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.

You can find the list of previous (or more current) monthly Beck threads here on 3 Fat Chicks via:
List of Monthly Beck Threads for Support, Discussion, Buddy/Coach

Diet Coaches/Buddies - A simple summer weekend day catching up on some chores. Ate on plan; CREDIT moi. Did my gym; CREDIT moi. Was cool enough at dinner that we had to wear long sleeved shirts to eat out on the patio - a tad unseasonable for the end of July in the Boston area.

The Blue Jay came to the bird bath as it does daily - not particularly disturbed that we were sitting about six feet away. Does four dip-and-shakes then flies to the fence. Beginning to feel like "our" Blue Jay, LOL. It's dry enough around here that our bird bath is serving the local avian community well.


Joy (gardenerjoy) - Kudos for meeting your July exercise goal and for giving yourself new workout pants as a reward.

Cheryl (Seadwaters) - You're really taking your exercise seriously - Kudos for going to the gym when you "had to twist my arm" with Kudos again for making an appointment with your trainer.

Interesting question about FREE samples: Yes, my food plan includes FREE samples - when new-to-me, rare or unusual, or as replacement for a snack. But not including the mundane that I could get anytime such as potato chips, crackers, cookies, and cheese. I consider myself wandered off plan when I grab a bunch of nuts, for example, just because they're FREE.


Debbie (Lexxiss) - Ouch for leading horses to water; this parenting business is hard. Good choice to go replant your zucchini. You remind me of the song from the Fantasticks of the sixties, LOL,Donna (new2me2) - Yay for feeling better - with exercising and journalling. Lack of sleep brings the whole world down.

Amber (AmberPr) - Congrats on reaching Onderland - nice milestone. Have you planned a reward? Yay for your own raspberries coming in - I'm jealous. Count me as one of those still learning to plan. If I make a (realistic) plan for the day, I get more done. If my list includes, for example, eliminate world hunger, then the whole list is useless - as if it didn't exit. So my current challenge is making choices when making the list, which seems like a good way to live when I do it.

synger - Ouch for when "My 'just say no' goes completely out the window" - BTDT. Good to have that calibrated so that choices can be made.

Readers -

I ate one green grape tomato standing up -- in front of the Farmers Market stand where the farmer was trying to convince everyone that those green tomatoes were tastier than they looked! And they were!

Speaking of green tomatoes, it looks like this is going to be the first year that I'm successful at growing tomatoes and I have a question for those of you more experienced. Are all of those green tomatoes going to ripen at the same time? Or will they do it a few at a time? I'm going to be overwhelmed if they all ripen at once.

WI: +0.4kg, Exercise: +30 1875/1800 minutes for July, Food: 90%op, Read my Advantages and Responses: yes

seadwaters: great job getting things set up this weekend to take care of yourself!

new2me2: I've been thinking that I might want a dance game since I have so much fun walking to music. I'll put Just Dance on the list!

Lexxiss: glad you were able to get to a time and space where you can take care of yourself.

synger: good realization that you can't have more than two drinks and stay on plan

AmberPr: forgot to write this yesterday -- CONGRATULATIONS on reaching onederland! That's so exciting!

BillBlueEyes: kudos for a good on-plan weekend!

From Bill ... From gardenerjoy ...Let me fiddle around with these comments for a bit.

Hm. Hmm. Hmmm.

Well, I can say that long work days are good because all my food is packed, there's no choice, and I eat mountains of raw veg.

Home days could, therefore, be better if I invested time at the beginning of the day in flinging a mountain of raw veg together.

There are other good things about long work days like hours alone, wrestling with one sticky problem after another. (I love this - but I do know that not everyone would. ) Home has its fair share of sticky problems, of course, but I don't have long concentrated hours available to me there (some of you know, I think, that 10 year olds chat, sing, argue, tell jokes, discuss, ask riddles, read bits out of books and magazines and a few other things I can't remember. Ask advice and for points of information. Cut up a lot of cardboard.) Not spending too much time on making food & washing up would help me and quell some resentmentitos. (N.B. If SO is also not working then it's a bit different as he also cooks and washes up.)

