Hi! I have the Beck Diet Solution book and plan to start tomorrow. I would like to join in the discussion here.

I have never used Live journal before, but I did start one today. How do I join the beck_chicks community? Here is the link to my new journal. My Livejournal

Hey Jude - I sent you an invite tojoin the community on LJ. Welcome to the fold.

hey guys, i ordered the book from amazon yesterday and it should be coming on tuesday!! i cant wait but i have finals until thursday and friday is my only day off cuz i have work on saturday so i am gonna sit down and read the entire book!!! oh man im so excited, i feel like its my birthday

Hi Jude and Bean. Welcome!! I think it is really imporatant to do all of the assignments. Even the ones that you feel don't apply--so far those have been surpisingly more meaningful that I thought. I can't wait to read all of your posts!

Gina

Ooh, I joined the Beck_chicks livejournal too. signupsuzy (my LJ) patiently awaits to start posting.

I realized that I am waiting for my volumetrics book to arrive. I completely spaced on the order. Now I have my second diet or third. I have to admit that I hit a short spell of not reading daily. Time to get back on track and I know this group will help me along!

Hey mylifenow. Glad to have you along for the ride. You are all set on LJ so start posting away!

I just got back from my Sat walk (and breakfast) with the gang in my running and walking club. This is really going well. So, I am off to shower and then start on Day 1!!

BTW - I sent an e-mail to the Beck Institute and told them about 3FC and the LJ. We will see if they respond.

Well, I am excited to be starting Day One! I have my cards ready, and I am going to sit down later when DH goes golfing and fill them out. I even figured out how to join the LJ community! :D

Ellen, one of my life goals is to walk a half-marathon first, and then a marathon. I actually wanted to do the half this year, but there is something wrong with my right foot, so I need to get that better first. My doctor isn't actually sure what the problem is (maybe a chronic sprain), so I have a referral to see a sports injury doctor in a month. Anyway, my goal is to get my weight under control, my foot healed, and do a half next year. I really applaud you in joining the walking group. Are you doing an event?

Hope everyone is having a great Day _ (insert your Day :lol: )

Jude :broc:

No event for me this year, Jude. I am walking for the joy of it. I did a marathon in Dec '05 and a number of smaller races since. I figure 5 & 10Ks as they come up, but relax and enjoy this year. Maybe next year I will walk a half, maybe I'll be running again. Who know? I am working on living for the pleasure of today and stop worrying about the future. It is pretty new for me.

Good luck with your foot. You are smart for getting it checked out now. When you have everything cleared up and you are ready to start walking look at different training programs in your area. It is so much more fun with a group. If you have the opportunity, take a Chi Walking workshop (usually a few hours) and get good form habits that will prevent injury. I constantly tell my group the right posture prevents pain!

I just posted my Beck day on the LJ. Can't wait to see yours!

HI! I have been so busy this weekend. I will check in with you all tomorrow. It looks like you are all doing well!!

Ellen: I have the chi running book and I think I take in information in visually so I don't think I can get the technique from a book. I wish there were chi seminars in Iowa.

Jude: how was day 1??

Suz: how are you?? I haven't updated my journal this weekend. I am not sure if I can go back or just pick it up from here. I have missed the praise. I am doing it as I do things that I think are good but I really feel that putting it in my journal and really thinking about it really helps me internalize that I am doing something right.

Gina

Gina

Gina - don't stress on the Chi. Something similar may come your way. I looked at their website, and you are right, no instructors in Iowa. If you wanted to think about doing a workshop someplace together I would be up for it - just get your foot back first. You may also be able to find a Physical Therapist who can work with you on posture and gait. My PT was the one who told me about Chi.
There is also a DVD available, but I haven't seen it. Might be on Netflicks?

As far as the TBDS, this is your plan. If you felt you missed by being away this weekend, I say go back to Day 4 and re-start from there. In her book she says there is no right way to do this. You may need to spend a few days on one step before you move to the next. You may be able to do a few steps together. You know yourself best and if you feel you "missed", stay on Day 4 until you feel ready to move. I will say that Days 4 and 5 have been the best for me so far, and it is only 9am on Day 5.:D I say slow down and enjoy the changes you are learning. This is not a race.

