The Beck Diet Solution July 2007
 

Hey Beck Followers,

Thought I'd start a new thread for July since the other was getting a bit large. I know it's still June 30 here in Illinois but, to paraphrase the song, "it's July somewhere!"

See you all in the morning,
L

older thread is #1 on Google
 

Hi Liannie,

I can only speak for myself, but I am going to keep my posts to that other main big mega-thread.

The reason is that if threads get broken up, then old threads "die" and the info gets lost in the shuffle.
Also, new people can read up on all the old info in one place.

Also, that old large thread is the #1 result on Google when one searches for...

beck diet solution support group

Its #2 behind Amazon when when searches Google for...

beck diet solution group

So that's a great result, and not easy to get. Its because of the size of the thread, and posting frequency, etc.

Lastly, I don't know if its just me, but accessing the 3fatchicks website is not easy, for some reason. There are so many bells and whistles, cookies, applets, etc, on the site, I don't browse the site, as it can freeze up. So I just go right to that mega-thread.

So anyway, that's my 2 cents. I think megathreads are the most useful, as all the info is in one place in this type of general forum.

Lastly, Judith Beck said on her blog they plan to have a Beck Diet Solution Online Community at some point, so that will be good when that happens. I will be there...less of me, that is.

Hi everyone,
I hope you've had a nice weekend! I feel like once again my weekend has sabotaged my week-long diet efforts, but I'm really going to work at reining myself in next weekend! By the way, if any of you are having a hard time monitoring your food on paper, I signed up for fitday yesterday, and it's fabulous! I think it will work so much better for me since I'm on different computers all day. Plus, I like that it estimates calories for me (food and exercise) and graphs my weight loss.

CBT, we decided a while back to start a new thread once July rolled around. I'm sure that as we continue to post here, this will become a top google hit. I just think it might be daunting for new people to see a ton of pages and feel like it might be hard to jump in.

Sue, congrats on your weight loss! Enjoy the concert and cajun (yum!). It's great that you planned for it in your diet!

Liannie, I've found I need to re-read the first few chapters about once a week. I'm going pretty slow with the rest of the book, but I really want to get the basics down. Like you, I know it is still too easy for me to fall back to my old ways!

Hope next week is great for all of us and that this time next week we are all a little bit lighter! :)

Oh my gosh, Karina, you have really hit the nail on the head with the weekend ruining the week's work. I COULDN'T BELIEVE how much I weighed this morning. I must be holding water for myself and about 3 other people! There's no way I could have gained that much weight in 2 days. I'm going to have to be absolutely spartan to reach my goal this month. I'm not even going near my ticker.

I also record on fitday. I bought Fitday for PC so I could use my laptop, but I recently discovered TheDailyPlate.com which is another nice online program that some other 3FCers use. It lets you record fast foods a little more simply. Of course, I need to just eliminate those and stick to Fitday, don't I?!

As far as my progress with the Beck program, I've found that starting back from page 1 has made a big difference for me, and I think I'll need to keep going back over stuff again and again. Since trying to avoid emotional or mindless eating is the whole point of reading the book, I really need to give it a lot of time.

And CBT, I think the moderators like threads to stay within a certain length. That was why we started another. I'm with you on hoping Dr. Beck starts something on her site too! I wish the workbook was coming out sooner as well because I need all the help I can get with this.

For my re-doing of an earlier lesson, I practiced hunger tolerance today by skipping lunch. A couple of times I almost caved by snacking but there were no South Beach friendly foods in the house, so I stuck it out and I'm glad I did. Tonight, I'm planning menus and making a shopping list. Tomorrow, I will revisit all my old index cards.

Enjoy the week and the holiday, all!

Take care,
L

Great job on the hunger tolerance, Liannie! I'm SO impressed you did it on a non-work day! That's amazing! Good for you!!

Oh, I've been to tell you guys my latest exciting news I just realized...although the scale has yet to go down more, my current weight puts me in the overweight, not obese category! Take care, everyone!

Thanks Liannie for starting the new one...

Sue, I'm really impressed with your saving 1000 calories for your Cajun meal. That is great.

Karina, congrats. That's a cool realization. One of my big rewards is going to be when I'm at a normal BMI. I remember the last time I got under 25BMI; I was so happy, tho it's a very distant memory.

I had a nice big payoff this morning...I'm down 4 pounds now since starting the first two-week phase of my diet. I'm over the moon.

This is sometimes when I start to eat off plan....it gets too hard or my cravings get too big, or I start to think I don't have to follow the plan exactly. And altho I do best on LC plans, if you eat off plan, you can really rebound with the weight at lightning speed, so I have to keep keeping on. It feels like a mystical experience to lose weight...I'm only half joking.

Well walking over to my favorite coffee shop to journal and get my caffeine buzz on.

girly

Hi everyone.

thank you so much Girlythin for giving me a heads up about the move, I kept going back to old site and did not understand about the move. Like CBT,I find the 3 chicks site a bit of a mystery and rather awkward. I just bookmarked our old location. I have become a bit dependent on all you guys for sharing the woes and successes of Beck new life style. I was worried that you all formed a telephone support system and were not doing postings any more.

Karina great you met on your goals regarding now no longer being "obese". . Girlythin-great loss. Liannie and Karina, I also use fit day and find it great. I am so anxious to get under 300 LBs. then go from Morbid Obesity to just plain obese.

A fun and rather interesting weight loss weekend. I went completely off the Beck plan and enjoyed 2 unstructured days of eating and lost 1/2 lb. I think some of rigid planning, measuring and recording instilled a improved food sense and even though I ate less nutriously, I did not binge, Yeah- The selection was less healthy (alcohol, crackers, cheese, chips )but the amounts were down.

Also know the body is crazy and may not let go of another pound until 10 more days of "perfect" moderation. But I am enjoy one of the very rare times that a serious binge did not start. Today I am back on Beck diet. I like the rest of you am continously reworking all the Beck lessons. I am trying to include that Oh Well attitude in other areas of my life when disappointed.

Went to a garage sale and got cheap a fancy recumbent bike exerciser. My DH is so patience, as over the years, he has hauled in and out of the house about 5 expense yet remained unused pieces of exercise equipment. I have high hopes. If I could make myself use it all time that I watch TV how the cals I would burn.

thanks to you all
sue

girly, GREAT job on the weight loss!! I love when I start a new "decade" of weight!

