Welcome to the discussion group, support group, Diet Coach group, Diet Buddy group relating to the two books by Dr. Judith S. Beck:

The Complete Beck Diet for Life
and the first book
The Beck DIET solution: train your brain to think like a thin person.

The 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:

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

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Was impressed with the quality of expensive equipment pointed at my eyes at my routine visit to my eye doctor. They took pictures of the optic nerve; compared it to previous visits; noted the trend; produced graphs and charts - all in color. Just WOW! Then added the ancient test where I read the letters/numbers on the chart on the far wall, "The smallest that you can read." Certainly they are aware that some folks have memorized that chart, LOL.

Mucked about with my Ea-Z-Boy recliner. Finally have accepted that the stuffing is not up to snuff and that reupholstering it would cost nearly $1000. The site suggests that reupholstering almost always exceeds the cost of a new chair. Am getting closer to accepting that I'll post a notice in one of the free-cycle sites and let someone pick it up off my porch. I'm mourning as if I was letting a kid go to college or something.

Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Dinner was, once again, salmon grilled on the deck. Noticed a whole section of cheese empty at the supermarket - worrisome sight.


Joy (gardenerjoy) - Super Congrats for finishing your NaNoWriMo and having reached the end of the story. Great idea to celebrate by not buying chocolate.

maryann - How can one not love a culture where even the men wear cool hats. So high on my Bucket List. Congrats for continuing with your Prolon fast.

Karen (karenrn) - So exciting to be "looking at flights to Bangkok." Jealous here; never been.

curlyjax - Kudos for "feeling quite hungry but managed to not overeat." Little triumphs are so great.

Readers -

I was mostly OP yesterday. I did indulge in some gum and hard candy during the 4 hour training session which was the leaders basically reading the training manual to us, snore. I managed to get some Christmas planning done while “listening”, so yay for that. Today the training continues but it incorporates balance exercises so at least that will keep us awake.
The exterminator did come and sealed up the outside of the house, and reported the mice had touched very little of the bait. I think they are now in a section of the roof of what used to be over a screened in porch and is now a room, but we can’t access it so I’m just not going to worry about it.
I was really tired for some reason last night so all I managed to do was make some oatmeal for breakfast today, and baked tofu with barbecue sauce which i’ve been snacking on. Woke up hungry today so yay for that.
Maryann- thanks for the link. Such beautiful images!
Karen-Bangkok will be very exciting, so fun to plan.
Gardenerjoy- I hear you about over indulging on chocolate- you have a good idea to avoid it altogether.
Bill-eye visit sounds interesting. I need to do an eye checkup soon, I hope mine includes fancy apparatus too!

Good morning coaches,

I'm typing this on my new laptop. What a joy compared to the old one which really should have been replaced some time ago. Food was on plan yesterday and weight is a tiny bit lower than it has been in a long time. Looking back on My Fitness Pal I see it has been almost 4 years. It has not been fast, but I'm feeling good and haven't had the urge to eat off plan much at all. I'm heading out for a hike that starts at 9 so I am waiting to eat my breakfast and I've packed some snacks since it is a bit longer.
I took db and sil to the airport this morning. We left the house at 4:30 and I was back by 5:10 since there wasn't any traffic. I'm still looking at flights to Thailand, but haven't pulled the trigger yet.

Personals tomorrow since I realize I have a bit to do before I'm ready to leave.

Good morning!

Yesterday's progress was not eating again after 2:00. Weight is up a little more.

I managed to get my three errands done, with some added drama. The new little car had to be towed to the shop. The title ( well, NMVTIS, the title I have is clean) shows the car "crushed" in Missouri, which apparently can be an error that has been made before- they'll let me know in a week or so. Fingers crossed I didn't get taken. And four expired passports are now set to be renewed. Whew! I'm glad I don't have to do anything today.

I'll be making turkey noodle soup today, and puttering around the house.

Joy, congrats on completing your writing and exercise goals!