Off to my workout. I'll update my LJ later today.

Thank you, Ellen. I will look into the dvd. My foot is fine I think it is Jude who has a problem with her foot.

I think I am going to keep sailing from here but continue to add praise to the end of my journals. I am getting pretty good at praise and I am using it for everything--including housework. I praised myself all morning about getting so much done but right before I left I looked through the house and began to get upset that I didn't mop and a few things weren’t where they were supposed to be. I almost undid all of the praise I had given myself this morning by beating myself up about it not being DONE yet. I prefer leaving the house tidy but have to give myself credit for what I got done and leaving the house looking better.

It really made me think about the part of the chapter 4 where she lists the sabotaging thoughts and she said "I don't deserve praise because I haven't lost the weight yet". I didn't think that applied to me. But this morning I almost let myself feel that I shouldn't have been praising myself because there was more to do and I had to leave it undone. I wonder if I have been doing this all along with my weight.

Judith Beck has me thinking about things that I have never really thought about before.

All or nothing and perfectionism really have a hold on me.

http://schaug.livejournal.com/

Gina

Ooh, ooh, I wanna join!

I just finished Day 3. I'm really excited about this book. This is really my downfall when I'm trying to lose weight. I have no problem with exercise but when it comes to food...I'm the embodiement of all those little bulleted lists in the book.

For my diet I think I'm going to do weight watchers. On my own. I'm just not much of pay-to-get-weighed person.

I also started a blog:
http://iheartdietpepsi.livejournal.com/

Hi Stacy! Welcome to the group!

And hello to everyone else! :wave:

Sorry for my long absence... the weekend was more or less a bust - not that I went off-plan, because I didn't, but because it was the first free weekend I'd had in months and I simply just crashed. It felt soooo good.

Gina - since I have started reading TBDS, I, too, have discovered how my eating behaviors are reflective of other behaviors in my life... and I think it's great that you are, too. After all, this is a huge life change - for the better - and we can use it as a springboard for not just changing our eating but for betterment of the way we live our lives as a whole. That's awesome! :hug:

Ellen - I have always wanted to run! I've never done a marathon - likely never will! - but I am a runner wannabe trapped in a fat person's body. Any advice for how to start a running program?

Hi Stacy. I sent you an invite.

To all of us on LJ - after you type in your journal entry at the bottom of the form is a box that says: post to: Be sure to chose beck_chicks or it will show up in your personal journal.

Suz, there are a number of good ways to start a running program. What worked for me was intervals - jog for 1 min and walk for 4. After a week jog for 1.5 min and walk for 3.5. When that gets easy go 2:3, etc. When you can jog for 4 and walk for 2 start increasing your speed. Check out www.coolrunning.com for their Couch to 5K training. There are lots of on-line programs out there. The secret is to watch your posture and listen to your body.

Speaking of which, I need to go meet my walking buddy. I'll update my LJ either later today or tomorrow - busy day ahead.

Most of the stuff I do want to keep in my personal journal, for my own reference and so I can look back on it all and track my progress. I'll start crossposting more often - especially when things get hard. (And I know they will eventually.)

I think I will begin running tomorrow at the gym, following Ellen's advice. I think it burns more calories than the elliptical...

Day 12 is KILLER.
 

Well... not really...

But it is hard. I can feel my hunger coming and going, and my belly is growling, but I have a banging headache/lightheadedness that I'm not sure is the result of lack of food OR if it's because of the idiocy I'm dealing with today. :headache:

I wonder if skipping a meal is such a hot idea. (This is NOT me giving up, this is me wondering out loud.)

I'm glad there's only one day of this challenge...

