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 (3FC), a remarkable place for those interested in a healthy life style, including mindful eating, exercise, and weight loss. More about the site, including how to register so that you can post, can be found here.

The books are available on Amazon through the 3FC store by clicking their names above; buying through 3FC helps to cover the costs of running this site.

You can find the list of previous (or more current) monthly Beck threads here on 3 Fat Chicks via:

List of Monthly Beck Threads for Support, Discussion, Buddy/Coach

Diet Coaches/Buddies - We only had a small crowd of trick-or-treaters; the unexpected cold and remnants of snow kept them away. The gorgeous two year old next door arrived in his normal play clothes with both parents describing his neat costume that he originally adored and now screamed if it were brought near him, LOL. I ate no candy at all; CREDIT moi since I'd planned that a week ago, even though the execution was easy since my desire to eat was bugged away.

I was on-plan eating, to be sure; CREDIT moi even though it was another day of recovering from whatever bug had grabbed me so that I had NO desire for food all day (didn't even have my morning coffee). Thanks for the well wishes everyone; I am recovering.


Joy (gardenerjoy) – Kudos for meeting your October exercise goal. May you have a productive NaNoWriMo.

Debbie (Lexxiss) – Enjoying the image of you climbing easily up on down from countertops - Kudos for seeing that.

Beverlyjoy – My grown kids agree with your DH, it's a crime to hand out non-candy on Halloween. They even ridiculed me the year I gave out neat little boxes of raisins.

pamaga – Welcome Jude Paul - Congrats for learning early that the squeaky wheel gets attention; you'll do well. And Yep, Kudos for that long walk after a normally full meal - good demonstration. Congrats to your DH for accepting new running shoes and not using the childhood definition that if the soles don't have holes, they're fine, LOL.

Tazzy - Good grief, that's a scary story; glad you're back on track enough for a twenty minute walk. Congrats for taking positive steps right away. Bon Voyage to your DH on his new journey.

Val (va1erie) – Sending supportive thoughts to your DD - it's a tough age. Kudos for just "moving on."

Robin (4EverLearning) - Kudos for tolerating "quite a bit of hunger" - so great to be reminded that we can do that. What a neat invitation for Christmas.

Donamari (fyreflie24) – Great tactic to have sorbet instead of the high calorie options for dessert.

Readers -

Joy: Yes! Thank you... and this is silly but a place to just whine to folks who get it really helps too!

Bill: Thanks! I find that I get more and more satisfaction out of the good food choices and being able to come home and not feel guilty for my actions a really great reward as well. It gives me tons of hope that I'll be able to keep it off, eventually.

And... the scale moved today! -1lbs! yay... hopefully this will be a good week to make up some ground for last week.

Happy November all!

Hi Coaches/Buddies/Friends!

My morning is slipping away but wanted to check in. Yesterday was a good Beck day. I weighed, didn't take a single bite at work, resisted any candy (especially at the bank), had a sane dinner at Whole Foods (despite some family discomfort between DH and Mom). We left our car in mom's driveway since it got paintballed the previous eve and I purposely left the groceries which included 1/2 loaf of a sourdough baguette which I had the Beck sense to realize might get consumed (by moi) if it came home with me.

BillBlueEyes, credit credit credit for not eating any candy at all, even if you choose to credit that execution to still having a bug.

Tazzy, kudos for getting to the ER and having yourself checked out. Like BBE, I'm impressed you still got out for your 20 minute walk. *credit* (Nice to have DH getting on board to lose some weight, too.)

Donamarie(fyreflie24), your words to Julie regarding the "I don't want it" VS "I can't have it" are such a strategy for success. When I grasped through BDS that if I "wanted" to eat something I could put it in my plan on another day it had far less power. Kudos for picking a sorbet over a high calorie treat.

Val(va1erie), credit for moving on after a less than stellar day. It is such an important tool to be used as often as needed.