Sue, I think it's a great sign that you went off the plan and still made some good decisions and even lost weight! It sounds like some of the changes you've made have become at least somewhat second nature. Re: the bike, I bought a used treadmill that I use while watching tv. I don't think I could do it without the tv; the time goes by much more quickly. Good luck with it!

I did not do very well for lunch--DH asked me to meet him for lunch, and we decided to have Indian, since it's a buffet (quick food is much better when you have a squirming 15-month old on your hands). I actually did very well, I think, except I ended up having 2 pieces of naan. I originally planned to only have 1, but then just couldn't seem to help myself. I really need to work on resisting foods that I love. Any ideas on how to do that? I worry about that happening at parties, too. At least I only got 1 plate, and over half of it was dahl/other veggie dish. I resisted the fried foods, so I feel good about that. Anyway, it did kick my b*tt in gear, and I jogged on the treadmill during my daughter's afternoon nap.

I'll check in tomorrow...take care!

Oh: I just found this new thread so I'll cut and paste my intro:

Hi all! I am so, so, so very excited that I found this forum!!! I just bought TBDS and am on page 43 and LOVING it! I recently got very skinny doing ******* (low carb, low fat, low cal). Too skinny. Nobody but me was thrilled. Now I've gained a little back but was (until I bought TBDS yesterday) terrified of gaining it all back since I'm having a hard time finding balance between the extreme diet I was on and no diet whatsoever. No more!

What I love about this book is that it doesn't tell you to NOT diet (like some of the intuitive eating books do), yet it gives you the mental tools -- that are almost always lacking in a diet -- with which to successfully embark on a plan. Low carbing works great for me, but currently I have a bunch of sugary food in the house. TBDS has already helped me avoid a blow-out binge: I heard the little frozen pints of evil calling me from the freezer last night. I just kept saying to myself, "It's a craving, it will pass. I will feel SO great tomorrow if I do NOT give in" etc. etc. I ended up eating some watermelon and an Atkins bar and actually didn't even want the ice cream after that.

This morning I weighed less than I thought (I've been overeating bad for the last couple of days since I got back from vacation). I really am SO happy I didn't give in to the craving last night and eat the ice cream. Okay, I did eat more than I wanted to yesterday, but I didn't give in to the sabotaging voices. Baby steps.

I'm really looking forward to discussing this plan with you all, a plan which I think is a breakthrough for dieters. I'm going to go back and try to read as many posts as possible to learn from all of you.

Thanks!!! Ursula

Welcome, Ursula!
How are the rest of you doing? Tomorrow is my weigh-in day, and I'm nervous again. I think I've done really well this week, but I seem to have hit a little plateau. We'll see how it goes!

Do any of you have fun plans for tomorrow? We are having some friends over (can see the fireworks from our house, though a little far away), nothing big. What are you all going to eat? I still haven't decided, but I need to beforehand!

Welcome Ursula! I'm totally familiar with *******. Dang, you have willpower to be able to do that.

I feel so IN CONTROL--Oh how great that feels. I know that the Beck techniques are really helping. I haven't done any new stuff in the book in a couple of days. My next thing is rating hunger; am going to do it tomorrow.

I can feel the advantages (card) really seeping in; I'm faithfully reading them (all 22 reasons for me) when I wake up, and then another time, usually before lunch because I always want to overeat after lunch in my 1:00 class. I think it's an anxiety reaction that has been sort of unconscious.

I'm really seeing how my resistance to planning impacts all areas of my life, including my stress levels b/c if I'm not planned well, then I have more stress. I always get my class planning done (I'm a teacher), but it's often under extreme pressure b/c I wait till the last minute, or I don't allow enough time.

Since I didn't spend enough time doing lesson prep last weekend, I had to get up really early today to get it all of Tuesday's lessons prepped; then I didn't have enough time to eat bkst slowly, or to prepare lunch.

BTW, I've been doing something that's helped cut the time a lot. When I cook, I always try to make two meals. Last night I made a snack, so I threw together another one and wrapped it in Saran. Or if I'm cooking bkst, I'll also make another meal @ the same time. It's been really helping me with not feeling AS overwhelmed. As I was telling Karina, I've gone from eating like nearly every meal out, including a lot of ffood, to now cooking and prepping healthy food.

I have no exciting plans for the 4th...I'll relax, journal for a long time at the coffee shop, maybe stroll down to the beach and watch the fireworks.

Have a great holiday...

Hey all,

Welcome Ursula! How great to have a new member. You'll love the group. Everyone here is so supportive and I feel like I'm in really good company as we all try to get a handle on our eating styles.

I'm just doing a brief checkin today because I worked a long late shift. I didn't have time to go over my cards before work because I decided to work out for 90 minutes, and then had to take my son to get his car fixed. I will go over them again tomorrow because I will really need all my strength not to overdo. I'm hanging out with my two best friends and, between the three of us we've probably eaten about 17 cows and drank a barley field full of beer over the years. The triggers will be there to pig out but I want to stay sane about my holiday eating.

I'll check back later. Happy 4th!

L

Happy 4th everyone!
Ugh, I'm frustrated that the scale is still firmly resting on 165, but at least it's good motivation not to overdo it today. I think now that I'm monitoring my eating on fitday, it's helping me not to eat as much. I love that it counts my calories for me, and I've stayed between 1200 and 1600 since I started it. So, I do expect the numbers on the scale to go down soon. I got my reunion announcement in the mail, which is my big incentive right now to do well! My goal is still to lose at least another 20 lbs between now and end of September, and I hope closer to 25!

Liannie, I loved your post about you and your friends, it is so funny! LOL
I'm going to stay with friends all next week in a similar situation, and it's going to be a killer. Great job on the 90 min workout!!

Girly, good job on reading your cards...I'm good about doing it at work, but not so much when I'm at home. Now that I'm mostly not going to be at work until mid-August, I really need to do better. I like your idea about reading them in the morning...I think I'll put a list in my bathroom to read while getting ready. Great job on eating out less! I've also been better about that, although not so much on the weekend as I mentioned. I'm really going to work on it this weekend, though!