I think the headache is from both lack of food and workingwith idiots. I know how I react to not eating, and am seriously thinking of skipping this day. I don't fast because of how it effects my fatigue levels and makes all my MS symptoms seem that much worse. I think I just talked myself out of it. I KNOW how I get when hunger and know it is not forever. There is a difference between being seriously hunger and a little "peckish" and I can distinguish between the two. Yep, just talked myself out of Day 12. I'll just live it through you, Suz :hug:

Oops. I new at livejounal so I tried to join BEFORE I found the invite. Sorry!

Geez, from the sounds of it I'm not looking forward to day 12. Hopefully it lands on a rest day or I'll be skipping it too.

Stacy - you have been approved. Journal away and keep us posted!

Hi everyone - I'm on day 11. I'm also going to postpone Day 12 for a while. I think that skipping lunch will cause more damage later in the day for me. So tomorrow will be day 13 for me and I'm going to stay on Day 13 for a few extra days so that I can concentrate on the cravings issue. I have also decided not to start new days on the weekends and will instead focus and review the new tools that I have learned the previous week.

I have been checking out other on-line groups doing BDS and this is the most active group that I have found and I need the accountability so I'm going to join you ladies if I may. I have also read several of your on-line journals and I was impressed with your dedication and honesty.

I use My Food Diary and calorie counting for my choice of diet plan as I feel this is the best way to make lifestyle changes for me. I look forward to chatting wth you but don't look for me too much on the weekends as I have just moved into a "new" historic house that we recently purchased and there is a lot of yard work to be done. Luckily the inside is in really good shape and the inside projects will have to wait for the Fall of the year.

Welcome Stacy!

Ellen, I agree that you might not want to do day 12. Maybe, at most, prolong your hunger. Instead of eating at your normal time eat an hour later.

Well, I was home with a migraine started by allergies so I didn't get anything done yesterday. I forgot my book today. I know that today is day 10 and exercise but I am going to wait and read it.

Gina

Hi Kathy! I think that is a great idea to leave the weekends to strengthen your tools.

Poll: what has been TBDS's greatest tool for you to date??

Some of the days are easy because I am a "professional dieter". I have done some of the things already but clearly I am missing SOMETHING or I would have lost the weight by now. I think the two strongest tools that I have learned from TBDS that I didn't already do was from Day 4-praise and Day 1-motivation. I think reminding myself of why I really want to lose weight has helped me focus and I slip less because of it. Also, I am very hard on myself and I can see how much I need to praise myself to counter my natural tendancies.

So, to praise myself (day 4)

I have made a lot of healthy changes.



Have a great hump day!

Well, girls, I made it through Day 12 - and then some! I actually didn't get to eat dinner until about 8:00 last night... but you know what, the hunger really does come and go, and when you put the discomfort of hunger in perspective (that's what the chart's supposed to do), it really isn't so bad. If you're not going to do Day 12 right away, that's fine, and if you have health issues that prevent you from doing Day 12, you definitely shouldn't - but at least give it a try sometime, if you can. It's scary, but it's worth it. I feel very empowered!

Today's Day 13 (I'm there, too, Tresor!) - and it deals with cravings, ugh. To top that off, I have PMS... what kind of timing is that?? I came up with a different kind of card for cravings... not exactly a response card, but more of a "reference" in that it has a list of all the techniques I can try to help me battle a craving. I'm actually doing okay - no cravings today - but I just KNOW that there'll be a day when I get a taste in my mouth for something and I'll need to bust out that card!!

Welcome to Stacy and Tresor!! Glad you could join us. We've really got a nice little group going on here, and we know now how important it is to find support. Glad to have you!

Gina - attagirl!!! You should be so proud of yourself for learning those skills... because they'll help you with so many other things, too. You are doing a terrific job with TBDS. No more "professional dieting" - ever! :D

Ellen, you are so right - this is NOT a race, and everyone needs to learn the skills at their own pace... that is an excellent point, and maybe one I need to remind myself of.

OK, ladies - back to my cubicle I go... will try to check in later, and post a longer journal entry tonight (I was in such a rush this morning!).

Hope everyone's having a great day!!

