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:

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Spent most of my day mesmerized by the touch and light reacting plasma globe on my desk - a $50+ model picked up for $5 at a yard sale on Sunday. Makes me so happy. I'll see how long it amuses the DGD tomorrow. Even got DW to play with it for a spell.

Eating was only OK. I got bunches of work done and some of the reading for tomorrow's book club meeting. Will be attending with a few chapters skimmed rather than absorbed. Summary: Humboldt traveled the globe picking up specimens that had never been seen before and engaged with every scientist and world leader alive.


maryann - Yay for moving forward with college applications. Yep, "Food is just fuel."

curlyjax - That The Prince of Providence sound neat. Imagine, a corrupt East Coast politician - who'd have thunk.

Penny. - LOL at having to move books to light a fire. Know about that kind of thing.

Readers -

I'm glad I wrote out my plan for yesterday on Sunday. I followed it!

Today's challenge is some recovery time between yesterday's big day and tomorrow's second of three trips out to support MiL's gall bladder treatment. Tomorrow is the biggest day -- laparoscopic surgery to remove the gall bladder. Here is my reminder that overeating is not a recovery day activity for me now because it never worked that well for me in the past (and I tried it a lot).

Weight: NA kg. Exercise: +40, 1210/1100 minutes for September

Good morning!

Yesterday was maintenance eating, with weightlifting and weight is holding, still at the higher position.

I've been reading this book called Circe, and enjoying it very much! If the author's other book on Achilles is still not available from the library before my trip, I may need to purchase it (gasp!).

I made over a gallon of southern style greens (without oil or meat) yesterday because I can't seem to make normal quauntities of any recipe. So, I will be eating it until my poo is a pure iron supplement/multivitamin. I will ooze health and my hair will spring out full again.

Maryann, credit for checking in again. I hope the evening went well.

Bill, thanks for starting our October thread. The plasma ball thing is fun. The kids got one from Grandma one Christmas.

Joy, hoping all goes smoothly for MIL and recovery is not too painful.

Hi everyone!

I'm considering switching to morning postings so that it's more a plan for the day rather than a reflection. Something to consider.

I had told myself that October 1 was my first day of 'no sweets, no baked goods'. So, today is October 1st. I actually made it a 5 product day, which was fine. I went to Walgreen's (to pick up a FedEx package) and was momentarily distracted by candy bars, candy corn, and a package of cookies. I had a sad sense of that I just committed to never eat those things again, but then I reminded myself 'one day at a time'. I told myself "I am going to get through today not eating sweets or baked goods. I only have to think about today--one day at a time." And I've done that--I'm about to go to bed and I've gotten through my 1 day. And tomorrow is another one day.

DH calculated (through the step apps on our phones) that we walked 93 miles while we were gone. (Reading UK, London, Paris, Rome, including day trips to each of Windor Castle, Giverney, Versailles, and Pompeii/Herculaneum). He managed to gain 8 lbs, which he isn't happy about :-(. I lost 2 pounds (even eating gelato every day we were in Rome). Staying even would still have been a success, so I consider losing 2 a real win.

Tomorrow: 5 products, NO PIZZA OR COOKIES OR EVEN SALAD at my evening meeting. None. Zilch. Pizza is a baked good and cookies are a baked good. Even eating salad there is a slippery slope--I am better off making tomorrow an all product day and not touching anything there.

G'night all.

--Beth

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Made a trip to Costco. A week ago, they had plenty of US grown blueberries. I bought too many - just right. Alas, yesterday they only had blueberries from Peru. The ones we've had flown from Peru haven't been tasty. So, with misgivings, I left them there. We have about two morning's worth still in the fridge, then we'll have to accept that the season is over. I skipped Costco's offer of a HUGE jar of avocado oil based mayonnaise. I'd never heard of it. I accepted their sample of a corner of toast with avocado mayonnaise and half a cherry tomato. It tasted like mayonnaise. DW would have had a fit if I'd come home with a jar that big. Some folks must have huge refrigerators to host huge jars.

