Set a Realistic Goal

Ok, to start, did you read your Advantage Response Card today??? How many times,when you got up, during stress, before you ate, before you went to bed???? Remember to keep your eye on where you want to be and where you want your road to lead you....

What kind of goal did you make for yourself? Are you making a goal of maybe 100 pounds or are you making a mini goal of maybe 5 or 10 at a time...If you make a goal that is too big, you might become overwhelmed if you set a goal that seems too hard or will take too long to achieve.. You need to make smaller goals and when you achieve that goal you need to reward yourself with some nonfood item...Maybe you could think of something that you could keep and always remind you how hard you had worked and how far you have come...

You are probably like the rest of us...you want to lose 10 pounds a week, wouldn't it be great??? But we all know that isn't possible...I'm sure you have heard that 1-2 lbs a week is as much as you should lose weekly..The first week you may lose more than that since that usually is mostly water.. But the fact is..the slower you lose it the more apt you are to keep it off..Why?? Well, as you go along you will learn a much healthier way of eating...The longer you stick to eating healthier, the more it will become part of your life. If we could lose lots of weight each week, you know after we lost it, we would probably be right back to eating the same way that we did before we decided to eat healthier and lose the weight..We have to do something lots of times before it becomes a habit..I know you have heard that, too...

I'll end by saying..If you think losing 1-2 lbs. a week is too slow... think about this....

'How much will it matter a few years from now how long it took? I need to remind myself why it's important to lose weight slowly. My long-term seccess depends on it.'

Select an Exercise Plan

Here is what they had to say about losing weight through dieting alone...'Although many people attempt to lose weight through dieting alone, research clearly supports that your long-term success depends on also getting regular exercise. A study of thousands of participants who have lost more than 30 pounds and maintained that weight loss for at least 1 year...show a combination of diet and exercise; only 10 percent use diet alone, and 1 percent rely on only exercise.'

Exercise helps you stick to your diet...

Exercise might help control appetite.

Exercise burns calories

Exercise perserves muscle tissue

Exercise makes you feel better physically

Exercise imporoves your health and helps prevent disease

The Centers for Disiease Control report that only 17.5 percent of dieters combine dieting with exercise..No wonder it's so difficult for most people to lose weight, much less keep it off...

2 kinds of exercises..
Spontaneous, that is when you go to the grocery, mall, or work and park out at the end of the lot so you have to walk further to get to the store...Taking the stairs instead of the elevator. Instead of putting stuff on the bottom of the steps all day and taking them up at night,(I'm guilty of that one), take each one up as you accumulate it..
Planned Exercise...
We all know what this is...making the time to plan some kind of exercise into your daily routine...

If you currently exercise fewer than 3 times a week, your goal is to try to get into the habit, then you might find you would like to increase the frequency or maybe just lengthen the workout...

Prepare To Diet

Create Time and Energy.
You have to make time to plan meals, make lists, to shop for food, and to cook..(that sounds pretty easy, huh?..well it does take lots of time)
Remember to read your Response Cards,(the reasons you listed why YOU want to lose weight)
How about the time you need to plan how you are going to exercise and then you have to spend the time doing it..
How about your WW. meetings if you attend...takes more time...
Of course you have the usual chores around the house, working and don't forget the kids, if you have any...It all takes lots of time and planning.....

Ok, I know you are asking where you are going to get all this extra time this new "diet" is going to take..Let's see...maybe you could get up a few min. early in the morning so you could jump on the treadmill or take a walk before going to work..You might want to take a Smart One or low cal. micro dinner for lunch to save the time that packing a lunch would take...Maybe you could ask a little help from your husband or kids so you could get out of the kitchen early after dinner. You also would have less temptation in the kitchen if everyone pitched in and help clear the table and load the dishwasher...

How about if we make a schedule for the day, hour by hour...Plan the night before so you know exactly what you will be doing each hour..You might have to give up a little on doing other things, but aren't YOU worth it????? By organizing the day, you will accomplish much more than if you just did whatever jumped in your mind...You will be surprised at how much you have squeezed into the day..Getting organized is one of the most important things you can do you help yourself.. You may have to reduced some activities to make room for more healthy ones, but you will get a big reward at the end.

Arrange Your Environment

This chapter starts out by talking about removing temptations...Where do you keep your snack food, on your kitchen counter, in your car, on your desk or locker at work??? Not a good place if you are trying to remove that temptation to grab when you aren't hungry.... Maybe a better place would be out of site. How about putting it in your freezer so it isn't staring back at you... , maybe on a high shelf, or maybe just don't buy as much and buy healthier things that you can keep in plain view...If you don't have the unhealthy stuff, can you eat it????