Pam(atga), nice credits and congrats on your walking 1.5 miles at one single attempt. That is definitely worthy of a drum roll! I had to chuckle at the $6 extra at the Mexican restaurant and say, "yeah, if that's what it takes to eat OP, it's worth every penny."

Beverlyjoy, credit for "a snickers" and a trained DH who will put whatever is leftover in the car. Glad you're feeling "some better."

Robin(4EverLearning), great credits during a day which wasn't productive, "in general" especially as you tolerated quite a bit of hunger. I love hearing "I AM strong enough emotionally to handle it", too.

gardenerjoy, kudos for making your October exercise goal. Yep, the consistency of exercise sure makes a difference as you maintain your weight.

GD everyone! I see that Halloween has been postponed in some of the NE until this coming Friday. All I can say is "that's not the same...". I have to share this little "incident" from last night. We don't get a lot of trick or treaters simply because they have to walk up two impressive hills and towards the back of our sub-division to get to us so it is usually the kids who live closest to us. I have always debated back and forth whether it is even "worth" getting candy but I love to see how these kids look and it is just plain fun for me too.

Anyway, I gave out mini boxes of raisins this year. One little boy, who was about my waist height took it in his hand and said, "What is this?" A taller, older girl behind him said, "It's fruit and it's good for you!" He shrugged his shoulders and dropped it on top of a huge pile of candy in his plastic pumpkin head. Well, I may have not "made him a convert" but who knows, he might ask for raisins the next time his Mom going shopping. You just never know!

As for me, I start my November Food Accountability Challenge today. I will begin posting my daily accountability tomorrow for today's food, etc. Thanksgiving is the one day we won't be doing that. It will be exempt from the challenge per the host's rules. I am leaning again to going to one of our favorite restaurants for Thanksgiving. It allows me to eat some of these side dishes without having any leftovers. We have done this in the past a couple of times and it has worked out quite well. We have been invited to go to a friend's house as we could extend the invitation to ours but since I am in the midst of a Challenge and I really don't want to have a lot of leftovers around, I think this might be the best solution for me this year.

on everyone who made their personal goals for the month of October.

My November ones are straightforward: to post my daily calorie/nutrient accountability here and elsewhere, do my Beck skills check off list, and to exercise according to the Movement Challenge I am hosting and my own personal goals.

A lot of things to keep me busy.

Pam

Evening To All:
DS had a great Halloween. DH and I are thoroughly enjoying these last few years of trick or treating with him. Today we had a Violent West Wind, it was the day after Halloween and the state sent a suit to tell us (see me) how to teach unprivileged 8th graders kids who probably had never taught them. I know you will excuse for cutting this short and taking two of Valerie's aspirin and sign off.

my report: weighed once (up .2), had a personal training session this morning (and for some reason was much weaker than usual; my trainer noticed it, too, but told me "it just happens sometimes), stayed OP, ate everything sitting down, ate slowly and mindfully, did not read my cards, contacted my diet buddies.

I slept for 10 hours last night and feel better, but need to continue to catch up on my sleep for a couple more nights.

Lexxiss, YAY YOU for having a good Beck day despite some "family discomfort" and for getting the temptation of that sourdough baguette out of your immediate environment.

BillBlueEyes, glad to hear you are recovering. And even if that bug is making it easy for you to avoid overeating by killing your appetite, it's still nice to have a reprieve from having to resist temptation, right? That's the silver lining of being sick!

Pam, YAY YOU for giving out raisins as treats! You never know, you just may have planted a seed in some of those young minds!

Hope everyone has a great day tomorrow!

Robin

100% on my food plan and I'm write on track for my first day of NaNoWriMo!

WI: -0.1kgs, Exercise: +40 40/1300 minutes for November, Food: 100%op, Read my Advantages and Responses: yes

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Remained on plan eating, taking my CREDIT moi despite being helped by total lack of normal hunger all day. However, I'm back on track. It would be nice if this hunger thing just stayed away all on its own; I wouldn't miss it, LOL.

