Sue: Part 5

July 27, 2009/beckadmin

I told Sue that it was great that she has become so much more aware of when she’s tempted to eat standing up. For example, this past week, unprompted by me, Sue made the decision not to eat at her kitchen counter.

Bombarded by food?

July 20, 2009/beckadmin

A dieter emailed me about difficulties she had “arranging her environment,” to keep tempting foods out of sight, out of mind, at home and in the workplace. She’s a waitress and wanted to know if I had any extra advice for someone who can’t help but be bombarded by the sight of delicious, fattening foods for several hours a day.

Sue: Part 4

July 13, 2009/beckadmin

Sue is getting good at giving herself credit—saying “That’s good!” every time she reads her list of advantages of weight loss, every time she stops herself from eating while standing, every time she chooses healthy food to eat. . .

Sue: Part 3

July 6, 2009/beckadmin

Sue did a great job of reading her list of reasons to lose weight twice a day, every day this week. Doing so really prepared her for the tempting French fries on a communal serving plate at lunch with her coworkers.

Sue: Part 2

June 30, 2009/beckadmin

Sue has a very demanding job. She can’t predict when she’ll have time to eat or what food will be served. We talked about the necessity of always bringing a back-up meal with her on workdays, something that won’t spoil. If it turns out that the food that’s served is healthy, she can save the back-up food for another day.

Sue: Part 1

June 23, 2009/beckadmin

I started working with a new dieter today. Sue has already lost 50 pounds on her own. In fact, she has lost 50 pounds several times in her life—and always gained it back. She doesn’t want that to happen this time. She’s committed to learning the lifetime skills she’ll need so that this time, she can be successful.

Forget about Perfection

June 15, 2009/beckadmin

Many dieters have an interesting sabotaging thought: “Because I wasn’t perfect on my diet just now (i.e., because I just cheated), I may as well give up (and start again tomorrow).” It’s a cleverly hidden excuse.

Dieters who have read The Beck Diet Solution (or one of the other books) may also have a sabotaging thought about the program contained in it. “Since I’m not following the program perfectly, I may as well stop following it altogether.”

But these ideas really don’t make sense.

The “Right” Way to Weigh

June 3, 2009/beckadmin

People often ask me why I suggest that dieters (without eating disorders) weigh themselves daily, instead of weekly, monthly, or not at all. Here’s why:

Wait on Your Weight Goal

April 27, 2009/beckadmin

A new dieter, Alan, consulted me this week. He weighs 265 pounds and is 5’6”. He would like to weigh 100 pounds less. “It’s a mistake,” I told him, “to set a big goal like that. First, we really don’t know whether 165 pounds is a reasonable weight for you to get down to and maintain. Second, it’s too far away.” Alan immediately became discouraged and we had the following discussion (see pages 113-114 of the Beck Diet Solution).

Reworking the Plan

April 20, 2009/beckadmin

Melanie, a dieter who consulted me a few months ago, recently contacted me for a “booster” session. She was doing great, still losing about 3 pounds a month. She was no longer writing down her food plan in advance, nor did she need to. Instead, she was able to decide at each meal and snack what she wanted to have and to eyeball her portions instead of measuring her food.