Changes at Home.
Open your cabinets and throw away everything and anything that could make you go off your new eating plan...They mentioned..you aren't wasting it, you would also be wasting it if you ate it anyway, since it is bad for you... (never thought of it that way)
Rearrange your dishes. Get rid of those large dishes and keep the smaller ones that makes it easier to really see the right portions of food. On a big plate you would think you have to eat more since it looks like you don't have much to eat...
If you don't live alone, try to get the rest of the family to help you by keeping junk food or things you wish not to eat, out of site...Explain you are trying to eat healthier and you would like them to help you...Explain to them it would be really nice if they also would choose to eat healthier(who couldn't benefit from that?)

Do creative problem solving.
This pertains to buying snacks in portion control pkgs. like the 100 calorie pkg.. You can ask your family to just buy what they want in a 1 portion, not a 6 pkg. of candy bars where they would have some left over and lead to temptation for you..

Changes at Work..
We all know that food around the work place is a common thing..Everyone is bringing in donuts, cookies, brownies, you name it and it will show up...How about all that Christmas Candy...Wow...what a temptation. Then you have all the vending machines. How about "Maggie" who just HAS to have someone try her new recipe for chocolate chip cookies?? Working in an office I bet you could gain 20# a year if you ate everything anyone brought in, piece by piece...Maybe you could have a little talk with a couple and explain you are trying to eat healthier, I bet they have all noticed by now. Decide if there is a place out of site that would be a good place to keep the food someone brought in for the day. How about a cabinet with a door on it and put a note where usually you put it, saying, 'chocolate chip cookies located at ?, Dawn made them for you all to enjoy. For that candy that is always in an open dish on the desks, how about a jar you can't see through. Get a few at the dollar store and pass them out to the ones that are near your desk...If you ask, I just bet you will get lots of them to be very helpful..maybe you will even get some buddies to change their eating habits, too.

Find A Coach

Studies have shown that people who have someone to support them along the way are more successful than someone who does it all alone or doesn't want anyone to know what they are doing.

A Diet Coach:
Keeps you motivated
Builds your self-confidence
Helps your solve problems when they arise
Keeps you accountable

'Few people who have struggled with dieting can lose weight and sustain that weight loss without help and encouragement from another person'

'Knowing that you have to report on your progress to someone else can motivate you to stick to your plan.'

The book suggest that you decide who your 'diet coach' will be before you start your new eating plan. You might not need them when you are the most motivated which is usually during the first couple weeks. Try to choose someone who believes in you, very supportive, motivating and will be proud of you. If you can find someone who is all the above and who also would like to be your weight lose partner, you both will get off to a great start. At times when one of you are feeling a little weak, the other will boost you along...

Others find being a part of a group such as Weight Watchers or others groups is a very big help. It holds you accountable for your weight, also it helps to hear other peoples stories. The internet is a great place also to connect with people who are going through the same journey...

Well, that is a quick look at Day #6.
Don't forget to read your Advantage Response card a couple times a day...You need to keep reminding yourself why YOU would like to shed those pounds and become healthier.

Eat Slowly And Mindfully

There are two very beneficial reasons that it's important to always eat slowly and to pay attention to what you're eating..
. When you eat slowly, your brain has time to register that you're full.
. When you notice and enjoy every mouthful, you feel more satisfied when the food is gone.

They conducted at study at Louisiana State University with a group of overweight people. They gave them a lunch of chicken nuggets and timed how fast they ate.(this was done over several days). They used a series of beeps to tell everyone to take a bite. They ate by very slow beeps and very fast beeps..They could only take a bite when they heard the beep. The faster the beep the more it took for them to become full and stop eating. The slower the beeps, the faster they felt full and stopped eating, eating less food...The results were... all the participants ended up eating less whenever the beeps were slower...So, they feel like most overweight people, as a rule, probably have learned to eat fast. Maybe due to not enough time to eat, having to care for children and feed them, or maybe it's just a habit. Well, for today..we are going to sit at the table without any distractions, eat slowing, taking sips of water every couple of bites. Don't forget to put that fork or spoon down between every bite. Stop eating when you feel satisfied and BEFORE you feel stuffed...If you have small children, maybe you could feed them before you eat. We will all try to make this a conscious effort and before we know it..we have made it a good HABIT.