Joy (gardenerjoy) – LOL at "I'm write on track" - Yay for NaNoWriMo.

Debbie (Lexxiss) – It's a good thing that I'm not near that sourdough baguette, LOL. Hope that paintball stuff comes off.

pamaga – Yay for raisins! Kudos for thinking through the notion that no-leftovers is important to you.

maryann - I just love it when you are aware of the magic of your DS's age. My mental image of the "suit" is, of course, The Arnold, although I'm aware he's on longer your governor and probably didn't make house calls back then anyway.

Robin (4EverLearning) - Each day of "everything sitting down, ate slowly and mindfully" adds up.

Donamari (fyreflie24) – Congrats on yet another pound gone. Yep, these are the skills for keeping them off forever.

Readers -

report: didn't read my cards, weighed (up 1), another stressful day but I made a big pot of low-calorie but luscious soup for dinner last night. Ate more than I really needed of it, but oh well. Better than a lot of things I could be overeating. Move on. Got up to go to class this morning and just walked right past. Got a good long walk in but no workout.

Pam -- I love that people are commenting on how joyful you seem!

Robin -- cool that you'll go to your brother's for Christmas! That thing about being weaker than usual in a workout definitely happens to me. Time of day seems to make a difference for me, too. I have more energy earlier in the day.

fyreflie -- yay for the scale moving!

Debbie -- I too loved the idea that if I wanted something that wasn't in my plan for that day, I could plan to have a reasonable portion of it the next day. It sort of flipped a switch in my brain regarding deprivation. It made the idea of eating sensibly for the rest of my life seem doable. I didn't have to avoid my favorite high-cal foods forever. I just had to avoid them on any day I hadn't PLANNED to have them.

gardenerjoy -- yay for being write on track both foodwise and NaNoWriMo-wise.

BBE -- yay for a day of no hunger! I wish those would happen more often for all of us!

maryann -- hugs on the need for aspirin!

Hi Coaches/Buddies/Friends!

I have a long day ahead and I'm planning and being mindful of my food on a day which is impossible to plan. I'm planning to focus on eating with a sane mind. I'm headed to Denver soon amidst a substantial snowstorm. My mom has her mandatory eye injection and my sis is flying in today. It IS nice to combine the two.

This morning I weighed, made my usual smoothie (despite an urge to go out for pancakes), packed a morning snack and a salad and reminded myself that none of uncertainties of the day will be fixed with cookies or donuts. I do see a yummy and hot OP Starbucks drink in my future.

My departure was moved up by an hour this morning so I'd best be going. Thanks for being here everyone!

I just wanted to tell everyone here that I look forward to reading your posts because I know that I will get something from each one of you. It just happens every day! It has become my "multi-vitamin".

Lexxiss Super Job in planning your day so you can avoid the pitfalls of unplanned meals. I have just started a new Food Accountability Challenge, which I want to do right (after all, it is ONLY 29 days for this month) and I recognized almost immediately today that if I wanted to stay within my range (which I will share below) I dare well better PLAN, PLAN and PLAN some more. I hope all of your planning will de-stress the situation that you are in.

Val I too had the epiphany regarding the fact that as long as I PLAN for some of these higher calorie foods (although I don't know if I am where you are at with the burgers and fries---that takes more than I've got right now) then I can relax and not panic when it comes to events where we know they haven't low calorie foods for everyone (like me). This Friday is going to be a test for me. A new woman is going to have our last Friday night Bible study (for this calendar year) catered from the employer she works for. I have only eaten at this establishment once before and I really don't know their menu very well (although I PLAN to shortly see if I can pull up their website). I will eat very light up to that point and then I will carefully choose the foods I believe will be within my food plan. I also plan on bringing a fresh garden salad with some of my own home-grown ripe tomatoes as well to add to the menu.

