Beck Diet Solution Day 7
Arrange Your Environment
It’s important to remove food temptations as much as possible, and where you can’t remove them, try to rearrange your environment to make them less tempting. Move tempting items to a high shelf or out of site, get rid the food items that are really triggering, ask for help from your family at home and your coworkers at work.
I work from home, so my office and home are the same environment. The kitchen is just a few steps away, and I can actually see the fridge from where I’m sitting right now. I’ve removed the really triggering foods I used to keep around, like Red Vines, cookies, chips, etc. My wife like to keep those things around some times (although Red Vines are off-limits-they are far too tempting for me, and once I start, I can’t stop eating them), so when she buys foods that are tempting, we also keep healthy snacks like fruit around, and keep the cookies, chips, etc. in the cupboard out of sight.
I’ve read my response card once so far, and will read it again this afternoon.
I sat down to eat every time, and did eat slowly and mindfully this morning at breakfast and again at lunch
I gave myself credit for healthy behaviors, specifically for exercising every day this week, and not snacking yesterday afternoon when I really wanted a snack that would have gone over my points for the day.
I’ve arranged my environment to remove and minimize my temptations as much as possible.
Posted by Matt on 02/11 at 12:55 PM
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Weekly Check In-Week 6 back OP
Last week I lost 2.5 lbs, bringing my total since January of 2008 to 49 lbs, and my total since restarting WW in January of this year to 19. I exercised every day, although I only did cardio on Saturday and only did yoga on Sunday. I did struggle emotionally a bit over the weekend, but I did not resort to eating to avoid my emotions.
Posted by Matt on 02/09 at 07:52 PM
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Beck Diet Solution - Day 6
Find a Diet Coach
First of all, I’ve been incredibly busy and haven’t been keeping up with the Beck book as I should. I’ve been doing well with staying OP, eating right at my target points and exercising at least 6 days per week, though. I do want to make sure the weight loss sticks this time, though, so I need to make sure I’m taking care of the emotional aspects of eating as well as the physical ones.
The purpose of finding a diet coach is to have someone you can be accountable to, turn to for problem solving and support, and rely on to remind you of your goals, etc. It’s really tough to lose large amounts of weight by yourself, and having someone to rely on for support can be a huge factor in your success. It makes it tougher to minimize, make excuses, justify bad eating habits, and gives you someone to look to for help when you are going into a dangerous situation (like going out to dinner unexpectedly) or feel like you just can’t do this anymore.
To this end, I’ve actually chosen several sources to act as my diet coach. I post on the GOAD and Spiritual Space boards on the Weight Watchers site frequently and use the boards for support. I also touch base via email with another guy from WW who lives here in Denver. My primary “diet coach”, though, is the men’s support group I belong to. We meet every Monday and I give an update on my WW progress for the week-how much I’ve lost, how many times I’ve exercised, and how many times I’ve eating outside of my WW eating plan. I also call each of the guys in that group at least once a week, and if necessary, talk about any food/exercise/diet issues.
I’ve read my response card once so far, and will read it again this afternoon.
I sat down to eat every time, and did eat slowly and mindfully this morning at breakfast.
I gave myself credit for healthy behaviors, specifically for resisting eating outside of my food plan yesterday. I was struggling emotionally and desperately wanted to eat, but resisted the temptation and ate only at meal times.
Posted by Matt on 02/08 at 10:05 AM
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Weekly Check In-Week 5 back OP
I actually forgot to post an update for last week. I lost 1 lb for week 4, and last weekI had another good week, although there were a few struggles. I borrowed DW’s car on Monday and fuel filter went out, causing me to lose almost 2 days of work.
I was down 3 lbs, bringing my weight to 240.5, down a total of 46.5 lbs since January, 2008. I exercised 6 out of 7 days, and did not go off my eating plan at all last week.
Posted by Matt on 02/02 at 08:06 PM
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Nine Cold, Hard Weight-Loss Truths
Found this article via the Weight Watchers GOAD message board. (thanks mamacin)
An excerpt:
9. This is not a diet; this is your life.
The diet industry would have us all think that we can lose weight fast, and that’s that. But most people who maintain their weight understand that eating and exercising are not temporary conditions, to be dumped once a pair of jeans fit. Instead, they are lifestyle choices, and ones to be made for the long haul.