Today is Day #1 with TBDS, but I've already used it's principles. I'm not sure what's up with my body right now, but yesterday (and during the last few days) I ate 2700 cals. and haven't gained, was even down one pound this morning (!). Granted, I'm at the tail end of TOM, so it's water weight but I'm still amazed that I'm not gaining...

TBDS came into play when, after having all that food yesterday, I was watching TV in bed with my husband at 11:30 last night musing over the idea of eating some more ice cream once he fell asleep!!! I immediately implemented what I've learned so far with TBDS and focused on how good falling asleep would feel, and how bad I'd feel eating. It worked!!! I went to sleep very proud of myself. Beck says that every time you resist a binge or temptation, you built up your "resistance muscles." Indeed, I felt stronger this morning and was rewarded when I stepped on the scale.

Happy 4th to all!!! Ursula

You go Ursula! I've caved in so much lately, my resistance muscle are very very wimpy. I need to strengthen them big time. I fall into that "oh I'm stressed and need this ____(fill in the blank)____ to eat to make myself feel better" mode. BUt I don't feel better afterward! I have heartburn and a full belly and then I hate myself! Thank goodness I'm restarting the book, and hanging out here with all of you so I can relearn these good new habits.

Karina, I think it really helps to have a tangible goal. I was able to really melt off the pounds for my wedding but now that I have no particular goal, I'm sort of wishy washy about it. I think if you keep visualizing how you want to look for the reunion, you'll do great. And being able to go over the cards will make a big difference. Your calorie count sounds just right too.

Girly, good job on the cooking! I need to do more of that. Even though I try to choose more sensible drive-through offerings these days, I don't lose weight if I don't cook the food myself. You just don't know what's in it if you don't cook it. And yeah, planning is crucial. Sounds like you're really moving in the right direction though. As more and more "good days" roll from future to past, you'll get thinner and thinner.

Hey Sue! I remember when I went from being "morbidly obese" to "obese" to "overweight." It was around Christmas when I got to be overweight. I remember saying "Santa, what I want for Christmas is to be OVERWEIGHT" and people thought I was crazy. But I hear you loud and clear! It's great to see that downward progress. You keep working at it and you'll get there. It's a slow process. It took me 3 years to lose 85 lbs. because I took a lot of "time-outs" to maintain in between. But you'll get there. I believe in you.

Well, I'd better go. Gotta get my workout in and then party with those girlfriends of mine. Have a great day all!

L

Hi Guys,

Happy 4th to all.

Wrote a long message last night, then just when I pushed post, my internet connection when down.-heck even the power was off part of last night-some of the fun of bing rural.

TBDS really has given me hope and tools to deal with the overeating. I kinda feel like a AA person who occassionally falls off the wagon, gets back on the wagon and starts all over again following program-read those cards, record, reccord and deal with each impluse to over eat. But I am down 45lbs. And more importantly feel hopeful expect to continue to lose more. Liannie loved your understanding the joy of "just being obese" versus Morbidly Obese. That is great feat that you have lost 85 lbs. Hang in -you learning more and more skills with each re-read. Plus love your humorous phrasing. It is a real art learning to be around our favorite binge buddies. sometime I bring low-cal drinks helps me-my own supplies of bubbly water ect. Very impressed with a 90 minute workout. wow

Karina, you questions about dealing with implusive overeating is a real issue for me also. I plan, plan and then some event,- sound, smell, thought or sight of food and I become one Pavola's dogs. gime, gime, gime, in my head-occassionally after I do fight it I later can be obessive and still over eat other stuff when alone. But I have made slow but steady progress in this area, but I can still undermine days of being on program. I think all change is an accumculation of all the activities, remembering the goals, purging the house of impluse foods, preparing for outings. My mom always said don't get that nasty habit, bad habits are so hard to break. We are just learning to break these unhealthy nasty habits. It takes time and it sounds like you are succesful with the changes -knock em dead at your reunion.

Ursual-powerful stuff resisting that ice cream-wow good for you. Not there my self but hope to soon be able to do that also-can't even allow ice cream in the house. You are impressive.!!

girlythin-much kiddos on all the home cooking. It is a heck of alot of work. I use to love to cook, but years ago had to feed 4 hungry teenagers-they wanted tons of food but a very limited menu nothing exotic-Very boring tedious and cooking became a chore. But home cooking is now really the only way I know to control the fats and carbs. After time finding other types of cooking too rich.

good luck to all
sue

Oops! I jumped into the wrong place!
 

First post and I've already made a boo boo. This is so typical of me! Anyway, here is the post I sent to the wrong place.
Sara<><



Good morning from Alabama,
I am a poster on other forums--new to this one. I am a huge reader, but a small person.:) I lost 75 pounds through VLC and Dr. Bernstein's Diabetic Solution (type 1 diabetes) and have maintained the loss for a year. Five weeks ago I had a belt lipectomy--lower body lift--to remove loose skin and repair my stomach muscles. Now, I am beginning a new phase in my plan. Mine is the PSSSP (Princess Sara's Sexy Skinny Plan:belly:). I am ready to refine my body with a more extensive exercise program. I also want to build confidence in my maintenance. I sometimes struggle with having a fat head inside a thin body.

I bought Beck's book because the cognitive aspect has been essential in my recovery from obesity and food addiction. This book is right up my alley. I enjoy book studies, googled, and found y'all. I am new to 3fatchicks....I did post in the introduction section. Anyway, I will go back and read your thread today. I'm excited about this book and meeting new friends.
See ya,
Sara<><

Hi everyone,

Today was a great day, but food wise, today and yesterday both, were a struggle. I'm sticking to it but it's not as easy as I would like--that is, I want to stuff my face, and I don't like that feeling.

Today again I was GOOD in that I prepared a good bkst, lunch, and snack for before I worked out, GOOD in that I had my morning classes fully prepped so I could eat a good bkst, GOOD in that I packed workout clothes. But BAD in that I didn't get enough of my prep for afternoon class done last night, so I had to spend my whole lunch break prepping, and I only ate like 2 bites. I just finished dinner now, but I feel that out-of-control hunger because I didn't eat consistent and regular meals today. Well, the planning is going to take some time, that's for sure.