Give Yourself Credit

People who struggle with their weight tend to be hard on themselves..The minute they stray from their diets in the smallest ways they just want to "throw in the towel"....We need to focus on the positive things that has lead us to be successful to this point...Like....Did you read your response card today several times...Did you give yourself credit for not having something you would have liked to?... By consciously giving yourself credit, you'll reinforce your self confidence and build an awareness that you're strong and in control..They gave an example of someone that had gone out to eat with a friend...The friend was eating the nice warm bread that was in the bread basket before them.. He kept thinking". "I would love to have a piece of bread, too"..."Boy it smells so good, I just have to have a piece, too"...He finally gave into his temptation of having just one slice of bread. When his food came he ate only half the potato to make up for the slice of nice warm bread that he had eaten. He took a negative response(of eating the bread) and turned it into a positive (eating only half of his potato)..He could have easily just given up after the bread and ate anything he wanted. He should pat himself on the back and say.."boy what a strong person I am") As you learn to turn negatives to positives or as you learn to resist things that aren't in your best interest...you will become stronger and each time will be much easier....
Here are some things you can say to your self..

That was good!
Great!
Good going!
That deserves credit!
Yes!
I did it!
Wow, I'm proud of myself!!!

When you're finished eating, look for ways to give yourself credit for refraining from doing the unhelpful things you're tempted to do..


Make sure you give yourself credit lots of times through the day for every little thing that you to work toward your goal...As you go on sticking to your program, getting right back on when you slip the first time, and most of all, giving yourself credit...You have got to come out a WINNER!!!!

Where We Eat Our Food

The 3rd day of The Beck Diet Solution deals mainly with where we eat our food. Do we stand in the kitchen and nibble here and there? Are you one to snack while you are on your computer? Do you snack your way through a warehouse club? These are all examples of "mindless" nibbling.. Most of the eating that people do while on their feet is impulse eating, not food that they had planned to eat. Every time we eat one bite of food we need to sit down at the table and be more conscious of every bite we eat. All the bites we have here and there, they all add up to some serious calories we really don't remember we even ate....Then we wonder why we don't lose weight or we lose slower than we think we should...To end this, we all need to make a commitment to sit down at the table every time we are going to eat a snack or meal.. When you see it in front of you, you are more apt to remember eating it and you will be more satisfied than when you just grab and go....They have found that people who do sit down to eat, lose more weight and are more able to maintain your weigh loss years later...So..lets all give it a try and see how it works for us.

Two Kinds Of Diets

Today is day #2 of The Beck Diet Solution. We're supposed to choose two reasonable diets. It's ok if you're already following a plan, but Dr. Beck wants us to choose two diets anyway and put them in writing. She says the reason for this is because the first diet is the one that you plan to start with, and the second diet is there in case the first one doesn't work out.

It doesn't matter whether a diet directs you to consume certain combinations of food; to eat prescribed meals; or to count calories, grams, or predetermined numbers assigned to foods. the bottom line is that you'll still be taking in a limited number of calories. Researchers at the U. S. Department of agriculture have determined that most people who don't vigorously exercise need to pare down their daily consumption to between 1400 and 1500 calories to lose weight. In fact, in a review of popular diets published in the "Journal Obesity Research", researchers found that the daily meal plans of several current popular diets each contain roughly 1500 calories.

Dr. Beck says that there are two kinds of diets. The first kind of diet encourages us to follow a set eating plan, and it provides precise meals and snacks such as Jenny Craig, Slimfast, Optifast, etc. The other type of diet is a counting system that allows us to design our own meals and snacks as long as we stay within a certain number of calories, or assigns numbers such as the Weight Watchers points plan. She says, there are pros and cons to both plans.

The pros to the set eating plan, is that you don't have many choices. Sometimes this is easier for people, especially in the beginning, because you don't really have to put much thought into what you are going to eat. The cons to this set eating plan, is that it can create a mindset of "good" foods and "bad" foods. If you end up eating a "bad" food that wasn't on your plan, you might think you've blown your diet, and keep eating that "bad" food for the rest of the day and just figure you'll start over again tomorrow. The other downside to this plan is that it really isn't something that you'll be able to do for the rest of your life, and it doesn't give you the flexibility for uncontrollable food circumstances, such as eating out, going to parties, or vacation.