Mostly, it’s common sense, but it’s a good reminder that there is no magic pill, no miracle 10 minutes per week video. The only way to lose weight is to burn more calories than you consume. The only way to keep it off is to stay diligent. Exercise is your friend.
Posted by Matt on 02/01 at 11:14 AM
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Beck Diet Solution Day 5
Eat Slowly and Mindfully
There are some good benefits to eating slowly and mindfully: when you eat slowly, your brain has time to register that you feel full, and when you eat mindfully, noticing and enjoying every mouthful of food, you feel more satisfied when you’re done eating.
This is a big challenger for me. I’ve been a fast eater all my life, and I tend to go numb and eat mindlessly. This exercise is actually what sparked the renewed interest in Zen for me-all too often I get distracted, lose focus on what I’m actually doing, and drift off into my own thoughts. When I’m eating and this happens, it’s easy to over eat, to feel unsatisfied even though I’ve actually taken in enough sustenance. Part of my goal in sitting zazen every morning is to learn to be mindful of myself, my body and my feelings. My goal for each meal is to slow down, enjoy every bite, and pause every few bites to drink some water, put my utensils down, and be mindful of how full I’m feeling.
I’ve read my response card once so far, and will read it again this afternoon.
I sat down to eat every time, and did eat slowly and mindfully this morning at breakfast.
I gave myself credit for healthy behaviors, specifically for doing 60 minutes on the elliptical even though I really, really didn’t want to, and for taking the time to prepare steel cut oatmeal with blueberries, a tsp of honey and a touch of cinnamon, rather than the chocolate covered donuts my daughter had for breakfast.
Posted by Matt on 01/31 at 10:10 AM
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Zen and the Art of Weight Loss
As part of my journey to a healthier me, I’ve been doing quite a bit of reading about Zen and listening to a wonderful podcast I found on iTunes called Zencast. One of the main principles of Zen is mindfulness, and I think that is one of the things I need to work on the most. Instead of being mindful about what, when and how I eat, I struggle with numbing my feelings with food. Instead of being present in the moment, I let my mind cling to feelings about the past or fears, hopes or dreams of the future. Zen is about developing a stillness to be aware of yourself, and I struggle with busy-ness. For the past couple weeks, I’ve been meditating, and this week it’s been every day. I’ve found that this really helps me with anxiety, easing my fears of the future by being in the present.
I’ve been interested in Zen for many years, but always let other things get in the way. As I learn more about myself and progress through this journey to better physical, emotional and spiritual health, I find that I’m really craving this sense of serenity and stillness, this ability to be present and aware. I think this is important for me to pursue if I really want to get healthy and stay that way.
This article, Weight Loss and the Wisdom of Zen, is really interesting and has some terrific words of wisdom about mindfulness and weight loss:
When you live your life mindfully, each moment becomes it’s own reward. Life takes on an incredible richness. This richness cannot compare to even the most decadent of desserts. With mindfulness, life becomes the dessert!
And now, since my body is telling me that it’s hungry, I’m off to eat a healthy lunch.
Posted by Matt on 01/24 at 11:21 AM
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Weekly Check In-Week 3 back OP
I had another good week, although there were a few struggles. I was down 3 lbs, bringing my weight to 244.5, down a total of 42.5 lbs since January, 2007. I exercised 7 out of 7 days, and did not go off my eating plan at all last week.
Posted by Matt on 01/19 at 08:57 AM
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Beck Diet Solution Day 4
Give Yourself Credit
All too often, we beat ourselves up for our poor choices but forget to celebrate our good ones. To change your thinking around food, it’s important to celebrate your victories, your good decisions, and even your progress towards those. For many of us who are overweight, and certainly for me, I tend to become angry, depressed, full of despair, frustrated or disappointed at my poor decisions. In order to cope with those feelings, I act out with food, perpetuating the cycle. To break this cycle, it’s important to give yourself credit when you make a good decision, complete a task on your weight loss to-do list, or any other healthy behavior you want to encourage. Dr. Beck even suggests getting a jar and tossing a dollar or coin in every time you make a good decision, then periodically treat yourself to something you would normally pass up (non-food, of course).