So, part of the answer is, therefore, get as much food ready FOR ME beforehand and early, whether the day will be spent at home, at work or on tour. Do this as part of the daily routine, thus cutting down on having to think about my frequently complicated trajectory through the day.

Another part of the answer could be to buy the full complement of raw eating veg each time I shop, rather than thinking 'which veg do I need?'

Bill - my resentmentitos are frequently because tasks have built up and I am having to multitask. I just can't do this as my brain doesn't work well at all in this situation. (That nonsense about women and multitasking is just that. I shall not get started on this subject.) It hurts my brain and I want to use (read: save) my remaining brain cells for consciously undertaken, sharply focused actions rather than a blurry muddle. N.B. Here, I don't mean the blurry muddles of birth and death, of illness, divorce or other very emotionally fraught times. I mean the ironing, the travel timetable, the shopping and so on. And the food, of course. Clues: don't let 'it' build up? A little and often? Name and shame the resentmentito head early on? And then knock it on the head, oh-well-ly?

That's probably enough rambling from me at present. Have we edged on a little? I hope so. Got to keep the wheels turning.

... next day. With me so far? I wrote that last night when rather tired. Thanks, friends. I'll post it anyway.

Hope all is going well in your neck of the woods. for being on the journey.

Good morning all and happy August! I can't believe it's AUGUST already, lol!

Well, my wish came true...I broke 147 today, and came very close to breaking 146, lol! I stepped on the scale and could hardly believe my eyes when it read 146.2! Yay, lol. Unlike Silverbirch, I do MUCH better at home, lol. I go for longer periods between eating and there is usually no stress to weaken my resolve plus there are lots of things I can do for distraction...not so much at work.

I got a tiny bit more sleep. I still woke up at 1 a.m., but was able to get a back to sleep a little more often I think. Not sure what's up with the 1 a.m. thing, but I want it to go away, lol.

Have not done anything YET, but will get some exercise in one way or another today. My stomach is a little sorer again today, but not bad enough to keep me from doing anything. A walk may be in order if the overcast will ever leave. I like to walk early when it's quiet and light traffic, but I also want sun. I'm pretty sure I'm low on Vitamin D at the moment and it would be nice to get a little natural D. If it gets too late, I'll do a DVD and some Walk It Out.

Seadwaters(Cheryl) Good job on getting yourself to the gym! Very, very good job at planning and thinking through things! Glad to hear Bonnie is playing! That makes me smile!

BillBlueEyes It's been a bit cooler here too...I wore a sweatshirt around most of the day Friday and when I was home yesterday, lol.

gardenerjoy LOL on the green tomatoe. Unfortunately I know nothing of growing tomatoes...only eating them, lol. And, re Just Dance. It's got some good music and you try to copy the moves they show you. A little comical in my case, but good exercise trying to catch up!

Waving to everyone else!!

on-plan yesterday -- under calories and carbs.

today's my monthly weigh-and-measure... down six pounds from last month (my goal is 5), but no difference on the tape measure. Not really a surprise on that, because I've been feeling like I'm in a holding pattern this month, weight wise. I dropped 30 pounds fairly quickly, and I think this month was a "slow down and reshuffle" month for my body. My pants are definitely looser.

Diet Coaches/Buddies - The tomatoes are coming in; long live tomatoes!!! Super good. Yellow ones are especially good this year. And the plants are still loaded.

Rode my bike here and there for errands and going places - just like I did when I was a kid and lived on my bike. It wasn't muscle development exercise, like riding it up an Arizona mountain, but it's stay-alive exercise and fun. CREDIT moi for enjoying life.