I can't believe what a huge difference eating slowly and mindfully make in eating, though. It's really amazing. God, I was wolfing down my food. It was so uncomfortable at first to eat that slowly, but it's a lot more natural now. I feel a kind of peacefulness come over me sometimes from it; I'm sure it's from the mindfulness part of it--like a meditation.

Sue, I also feel that my eating has been at the addiction level of eating. My father and some other relatives had alcohol problems; my dad's been recovered for about 20 years now. I was always so grateful in my younger days that I could imbibe and not get hooked, but all these years later I see that I didn't slip by afterall; it just came my way in the form of food. Honestly, before this time, I just didn't know how I was going to get control of my food. It seemed impossible, so I'm feeling big gratitude for the small steps I've made, for the people on this board, and for Dr. Beck.

I'm thinking that July 4th is symbolizing FREEDOM for me from food tyranny....

What kind of freedom do you have or are you hoping for in the next year?

Hi everyone,
Yesterday and today I haven't gone crazy with eating, but I have definitely gone over my 1600 cal limit. I was just SO hungry all day today, it was unbelievable. I'll have to work harder tomorrow! I am nervous about next week in Philly...my friends always cook the most unbelievable, but fattening, food. I'm thinking about taking diet meals for lunch (even though I'll get a big lecture on the harms of processed foods, which I agree with but need the portion control). Any other ideas?? Even though I'm a good cook, I'm basically not allowed to cook when at their house (the guy is a bit of a control freak in the kitchen). At least they don't like to leave the house, so I don't have to worry about eating out.

Girly, that is such a good idea about the 4th! Mine is similar--free from fears of being hungry! I wish I could be better about eating slowly and mindfully. I don't know how with a 15-month old who fusses through every meal; it stresses me out. I guess I could eat at a different time from my DH, but I love dinner as a family. Anyone have any ideas for me?

Welcome, Sara! Great job on your weight loss and maintenance!

Sue, good idea about bringing low cal drinks around friends...I think I do better with not eating when I drink a lot of diet pepsi (caffeine is an appetite suppressant, right?). I'll take a ton with me when I go to Philly. I will try some different techniques for not overeating from the book and let you know if any of them work for me!

Liannie, good point about keeping in mind it's all about having more "good days" than "bad days." We are not perfect and have to keep in mind that we will have moments of weakness, but it's what we do most of the time that will have the long term effects.

Ursula, great job on resisting the ice cream! That's a great start in strengthening your resistance muscles! I'm trying to stick to "no choice, no food after 8pm", but I don't always make it. Anyway, don't worry too much about the calories right now; I think that's why you don't start your diet for 2 weeks, you need to work some of the principles first.

I'll check in tomorrow...hope you have nice Fridays! It's (hopefully) the last day my husband will ever work for anyone else since he's going to be self-employed when we get back to OK. Yay!!

HI everyone,

I am with everyone else, boy is hard to be moderate today. After a very long hard working day along with some serious financial stress we had martinis-does that knock down the will power. I did count all my calories on fitday and I am right at my max. so now I will white knuckle it until bed time.

girlythin, I feel a real addictive sense to my overeating. Both sides of my family have had serious addiction problems-my older siblings are also over 300 lbs. Many of us seem to rush to the bottle or the refrig. for comfort.

Sara good for you to lose all that weight and now to begin an serious exercise program.

Karina Do the best you can with your dear friends. Take what ever low cal foods you want to eat while you are there. -So many of our friends' activities are revolving around food and/or wine. I find it is a combination of their excitiment and their strong opinions about what is "good" that encourages me to overeat. One of my most food snobby friends hates vegetables. That really limits a low cal menu. Others assure me that their chocolate dessert is so low cal-When I hear "This is the best------, you Must have some-it like I am missing the event of year if I do not eat this. The silly thing I used to believe them. I am aware that overeating leads to 2 problems for me- 1. too many cals for that day, 2. More importantly the potential to binge for a number of days afterwards. So if you did have too many cals for those days, remember when you get home you can return to moderation immediately. I also think I have talk soo much dieting (not really do it) in the past and lamenting my weight that they don't believe I have changed. After 45 lbs, they are starting to believe I will not eat the chocolate. Other time if I say I want smaller portions, fewer fats and carbs on my plate it is like a challenge to them that I was just "pretending" and they seem to be pushing more food. I swear some of our friends are nicer to drunks than dieters. It will only be a couple of days,-Remember-- each act of mindful eating is a success.
We will check with each other in as my company is arriving tomarrow for a couple of nights( after they shopped at cosco.) thin people who love sweets. They bring a pie they love and then eat about 1/4 of it and leave the rest. Swear I plan to throw leftover sweets in the garbage when they leave. It will be a challenge.

Girlythin-I used to teach , loved the kids, but hated all the time I needed to prep, xerox, get the visuals ready. You are making big changes-some days not perfect but so in the right direction. Of all the stuff, I really keep holding on to is recording all I eat and staying less that 1700 cals.

good luck to all
sue

Good morning BECKers! Welcome Princess Sara: I am a royalty freak (my mom is German, so I visit the old country three times a year and drive my relatives crazy b/c I insist on visiting at least on castle each time I'm there) so I appreciate the princess-ness that is you! (It's so funny b/c when I was first married my husband would call me a princess during arguments, meaning it as a slam b/c he said I was acting like a spoiled baby. I'd always respond with a "thank you" since I DO feel like a princess. Unfortunately, he stopped using it against me...or even for me, for that matter).

I have to say, after reading your posts, I believe this is the most insightful and intelligent bunch of women I have ever come across in a weight loss forum. I'm so glad I found you all.

I can totally relate to the addiction aspect of food. Though I've never been severely overweight (only b/c I've gone to extremes --from bulimia in my teens to strict calorie control in adulthood -- to make up for binges), the torture of having to constantly fight the demon driving you to overeat is the same. Even now, when I have been able to eat what most would consider a LOT of calories without gaining, I STILL want MORE!!! It sucks.

