Welcome to the discussion group, support group, diet coach group, diet buddy group relating to the two books by Dr. Judith S. Beck:and the first bookThe 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: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, 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.

Previous Beck threads on 3fatchicks.com:


Beck Diet For Life/Solution – February 2009 – Support, Discussion, Buddy/Coach
Beck Diet For Life/Solution – January 2009 – Support, Discussion, Buddy/Coach
The Beck Diet Solution – December 2008 – Group for Support, Discussion, Diet Coach
The Beck Diet Solution – November 2008 – Group for Support, Discussion, Diet Coach
The Beck Diet Solution – October 2008 – Group for Support, Discussion, Diet Coach
The Beck Diet Solution – September 2008 – Group for Support, Discussion, Diet Coach
The Beck Diet Solution – August 2008 – Group for Support, Discussion, Diet Coach
The Beck Diet Solution – July 2008 – Group for Support, Discussion, Diet Coach
The Beck Diet Solution – June 2008 – Group for Support, Discussion, Diet Coach
The Beck Diet Solution – May 2008 – Group for Support, Discussion, Diet Coach
The Beck Diet Solution – April 2008 – Group for Support, Discussion, Diet Coach
The Beck Diet Solution – March 2008 – Group for Support, Discussion, Diet Coach
The Beck Diet Solution – February 2008 – Group for Support, Discussion, Diet Coach
The Beck Diet Solution – January 2008 – Group for Support, Discussion, Diet Coach
The Beck Diet Solution – December 2007 – Group for Support, Discussion, Diet Coach
The Beck Diet Solution - November 2007
The Beck Diet Solution - October 2007
The Beck Diet Solution - September 2007
The Beck Diet Solution - August 2007
The Beck Diet Solution - July 2007
The Beck Diet Solution - May/June 2007

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Was a good walking day. CREDIT moi. DW and I walked about to find a store that sells maps. Such an adventure pouring over maps of obscure parts of the world. Due to scheduling, dinner was early - about 5:30. I was worried that I'd think about extra snacking during the long evening, so I planned that time to cook my pot of pinto beans for next weeks lunches. Which I did, CREDIT moi. And stuck to my planned evening snack of a Florida Naval Orange. Boy, was it good! As always, thank you Florida for amazing citrus fruit.

Jean (kuhljeanie) - Congrats on "another freaky pound this week." Sorta Ouch that it happens when you're trying to beat up on yourself for off-plan, LOL. Sending supportive thoughts to make headway to feeling your old self.

onebyone - Ouch for "temperature is -21C." Yep, that sounds cold from here. Kudos for planning and buying the food sealer. And Big Kudos for planning your week and starting the cooking and sealing. Perhaps you'll open the Canadian distribution center for Jeanstro meals, LOL.

Robin (RobinW) - Loving the image of opening the windows to let "the last flippin' day of February" go on it's way. Kudos for continuing to keep your perspective on your networking event. Amazing that you're going to allow 100 chocolate samples into your shop, wrapped or not. I suppose there is a strong constraint since any attendee missing a chocolate in their bag is likely to come after you, LOL.

Anne (wndranne) - Waving at you taking a long walk with your DH as grandparents mind the kids.

Tera (twilit tera) - Kudos for stopping at half a Haagen Daas ice cream bar. That stopping business remains a challenge for me; great to see that you can do it. Good work with that lime fizzie instead of a dessert. And smart, smart, smart not engaging with your uncle about his views of healthy eating. Can't wait to hear about your chair.

davidette - Welcome home DS for a week of joy and a week of the new regime being tested. Planned and portion controlled will work like a charm. Ouch for the missed gym. Kudos for limiting the beating up on yourself and planning for step class.

ChinaMaine - Waving at your family tobogganing in the slush, LOL. Hope you've found a way to get outside.

Readers -

Coaches/Buddies The last 24 hrs have been pretty much disastrous from a food perspective. My parents have all the stuff in the house that I love to eat but never bring into my own house because I eat too much. Plus we're sleeping in the same room as DS, so "sleeping" perhaps isn't the best word. Exhausted and lots of food available means I'm eating way way way too much of cake, cheetos, chips, ice cream, etc etc, on top of the generous meals my mother is making. This must stop or I'll be up 10 lbs by the time I get home.