Joy (gardenerjoy) - Don't understand what's up with a "green grape tomato" - is it a variety that's green when its ripe? My take is that tomatoes ripen a few at a time, until they sense that you've gone away for a day, smugly thinking you know that you're safe. Then all the rest turn scarlet simultaneously, LOL.

silverbirch - Think you're onto something for heading off resentment with, "Clues: don't let 'it' build up? A little and often?" Clearing the decks of the little stuff helps me feel sane - when I do it. The little tasks usually don't take as much time as I spend putting them off.

Donna (new2me2) - Yay for natural Vitamin D. Ouch for avoiding the sun to prevent skin cancer. Double Ouch for finding the right balance between those two. Hope your stomach settles down. And Congrats on breaking the 147 barrier.

synger - LOL at " 'slow down and reshuffle' month for my body" - great attitude of acceptance that the body does what the body does.

Readers -

Hi Coaches

An on plan day - ate something sensible at the cafeteria that I anticipated would be on the menu. Got home and ate an on-plan meal so all is well. I have made an appointment for the trainer tomorrow morning and then I will work at home which will be good. Will plan and prepare for the rest of the week

Waving to all of you - hope all is well

Credits -
- I motivated myself by reading A&R cards - No - $0
- Consciously gave credit for positive eating / exercise behaviours - yes
- Limit junk food to once per day - Yes - $1
- Made food plan - Yes - $1
- Logged food soon after eating - No (time and access) - $0
- Food on-plan - No - biscuits
- Posted to the list - Here I am
- Ate seated every time - No - $0
- Ate mindfully and slowly - Yes
- Put down fork occasionally - Yes
- Weighed myself - Yes - 214.8 - $1
- Drank water - Yes
- Exercise - No - $0

TALLY (only red ones earn money!) - DAY = $3; Week = $8

Working on -
Planning Planning Planning

Have a good day Beckies
-----
Cheryl

Good morning everyone,

Had a really lazy day yesterday. Felt sore and tired and no motivation, unlike Saturday when I felt I had tons of energy. Guess it caught up with me. I'm still feeling tired today- only went half way on my morning walk.

Today begins a new week. It's gonna be a tuff one. Three out of five days will be on the road. I'm planning to have salads with meat when I eat out, or brothbased soup, or plain sandwiches. I'll pack snack size bags of carrots, peapods, cheese and crackers, yogurt and fruit &/or fruit smoothies. TO DO) Tonight I'll start bagging things up.

What I'm thankful for today: That my little family is still together and that we work through our problems even when we are so mad at each other we can't see straight. Sometimes we don't see eye to eye and usually that's o.k., but we also have the patience to let things work themselves out. We have had so many friends and relatives who have gone through divorce and I have a relative going through some major changes right now. Even when it really is for the best, it's devestating....

Credits:

• walked alot over the weekend
• picked more raspberries
• hauled some junk to the dump and recycle center
• did a lot of online seaching for healthy meal ideas, etc
• rested
• put together a mail station (do you have mail piled all over the place? We'lll see if this works. Seems like everything I try in the battle against paper, I lose...)
• Ate healthfully all weekend (although only half was planned and the rest "no plan"
• weighed myself this morning. Was up a little. Am chalking it up to water retention as there is no way I ate enough calories to gain any weight!

Hope everyone has a good day,

I decided yesterday to start shifting my focus a bit from losing weight to building muscle. For a couple of months now, I've been doing mostly long low-intensity aerobic workouts which seem to be most effective for getting the weight off. But, since I want to be functional, not just thinner, this seems like a good time to work some strength training back in the routine. As part of that, I'm also reading The Body Fat Solution by Tom Venuto -- a book by a body builder, but for regular people.

WI: -0.35kg, Exercise: +105 105/1800 minutes for August, Food: 90%op, Read my Advantages and Responses: yes

silverbirch: I like your ramblings -- it's helpful to see someone else's process of working things out. Seems the wheels are turning.

new2me2: yay for the downtic in weight!

synger: yay for loose pants!