Eating was OKish. Perhaps I'm getting a little better at standing down the thought that nibbling will help fight the feeling of being behind in preparing my course. I was encouraged that my co-teacher really liked the video that I'd found to support our class tomorrow. It'll do a great job of introducing the discussion that we're trying to get going. Yay for Youtube's search engine.


Joy (gardenerjoy) - Best wishes for your MIL's laparoscopic surgery today. Smart to publicly acknowledge that eating doesn't help recovery.

Beth (bethturnaround) - You'll make a fortune on your new diet: gelato every day to lose two pounds. I can see it on the cover of the supermarket tabloids. Super Kudos for so much walking on your vacation.

Penny. - A gallon is one whole lot of green beans. However, it's hard to imagine 'Southern style' without oil or meat. Maybe Austin style.

Readers -

Today, is a trip to DH's hometown to support his family during MiL's surgery. Tonight is a three-hour dress rehearsal for a presentation I'm giving with a group of people a week from Friday. There may be literally no time between getting home from out-of-town and getting to the dress rehearsal. I've already warned my group that I may be late.

I had resigned myself to a bad eating today, possibly with no vegetables. My path away from that sabotaging thought was to feel grateful about how few days are like that for me, now. There was a time when any glitch in routine meant that the day defied planning and I gave up--that could happen multiple days a week. I'm happy to say that it rarely happens, now. That led my brain to this question "Since I'm better at planning for non-routine days, could I do better with today than I initially thought?" The answer was "yes." It still won't be a great day, but there will be a salad.

Weight: NA kg. Exercise: +40, 40/1200 minutes for October

Welcome back Beth. I have been off refined sugar, wheat and processed foods for ten days. I am starting to feel better. The first four days I had a headache. My dr says some of my med issues will be helped by this so I gave it a try. We can do this.

Yesterday I pulled off an impressive Apartheid simulation with my freshman. It was nice to hear a student who struggles say “ I get it”

Yesterday was my 32 years sober bday. I took a chip from a longtime friend. All in all I feel very lucky.

Good morning!

Yesterday was overbudget eating and weight is holding. Dh and I walked to the music store to get some banjo picks and then popped into a pub for a drink and appetizer. It was a three mile walk.

I stayed up late to get some whole wheat sourdough in the oven and it turned out great! I'm going to limit it to my avo/kraut toast for breakfast.

Beth, it sounds like it was a fantastic trip! Credit for getting back on your five products.

Bill, Southern greens as in collards but I use a mix of collards, kale and chard. It's pretty good, even without the pounds of bacon. RIP blueberries.

Maryann, credit for the 10 days off refined carbs!

Joy, that does sound like a long day. Credit for making a reasonable plan.

Good morning coaches,

I just got home from my 4th hike in 4 days. The weather is so amazing that I don't want to miss getting out there. I was invited by someone on Garmin to join a 150 mile challenge for October, so I guess that will keep me going, or at least I hope so. The last 2 days have been on plan and weight is heading back down from the spike after Sunday's indulgences. I'm wondering if a little bit of it is water retention from the increase in my hiking. I've done 26 miles in the 4 days and each day has had a good elevation gain. In any event the only thing to do is stay on plan and drink lots of water. I'm going to really focus on my plan, water and no sweets for the month of October.

Penny The bread sounds delicious and it's probably a good idea to know when you will eat it so you won't feel deprived or over do it.
Maryann Congratulations on your 32 years sober birthday. That is a lot of years. I have a friend who will celebrate 21 years sober tomorrow (which is also Otis's birthday).
GardenerJoy Good job rethinking your day. Sounds like a busy one and I hope mil's surgery goes smoothly.
Bill Would you be willing to share the name of the movie from You Tube that you are using for your class?
Beth Super kudos for a wonderful trip and a weight loss too. How did your knee hold up with all the walking?