The pros to the counting system plan, is that you can match your diet more easily to your lifestyle. This will allow you to find meals wherever you are rather it be traveling, eating out, or at a party. You can always ensure that your meals and snacks include all your favorite foods. This is a plan that you could possibly stick to for the rest of your life. The cons to the counting system plan is that it may offer you too much flexibility. It allows you to choose foods that may not be particularly healthy, but still meet the set requirements. This type of plan also takes more time and energy than a set eating plan to figure out what you're going to eat.

Whichever plan you choose to follow. It should be healthy, because you be following this diet for a long time. You want to choose a diet that allows you to eat a variety of foods. You should be wary of any diet that restricts healthy food choices. You might be able to lose weight on a diet that isn't nutritious, but eventually your body will rebel and you'll start to gain back the excess weight. You want to choose a diet that includes food you like and can easily prepare. You'll be much more likely to stick to it if the food is tasty and convenient, and you will also be more likely to make recipes and eat the required meals. Choose a diet that allows indulgences. If you have foods that are completely off-limits, you will likely have cravings sooner or later.

Before moving on to the next step in this plan, we are suppose to pick the primary diet we want to follow, along with a backup diet. The reason for this is so that in the event that two to three months from now we find that the first diet isn't working or even if were bored with it will have something to fall back on. This way, we are less likely to quit.

Today's tasks are to investigate different diet plans and choose the one we are going to follow along with our backup diet plan (write down both plans into your diet notebook so that you will remember what your backup plan is in the event that you need it down the line). The other thing that we should do today is read our advantages response card that we made yesterday at lease twice.

Ok, so my main diet plan is the Weight Watchers Flex Points Plan, and my backup diet plan will be the Weight Watchers Core Plan. What two plans have you chosen for yourself? TTYL!

The Advantages To Losing Weight

Hello! I'm glad to see that you came back to join me in Day #1 of The Beck Diet Solution book. Before we get started, I want to share a video with you that I found. (just click the play button in the middle of the picture)



Ok, lets get started. Today we're supposed to make our first response card. A response card is basically an index card that contains important messages to help us counter our sabotaging thoughts. They're supposed to help us motivate ourselves every day so that we can stick to our diet and apply good eating habits, deal with hunger and cravings, resist emotional eating, and get right back on board when we make a mistake.

We are suppose to read these cards daily as we lose weight. Dr. Beck says the card we create today might be the most important one of all because we are going to lists the reasons we've decided to diet. We're going to think of all of the advantages of losing weight and write them down while they're clear in our mind.

The reason why we are supposed to write these down is because sometimes we forget the reasons why we want to lose weight. They are also good to have around for when we have sabotaging thoughts. This way when we feel like cheating or giving up, we can just pull out our response card and remind ourselves why we should keep going.

We'll be able to say to ourselves, "as much as I want to eat [this food] and enjoy a moment or two of pleasure, losing weight is much more important to me".

Creating our first card should take less than 10 minutes, and it should take us less than a minute to read this card each day. Try to think of as many advantages as you can. Write the advantages on an index card and continue to add to the list anytime you come across a new advantage you hadn't previously included.

Below is a list of the advantages to losing weight that are written in the book as examples.

I'll look better.
I'll be more attractive to others.
I'll be able to wear a smaller size.
I'll be aware more stylish clothes.
I'll be happier when I look in the mirror.
I'll get joy out of shopping for clothes.
I won't feel so self-conscious.
I will get more compliments.
I'll be in better health.
I'll be able to exercise without discomfort or embarrassment.
I'll live longer.
I'll feel better physically.
I'll have more energy.
I'll be more physically fit.
I'll enjoy sexual intimacy more.
I'll like myself more.
I'll feel more in control.
I will feel as if I've accomplished something important.
I'll have more confidence.
I'll increase my self-esteem.
I'll be less self-critical.
I'll feel more outgoing.
I'll do more things.
I won't have to listen to my family comment about what I'm eating.
I'll be able to be more assertive.
I won't mind eating in front of others.
I will have anyone bugging me about my weight.

Dr. Beck says that in addition to carrying the cards with us, we might want to put the list in other places we will often see it. She suggests turning the list into a screen saver for our computer, copy the list on sticky notes to put on the bathroom mirror, refrigerator or car dashboard, or post the list on the inside cover of our diet notebook.

We're supposed to read the card at least twice a day, and any other time we feel the need. Every time we read the card we're supposed to ask ourselves "How important is this to me?" this active process of reflection further helps us internalize these reasons and commit them to memory, allowing us to answer our sabotaging voice whenever it tries to convince us that it's okay to stray from our diet.

Ok, get busy on your card. I'd love to hear your list if you want to share. In the meantime, I'll leave you with some of the things I have on my list so far. See you tomorrow!