BillBlueEyes: kudos for biking for errands. Yep, green grape tomatoes are green when they are ripe! That's helpful to know about tomatoes -- that means they will ripen next weekend when we've gone to KC for four days!

seadwaters: good job with planning and following through on the cafeteria meal and the meal at home. Hope your appointment with the trainer goes well.

AmberPr: way to go with planning for a busy week with travel!

Good morning all! I decided to try to wait the overcast out a bit, so I cleaned the bathroom, lol. Yay and credit, lol. I even scrubbed the grout lines which are mostly hopeless, but I did make some difference.

My goal this week is to do just a little straightening every day. We'll see how THAT goes, lol.

Meals were on plan and I even decided to bake that WW GF Diet Coke cake. I made 12 mini bundt cakes then cut them in half and froze them. They aren't bad, but fortunately not quite yummy enough to make me want to eat them all at once. Phew!

By the time I did all that, it was 9:30 and the sun still wasn't out yet, so decided to just go for the walk anyway. I put on my socks and shoes, got my pedometer, opened the door, and the sun started to come out! Yay! Got my natural D afterall, lol. It was still peaceful enough for most of the walk, and was glad I went without iPod! But I got a shocker when I read my normal route was only 1.5 miles. I thought it was a bit longer than that. Next weekend, I'll try a bit different route and see what happens.

Then yesterday evening I did 30 minutes of slightly more vigorous Walk It Out (the songs were in the 170 bpm range and so I jogged in place through much of them).

The best news of all...I slept better! Yay! I did still wake up at 1:00 but went back to sleep and stayed asleep until about 2:30. That's okay with me. I get up at 3:40 ish anyway, so if I can get anywhere near there I'm happy.

My weight went back up a little today, but I think I know why and it should go away again quickly enough.

synger CONGRATULATIONS on 6 lbs lost this month!

BillBlueEyes Still envious of your tomatoes, lol! Also envious of your bike rides!

seadwaters(Cheryl) Yay for an on-plan day!!

AmberPr It sounds like you have a great start and plan for your busy week! Bagging ahead is a great plan for me as well! I do have one place where my mail goes...I have stacks of paper everywhere, but a little upright mail holder that the mail goes in as soon as I pick it up...or I should say the bills go there. I sort through the rest by my recycle bins, lol.

Yesterday went well. Under calories and carbs, and 30 minutes on elliptical. We had gamers over, and Anne made a lasagna for dinner. I ate a small piece, and was satisfied. (Scott and Anne both had seconds, which surprised me!) She had also brought cheesecake from the Cheesecake factory, and I did not have any!

Hi Coaches! Welcome to August! Unbelievable.

Had a great weekend in the pool! yay, that it is finally operating!!!!

went to the grocery although I was so NOT in the mood to battle the crowds. CREDIT. Grumped at everyone that bumped into me. DISCREDIT.

ate on plan. Took that pound back off! yayayyayayay!!!! I was shocked to see it this morning.

Yesterday, I visited with my friend for 2 1/2 hours yesterday and her 21 month old and my 2 year old going full force the whole time and it was a 45 minute drive each way. I decided I was going to stop on the way home and just eat out! I decided it. I looked as I drove. And thank God there was nothing on the way. It's a toll road and boy am I glad for that. About 1/2 way home, I said, whatever, my diet no fuss veggie pizza is just fine. Get over yourself. So I went home and ate right! SUPER BIG CREDIT!!! and today, when I saw how the scale rewarded me, I was thrilled.

I need to remember the scale can be kind as well.

have a great day everyone!

Hello August, wow, hard to believe it is August already.