Yesterday I finished Day #2 in TBDS and made my cards and picked my diets. My primary diet may be a bit controversial, but I've done it in the past and, for me, it REALLY cuts down on the cravings: I eat one meal a day of anything I want for one hour. Some of you may recognize this as the Carb. Addicts Diet, and you'd be right, except for the twist of intermittent fasting; I only drink water before and after my meal. If that doesn't work, my backup diet is low carbing.

I started yesterday (I know, I know: didn't wait two weeks, but I'm truly sick of the constant struggle brought on by NOT having a framework) and had a FANTASTIC day since I didn't even think about food, didn't even give myself the choice. I even dropped the diet soda, thinking it may act as a sweets trigger for me. We'll see....

Here's hoping all have a carefree, binge-free day! Ursula

Good Morning All!

I read the posts last night but was too tired and sick to reply, so I went to bed instead. I have an awful summer cold, but I'll get over it. It won't stop me from working out either.

:welcome2:
Welcome Princess Sara! We are a bunch of "future sexy skinny" chicks too! Big big congrats on the loss of 75 lbs. And you know, I've been toying with the idea of having a tummy tuck if I ever make it back to 150 lbs. After years of being over 200, I have some hanging skin that I'd like to be rid of. I remember a plastic surgeon once showing me his book of "before&after" shots and he made an idle comment as I was Ooohing and Aaahing over the tummy tucks. He said, "nice but you know what happens next? they come back because then they don't like the thighs." So I'm not sure now. I don't want to start obsessing about my thighs like I currently obsess about my tummy pouch. How do you feel about that? Has it started you wanting thigh lipo too? And what exercise program are you using? I'm an exercise nut and would love to chat about your plan.

Guten tag, Ursula. I just married a German/Lithuanian in March. We've been talking about a trip to the old country for a few years. Problem is, I also want to go to Italy so it's a matter of time and money. We'll surely be asking your advice if we decide to go soon. I've been looking into the Carb Addict's Diet lately because South Beach Phase 2 did not work for me. Adding in a few carbs led me to many many more, and I completely fell off. I'm back on Phase 1 now but I'm really struggling with my carb addiction. I hate to think I can never have it again but I probably shouldn't. A bunch of people on the YaYas board were doing IF and I watched their thread for a while. If you can hang in with the "hunger tolerance" thing, it seems like it can work. Diet soda triggers my sweet cravings too. I'm phasing it out and switching to sparkling water with a twist.

Sue, I hope you were able to white-knuckle it last night! I caved and had a bowl of Wendy's chili on my way home from work. It put me at 1700 calories but it was better than my count on July 4th. I got together with my two best friends and hadn't planned on drinking but then when I was getting stuff out of the trunk of my car, I found a bottle of Jose Cuervo margaritas that was leftover from my wedding reception. So of course the Martini Queen and I drank that (extra fortified with lime vodka), and there went my willpower about the pizza. Drinking and dieting just do not mix! And I'll be sending you all the best good vibes to dump the sweet treats from your friends right into the garbage. Pour Pine Sol on them or something too. Or dump the cat litter box all over them (if you have one).

Karina, vacation is a really hard time to show restraint. Especially in Philly, I think. Everything there is so good and fatty. Same thing with Chicago--the best food but you'd better be a marathon runner or something so you can work it all off! Will there be a chance to get in any extra exercise to offset the cooking? What if you took diet meals like Amy's Organic or something that isn't so processed? That way they couldn't lecture you much. How about insisting on salads with homemade sugarless olive oil vinaigrette for lunch? You could control the calories because it would mostly be veggies. If you just insist, hopefully they'll go along. And I agree with Sue, the potential to binge for days is real. Are your friends naturally thin or would they understand your need to stay in control because they have the same issues? That understanding is key in getting cooperation.

Girly, we are SO on the same wavelength again! I've been saying for two days that July 4 meant independence from food addiction for me, or at least what I'm striving for. Given the fact that I've been striving my whole life and still haven't made it yet, just means it's an ongoing process, right? And "food tyranny" is absolutely on target. I'm tired of being chased through life by a giant donut rolling after me! It sure does take planning though. You did really good the other day in that most of your program went as planned: you brought the food, the workout clothes, and got the workout done. It was just that hitch at lunchtime that threw it off. But now that you know, next time you'll get around that problem too. I sometimes run out of time to do it all perfectly. I carry cans of soup in my car now and keep South Beach diet dinners in the freezer at work so that I can eat sensibly instead of something stupid---provided my emotions don't demand fat, sugar and dough.

Well, I've about written a book here. I'm working from home today so I can pretty much take life at its own pace. I'll be doing a workout then going to the store for some healthy good. I'm going to barbecue a bunch of different meats for the next 3 days to have alongside salads and veggies. I need to undo the damage of my pre-holiday binges. Back to that whole planning thing again.

Have a great day, all!

L

Hi everyone!
I FINALLY lost another pound, so I'm the lighter half of the 160s! I've been frustrated that it hasn't happened sooner, but maybe I broke the plateau. We'll see!

Liannie, thanks for the support...it is going to be hard for me on this trip, but at least I should be able to get a lot of walking in. I like your idea about salads, which I think they'll be amenable to. They are fairly thin people naturally, although the guy has neck problems that prevent him from exercising, so he has gained weight. He does think people should just control the amount of food they eat to lose weight, not change what they eat to less tasty food. *sigh* if only it were that easy! Good luck getting back to your diet. That's the same reason I couldn't stick to South Beach! Too bad, because I liked it a lot.

Ursula, good luck on your diet now that you've started! I'm not familiar with that diet, but what I like about the idea is that it sounds like it really teaches you about control. I totally admire your ability to only drink water--I am such a diet pepsi addict! At least for me, drinking it keeps me from eating, since it fills me up and doesn't lead to cravings, but I've heard that causes a lot of people problems. I'm thinking about switching back to mostly unsweetened iced tea when we move back to OK (I never drank diet soda until about 5 years ago). What do you think about caffeine?

Sue, good to know I'm not alone in my issues with having food with friends. I think I'll just do my own low cal thing for breakfast and lunch and eat their food for supper and just try not to overeat. We'll be there for a week, and I could totally undo all the good I've done in that amount of time, so I need to watch it at least some! Good luck with your company, and let me know if you found any strategies that helped keep you from overeating!

