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[av_heading tag=’h2′ padding=’10’ heading=’Confessions of a Diet Coach’ color=” style=’blockquote modern-quote’ custom_font=” size=’36’ subheading_active=” subheading_size=’15’ custom_class=” admin_preview_bg=” av-desktop-hide=” av-medium-hide=” av-small-hide=” av-mini-hide=” av-medium-font-size-title=” av-small-font-size-title=” av-mini-font-size-title=” av-medium-font-size=” av-small-font-size=” av-mini-font-size=”][/av_heading]
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I’m Deborah Beck Busis, LCSW, the director of the Beck Diet Programs and the only diet coach that Judith Beck has trained. Most of my job entails working with dieters one-on-one, teaching them the program in the Beck Diet Solution and helping them change their thinking so they are able to make permanent changes in their behavior.
I use the skills in the Beck Diet Program for myself as well. After I graduated college I lost weight and more-or-less kept it off in the ensuing 12 years.
On January 30th of this year, I had my daughter, Diana, and things changed.
You might think that since this is what I do for a living I’d have an easy time returning to my healthy eating habits – and that’s what I thought, too. But, boy was I wrong! I’ve found that eating healthfully while having a new baby seems, for me at least, about 100 times harder than eating healthfully while pregnant. I wasn’t prepared for just how difficult it would be to figure out healthy eating when you’re 1) caring for a baby and 2) more sleep deprived than I had thought possible. (Side note: I’m not making excuses here but I know some babies are sleeping through the night, or close to it, at 5 months. That is not the baby we have!). I never realized just how much free time I had until I had a baby! While my heart is more full than it has ever been, unfortunately my stomach is also full – with way more sugar and carbs than it needs.
All of this is to say that I’ve been struggling with getting my eating back to a place where I feel good about it. While I’d like to lose a little more weight, my main focus is really to feel in control of my eating and to go to bed at night knowing I have fed my body in a way that was healthy for me. I know how good that feels and I want it back!
In anticipation of writing this article, I’ve been thinking a lot about what I’ve been doing wrong, what I’ve been doing right, and what small changes I can commit to right now. Once I start making reasonable changes and master them, I can add in more changes. I’m not going to do a major overhaul of my eating right away, even though I feel excited and motivated to make changes. Committing to too much initially will be too difficult to follow through on and can lead to discouragement and lower motivation.
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[av_heading tag=’h4′ padding=’10’ heading=’Here‘s what I’ve been doing wrong:’ color=” style=’blockquote modern-quote’ custom_font=” size=” subheading_active=” subheading_size=’15’ custom_class=” admin_preview_bg=” av-desktop-hide=” av-medium-hide=” av-small-hide=” av-mini-hide=” av-medium-font-size-title=” av-small-font-size-title=” av-mini-font-size-title=” av-medium-font-size=” av-small-font-size=” av-mini-font-size=”][/av_heading]
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- Eating too many carbs and too much sugar (and sugar throughout the day, as opposed to just after dinner)
- Eating too many snacks and not eating according to any type of set structure
- Thinking something is okay to eat “because I’m nursing” (beyond a certain number of healthy calories)
- Eating because I feel like it without assessing whether or not I’m actually hungry
- Using food to wake me up when I feel tired
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[av_heading tag=’h4′ padding=’10’ heading=’Here’s what I’m doing right:’ color=” style=’blockquote modern-quote’ custom_font=” size=” subheading_active=” subheading_size=’15’ custom_class=” admin_preview_bg=” av-desktop-hide=” av-medium-hide=” av-small-hide=” av-mini-hide=” av-medium-font-size-title=” av-small-font-size-title=” av-mini-font-size-title=” av-medium-font-size=” av-small-font-size=” av-mini-font-size=”][/av_heading]
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- I’m still eating fairly healthy meals.
- I’m getting vegetables at many lunches and dinners, although not as many as I used to.
- I’m trying to make healthy choices at home and when eating out.
- I’m exercising (to the degree that I can).
- I’m relying on healthy convenience foods (frozen foods, precut vegetables, etc.).
- I’m not afraid to ask for help.
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[av_heading tag=’h4′ padding=’10’ heading=’In terms of changes, here is what I’m committing to doing for the next few weeks:’ color=” style=’blockquote modern-quote’ custom_font=” size=” subheading_active=” subheading_size=’15’ custom_class=” admin_preview_bg=” av-desktop-hide=” av-medium-hide=” av-small-hide=” av-mini-hide=” av-medium-font-size-title=” av-small-font-size-title=” av-mini-font-size-title=” av-medium-font-size=” av-small-font-size=” av-mini-font-size=”][/av_heading]
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- Make sure I’m eating vegetables at least two to three times a day, at meals and/or snacks.
- I can have dessert every day (as I did for years), but only once a day and not until after dinner.
- Before I reach for a snack or a second portion ask myself, “Am I actually hungry?” If the answer is no, find something else to do.
- Make a meal plan for the week so I’m not scrambling trying to figure out what to eat (which is hard to do when your brain is tired).
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While I don’t think these changes will be easy, they feel doable. There are more things I’d like to change about my eating (cut back on carbs, eat according to a schedule, etc.) but I’ll wait until I’ve mastered these things first. I’m going to make a new Advantages List and some Response Cards and start reading them at least once a day to help me follow through. I’m excited to get started!
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