I made a plan for today. Not very specific, but broken down like breakfast:400 cal (inc coffee w/ milk & banana), snack 1: 150 cal, ..., free cal: 200. Hoping this helps. It is also colder than Dante's **** here so I'm not running today, but plan to tomorrow. My father is prepping for surgery tomorrow, and the kids are a little clingy now, so I'm not getting a lot of breaks. I did get a nap yesterday; otherwise I'd be insane now.

I'll check back in a couple days.

Onebyone sounds like you are taking some positive steps.

to everyone. I'll get back to full personals Wed or Thursday.

Anne

Good Morning Coaches

March is coming in like a lamb. It's sunny and calm and freezing cold.
This cold snap is stuck over us for a couple more days I think.

I'm just sitting here wondering what to do today. Three choices: clean at home; work on a project for school for Tuesday ; go into the school and do some ceramic studio work and what's really happening is I feel awful due to TOM starting today. Man. So I guess I am going to relax for a bit and wait for the worst of it to pass. Hope that's today and it doesn't linger into tomorrow.

Have a good Sunday.

Good morning coaches.

So much has happened in the last few days. Work was heck for a while. Students just would not settle down and so when I got home did not feel like doing anything.
Dh is still out of work and eeo is still doing their thing. He did have his surgery on friday and it went well. He is very sore and is taking narcotics so I need to stay by him. He is doing better now...want to get off the narcotics...so that he can go to school tomorrow. He stoped them last night.
I went into a-fib last monday, but it was not as bad as it could have been. I guess that the meds are working, but I do go to the dr. tomorrow and will talk to him about this. Maybe the meds need to be bumped up to help more. I will let you know
As far as beck...doing pretty good. I have lost 7 lbs of the weight that I had gained. Still have a few to go...but am thinking about what I am doing more. CREDIT there.
I have not even been on the computer for quite a few days...so I hope that all is going well with you all.

Saturday Report
88% OP (Food, Supplements, Stretching, AI, Careful Moving through shopping even, Lights Out @ 10pm, 3FCx2)
Oh, well. Didn't separate myself from the electronics by 9pm, due to distractions from family.

WI: 4 pounds up (mother's scale)

Bill: for walking. for good food planning and for follow through.

Anne: Sorry to hear about all the things that are working together to sabotage your efforts! Is the sabotage something you can talk to your parents about? If you ask them for their support, they may change their tack - they are just trying to express their love, after all, right? They may just need some redirection.

for making the effort to minimize the damage. Hope your father comes through without a hitch.

onebyone: for you putting your wellbeing first. Hope you're feeling better soon.

angelmomma:

Im op and cranky....see you tomorrow

Went way off plan last night. I had a great weekend - on all fronts except my food plan. It rained like crazy all night Friday, but Saturday came with beautiful sunshine and lovely temps just above freezing. We went out for the day. We couldn't tobaggan, drat! But while my brother’s family went downhill skiing, my hubbie and I went snowshoeing for the first time. We loved it – it’s essentially hiking in the snow. Since I wore my heart rate monitor – I knew I had burned 966 calories in 43 minutes! My husband commented several times about my stamina – and I knew he was right. I haven’t been able to have an active day like that in years. Glorious day!

All was good until I decided since I had burned over double my typical calories from exercise, that meant I could give my adolescent fat chick free rein for the rest of the day. And she took advantage – I ate 1200 calories after 5 PM. And today, I feel quite guilty and low… But I’m back in the saddle, I’ve done a cheat sheet (or mistake analysis or deviation analysis…) I think I’ll try rereading this analysis the next time I have weekend guests. I need to remember why I let the fat chick out of her Beckian bondage this time so I can find a way not to do it again…
Tera – I loved your advice to one by one – very kind and very wise… Bravo for being 71% op and for the new chair! And I like the idea of a weekly dessert day. It is a good way to fight sabotaging thoughts, I would imagine… Congrats for losing 2 more pounds! And I hope the hip is feeling better already!

Bill Sounds like you had a great Friday – exercising, eating delicious veggies and having fun with friends. Credit!

davidette Double-drat on forgetting clothes for the gym. Credit for being prepared for the coming week!

Robin It’s good to hear from you – as always! Hopefully tomorrow you are op and NOT cranky!