Have a great evening, and I'll be in touch tomorrow. I'm going to work all day until I finish the last of my dissertation revisions. grrrr, they have been a pain in the ***.

Lianne! Hope ya' feel better soon!!! You know what's funny regarding the "hunger tolerance"? I thinks it's actually easier to resist than the cravings. Like right now: it's 1pm and I haven't eaten since 4 pm yesterday. I just worked out on the treadmill, then did pushups. Yeah, I'm feeling hunger, but I'm also totally full of energy. Now, if I were listless or draggy I might feel compelled to eat. But feelings of hunger I can put off for the next two hours when I get to eat my meal.

Hi Karina! You know, the diet soda worked great for me when I was doing a very strict version of low carbing. It was like dessert, since I rarely had any sugar. But it seems to be a trigger now that I get to eat carbs once a day. Regarding caffeine: I NEED IT! I hate black coffee, so I take a couple of caffeine pills in the morning with my water. I started this a few years ago when I got my teeth bleached, and it works great!

Later! Ursula

Hi everybody,
Congrats Karina!!! That's great. What a good motivator right before you go on your trip. I wish I had some tips for eating w/friends but I really don't. What I'm trying to do at work is when I walk thru the doorframe, I use that for my cue, I focus on enjoying conversations with the people and on productively getting my work done. That has helped me not unconsciously shove the junk food that's always on the tables into my mouth.

Maybe you could try to really focus on them, and enjoying the good feelings about being with them. Or maybe you could focus on love....focus on your heart, and think good things about them while your chatting with them, and feel your heart get full. Or what about just going the bathroom right before your meal, and reading your cards before you guys enjoy the meal together, and that way your reasons will be at the forefront of your mind.

Shout out to Urusla and Liannie....my blood is nearly full German....My dad's side was the Volga-Deutsch, that moved to Russia and then finally to the U.S.
Ursula, good job sticking to your exercise no matter what....

Sue, sorry to hear about the white-knuckling. I so get that. In fact, last night and this morning felt that way....I hope that goes away. It sucks!

Princess Sara, you're a great addition here! First of all, we are honored to have royalty And secondly, it will be great to hear someone work the techniques in a maintenance way. Once I'm finished with the weight and focusing so much on that, I intend to use the techniques for other areas. So far, they are feeling powerful.

Hopefully no one else is slipping my mind. We havent' seen Stacy in a while...

off to get my hair cut and some highlights...that's fun.

girlythin

Ursula, I've been reading up on CAD since you talked about it and I think I'm going to use their CM/RM principle but still try to be more "Beachy" about the things I eat. Processed carbs make me go nutso so I think I'll stick to the type of carbs recommended by South Beach, but only at dinner and on a plate in the same proportions as CAD recommends. I'll let you know how it goes.

L

Hi Liannie! I was just commenting to my CAD group over on the LC friends forum that I'm LOVING this WOE. There is one woman who is doing what you are thinking about (i.e. LC RMs) and lost 20 pounds last month!!! Although, I must add as a caveat, she is only eating one meal per day. And that's what I am doing too, except that my RM is more like an intuitive eating RM in that I eat WHATEVER I feel like having during that hour. The "balanced meal" approach was too restrictive for me, triggered my binging since I felt like I was getting jipped. And the "bad" carbs I eat during my RM haven't been a problem for me: I firmly believe in the evils of too much insulin and I think by keeping my eating window down to one hour I avoid the insulin overload that usually has me wanting MORE, MORE, MORE. Anyhoo, so far, so good: I feel absolutely fantastic -- NO CRAVINGS! -- and my weight is still low.

Now, having said that about the one-meal-a-day approach, there are plenty of others who eat both CMs and an RM and are doing fine. It all depends on YOU. Try it first the way you've mentioned; you can always adjust...

Re: TBDS -- I finished Day #4 yesterday and feel like it was one of those easy days in school where the teacher lets you have a free day. The lesson was to "always sit down to eat" which I do anyway.

Hope everyone is having a super-duper weekend!!!! Ursula

Hi everyone,
I'm trying to do better this weekend than usual, oh but it's hard! I definitely didn't do as well yesterday as I wanted to (as in I ate too much of everything and drank too much), but I did at least stick to low energy density foods, which is what my diet plan (Volumetrics) calls for. Hopefully I just broke even with my diet and didn't undo anything. Today is going well so far.

Ursula, you're making me think about trying the one-meal-a-day approach while in Philly. I think I will at least aim to keep my breakfast and lunch cals to under 500 so if I eat too much at dinner, it won't be a disaster. Sounds like an interesting diet...is it something you can keep up in maintenance?

Girly, thanks for the tips! I will work hard at staying focused next week!

Ursula, you are tiny! You look great.

Last night, actually yesterday, was pure ****. OK, I'm exaggerating. There were some good points, but mostly pure ****. I just obsessed all day long about eating and that compulsion to overeat. I just want to move past this and not have food be the center of my world. It sucks. I did do my shopping, even though I 150% didn't want to, and I did put all the stuff away. I did eat allowable foods, but way too much.

Finally in the evening that's when I decided that I'd let myself eat as much as I wanted as long as it was on plan. I didn't really eat that much b/c it's hard to overeat meat and lowcarb veggies. But I ate more cals than I would have like and I ate lots of cheese, more than the 3-4 oz limit.

And for 4 days I'm just hovering around 177. I was 177, then 177.4, then 177.2 today. I should be losing faster--the first 2 weeks are supposed to be like the jump start.

The compulsion feels like fear. I can really feel the fear, and then the screaming in my brain to eat something; and it won't stop. That's the obsessive voice. So I'm getting my hair done, and the whole time I'm chatting with my hairdresser, who I love, and I'm not fully present; I'm wishing I would have gotten a big diet coke so I could be drinking it, and i'm thinking about food too much. I remember when I used to smoke that same feeling of not being present. I'm just half there, the other part of me is thinking when can I have another cigarette.

I'm hopeful that the techniques will help me to let go of this.

Have any of you experienced a releasing of this?