Today, I read my response card twice.
I ate sitting down every time.
I gave myself credit for making a good decision about lunch, for exercising even though I slept in a little, and for not grabbing a snack this afternoon even though I wanted one.
Posted by Matt on 01/15 at 05:31 PM
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Beck Diet Solution Day 3
Eat Sitting Down
The purpose of this exercise is to set a boundary around your eating times and places. Since it’s so easy to lose track of how much you eat when you’re standing at the kitchen counter, walking around at an event, etc., making the rule of only eating while you’re sitting down with all of your food in front of you helps you learn to watch your portions and face the reality of how much food you’re eating. Sitting down every time while eating also encourages you to be more conscious of what you’re eating and helps with making you more psychologically satisfied, since all your food is right in front of you and it’s easier to keep your conscious mind on your food, rather than being distracted by something else going on and eating mindlessly.
Today, I read my response card once so far and will read it again before dinner.
I created a response card and reminder system to help me remember to sit down while eating.
I ate sitting down every time.
Posted by Matt on 01/13 at 01:07 PM
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Weekly Check In-Week 2 back OP
I didn’t have time to post yesterday, but it was my official weigh-in day. I was down 6 lbs, bringing my weight to 247.5, down a total of 39.5 lbs since January, 2007. I exercised 6 out of 7 days, and did not go off my eating plan at all last week.
Posted by Matt on 01/13 at 11:19 AM
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Beck Diet Solution - Day 2
Choose Two Reasonable Diets.
I guess the point of this is that if you have a backup diet and the first one doesn’t fit well, you have another one ready to choose from. I’m not going to do this-Weight Watchers works really well for me, I just choose to jump off the wagon from time to time. There’s some great advice for choosing diets in this chapter, though, including the pros and cons of choosing a counting type diet vs. an eating plan diet. Eating plans don’t work well for me, but counting plans do, since they provide more flexibility.
Today, I read my Response Card (which has the advantages of losing weight) on it once so far, and will read it again this afternoon.
Posted by Matt on 01/11 at 11:28 AM
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Beck Diet Solution Day 1 (starting over)
The first exercise is to record the advantages of losing weight. There’s a huge benefit to doing this, and to the follow-up, which is to read those benefits several times a day and to keep them handy so you can read them when you feel discouraged, tempted, frustrated, or any other emotion that would lead you to unplanned eating. I highly recommend reading the entire chapter carefully-there’s some great information there.
My Advantages to losing weight:
I’ll live longer
I’ll feel better
I’ll have more energy
I’ll reduce my chances of getting diabetes
I’ll reduce my chances of getting heart disease
I’ll be able to enjoy activities like hiking and aikido
I’ll have more self confidence
I’ll be able to be more active with Emmie
I’ll be a better role model for Emmie
I’ll be able to shop for clothes in places other than Walmart
I’ll look better
I won’t be as uncomfortable in social and business situations
Posted by Matt on 01/09 at 01:52 PM
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The Beck Diet Solution
Posted by Matt on 01/06 at 09:58 AM
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Weekly Check In-Week 1 back OP
Weigh in this morning gave a result of 3.5 lbs. lost. I managed to exercise every day last week, for a total of 38 APs. I ate outside of my meal plan twice. The first was on New Year’s Eve, which also happens to be my birthday. We went to my favorite Mexican restaurant for chili rellenos (which I had planned for), but I ate way too many tortilla chips. Later that night, at the in-law’s house, I filled my plate with veggies and turkey. That was fine, but then I succumbed to the temptation of the barbecue hot dogs and ate the equivalent of about 3 hot dogs in barbecue sauce. The second was on the 3rd of January, when DW and I went out to her favorite Mexican restaurant. I ordered the shrimp fajitas, which was in my plan, but instead of eating 2 of them as I had planned, I had three, plus a whole bunch of tortilla chips. Tortilla chips are apparently a trigger food for me, and I’m going to have to surrender them if I want to lose weight and keep it off.
Other than that, it’s been a really good week back on program. I feel much better physically, and empowered over my food choices.
Posted by Matt on 01/05 at 02:20 PM
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