Karen, congratulations on the weightloss progress! You're doing great. Good luck with the travel planning.

Maryann, your Peru trip had some beautiful sites. Good luck with the fasting today.

Curly, the mice problem sounds so frustrating. I hope sealing the outside helps.

Onebyone, I'm glad you were able to get some assistance with your glaze mixing class.

Bill, luckily there is usually always someone willing to take our junk furniture, as long as it's free.

Have a great day, everyone!

I took a quick glance at my chocolaty treat and left it where it was. No eggs at the Christmas Market, so I have no reason to walk in there again this season. That will make it much easier to resist.

I'm celebrating that I met my November exercise goals. That's two months in a row of 1500 minutes. I think I'll aim for 1600 in December.

Exercise +60, 1525/1500 minutes for November

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Picked up the (6 yo) DGD at kindergarten in the afternoon cold. Nevertheless, she immediately headed to the climbing structure with her friends. After thirty minutes of non-stop play, she and a few buddies headed behind a (very transparent) bush to start building with mud. Mud they made with water from their water bottles. We delivered a muddy child to her mom. Might put an end to the mud play. Two boys were doing their best to destroy a five-foot shrub until their grandfather finally suggested, very gently, that the shrub had to serve other kids, also. Slowly, they quit. I was on the side of the shrub in that one.

Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Dinner was delayed, so the small serving of guacamole planned for dinner was eaten while listening to a Zoom presentation. Saw a film of a fish at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean's Marianna Trench - 35,000 feet down. The deepest known spot in the ocean. The author, Helen Scales, was describing her book, The Brilliant Abyss: Exploring the Majestic Hidden Life of the Deep Ocean, and the Looming Threat That Imperils It. Naturally, that's now destined to be under the tree for DW after one click. I'm such a sucker for a young, exuberant, cogent, well-informed, British-accented, scientist. Especially one with Shirley-Temple hair. (Suspect that I'd have to tell her who that was, LOL.)


Joy (gardenerjoy) - Kudos, once again, for setting and meeting exercise goals for the month. Super Kudos for seeing that chocolate treat and leaving it alone.

Karen (karenrn) - Congrats for settling in to your new laptop. You're a true friend for getting folks to the airport at 4:30 am.

curlyjax - It's hard to sit through a boring training even while being paid. Thanks for the DM yesterday to remind me that December had started after I'd posted on the November thread. Methinks I'm in denial that winter approaches. Counter thought: Only three weeks until the days start getting longer.

Penny. - Hope the "crushed" car unravels in your favor. My last encounter with renewing passports was easy-peasy. Hope that's a trend.

Readers -

Good morning coaches,

I added a squeeze container of applesauce (left by my niece) and a few extra walnuts to my food plan yesterday since I did an eight mile hike and wanted to ensure no bonking. Weight is down a little more. The hike was actually easy and we saw some very cool petroglyphs. The temperature was a record heat for us. I think it hit 83 degrees . . . in December. I took my cooling towel with me to put on my neck for the second half of the hike since the heat can sometimes be a problem for me. I hiked with a couple who I hadn't seen in a few years so that was fun to catch up with them. Today I have a list of chores at home including cleaning my car, ironing, a little laundry and grocery shopping. I also hope to purchase my airline ticket and possibly make some small curtain/shades for a couple of small windows beside the from door. I'm hoping to keep Otis from seeing out so he doesn't have to bark at anything he sees including the neighbors backing out of their driveway.

Bill Yuck, mud in the cold weather does not sound fun, but it must have been for dgd. I bet the Zoom presentation was very interesting. The book looks really good.

GardenerJoy. Congratulations on meeting your increased exercise time goal. Also, congrats for leaving the market with no chocolate.

Penny. Holy moly I sure hope the car wasn't crushed. I think it took less than three weeks for me to get my passport. I was really pleasantly surprised.

Curlyjax. Hopefully yesterday's training was a little better. On the other hand maybe you got more Christmas planning done.