Oh, Girlythin! I know EXACTLY what you're talking about. It really is an addiction. Whenever I see a TV show about drug addicts and what it feels like when they are in the grips of their cravings I always think, "That is the EXACT same way I feel when the sirens of food are calling." It, without a doubt, works on the same part of your brain. And, you are so right: it's VERY scary AND exhausting to have to be battle-ready every day.

All I can tell you is what is working at this moment for me. I lost all my weight a few months ago on *******, then ate whatever on vacation. When I got home a couple of weeks ago, I just kept eating, didn't want to go back to such strict LCing after eating all of that tastey carb-laden German food. Once I got home, those blasted sirens started singing to me again. I binged three nights in a row and knew I HAD to do something.

I'm up for trying anything, so I gave the one-meal-a-day-of-whatever-I-want-for-one-hour a shot. So far it's been heaven! But that's just me. I mean, while I was on ******* I was bingeing about every third day, but the weight loss was so drastic that I could get away with it. But I don't want to live that way: dieting super strict for three days, then binging all day on the fourth. I felt lousy on the free-for-all days.

For me, it's all about keeping the insulin under control. The Beck Solution is helping with the mental stuff. It's definately a fine balance between the two....

Hope that helps! Ursula

Girly, it sounds like you're doing some form of low carb plan. Maybe your compulsions are just carb withdrawals. I find the craziest thing sets me off when I'm first getting carbs out of my system. Like I'll see a Pepsi sign and all of a sudden start craving soda. I don't even drink soda! Just caffeine free diet soda about once a day, and that doesn't taste anything like the other stuff. And it won't leave my brain alone either. And it really is torture. It IS just like one of those shows on TV, like Intervention, where the person is shown as spending all their time in pursuit of their drugs or drink or whatever. I start out spending my whole day thinking about what I get to eat next and when. It's really awful until I get used to it, and that takes about a month.

I was pretty much deluding myself my first few weeks on South Beach because I was compensating with fats instead of carbs. I suddenly needed Sugar Free Jello with heavy cream, and coffee with half and half, and like 3-4 ounces of cheese every day--when I never ate that stuff before. It's a pretty incredible struggle.

Ursula, I admire anyone who can do *******. I tried it for one day but was so weak, I could barely keep going. I have such a busy job--I work in a public health clinic--that I just can't afford to be sluggish and brain-dead so I knew it wouldn't work for me. It produces great results though!

Karina, the one big meal and two skimpy ones might just do the trick in Philly! Especially if your friends think "just cutting back" is the way to go. They probably won't pressure you if you have small amounts for two meals and then something generous for the third. Actually thats how my son and I used to eat when we would go backpacking through Ireland while I was a college student (I'm a bit of a late bloomer, I started college in my 30s). We really couldn't afford to eat much so we had buttered toast at the hostel in the morning, a big pub lunch with Guinness in the afternoon, and then more leftover toast for dinner. I never gained on those vacations. Sometimes being broke actually helps!

Sue, I hope you're out there hangin' tough.

I did okay today. One CM, one RM and then a couple of bites of chili I was cooking for tomorrow, just to taste it. I feel a bit empty now but its bedtime so I don't care. I have a 10 hour shift at work tomorrow and I'm always tempted to nibble at the goodies in the kitchen, so it will be a test of my Beck skills for sure!

More later,
L

Ladies, I need help!

Sorry I've been MIA for awhile. Unfortunately during this time I haven't been doing my BDS either. I haven't gone crazy or anything but I haven't lost anything in a week or two either. I haven't been reading my cards, planning, or keeping up on the book. Ugh!

On the bright side, I've been pretty much keeping up on exercise. I even ran my 10K on the 4th (finishing in 1h9m)! I was pretty excited about that.

I just need some help getting back on track! And I definitely need to get back into this thread more!

Hi Stacy,Welcome back! I know you're discouraged, but dang, your ticker is really impressive.

Liannie, very good point about maybe it's carb withdrawal. I honestly hadn't thought about that.

I just noticed that the moderator locked the previous thread. She asked us to open a new thread every month since the thread was seeing more action, and to help new people to not have to read thru "42 pages" of information to get up to speed.

Yesterday, in the evening when I was conscious of being full (this is a victory b/c usually I don't feel full at all or I have no awareness that my stomach is full), but I was still wanting, wanting to eat more. And I was fighting, fighting, and then I had this realization that even if I gave in and ate, the voice wasn't going to go away. Eating would only make that go away till the next meal time. So why eat? It was such a cool thing to realize.

The bad news is that somehow, I am all the way back up to 180-181.. almost where I started. I thought I did really well yesterday, as I said with the realization, I ate low carb foods, I drank my water.....but I still went up. I ate 1.5 cups more cauliflower than I was supposed to, and I ate some salami, which is allowed but kind of salty. And a little mroe cream because I had decaf coffee at night for "dessert." I usually don't count calories, just carb grams, and I was around 30--max 33 or so, which yes, is over 20, but still--to gain back 3-4#s. Completely discouraging.

So I'm sad because I love Atkins food choices and how relatively simple it is, but I think I need to switch to a stricter low carb plan that limits calories more. I get to have unlimited low carb veggies, which is nice, and I get a serving of fruit, which is nice. It's just more work and it's so restrictive, and for that I feel just a big sigh. But losing is the most important, so if that's what my body needs to be healthy and a normal weight, then I'll do it.

I have been in this place before, so it's encouraging to know that i can use the Beck techniques to change my lack of success in the past.

STACY, you're back! Yay! :cheer2:
And good for you, running a 10K. WOW. I'm REALLY impressed! I'm still working my way up to 2 minutes in a row at 5mph on the treadmill... Cool beans, girlfriend!

Now, to deal with your plateau frustration....have you been counting calories at all? Sometimes those little "extras" add up to more than we think (extra mayo on a sandwich, full-fat lattes, stuff we don't think is harmless at the time) when taken all together. I find it helps me to log my intake into Fitday or The Daily Plate when I need feedback on why I'm not doing well. Does any of this sound plausible to you? What about salt consumption? Possibly water retention is the problem.

And yes, please do rejoin us. If anyone will help you introspect, intuit or thoroughly analyze your eating behavior, it's this bunch! We have two new members too: Ursula and Princess Sara.