Exercise: here is my journal. I went to the library and got the Kite Runner on CD to listen to on my IPOD. I am really looking forward to it. My hope is that I will walk a little more just to hear what happens next. That is how I am when I read a book ---just one more chapter----one more----and before you know it my house is a mess, the kids are hungry, and . . . you get the idea.

http://schaug.livejournal.com/2752.html

SUZ! Wow, I am really glad to hear that day 12 went well for you! You go girl!!!!! I haven't read your journal yet but want to go take a look. I love the word empowered! That really gives me hope.

Gina

Days 14/15
 

A lot of this is about empowerment, I think... slowly but surely, we are learning that we can gain mastery over the things and behaviors that we have been allowing to control us. Food, hunger and temptation are no longer the enemy!

So today I am doing both Day 14 (planning meals) and 15 (the actual start date of dieting and monitoring food) because I have already started dieting and I was already sort of planning my meals... but admit and acknowledge that I do need to work on planning and keeping track of the plan more meticulously. I'm doing that in my LJ, and I will use that to monitor my food progress during the course of the day.

We also weigh in on Day 15... and I'm happy to report another loss, so I'm down to 159. Amazing how just the little tweaks here and there have made a two-pound difference over two weeks!

OK - running REALLY late now - talk to you girls later! Have an awesome day!

Day 13 for me - Making the decision: Am I hungry? Am I desiring something to eat? or am I craving something?

I walk home for lunch (part of the planned exercise for the day) and I am HUNGRY! I have a South Beach grilled chicken wrap for lunch (eating slowly while seated of course). I finish the wraps and still feel a little hungry but I tell myself to give it some time and let your lunch register. Woo hoo for me!!

So far I've got it under control for today and my dinner is planned and I have room for a sugar free ice cream bar for my dessert.

Kathy

Attagirl, Kathy! :hug: Doesn't having control feel great??

*~*~*~*~*

Girls - I'd like to put a motion on the floor...

Since this thread's getting big and unwieldy, I propose that we start a new thread on Monday and every Monday after that - just so navigating through these threads doesn't get unwieldy/unmanageable.

How say you all?

*~*~*~*~*

OK - so yesterday we had a birthday in our office and we had a birthday cake for the honoree, which I resisted and was fine with...

But TODAY there is another birthday, and ANOTHER CAKE!! What IS this??? Someone has a wicked, evil sense of humor for throwing all this temptation my way. Nevermind! I shall be strong. NO CHOICE.

Gotta run, girls - how's everyone doing? Can we get a status check on you all, please? :hug:

tbds newbie question
 

omg i got the book a couple of days ago and i am so so giddy lol just a couple questions tho:
i wanna do the fat smash diet, starting with the detox phase which lasts 9 days. I was wondering if i should start right away with tbds or if i should wait until the next phase where i can introduce more foods, like chicken and fish and other types of protein and carbs.
Also, did you guys read the entire book before you started or did you read the intro and go day by day?
thanks and good luck everyone!!

rowdy, do you watch seinfeld? That just reminded me of Elaine and the office parties! *giggle* Huge congrats on resisting though. Well done!

bean, I think technically you're supposed to read one day at a time. If you go back to the beginning of the thread there is someone (and I'm sure more) who read the whole thing first. I've done a couple days together here or there, mainly when I already have that days task under control or it wouldn't take a whole day (such as choosing your program. Also when you're reading the tbds you are supposed to wait until the third week to start your actual diet plan so technically you should start it before you start the fat smash diet. Good luck and welcome!

one day at a time
 

Stacy - no, I haven't seen that episode - or at least I did and I don't remember...! Either way, this is not the first time I've been compared to Elaine! :D

Bean - I read the book one day at a time - only once did I do two days at once. I know some here have read through the entire book once before doing the plan, but I prefer to read one day at a time. It keeps me motivated with the thought of "I wonder what tomorrow's challenge will be!"