Well, I'd better get my food plan done for the day. I head out hiking about 5:30 and know it doesn't really matter if the plan is made cause I won't be eating until I get home . . . but now it's time.

Checking in for the evening. All my food is eaten and I am faced with one last class of correcting. My plan is to take a bath, sit by my beautiful bouquet fromSam’s club (which has lasted a week) and correct. I am not closing the kitchen because that has a negative connotation. I am merely inviting myself to eat what I want tomorrow for breakfast.

Thxs for reading.

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Exercise was chase the (4 yo) DGD day, CREDIT moi. She explored my new plasma globe for a long spell. I showed her how to touch it with one finger to draw the 'lightning' to her finger. Then told her to try two fingers. Then three. Then, thinking I might lose her attention, went directly to her whole hand. "No, Granddad, four fingers is next." OK - so I've got a serious scientist on my hands. We took her to the Boston Museum of Science which we've done several times before. She owned the place. Declared each thing she wanted to do next. We were there five hours; I just love her attention span.

By fortuitous circumstance, I'd been invited to a luncheon that was being held right there at the Science Museum in its top floor function room. So, by agreement, I left DW to fend with the DGD and museum quality cheese pizza while I offed to a meal catered by Wolfgang Puck. Felt like a slacker. I had the brisket that was labeled "ribs" - absolutely superb - that I balanced with a plate of salads. I faced two small dessert offerings: a chocolate thingy and a lemon thingy. I chose ONLY the lemon one; when I got back to my chair, my friend asked for a small taste. She'd had the chocolate and didn't want to take both. "You lost," she said, "the chocolate was to-die-for." I let it go - didn't go back for the chocolate. Oh, Well.


Joy (gardenerjoy) - Kudos for handling an overloaded day. Hope your MIL's surgery went well.

maryann - Yay for getting into the reluctant heads of your adolescent students. Love that you've had a week with your latest flowers.

Karen (karenrn) - 26 miles is a lot of hiking. (The video is a 14 minute lecture by Brilliant.org, Is Amazon Too Big? It addresses the question should the super big tech companies be broken up.)

Penny. - Neat to take a three-mile walk for a banjo pick. If Wolfgang Puck, himself, can label brisket "ribs" then I guess you can label porkless greens "Southern Style."

Readers -

Quick wave. I haven't been doing so good with resisting the sweets. feeling very hormonal and emotional. I have a call in to an exterminator about mice and he hasn't called back, which bothered me way more than it should. I need to give myself a firm talking to and shake it off. Stay the course!

My little extra effort paid off yesterday and I didn't eat too much -- I know because I woke up hungry!

MiL's surgery went fine. The gall bladder was in bad shape, so we're hoping that she'll have relief from symptoms now.

I'm feeling a bit wiped out after yesterday's events. So, here's my reminder that food doesn't fix tired. The things that help are journaling, distraction, and an early bed time!

Weight: NA kg. Exercise: +20, 20/1200 minutes for October

curlyjax: we get mice when the weather cools. Those green mouse pellets work well for us, since we don't have pets or small children. Our favorite spot, in the cabinet under the sink, would probably be safe even from pets.

Good morning!

Yesterday was "good enough" (does Bill say that?) and weight is holding.

Today I plan to try and power through a book loaned to me by a friend. It's probably not something I would have chosen or finished on my own. It's called Scythe and reminds me of that movie Logan's Run. It seems like a good one for the kids.

Karen, you're enjoying all the perks of living in the desert finally. Credit for all the hiking miles.

Bill, chocolate and lemon would have been a tough choice for me. Lemon usually wins.

Curly, sorry about the mice. I get very irritated when businesses don't call me back too. It's so unprofessional.

Joy, I'm glad your day and MIL's procedure went well.

Maryann, I hope the rest of your evening went well. Yay for long lasting cut flowers!