Beck Diet For Life/Solution – April 2019 – Support, Discussion, Buddy/Coach

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  • 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:
    With The Complete Beck Diet for Life you'll discover the 5 stages of successful dieting and maintenance. You'll learn how to motivate yourself, give yourself credit for every change you make, create time and energy for dieting, and handle hunger and cravings. Dr. Beck eases you into changing one step at a time. You'll master one task before moving on to the next. And you'll learn techniques to deal with challenging situations, such as sticking with ou plan at celebrations and dealing with "food pushers." With Dr. Beck's skills, you'll achieve a lifetime of healthful eating and lifelong motivation.
    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:
  • Monday - Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs found a computer company (1976, a CA garage)
    Diet Coaches/Buddies - It was a good bird walk in the morning, CREDIT moi. We saw our first Double-crested Cormorant of the year along with some Hooded Mergansers with one male showing off his white head crown to a female ostensibly ignoring him. It's Spring! and young Mergansers fancy turns to strutting about to impress the ladies. The resistance exercise was carrying three five-gallon buckets of compost - formerly my banana peels, coffee grinds, orange peels, broccoli stems - to our community garden in prep for planting snow peas. DW says we're late even though it feels like spring just got here.

    Eating was OK. I dawdled too long at community hour with nibbling from the table of homemade goodies while chatting. I compensated by halving my lunch when I got home. It's a challenge for me to stand around chatting without grabbing the foods everyone else is grabbing. I did learn how a friend installed a 400 pound steel girder in his house to open up the first floor into one big room (with just two friends helping). Some folks can do anything.


    onebyone - Congrats for those 9.8 pounds - a super achievement! Ouch for getting hung up on wanting another 0.2 pounds. Yep, Welcome April.

    Joy (gardenerjoy) - Thanks for the reminder that we have to think about our food and quantity. Mindlessness is so easy.

    maryann - It is a first world luxury that we have no fear of not getting enough protein even if we skip it for one meal.

    curlyjax - Always Kudos for stopping eating when full - especially at a restaurant.

    Beth (bethturnaround) - Such a painful thought to realize that one can overeat without even enjoying it.

    Penny. - Yay for yet-another on plan day. Do vegan folk worry about protein at every meal?

    Readers -
    Quote:
    day 24 Deal with Discouragement

    what are you thinking?
    When you feel overwhelmed about the future, you may notice some of the following sabotaging thoughts. Prepare for them now by creating Response Cards.

    Sabotaging Thought: I feel overwhelmed. This program is way too involved. I can't do it!
    Helpful Response: This book will help me, step-by-step. I don't have to learn everything in one day. I can reread and practice. I can ask my diet coach to help me.

    Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Beck Diet Solution (Pink book), Pg 190.
  • I bought Easter chocolate yesterday for my DD who wants a basket still and bought some for myself, in a moment of weakness. That particular type of low quality chocolate you can only get at Easter time is a taste from childhood and I justify it by saying its only available at Easter- or the 3 months proceeding it. I then ate most of it while working on prepping the taxes and DH estate stuff. The good news is the candy is all gone except for one cream egg, and I THINK I am done with paperwork. DH and I never were organized with paperwork and it is catching up to me. Well,I've done my best and all there's no point in worrying if something has been left out by accident, we're not talking about huge sums here. Next year I WILL be more organized and I'm going to start sorting things when I get back. I'm always more energetic in the spring!
  • Yesterday was DH's birthday. Fortunately, he's not into sweets. Unfortunately, he is into delivery from a nearby restaurant (a service we discovered when our plumbing failed a month ago). I had a salad, but the sodium level bumps the scale up. So, today is about water and serving sizes. I'm going to start talking myself into smaller servings -- half-sandwich instead of whole, 1/3 cup instead of 1/2 cup, make a dollop using a regular spoon instead of a soup spoon. I think that last one is something I'm ready to try today.

    Exercise: +45, 1100/1100 minutes for March
  • Good Morning.

    I’m glad I caught up on everybody’s posts. I feel for everyone and their struggles this weekend with compulsion. I have been trying to be present when I eat the first compulsive bite - that is the first bite unintended. It seeems it starts as a feeling of freedom and rebellion (like my parents can’t see what I am doing) but then immediately turns to intentional self harm. I don’t think this has always been. I think I use to enjoy my eating more but the progression of my compulsion has reached a point where I can no longer find true freedom in eating wherever and whenever I want.

    All this rumination just brings me back to the fact that food must be planned. I also must accept that food is just food and will not transport me into being someone different or place me in a different situation.

    So for today I have a plan. I have skills. Exercise is yoga.

    Thinking of you all.
  • Good morning!

    Yesterday was on plan and weight dropped a smidge.