Today's challenge (day 17) is to leave food on my plate - intentionally. Don't know about you ladies, but for me, this is going to be extremely difficult and I'm not real sure how I'm going to handle it. :?:

Hello Beck Book Devotees,

I am also following the book and have been searching online for a support group to use as my diet coach. I joined one on another board just as everyone was relapsing or disappearing or whatever. Mind if I fall in with you? I'm on Day 5 but not doing very well yet with Days 1-4, and I really need some accountability to get my butt in gear.

Lianne
188/not weighing yet/150

Oh, Liannie! Of course, welcome!!

What exactly are you having trouble with on Days 1 - 4? I think a LOT of us had difficulty on Day 4 (giving ourselves credit)... I know I did...

Anyway, welcome to the group! Hope to hear lots more from you.

And how about the rest of you girls..?? How's everyone doing? Everyone make it through the holiday weekend okay? I got through mostly unscathed. I didn't plan food the way I wanted to, but I still managed to be okay and didn't overeat/overstuff myself like I usually do at picnics!

I also went shopping with DH... and I bought the first size 10 shorts I've had in years! I just about did backflips in the fitting rooms at Old Navy! :D

TBDS really works!!!

Hi Suz and everyone,

Thanks for the welcome. I am SO glad to be here! My main problem with Days 1-4 has been, well, the whole thing actually. I feel like I need to master each task before I move on to the next one which is really dumb because it would probably take me 10 years to get through the book, right?

Initially I struggled over my reasons for wanting to lose the weight for about 3 days. I thought I KNEW all the reasons but when I went through Beck's checklist they all sounded so generic and not-quite-truthful-enough, even though I did agree with them all. I finally realized that I want to get down to a lower weight because I think then I will be happy again. Now that's really crazy because happiness should not be contingent upon size. I know what I'm really trying to do is turn back the clock to a happier time when I was coincidentally smaller. And it's completely unrealistic to think that a smaller size will give me a cleaner house, a more attentive husband, a less stressful job, less worry about my son, fewer interactions with my toxic boss and all the things that contribute to the daily mental gloom that makes me turn to food.

I finally got past Day 1 when I made a master plan for my life in which I decided that my gift to myself for my birthday (in late December) would be a new job. DH and I are already moving to a new house in August, and I can just hire a weekly maid service to help with cleaning so that I will like the environment I don't have time to take care of because of the wacko job. My son's depression will always worry me but he's an adult and I'll have to learn to live with that. So that was Day 1 and it took me a week to get through it.

Then I picked 2 diets: Leanness Lifestyle (which I still haven't finished reading because it is 490 pages) and my old fall-back: 1500 calories/lots of produce and water/fewer carbs.

I kept forgetting to read the cards (still scraps of paper because I havent bought index cards yet), but I moved on to eating sitting down. What a struggle! I haven't made it a full day yet without screwing up at least once.

Nonetheless, I did Day 4 and tried to give myself credit. Unfortunately, it's been a holiday weekend and I found little to give myself credit for because I lost all control on Friday's pizza dinner with DH, then Saturday's carb-laden lunch turned into an all-day munch fest when the cravings overwhelmed my capacity to stop, and Sunday's dinner with 2 fat friends became a 3-hour Sangria-fueled Tapas fest that left me with a massive hangover on Monday.

But, on "Day 5", Monday (actually like 10 days into the plan), I did eat a slow and mindful breakfast before having lunch standing up while working on stuff for the barbecue.

So here I am on Day 6, imperfect as all ****, but still hanging in there and looking for my diet coach. Like I said earlier, I scoped out another group on the YaYas board but just as I was joining, they were all falling off the wagon or whatever and fate led me here.

I'm no stranger to dieting because I've been doing it on and off for almost 40 years (since first finding Dr. Stillman's book when I was about 12). Having weighed as much as 240 and as little as 120 as an adult, and I've learned how to TAKE the weight off. I just have never gotten the hang of KEEPING it off. I believe in cognitive behavioral therapy, so I think TBDS is going to be the key and I am really ready to move forward with it.