Jeanie Congrats on another pound down! I’m sorry you are exhausted. It’s extremely frustrating. While fatigue can be caused from depression, it can also be caused by a large number of diseases. So, keep pressing your doc to rule out possible *physical* causes of the fatigue…

Anne It is such a challenge to travel with children. --It is hard for anyone to get a good nights sleep. There are many pitfalls to trying to stay on plan when with friends or family - especially if you all share a history of making poor food choices together. I think it’s one of the reasons why I was so ready to give up my plan last night. There's a set of behaviors that I associate with the time I spend with family and friends. It's a tough one to break away from, but you can. Your plan today sounded very reasonable – I hope it worked out for you.

angelmomma Sorry about the a-fib – I hope everything is ok now. And I’m glad DHs surgery is behind him and that he’s on the road to recovery. Credit for losing 7 lbs and being op. Considering what you are going through it’s a huge accomplishment!

one by one Wow you’ve had a rollercoaster of a weekend! Credit for coming to the group for help when you needed it. And for finding a path to making a plan and sticking to it more easily. Just keep moving forward with baby steps and you’ll lose weight, feel better and be healthier. This is a tough time in your life, and sooner or later it will all get easier…

Hello, Beckbuddies!

I'm home, in my new chair, which will be perfect once I'm not balancing my computer on my tummy. Quite comfortable otherwise.

Tomorrow I get to work out at the pool in my new bathingsuit! My shaper's been getting way too loose, so we got me a cheap suit to bridge me over til I can get my old suit on.

I also discovered that I had an assignment due today that I wasn't aware of, but I pulled it together at the last minute. Unfortunately it means I'm at the computer later than planned.

Robin: for OP. Sorry for crankiness.

ChinaMaine: Snowshoeing sounds like great fun! I'm glad you got to enjoy yourself and it sounds like you burned off at least some of those extra calories so Hooray for the improved stamina!

Goodnight, all!

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Another good walking day, CREDIT moi. But had samples from Whole Foods even though I had a legit reason to be shopping on an errand for DW, Oh Well. D*rn FREE food. I did fine ignoring a bunch of desserts at a coffee hour in the morning. For whatever reason, food brought by people I know isn't FREE food, but just food that I can choose - or not. One sample passed my unusual or rare test; a new yogurt from Vermont with real fruit embedded. Quite good; they know something about dairy in Vermont, they do.

Jean (kuhljeanie) - Waving. Sending generic supportive thoughts.

onebyone - Yay for March - even if cold. For me, March cold is tolerable because I have the feeling that it will end since Spring is in sight. And Yay for relaxing when that's the thing to be doing.

Robin (RobinW) - Yay for terse. Like Hemingway.

Anne (wndranne) - Kudos for making a plan while floating in comfort food. Ouch for the stresses of a family visit with DS on top of you. Sending best wishes for your father's surgery today.

Chris (angelmomma210) - Congrats on that seven pounds, and Kudos for "thinking about what I am doing more." Sending supportive thoughts that your DH gets to his class today.

Tera (twilit tera) - Kudos for a new bathing suit. Around here, DW would rather have teeth drilled than shop for a bathing suit - and she doesn't have weight issues. Yay for the new chair; hope it does it's job of easing your hip issues. Ouch for last minute assignments.

davidette - Waving.

ChinaMaine - Kudos for first time snowshoeing and all that unplanned exercise. Yay for kids demonstrating that being on the go is the natural state of the human body. And Kudos for doing a Cheat Sheat in prep for next time with guests.

Readers -

tera 2 pounds lost per week; looking at the big picture can be so satisfying. I know you are enjoying your long awaited chair! and a new bathing suit! Chlorine really tears them up, doesn't it?

kuhljeanie Enjoy the whoosh! about the depression; you're in a bit of a catch22 in that exercise is wonderful treatment for depression but being exhausted all the time makes that problematic. Maybe some yoga, a repetition of Salute the Sun at a brisk pace can get your heart rate up and focusing on the deep breathing and stretching might be invigorating.

onebyone CREDIT getting right to it with your foodsaver! Kudos for "not ideal food but portion controlled"; I know how hard it is to be satisfied with anything less than perfection! That's an improvement in mindset.

Bill Kudos for recognizing early dinner / long evening would tempt snacking and planning distractions with the bonus benefit of providing nutritious lunches! I think you get bonus points for that!