    The kids seemed a little more excited about the new weekly menu and were eager to try things. The soup is a white bean stew and I bought two small bags of beans for it, which apparently included one older bag and one fresher bag. I thought the beans were cooked through, but every other bean is still hard. I threw it all into the crock pot for a few hours and they never got that much softer. Oh well, still edibly soft. Al dente. lol

    Bill, I love the spring bird drama! About the vegan and protein thing, vegans worry about getting their B12. Protein, not so much. I was reminded a 1600+ pound cow manages to maintain muscle mass with only grass.

    Beth, good to see you checking in. Your knee must be feeling better, I hope.

    Curly, fantastic that you finished the tax stuff.

    Joy, I see the exercise goal was met victoriously. Happy birthday to the dh!

    Maryann, your comments on compulsive eating reminds me of the levels of eating addiction I was reading about, maybe in some OA literature. The housebound morbidly obese folks being at the end stage of the disease. It's scary for me to relate to the compulsive eating and think of myself on that disease path.
  • Good afternoon coaches,

    I just got back from a hike in the Superstition area with the group I joined this year. We kind of did two hikes. The first was a bush whack to two arches and then the second up to a plateau and over to a cross where a horse was buried Together they were just over 5 miles, but lots of climbing. Dh has been sick for a week and I have a little tickle in my throat. I'm hoping I don't get what he's got, but that is probably wishful thinking. Food has been a little over plan, just enough to keep me from losing. So far today I'm on plan. Yesterday I whipped up a little sweet treat with some brown sugar and coconut. The brown sugar in now in the garbage. The coconut would have been too, but I couldn't reach it. I'll look for it later (with a stool).

    I'll get to personals tomorrow. I'm taking the car in and then will walk home and have lots of time.
  • Hi everyone!

    Today has been a good food day. I intend to do mostly products during the month of April but DD's best friend and her boyfriend are visiting. We took them out to dinner tonight and I ordered exactly what I intended. They've headed out for frozen custard for dessert--I'm chewing sugar free gum :-) and won't be having any.

    Exercise was PT--I only have two more sessions and a visit with my orthopedist--I think I'm ready to be done. I'll have to still do exercises at home but I'm not having any trouble at all with my knee right now. I was really afraid I'd end up with a knee replacement this year--but that is now much less likely--I no longer use a cane at all, I don't have any discomfort, let alone pain, walking or doing stairs. I don't think I'll take up running but think I"ll even be able to hike in AZ this summer. (Short hikes compared to Karen's but still doing some real walking)

    Our company is leaving tomorrow afternoon. Tomorrow is another evening out--DD and I have tickets to see Jersey Boys. I'm not sure yet if we're meeting for dinner or not, but I feel confident that I can order and eat appropriately.

    I spent some time on Amazon today finding self-help books for eating disorders, specifically binging. There were a number of the available through Kindle Unlimited, so I downloaded them and I'll see if any of them are helpful to me. Not eating at all works for me--but I haven't learned how to eat normally yet. That's the biggest risk of meal replacements. On the plus side, I have not fallen off the wagon and stayed off, I know it's a problem, and I'm determined to get through this.

    --Beth

  • Tuesday - International Children's Book Day. Hans Christian Andersen born (1805)
    Diet Coaches/Buddies - Take away from class yesterday: privacy on the Internet is an oxymoron. All the apps are collecting data and selling it. One of the frightening notions is that I might be getting news tailored to what I already believe. As will be (is) everybody else. Even sweet little Angry Birds is selling your location data. I already knew this; just had it shoved down my throat again. 1984 has come and gone.

    Painfully, I had to return The Library Book by Susan Orlean to the library unread. I did the first handful of pages and know that I'll have to grab it again this summer when I have time. I'm just ridiculous at my desire to pick up an interesting book without having the slot in my life to read it. Orlean writes about the 1986 fire at the Los Angeles Public Library - a HUGE loss. DW knows her from The Orchid Thief. I hate not finishing a good book. When I've become centered, I'll not desire more books than I can read.


    Joy (gardenerjoy) - Happy Birthday to your DH. Seems reasonable to work the issue of portion size - even when they already seem small enough. Kudos for meeting your March exercise goal.

    maryann - Thanks for "food is just food."

    Karen (karenrn) - Goodby brown sugar. I admire your ability to just get rid of it.

    curlyjax - So neat that you are still willing to provide your DS with an Easter basket. Let one of the comforts of childhood live on.

    Beth (bethturnaround) - Just watched the trailer for the Jersey Boys tour. Hadn't listened to Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons since long ago and far away. Good luck with your notion of learning to eat normally.

    Penny. - Ouch for a bag of beans that just doesn't do its bean thing correctly. LOL at "a 1600+ pound cow manages to maintain muscle mass with only grass."

    Readers -
    Quote:
    day 24 Deal with Discouragement

    what are you thinking?
    When you feel overwhelmed about the future, you may notice some of the following sabotaging thoughts. Prepare for them now by creating Response Cards.

    Sabotaging Thought: These tasks are too hard. I don't want to keep on doing these things.
    Helpful Response: I'm just feeling overwhelmed at the moment. It doesn't always seem this hard. Later on today or tomorrow, it'll probably feel easier again.

    Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Beck Diet Solution (Pink book), Pg 190.
  • A fly-through post. Yesterday had problems late in the day due to feeling entitled after pushing myself to get done what I wanted to do. Today, unfortunately, has a similar feel to it. But, I know where things went wrong yesterday and will aim for a different choice today, in the vein of an interesting experiment. I also want to re-read the four pages in the blue book about entitlement eating.

    Exercise: +30, 30/1100 minutes for April
  • Tough day at work. I know I’m paid in some sense to be a sparing partner for middle school kids where they take their punches and I deflect/ redirect. Hopefully they learn social behavior. But yesterday I was just a punching bag. I felt fed up with ridiculous behavior. Unfortunately I ate at all of them.

    Today is the day I have been anxious about. We are starting clay. I’m in lots of spaces that can’t get dirty. Talk about an oxymoron clay and clean. Think of me. 1 step at a time is today’s creed.
  • Good morning!

    Yesterday was on plan, with the exercise class, and weight dropped a little.

    Beth, it seems like things are all going well right now. Enjoy the last day of company.

    Karen, lol at throwing out the sugar. I made the kids a peanut butter banana bread and it's tough having it around. Luckily they eat it up pretty fast. Fingers crossed you avoid the spring cold.

    Bill, we opted to go back to newspaper delivery in hopes of avoiding the tailored, too prompt reactionary news online but even the newspaper is riddled with ad sponsered articles now.

    Joy, good idea to read sections of the book for renewed inspiration.

    Maryann, hoping clay day goes smoothly, and I'm sorry the kids are wearing you down. I'd probably burst into tears at the first mean comment so I can certainly understand the comfort seeking.
  • Good morning coaches,

    I'm not feeling so good, so will keep this brief. I walked Otis and then took my car in to the shop for service and walked a mile home. Somebody had some nice grapefruits out for the taking in a basket on the trail, so I brought a few home. Today will be very lazy.
    I'm not feeling well, but unfortunately it doesn't feel like it is effecting my appetite. My goal is to stay on plan.
  • Hi all,

    Food was OP today. 3 products and then dinner out with DD. I picked the restaurant in advance and I ordered exactly what I intended--heavy on veggies, some protein, and very low carb. I also enjoyed a glass of wine at the theater. Jersey Boys was great. I didn't do much PT today--just a bit--but did walk from the train station to the restaurant to the theater. We took a Lyft home--we'd still be on the train if we'd taken the train!

    I have an evening meeting tomorrow. My plan is to bring a bar and not have the pizza and cookies. I don't do well at stopping with that, so I'm going to just not start tomorrow. Pizza and cookies should not appear frequently on any reason plan for myself, so it's better if I skip that. I have PT in the morning so I'll definitely get some movement in. Now that I'm almost done with my PT sessions I spend the entire session on my feet so there's a lot of whole body movement.

    karenrn: I hope you're feeling better. I miss the fresh grapefruits and oranges that were available when we lived in AZ!

    penny: Yay for weight changes reflecting your OP behavior!

    maryann: I'm sorry you're having a tough period at work. I think kids are harshest when they feel safe, which seems ironic.

    joy: It's always good to be reminded about some of our diet traps. I really love the blue book.

    Bill: I don't think you'll ever reach a point where you don't want to read more books than you have time to read. That's just the nature of an interested mind.

    G'night all!

    --Beth



  • Wednesday - National Walking Day (since 2007, American Heart Association)
    Diet Coaches/Buddies - Evening lecture was on the influx of Great White Sharks on Cape Cod along with the influx of Gray Seals. Not a surprise; they come together. New England isn't able to think of Great White Shark without thinking about the 1975 movie Jaws. The speaker saw that movie when graduating from middle school and right then and there wanted to study sharks. Grew up and got to do it. Great success story. Despite all the fear, there are very few incidents. Turns out that seals are just tastier than people. People tend to come with surfboards that aren't digestible.

    Dinner was Dahl with Naan. Naan has become a rare treat because both of us are capable of eating large quantities because it's just so good. We each had half a loaf (one flat bread) and stopped, CREDIT moi. That makes me a vegetarian for the day, allowing me to feel rather noble. Not noble enough to want to drop meat, but a little spike of noble for the day.


    Joy (gardenerjoy) - Thanks for the reminder about entitlement eating - we reach for so many interesting justifications.

    maryann - So adult to think of yourself as professionally designated to take the punches of middle school kids still trying to become socialized.

    Karen (karenrn) - My dream of paradise is finding fresh grapefruit offered by a neighbor. Hope Arizona isn't full; might just have to move there.

    Beth (bethturnaround) - Yay for Lyft when that's what you need. Glad that you thought Jersey Boys was great since I liked the trailer.

    Penny. - Yay for your regular use of an exercise class.

    Readers -
    Quote:
    day 24 Deal with Discouragement
    Once I focus only on what I have
    to do today, dieting will be easier.
    Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Beck Diet Solution (Pink book), Pg 191.