A Great Diet Solution
photo credit: somegeekintn
I first heard about The Beck Diet Solution from a client of mine who was a strong proponent of the plan. More recently I had the privilege of hearing Dr. Judith Beck speak in a seminar. Judith Beck is a psychologist and director of the Beck Institute for Cognitive Therapy in Philadelphia. She doesn’t have a nutrition background. So I was pleasantly surprised to hear how wonderful her ideas were for weight loss. If you speak to Dr. Beck about her diet solution, you’ll find it very encouraging to hear why this plan might very well work for you. She says if diets haven’t worked before it’s because they were only about what you were eating, not how you were thinking about food, weight, dieting, being at a healthy weight and having a healthy lifestyle. Basically, successful weight loss is not about food; it’s about changing your perspective. The first issue of her book, back in 2007, didn’t even mention much in the way of food, calories, or meal plans. The follow-up version, The Complete Beck Diet For Life now includes a menu, meal ideas, and suggestions for what she calls “bonus foods” based on reader demand.
I’ll share a few of her lifestyle rules so you can see how her plan works: By the way, she insists you must follow them all for the plan to work.
1. You must create time to devote to diet and exercise. If you think you’ll just fit it in to your current routine, it will be the first to go when you get busy with something. Planning your meals and getting in activity need to be moved to the top of your ‘things to do’ list and you need to be sure they get done every day.
2. Have a stack of index cards on which you’ve noted very important ideas about your weight loss plan: What are your weight loss goals? (be very specific–what will be better about your life when you lose weight); What is true about satisfying your food cravings? (do you feel better after you give in and have a candy bar–or do you feel good for the 4 minutes it takes to eat it and then guilty and bloated); Mantras that will help you get through the day (“I deserve credit for making healthy choices”, and “I must move past that decision to eat cookies; now I must get on with the rest of my day and continue with healthier choices”). Refer to these cards often throughout the day, and in times when the going gets tough.
3. Use the number on the scale as you use the reading on a thermometer: It’s a measure for you to plan what to do from here on out–not for you to rue the behaviors that got you there. Feeling badly will not accomplish anything… move ahead positively.
4. Put “eating well” in the no choice category. It’s not something to consider or debate, just like we do not consider whether we “feel like” brushing our teeth, wearing our seatbelt, or getting to work on time! It must become something we do consistently because it’s the best choice.
5. If you make a faux pas, like bingeing on a pan of cookies, do not use this as an excuse to binge for the rest of the day. She likens this to getting a speeding ticket, and then saying, “Well, as long as I got one, I might as well speed for the rest of the day, and so what if I get more tickets”!
If you have been thinking about losing weight for good, and not just for a few months, it might be time for you to try this new perspective on weight loss.
If you’ve tried this method before, please let us know what worked for you and what didn’t so we can all learn together.
Written by Laurie Beebe
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About The Author: Laurie Beebe has been a registered dietitian for 25 years and is certified in adult weight management. Laurie currently serves as a Related posts:
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