Like your unusual or rare test for samples; mine has historically been "would I really consider buying it?", which makes it reasonable to sample first. You can image the things I start to "consider" buying!

anne CREDIT planning; however nebulous, it's better than throwing in the towel. Good luck on your father's surgery. Hoping you can keep up the naps.

angelmomma Glad to hear DH surgery went well. about the a-fib, hope dr. was able to help. on weight loss!

chinamaine 966 calories in 43 minutes! Glad you were able to appreciate your new endurance. There's that persist in victory problem again; how many times have I done well at a social event only to congratulate myself with a binge?! What part of that makes sense?! I do better if I prepare with a response card reminding myself of this syndrome and offering myself limited "bonus" calories if I get through the day without rebound eating.

Turned down having pizza at all last night; DS is my pizza buddy, we could happily eat pizza every day. I'm working on visualizing all that gooey cheese as buckets of congealing grease, like the disgusting omentum Dr. Oz and Dr. Roizen are always showing us. They fixed tacos and I turned down chips, cheese and guacamole (I know avocados are healthy but way too many calories for my way too low self control). I've arranged a California Pizza Kitchen lunch with DS and his godmother Thursday which will allow me to have a healthy portion of thin crust pizza. So far, so good! : Anybody got a good suggestions for sitting next to DS eating popcorn at the movies?

I pushed myself out in the cold for step class both Saturday and Sunday and whew! I sweated alright. Break from the gym today which I deserve. I think doing the 2 tons of laundry DS brought home from college qualifies for spontaneous exercise! Sure as heck is going to take more than 5 minutes and yes, getting started is the hardest part (no, maybe that's the smell )

to all!

Good Morning Coaches

I'm halfway through tidying up the living room but I have to just leave it and go to the school today. I should really be there by now but can't get myself to go. I'll leave in about an hour.

So coaches I have a food plan for the day. I've eaten and recorded my breakfast and have my 2 snacks and my lunch packed for the day. I even took my vitamins this morning. Big CREDIT for doing all this.

My foodsealer needs to be returned It's burning the bags and then when the bag cools down there is no seal. You can't freeze anything in a bag without a seal. I unplugged the machine to let it cool down and it still burnt the next bag so I am returning it. I eneded up putting 6 or 7 freezerbags full of food in the freezer and then wodnering why I wouldn't just do that? It's not good for long term storage but for a week? It's good enough for a week. So I may not buy a replacement. We'll see. Their other model was 2x the price.

Better go. I have a few things left to do around here before I am off.

Enjoy the beginning of a new week

Sunday Report
71% OP (stretching, Food, Supplements, AI, Careful moving)
Oh, well. Was on computer after 10pm and didn't go to bed til almost midnight.

WI - steady

B and I were up late last night assembling a dresser from Ikea.

I'm really excited about today. I wonder what I'll accomplish with my chair keeping the strain on my joints to an absolute minimum!

I got 100% on the sociology paper that I was struggling with last week. It's a response to a paper on the "functions" of poverty by Herbert Gans back in the 70's, and can now be found here if you're curious.

Bill: Okay, I realize you probably know this already (consciously) but somehow the message isn't reaching your deeper states: "Free" food isn't free. There's a price on it: the calories you'll have to burn later. Not only that, but the only reason these strangers are giving you this food is to get you to buy more of it - isn't that manipulative of them?! Grrr. (trying to stir up your sense of moral outrage.) for taking your walk!

I can't imagine anything I would rather not do than get teeth drilled, include shopping for a bathing suit. Normally, I'd agree with your wife on the frustration and embarrassment involved, but this time it was a breeze. I wasn't looking for something I'd look great in, just something that would stay on.

Davidette: for the wonderful work you're doing with all that resistance and exercise!! Yikes on the laundry! (What is it with kids bringing their laundry home from college for mom to do? I never got that.)

Regarding the popcorn at the movies thing - I'm afraid I'm coming up dry. Hmm. It's been a long time since I bought popcorn at the movies... are they still popping it in grease? Do they have microwave popcorn for people watching their weight? If not, the only advice I have is "Watch the movie and keep your hands out of his popcorn." Maybe horse blinders?

I'm off... first to get a little breakfast, then to do some artwork for World Lit.

Hit the floor running this morning....and taking a mini break.

Op except for exercise. I suppose I should do something about that.

have a great day everyone!

Hey all....went to the dr. and everything is going good. He said the the beta blocker is doing its job so I will be slowing getting off the pill in a pocket so that I can use it as that. Dr. said something that really hit me the last time I was in his office. He said that I had a vw motor in a cadalac (sp) body. It made me laugh, but also made me think. Now I am really looking at what I eat and how much. I want to trade that car for a smaller model. It hit home and I am so glad.