Robin Take care with your body and your self. You only have one of YOU and you don't want to lose HER.

maryann I wish I would have felt that kind of wonder when my child was younger. I was so deep into all of my addictions at the time that some of it is a distant fog. I do relish our closeness today and I am trying to figure out a way to be present for his upcoming surgery in December.

fryflie on the scale moving in the direction you want it to. It's so nice when that happens.

BBE Unfortunately one of the "other" pitfalls of having blood glucose issues is that when I am sick, flu, cold, etc. I crave carbs something fierce. FYI: Everyone's blood glucose rises in relation to how sick they are(it's the bodies way of fighting off infection) and since mine is all about keeping it level, being sick now has a different connotation than before. Nowadays, I have two distinct times I am not hungry---after I have exercised vigorously (again my blood glucose is much lower than normal) and when I am feeling really anxious (stomach hurts, headache and just can't even think about what to eat). I guess, I'll say "enjoy your non-hunger". Non Bon Appetit???

Yesterday began my first day of 29 (Thanksgiving is exempt according to the rules of the challenge) so from now on I will post my Beck skills checklist and my food accountability report:

Calories: 1400-1800 [Actual: 1521]
Carbs: 210-270 grams [255]
Fat: 31-60 grams [ 55]
Protein: 53-113 grams [95]
Fiber: 22+ grams [41]
Sodium: < 3000 milligrams [2886]

Just For Today

Read response cards before first meal of the day. Yes
Weighed today. Yes
Stayed within recommended calorie range. Yes
Followed my recommended food plan. Yes
Planned next day's food plan. Believe it or not, Yes!
Did daily spontaneous movement and planned exercise. Yes
Avoided "slippery slopes": poor sleep, trigger foods, lack of planning. Yes
Practiced strategies to combat sabotaging thoughts. Yes
Work on making "enrich your life" list happen. Yes
Review and evaluated progress on weekly weigh in day. Yes

Now, to keep this momentum going.

Pam

Hey yall,

Sorry I haven't posted in a couple of day. I was doing so good till Halloween. Started with buying my son some candy. So I got me something sweet. I still haven't stopped. This is why I'm doing the beck book. I am a master self saboteur...lol My lesson for a couple of days ago is plan out my day. What im gonna eat, when I'm gonna eat, prepare foods in advance, etc... This is really hard for me to do because I really don't know from day to day what I'll be doing. I am running back and forth to my moms house. She was diagnosed with glioblastoma 21/2 yrs ago. She has 3 malignant brain tumors. They gave her 6 mos to live. She is a 74 yr old walking miracle. After 3 surgeries the first 2 tumors have come back. We are having a hard time keeping her blood pressure down. I feel very blessed to be able to spend this time with her because we didn't spend much time together before. She has always been very active, and i was raising kids and working. I don't think I eat because of her but scheduling my life is hard. This is why I am remodeling homes with my husband because I can pick up and go in a moments notice. But I am willing to figure this out. Actually I need to sit down with the book and read it thru thoroughly. I might be missing something good...

Hey everyone! Thanks for all the kind words! I really appreciate all the support

Debbie: Thanks for the validation

Pam: Love the raisins idea and the ‘multivitamin’ comment!

Maryann: Glad it was a great Halloween! It’s so much fun seeing it through the kids’ eyes! Took my mind off the candy LOL

Joy: Best with MaNoWriMo!

Bill: Glad you’re feeling better!

Another lb downt his morning which is awesome in two days! Would be great if this was a big week! I'd really love to have 17 lbs off by New Years. That would put me at half way for the 2012, which would be awesome! Fingers Crossed!

Hi Coaches

I've been AWOL here and in my foodplan for about 2 weeks probably. I've had some weird tooth stuff, which is now being taken care of. I had 8 teeth dealt with this afternoon for instance. All filling replacements plus some cavity work. I had two major bouts of cleaning last week; root cleaning twice. It's been about 5 years since I had any dental work done. we got so poor I just stopped going. Then I called my friend who's birthday is 10 days before mine, and born in the same year as me, and I wished her a happy birthday and asked her what she was up to.
"I'm lying low," she said.
"Why?"
"I got dentures today."