Saturday we to a ride out to the orchard areas of the county ( I am in Central Washington, TONS of fruits and vegetables in the grocery stores come from my back yard!)
We got a bunch of hot peppers, some eggplant, walla walla sweet onions, and plums, apricots and nectarines! Then Sunday morning we made a batch of pepper jelly. we will continue to make several batches over the next 2 months, green now, yellow in late August and red in September, and we give these away through the year. Generally the green is mild..OH BOY, not this first batch! It is great used as a chicken glaze, or served with cream cheese and crackers.
We made our sushi Saturday night, it was great, each of us made a roll....plus we also had Pho, a Vietnamese noodle soup. Starts with broth (we used veggie) and noodles, once that is super hot and the noodles cooked we ladel it into our bowls that have thin sliced onion and bean sprouts in them, then we add to the top fresh basil and mint leaves, and cooked protien (we used shrimp this time) The hot broth meeting the fresh herbs is fantastic!
So that was our dinner, out on the front porch, after a surprise storm that afternoon. LOVE the smell of fresh rain.
Sunday we made home made pita pockets, never will I buy them again, 25 minutes work, 1 hour raising, costs about 50-75 cents for 8 Whole wheat, no preservative pita pockets, and they were wonderful. We had lentils, corn on the cob, rainbow chard, and pita bread....again on the front porch.
Today it is over cast, so I might mow the front yard after work if no one else has done it yet. The sun is not my friend, and I stay out of it as often as possible, I have had skin cancer already, So breaks from the sun now and then are very welcomed.
Wish I could say I was on plan today, but I did not pack anything for lunch, so I may leave the office and run home and get something later...well see how the day goes so far.
Getting ready to plan a campout for 80 people, and that always excites me every year. I do all the meal planning and the cooking, and we eat healthy, but VERY well. No hot dogs and canned chili for us! But there will be a black bean veggie chili on the fire this year.
Credits for this weekend, did some workout---enough to make cramps in my calves, so now know I need more water
Planned meals for the entire week, and sticking to them
In a smaller pair of jeans although the scale is not reflecting that

Checking in after vacation. So, I had planned all 4 days in advance, I followed the plan 2 of the 4 days. The 2 days I didn't follow my plan I didn't go too crazy, but still went over calories and felt disappointed in myself.


I got home and read Day 19, Stop Fooling yourself.
I have a problem with the sabotaging thought Beck describes so well in this chapter (and it was my weekend problem) as "It's okay to eat this because I want it...and, besides I don't really care". I read this in the book just last night after I returned. Her response is "I might not care at this moment, but I will care in a few minutes. I'll be unhappy if I eat something I shouldn't. And, I sure will care when I find out I am not losing weight".

I need to revisit that often. When I get off track I am very aware and just say "I don't care." I must remember that "I WILL CARE".

I was back on track Sunday.

Credits:

exercised 2x today
Ate on plan
Made tomorrows plan
Posted here
Read ARC's



Hello All and Thanks for being here

Mikkijoe: So nice to have all that great produce in your backyard. The family sushi rolling was a great idea. I love PHO too.

Houston2command: The working pool sounds great especially in the heat you have been having. I love swims at dawn.

Synger: A small piece of lasagna and NO cheesecake factory desert! You deserve 4 credits for that.

new2me2: The diet coke cake doesn't sound like it was too good. There is a spice cake recipe modification that floats around weight watchers and may be on their website. It is REALLY good.

Gardnerjoy: Congratulations on deciding to do weights. I have been taking a body pump class twice a week since April. I don't love weights. I use to do them in front of the TV and thought it was great, but quickly got bored. I really like the body pump class because it forces me to do a routine. I have really noticed definition in my arms and I have fewer aches and pains since starting (although, this took a couple months.) I think it is a great idea to change focus like that and not make it all about dieting.

AmberPR: Good luck with the travel week. I use to travel weekly for my job and I know how difficult that can be with dieting.

Seadwaters: Hope the trainer went well. I should do that sometime. It scares me a little because I heard they work you really hard.

BillBluEyes: You really make vegetables seem so appealing. Thanks for making them sound like such a treat. I like to bike around too. I am thinking of adding some paniers to my bike so I can run more errands. Right now, I stuff everything in a messenger bag so it limits bike grocery runs.

Have a great week