GIRLY, :hug:
I've been having to reconsider my diet plan too because of carbo binges the week before the holiday. When I deny myself something completely, it seems like that's the one thing I fixate on and crave. And then when I finally give in, it's with a binge. Even though South Beachers decry calorie counting, I'm doing it now anyway because calories DO matter.

And I'm actually back up to 177 myself, so I guess I'll change the ticker and stop denying that it's only water. I too struggled with the wanting, wanting, wanting last night and almost came here to post a "somebody stop me" message, but then just gave up and drank a bunch of water instead and went to bed. I kept telling myself "NO CHOICE", like Dr. Beck says, and it reminded me of the revelation I had back in 1989 when I went from above 230 to 150 in something like 6 months. I remember sitting on the couch the first night of my diet feeling like I was starving to death, and looking down at my fat rolls knowing they would never leave if I caved in. It was like a lightbulb went on and I recall saying out loud, "I'm never going to lose this weight if I don't learn to go hungry sometimes." I suppose I need to just re-realize that now. There's simply no convenient and completely painless way to do this.

So onward we go, ladies. Have a great day all! Shouts out to Karina, Sara, Ursula, Sue and all the other Becksters out there!

L

PS: I had my "reward meal" already today and will see how the cravings go. My carbs were 2 slices of rye bread (on the low-fat reuben sandwich I made).

I'm new here, just registered, and just bought the beck diet book so went looking or a support group. I just started the book and am unsure what plan I'm going to go with... I'm thinking ww cor but Im not sure yet. hope to meet you all

tracy

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Hello! I just bought the Beck book a few days ago as I saw it mentioned on a vegetarian thread here and didn't realize it was for all ways of eating. I am just getting into it and not exactly following it from first to last, just jumping around and absorbing some of the ideas, making cards, actually to emergency aid me in my binge eating problems, trying to call binges "overeating."

Great book. I've been carrying it around with me.

If no one minds, I'll chime in here every now and then.

HI everyone,

I have enjoyed the honest and helpful postings on this site.

Welcome to the new folks

I have just written two long postings and both times they were lost when I hit repy. So this my last but very short attemt to keep in contact.

Good luck to all tomarrow I'll try again.
sue

Thanks for the ecouragment girly and liannie. It really feels good to belong to a support group. I'm hoping between some extra salty foods and TOM that by next week I'll definitely have a loss. I do count calories using fitday but when I go off plan I tend to quit. Bad habit, I know. I have some family coming out to visit in August so I really want to give it my best for the next month and see if I can get in the 160's. I'd love to impress my sister!

girly, that's an awesome realization! I still struggle with the whole "feel full=stop eating" thing. Have you thought about counting calories for a couple typial days? Maybe even if your carbs are good your calories are a little high. I'm not familiar enough with low carb diets to offer any other advice, I've never even tried one. I don't do well with restrictive diets.

liannie, thanks, I was pretty proud for finishing the 10k. I've only been running for 3 months so I was just happy to finish but my time, 1:09:12, wasn't too bad either! Great job just having water and going to sleep. Too bad we all don't do that everytime!

:welcome: amarantha and popcornfeet! The more the merrier!

:welcome:, Tracy and Amarantha! Want to post your reasons for your weight-loss quest? It's great to get that theme going in the thread because then a lot of us restate our own, and it helps us remember them.

Sue, I'm sorry to hear about your posting problems! Your input is so valuable here. I've come to really depend upon you ladies as like a "group therapy" or something. I've been on so many other boards where we chat about our lives and what we're doing and oh by the way, here's what I ate and how many pounds up/down. But over here, we address the psychological stuff that's behind all the eating. Maybe if you typed your post into a word document then tried to copy the text on this board and send it? In case the post didnt go through, you'd still have the stuff to repaste and send again. Just a thought. Also, I heard there was problems with the Quick Reply option. Someone said to Go Advanced instead.

Stacy, the 160s are a great goal. You've done so well already, I know you'll get there. That would be the icing on the cake for the family to see though come this August. And how encouraging to go from "couch to 10K" in just 3 months! I'm afraid my aged knees would protest that much running, but I am trying some high-intensity intervals on my treadmill. If I could run a whole mile, I'd be ecstatic.

As for me, today I am again revisiting hunger tolerance, no unplanned eating and eating sitting down from the earlier days of the book. I also have an exercise session planned (Workout #27 since starting TBDS on May 20), and I've already read my reasons once today.

And you know what else...I've decided. I'm really going to do this. NOTHING is going to stop me. I discovered another reason yesterday: I'm tired of dieting! I'm tired of the deprivation, the scale obsession and the relearning of lessons forgotten. If I don't regain the weight this time, I'll never have to do this again. I WILL have to be a mindful conscious eater for the rest of my life, but with Dr. Beck's lessons handy I'll be able to do it. And then NO MORE DIETS, as long as I realize that every time I eat, it counts. Because it does.

Happy Monday All!

L

Hi everyone,
I'm in Philly as of yesterday afternoon, but I've done really well so far with keeping on plan, and I think I'll be able to keep it up! We're all pretty much doing our own thing during the day, so I don't even think they'll notice I'm eating very differently. I know I shouldn't care, but I feel like they've seen me be on a ton of diets over the years that have failed, and it's just embarrassing.

Welcome to all the new people! We have a wonderful group here, very supportive, and everyone has great ideas for overcoming some of the past obstacles we've all faced.

Liannie, Great job on your exercising! I completely agree that this group is invaluable to my success. I just don't really have anyone else to help me out with it, and I need the encouragement. I also love seeing everyone else be successful--makes me realize it is really within all of our grasps.

Stacy, I'm so impressed that you ran the 10k, especially only running for 3 months! That is so encouraging for me, since I'm still kind of a beginner at it. Do you have any tips?

Sue, I'm sorry to hear about all of your problems with posting--I'd hate to lose you as part of this group. Maybe it is the length of time that you spend writing that's the problem? I don't think anyone would be opposed if you wrote multiple short postings instead of one long one. Hope you are doing well!

Girly, how is the new diet going? Did you start today? Did you check to see if the scale went back down? Good luck with your new diet!

Talk to you all soon, hope it's not as hot where you are as it is here (98 heat index)...makes it hard to get out of the house and do anything!