Aimee's Advantages Response Card

I'll be healther.
I'll be able to exercise without getting out of breath.
I'll be able to participate in 10k's on the weekends again.
My knees, ankles, hips and back won't hurt anymore.
I'll be more flexible for golf and hit the ball better.
I'll be able to buy cute clothes off of the discount rack.
I'll live longer.
I'll be more positive and upbeat.
I'll be able to take Riley on longer and more frequent walks.
I'll be able to Trikke and hike again.
I won't feel like everyone is looking at me in public.
I'll have amazing energy and won't get tired quickly.
I'll have better self esteem and be more confident.
I won't have to worry if I'll fit in a booth when I go out.
I won't sit on my butt as much.
I'll feel like a normal person and fit in.
I'll be proud of myself.

Intro to The Beck Diet Solution

I'm going to cover each section of this book on my blog as I follow the program. I encourage you to get a copy of the book and follow along with me (the book has a lot of really good examples and more that I can't really cover because these blogs would just be too long). In the chapter's leading up to day #1 of The Beck Diet Solution, Judith Beck talks about many important ideas as to why many of us think we can't lose weight, or why we lose it and then gain the weight back.

This book will teach you how to avoid cheating; how to resist tempting food, even if it's on the table right in front of you; and how to cope with hunger, cravings, stress and strong negative emotions without turning to food for comfort. You'll learn how to motivate yourself to exercise, even if you're not naturally inclined to do so.

Basically, the book is going to teach us how to think differently when it comes to how we view ourselves and dieting, as well as how to handle certain situations. You don't have to be following Weight Watchers to follow the information in the book. Any plan will work because it isn't an actual “diet” book. This book is simply to help us be successful, no matter what plan where on. All of the principals are going to be based on Cognitive Therapy, which is basically behavior and talk therapy.

Cognitive Therapy is based on the concept that the way people think affects how they feel and what they do.

I totally agree with this. I've always thought weight loss was more “mind over matter”. You can know a diet inside and out, but until you start thinking positive about all of it, you aren’t going to be successful. We all know how just one negative thought can set us off course. Well, this book is going to help us think more positively so that we can be successful. We will go through a six-week process to change sabotaging thoughts (that cause us to stray from our diet) to healthful thinking (that will lead us to success).

Dr. Beck covers what makes us eat in Chapter 2. She says we think about eating before we actually eat. We may not be conscious of it, but we always have a thought before we eat. We have sabotaging thoughts that encourage us to eat. We rationalize things.

These thoughts often start with the phrase, “I know I shouldn't eat this, but it's okay because…” then we make excuses like “I had a hard day, it will go to waste, or it won't matter”.

I'm sure we can all fill in that sentence ourselves with something we've said just recently.

Dr. Beck continues on to talk about how eating begins with the trigger.

Sabotaging thoughts arise when you're confronted with the trigger, a situation that stimulates your thinking.

Triggers can be anything from a smell, seeing a food commercial on TV, or even just reading a description of food. I can honestly say I have many triggers throughout the day since my job involves making new recipes, answering e-mails about food and recipes, reading about new products and just talking about food in general. Even long after I turn my computer off for the day, it never seems to end. I spend a lot of time looking through cooking magazines, I watch the Food Network on TV for ideas, and I know many of you can relate to this one… just driving down the street past all of the fast food places can set off a trigger. I can drive past KFC and instantly want some fried chicken. But I tell myself to just keep driving. Usually the thought of chicken goes away if I submerge myself in another thought.

The book says, when you encounter a trigger, your thoughts determine whether you act in a productive way that strengthens your resistance muscle or an unproductive way that strengthens your giving-in muscle.

I'm not really going to go into the next section of the book “How Thin People Think”. Basically, it just says that if you struggle with weight loss, you have a different mindset about food and eating than people who don't struggle with their weight. It also says that no matter what your mindset is like today, you can learn how to change it, not only to lose weight, but also to make sure that you keep it off permanently.

Well guys, I know this was long, but I felt like we should all have an intro to the book before actually starting. If this sounds like something you might be interested in, pick yourself up a copy of The Beck Diet Solution by Judith Beck, and come back tomorrow to join me with Day #1 of the six-week program. The book says there will be a new task each day. You’ll need to purchase 3 x 5 index cards, sticky notes and a bound notebook. The cards are for writing important messages, the sticky notes will be for reminder messages and the notebook will be for keeping track of important diet related info. TTYL!