A new one for us is that we put broccoli and cabbage in a cooler with ice. I bought a lot because they both keep well. They're bulky, so there's not room in the fridge for them until we get the chicken moved into the freezer.

I was able to buy my usual brands of facial tissue and paper towel. Toilet paper, however, was only available in single rolls, wrapped in paper -- 4 rolls for $3.

The cashier at our local grocery chain said that none of her coworkers have been sick. They are taking lots of precautions -- limiting people in the store, requesting that everyone wear masks, washing carts between customers, playing announcements by a local sportscaster with a request to attempt social distancing while shopping, and using a single queue for check-out. Whole Foods is doing none of that, as far as I can tell. They claim that their limiting people in the store and, maybe they are at rush times, but I didn't see any evidence like 6-foot markers for waiting outside or people stationed near the entrance and exit to monitor that. My local grocery store seemed to have an app for that. They have changed things around to have one entrance and one exit. There's a person in each place with a tablet -- my guess is that they were ticking off the entrances and exits in an app that would tell them how many customers are in the store.

Weigh-in: +0.2 kgs Exercise: +45, 45/1400 minutes for May

BillBlueEyes: The Merriam-Webster folks argue that there are so many exceptions to the "i before e" rule that it shouldn't be taught as a rule: https://www.merriam-webster.com/word...except-after-c

[Penny.]

Good morning!

Yesterday was on plan and weight is holding.

Apparently the nurses at my hospital went on strike and held up signs out front yesterday for better PPE and practices. Fitting for May day! I missed the memo because my department is separate and not union. I did get my usual Friday complaint in to the manager though.

I finished Upton Sinclair's book on fasting for health. What a hoot! I enjoyed his book, and learning the terminology used for the diseases and symptoms of the time.

Karen, sorry about the fall on the trail. Had to laugh at the reaction to never hike again and start wearing dress clothes every day.

Ariadnestar, sorry work is so stressful. The unknown is hard.

Bill, I'm sure your great niece will appreciate the money. Credit for continuing to forgo the snacks.

Joy, I love that art page! It is such a great representation of the times. I want to paint something but not sure what yet.

Maryann, congratulations on breaking out of the 170s! You are doing so well.

Curly, that is a busy day planned. Enjoy your walk!

[maryann]

Good Morning, Coaches.

The announcement of the break into the 60s was premature. Back home this morning, and I'm a little short on my home scale.. But it was great to see the Ghost of Christmas future. I take lots of credit for keeping OP yesterday. Not only did I make it half a day with Mom but I stopped at the ranch for dinner that included pizza, pie and ice cream of which I ate none. I made myself a chicken sausage with a little of the salad. So I am finally home this morning swearing i will not do any school work.

Curlyjax sounds like she is doing a spring cleaning. I will join her. I am going to pack up winter clothes and get out my nice spring clothes. Hopefully that will encourage me to dress a little nice even at home . That is always motivating to me to keep me on my plan.
BBE: At our house we had a rule to try something nine times. But that rule applied to things like mash potatoes not plantains
Penny: I am not a union fan but that group does have a reason to gripe.

Weather is a lovely high of 76. Can't beat California weather at times.

[ariadnestar]

Hi Everyone,

We spent a lot of time in the garden today, cutting grass, trimming the hedges, cleaning the patio and so on, and it's looking nice and we're all happily tired out after a day of hard work. We're in for another few days of lovely weather this week, and it will be nice to be able to spend it outside. We had our Japanese takeaway tonight which was delicious, and I can at least pretend it was healthy with all the lovely veggies in the rice bowl.

karenrn, goodness, that must have been a bit of a fright for you. Glad you're OK and that you've not really given up the idea of hiking. I can't imagine the kind of heat you have to put up with in Arizona - a properly warm day here is about 68 degrees, and even the hottest days in July never get much above 85 degrees or so.
BillBlueEyes Plantain soup sounds like something of an acquired taste - well done for giving it a go!
curlyjax I can empathise about looking to offload things. The first week we were not in school I cleared out the house and took about 10 bags to the dump and 3 to the charity shop before the both closed - even the dumps are closed here. I seem to have lost my enthusiasm for house beautification at the minute but it may well return once I have somewhere to offload the detritus.
gardenerjoy $3 for 4 toilet rolls? Oh my, that better be some high quality toilet paper!
Penny That book does sound fascinating, and it's interesting that the same ideas come around again and again re: health and diet.
maryann Well done for staying on plan yesterday. Definitelxy don't do any school work!

Have a good Saturday everyone.

[BillBlueEyes]

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Walked, CREDIT moi, around a local park with the (4.5 yo) DGD on her scooter. She's gotten really confident; one of us has to jog a bit to keep up with her. Our DD brought her over for a visit where we drove in separate cars to the park and, quite religiously, kept our six-foot separation. We also played a game of 'horseshoes' using a plastic set from the grocery store. Its quality was equal to the small price we paid. Fortunately, the DGD was very happy with the random nature of throwing lightweight pieces of plastic. She became the director telling us who was to go next and declaring who won. She'll be in charge of something when she's an adult. Saw almost 100% of folks wearing masks. One exception was the group of four high-school boys doing a workout together in the middle of the field. They were stripped to shorts only; each had the kind of ripped body of a superior athlete. Hard to imagine sports with any 'social distancing.'

Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Dinner was a robust homemade chili. As usual, tasted even better when reheated as leftovers. My evening snack consisted of a WHOLE California Navel Orange for some strange reason. I have no complaint. It's a gift in my life that DW prepares the evening meal; I eat what I'm served.


Joy (gardenerjoy) - Gotta admire your approach to shopping for food. Methinks it's time to dig a root cellar for your house. A few years ago didn't you post that your DH had a new power ride on something? Bet it has a front loader attachment. [Thanks for the link to Merriam-Webster; I'll drop even thinking about the rule. Got into a debate with DW at dinner. She asserted that 'science' wasn't an exception to the rule since the 'i' and 'e' were in separate syllables. I suspect this is a sign of the devolution of conversation since COVID has curtailed all our outside lives, LOL.]

maryann - LOL at "the Ghost of Christmas future." You're on your way. Nope, I couldn't try that plantain soup nine times.

curlyjax - I do miss going to the dump; here in the city the dump-trucks just pick it up.

Penny. - Sorry that you missed the Mayday strike. Yep, appropriate, that. Hope that PPE becomes available for you and all front-line folks real soon.

ariadnestar - Sounds like you took advantage of a good weather day. Tired after yard work is the best kind of tired.

Readers -

chapter 1 Begin a New Way of Life

By following my plan, you will lose excess weight - and not just temporarily (for swimsuit season, a reunion, a wedding). And won't it be wonderful when you finally, really and truly, feel in control of your food choices, exercise habits, and weight?

Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), Pg 14.