Anyway, I've written a book here so I will stop now. Let me just say that I THANK YOU FOR LETTING ME JOIN and I hope to be as much help to you all as I'm sure you will be for me. And I promise not to be so verbose next time...:)

Welcome Liannie to our group. We're all on different days and some of us are doing BDS to the letter and some of us (like me) are marching to a different drummer. I read the whole book first and then went back to the beginning.

I'm currently concentrating on Day 11 and Day 13 - these tasks are about cravings, desires, & actual hunger feelings. I think that I'm going to stay here for a few extra days. I have problems sticking to any plan on the weekends and I've got to get over this problem before I can suceed. My weekends are not as structured as the weekdays so I have to make a plan and get some really good response cards before the weekend comes around again. How do the rest of you handle weekends?

Kathy

Sorry to be MIA. I will try to get together and chat with you tonight or tomorrow.

Later! Gina

Day 7 to Day 8
 

Hey BeckChicks,

Yesterday was Day 7 for me, Arranging the Environment (what Dr. Phil would call "creating the No-Fail Environment"). I thought I had been doing that all along but the past weekend's carb-fueled binge convinced me that I need to really play down the carbs in my diet in order to succeed in cutting calories. So my plan is to use up the rest of the fruit, fresh corn, etc. that I bought over the weekend, and just not buy any more until after I've gotten a good start on the diet next week. DH and DS would be happy to eat nothing but hamburgers and pizza the rest of their lives, so they won't miss the stuff. I will be giving up my Atkins caramel nut bars too because they are also a trigger.

I did read my cards twice and ate sitting down 75% of the time. I had about 2100 calories worth of food (including a small dish of ice cream) but I also worked out for an hour. I gave myself credit for not gaining any weight, for eating slowly and sitting down when I did, and for not waking with a stomach ache this morning by not overeating last night.

Today and tomorrow's charges-- making time and energy for diet and exercise then picking a plan--I've already been doing this so I will just concentrate on perfecting Days 1-7. I'm a fan of the Firm, and I've devised a rotation for myself of Firm videos interspersed with cardio from Prevention and Gilad. I've been doing that since May 20 and have it sketched out until August 1 on my calendar along with the days of week and times of day to do it. I got great results from a program like that before and I'm glad to be doing it again.

I hope the rest of you are doing well. What are you giving yourself credit for today?

L

hello Beck followers,

I have started the book last week would like to join your group. Right now I am very positive about the book and have doing the the different tasks.
The personal card about why I want to loss weight has been a help when tempted. :devil:
I am really working on being ok with being hungry. Now that is work.

I have over 150Lbs to lose. I was going to have the baratric surgery, but my bone density was too low, so was turned down. That was rather disappointing.

I am hopeful and very positive about her approach. The issue for me has been maintaining the weight loss,-there have been many diets and always the re-gaining and back to the old ways. :(


Sharing successes and getting help with failures seems like a great idea.

Best of luck to all
coastalsue

Hi, Sue, and welcome! I'm on Day 21 of the book, and I can already tell that this is going to end the yo-yo cycle of loss/gain in my life. Good for you for starting and staying with it! We're all here for each other's successes and slip-ups, so feel free to share whatever you like.

Gina, I've been kind of absent, too - so busy!

I have to go to a potluck tonight... I sing in the church choir at the church my husband is the organist at, and we're having our end-of-season potluck. It is not my church (I am Jewish!), but I like the people there and so I'm looking forward to the opportunity to hang out with them - but in the past I've really pigged out at potlucks, so I'm a little nervous. I mean, how am I supposed to plan for something like that? I don't know what's going to be there! I guess maybe I'll stick to salads? I made a potato/onion/mushroom/swiss kugel (hah, Jewish food at a church social!) and I will be eating NONE of that! :D

How's everyone else doing?

Good Morning Suz and Welcome Sue!

Yesterday was a really good day. I read the cards, sat down to eat most of the time, ate slowly and did my workout in the morning. I am concentrating on getting the first several days down pat because I already have the exercise part in place. I realized today I have two more reasons to want to lose the weight:

I want my old body back! (It was never perfect but it was better than this one.)

I want to stop being a slave to food.

What are some of your reasons?

L