Maryann I hope you've had a great time in Michigan.

Onebyone. How's it going?

Excitement yesterday was learning that DD has lost her wallet, groan, with all sorts of important things in it. She thinks she left it at a store; I don’t understand how she walked out without knowing where it was, as she usually carries it in her hand. It makes me wonder if its in her apt somewhere. The best case scenario is that she replaces everything and it turns up later on, so i’m hoping for that. Anyhow, she’s in the middle of preparing for finals too so its bad timing.
I’m feeling stressed about it and there’s a limit to what I can do to help, but I did not eat over it. I woke up today feeling hungry so yay for that. I also did my weights, and started working on my Christmas cards.
Gardenerjoy- great job for being able to leave a chocolate treat alone. I’ve been thinking about making christmas cookies early and freezing them, but I doubt I would be able to stay out of them, so maybe not.
Karen-so cool that you can look back to four years ago on Myfitness app. Great that you haven’t wanted to eat off plan.
Penny-oh dear, sorry about the car. Puttering around making soup sounds like a great day.
Bill-another interesting book! I’m sure DW will love it. The innate destructive tendencies of little boys does make me laugh.

The weather was so gorgeous yesterday that I took two walks, getting me off to a quick start on my December exercise goal of 1600 minutes.

CREDIT for taking a bit of time this morning to map out my yoga and strength-training plans for December. This month's theme is mood-boosting! That seemed appropriate for the season of merriment and, also, for the darkest month of the year. I'm going to repeat some routines that have boosted my mood in the past. Plus, I found some routines on YouTube that I think will work.

One helpful resource is an exercise diary that I started in September. It evolved in an unexpected direction. Rather than a full accounting of my exercise, it turned into commentary about the different yoga routines as I try them. So, it was easy to find the ones that boosted my mood.

Exercise +85, 85/1600 minutes for December

Gardnerjoy you do so well

Good morning!

Maintenance day yesterday and weight is the same. I'm feeling pretty good today on my third day off, so I'm going to aim for a low calorie day.

Also, my new car should be all fixed up by the end of the day. It was the starter but the mechanic shops always try to add on anything they can: oil change, wipers, brakes, shocks. I have trust issues.

Karen, I bought some of that window cling to cover the lower part of the front window. There are all kinds of patterns that look like stained glass. Curtains will be nice. I feel bad taking the dog's view away but the barking at every walker is too much.

Curly, the feeling of a lost wallet is the worst! I had one stolen out of the back pocket of my backpack while shopping when I was younger.

Joy, journaling sounds like it's been very helpful. Congrats again on meeting your November goals.

Bill, what are you eating with your guac? Anything good?

Hi Coaches

I'm just watching local news and a panel of Dr's are discussing booster shots for the over 50's brought into focus by the slow and steady rise of Omicron.

I don't think there could have been a better name for a virus than Omicron.

I am wondering how many shots I will end up having. Well I am wondering and I am sure everyone else is wondering too. Right now I am enjoying life in pretty much the same way and at the same.pace as I was pre-covid. 75.9% of us are vaccinated in the province and we are required to wear masks indoors. Social distancing is a bit lax now but there are vaccine passports we.need to show to.go and eat somewhere or to see an event or something. I mostly feel pretty relaxed with a few panicky moments from time to time. Why am I talking about this? ugh. Cause I watched the news!

And in *my* world my food is unsettled.I have not accepted following my foodplan. What am I waiting for I ask? An invitation? My muddled brain will lead me down the sweet path of least resistance at every turn. Luckily I get to try again. My weight is neither up nor down and for that I am grateful.

My teaching and my work schedule is finally over the craziness hump.
Here's a link to one of the projects I am involved in that's wrapping up.

PRNT Collective Tarot Kickstarter

We completed colouring 4 decks of cards, we added the 24k gold leaf to one set of cards (going to a goldsmith no less) and we selected the 3 card and single cards for those who pledged at that level.
What we didn't do was sign them all! Can you believe it? So once signed on Saturday they will be mailed. Another successful art adventure in a year of several of them!