Man. That was when my teeth and gums all of a sudden started hurting like crazy and I was sure I was in for it. But, like I said, not much of a problem, not anything like I thought anyway. It's all getting better.

So I've not been eating much, but I'm not keeping track. DH is off this week on holidays. He wants to do nothing and that's about what we are doing.
Nothing.
We had our 20th anniversary of our first date (our anniversary date since we are not officially married) and guess what we did?
Nothing.
I'm trying not to be disappointed. But I am. I am trying to look on the bright side. I'll keep trying. Eventually I'll get over it. There are too many good things to be happy about to dwell on this.
My birthday is coming up on Friday. I am trying not to hope for anything. It's hard. DH's mom got me a card and a $10 coffee card so I will use that on my special day if nothing else. I'm really trying not to be "boo hoo poor me" here. I just need to let go of my expectations.

So, historically, I have been the most successful with losing weight in the months of November through February. I am going to try to keep that streak going. I'm still looking for that darn bathing suit. Maybe I'll find it this week. If I don't I'm getting a new one. I need to get some physical activity that I love back into my life. I'm also looking to re-vamp my foodplan in general. I have a great software tracking program now to use and I just have to write out my foodplan.
And then follow it of course.

fyreflie24 Hi there. Nice to meet you. Congrats on your success and I hope you reach your -17lbs by the new year--you're going int he right direction.

na3309 Hello. Nice to meet you as well. I fell into the Halloween candy bigtime too. We moved here in the spring and we thought we'd get lots of kids--it's very suburban here--but got only 20 or so. We had WAY WAY WAY too much candy and chips. I've been bummed out all week and have not wanted to cook which means I am eating crap food. Tonight though, I made us salads *credit for homemade food* * credit for greenthings--last seen over 10 days ago* *credit for posting here as well--credit to you for that too!* Sorry to hear of your mom's health issues. My mom has Alzheimer's and I hear it's getting worse. It's tough balancing all these life events AND trying to lose weight. But it can be done. Thanks for posting.

pamatga I continue to be amazed at how dedicated you are to your journey of weightloss. I feel like I am doing so little when I see your lists and how specific each category is. I know these items are not there by accident but by PLAN.
KUDOS
Thanks for just keeping on and showing me how it's done.

Lexxiss Snowstorm eh? I feel like we dodged a bullet with the big snowstorm that must have hit BillBlueEyes...(haven't read back that far yet...dare I??) Now that I am in Southern Ontario I have been promised a *much* milder winter. We'll see. Congrats on planning your day for the unexpected and the unpredictable. You are becoming unflappable. Here's a special carrot dance for that.

va1erie Hello to you as well! Your post reminded me that I LOVE a big pot of soup and I have a chicken hanging around the fridge that needs plunking into a soup pot. Thank you for that. *credit for your walk*

BillBlueEyes I understand from reading back a bit that you managed a cheap-chocolate-free Halloween once again! My Halloween hat is off to you sir! complete with ear muffs if I am not mistaken given your wintry climes??? sshhh... we don't want Winter to come back just yet... Kudos for being back on track!

gardenerjoy *credit* for 100% on plan! And I wanted to tell you I too am doing Nanowrimo--I have yet to write anything down, too much going on but I am starting Sunday for sure -- hopefully before but Sunday is the planned start day for me-- nevertheless I am officially in. I have a little group with two others. They always finish, often early (imagine!) and I haven't yet. We've done it three years now. You are welcome to join us over at nanowrimo. My name there is nanobotinamorata if you want to send me nanomail! Would love to share the November journey with you

4EverLearning Hello! You have a good string of credits there! *credit for your credits* I hope you've caught up on your sleep ... Kudos for getting yourself to a gym and submitting yourself to a trainer! that's great. You've set yourself up for success for sure.

maryann Glad you had a good Halloween. Sounds like it all went well. Hope you're feeling better by now!

Bye Coaches.