So.much success in so many areas but not in the weightloss battle. Even the back has healed!

I am glad I am not over 300lb. I have stayed away from that number which scares the bejesus out of me just seeing me write that down. Maybe I need to do that everyday as motivation!

I believe I will lose this weight. Maybe once my
6 week break begins mid month. I am.anxious to engage in my January Days of Sloth holiday season! Just have to get through the other stuff that comes before , , and .

Have a good night.

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Got the old Ea-Z-Boy recliner down the stairs to make room for the new one arriving today. Wasn't that hard; it slid down nicely on one side. Did no damage to the walls or stairs. It sits in the living room. I'll replace one broken screw so that it isn't quite as wonky and then figure out how to send it to its next owner. I've accepted that it's leaving my life. Suspect that I'll be even more sure of that once I've sat for a spell in the new one. The directions to us were clear: remove all throw rugs; remove all furniture and electronics in the path to where it's to be left. We're ready.

Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Dinner was eaten from trays on our computers as we followed a Zoom lecture about live in the Abyss. (Our second ocean lecture in two days.) Heard some real science being done, much of the DNA analysis of species was too detailed to grasp in a single lecture. Noted that the Orange Roughy lives for 30 years and reproduces slowly. We're scooping them up faster than they can grow back. But, since they don't have big brown eyes, it's hard to get folks concerned. All this I watched while eating grilled salmon. Felt like a hypocrite.


onebyone - Congrats for pulling off your print collective Tarot Card Kickstarter. Just amazing that you hired a goldsmith to apply the gold leaf. Can't wait to see them. Good attitude, "Luckily I get to try again."

Joy (gardenerjoy) - Two walks sounds like a good day. Neat that your exercise journal is serving you so well.

Karen (karenrn) - Love that you're seeing petroglyphs. I have a friend who is photographing them for a museum in an effort to preserve them from destruction by - not the weather - humans.

curlyjax - Ouch for your DD's lost wallet - that's just one of the worst events to recover from with a zillion phone calls and cancellations.

Penny. - Sounds like good news about your car. Still keeping my fingers crossed. I eat the guacamole with tortilla chips - not the most healthy food in the world. Good news: it's now gone.

Readers -

Good morning coaches,

Food was on plan yesterday and weight is holding. I'm hoping to be in the 130's in the next few days. I've tried on more clothes in my closet and they are fitting. I did purchase a ticket to Thailand, ironed, cleaned the car and did some grocery shopping. Midday a friend messaged to see if I wanted to go to House of Gucci, so I did. I didn't know the story so it was interesting and I wanted to see how Lady Gaga did. I enjoyed it, but then again I like most movies. I certainly wouldn't put it on your list Bill. Today I'm meeting the same friend for a 4 1/2 mile hike that usually takes about 90 minutes. I'm pretty sure it will be a full two hours as she is pretty slow these days, but I love visiting with her. She started a cookie baking business when her social life shut down due to the pandemic. She is always careful about her food and is slender. I can't say that would have been the case for me. I'm not even excited to do Christmas baking this year, but I'll do some. My resistance muscle will get a work out.

Bill. I hope you really like your new recliner after all the work to clear the way for it.

Onebyone. Yes I expect the virus is here to stay. I'm hoping the new mutation is less virulent and eventually it becomes like the common cold. Such a hassle though with travel. Glad to hear your back is better and you're over the craziness hump with work. Maybe it will be easier to be on your food plan without so many other things going on.

Penny. I'm glad you're finally feeling better after 3 days off. Otis will still have a view when he lays on the top of the couch and looks out the windows, but at least he won't walk to the door and bark.

GardnerJoy Your exercise journal sounds like a really good idea.

Curlyjax I'm hoping your post today will say that dd found her wallet. Such a hassle. I've always been so lucky, even when I've left my entire purse in a grocery shopping cart.

Waving to Maryann.