Sue has been weighing herself daily and graphing her weight loss. She has now proven to herself several times that the number on the scale goes down some days, stays the same some days, and goes up some days—even when her energy input and output is the same! Nevertheless, she continues to be disappointed, and a little worried, when her weight is up, even by only a pound. I had her compose two Response Cards. She’ll choose which one to read before her daily weigh-in.

If I’ve Been Following My Plan

  • It will be nice if my weight is down today but it’s fine if it’s up.
  • Look where I am today compared to where I started!
  • If it’s up, it doesn’t necessarily mean I did anything wrong and if I keep following my plan, it will come down again, until I hit maintenance.
  • History has shown me that the number definitely goes up and down.
  • I don’t need to worry unless my weight goes up and continues to go up for several days in a row.
If I Haven’t Been Following My Plan

  • Okay, my weight will probably be up today and I will probably feel disappointed.
  • I need to make this an “Oh, well,” experience. “Oh, well, I don’t like the fact that my weight is up but I need to accept it—without criticizing myself—and get problem-solving oriented.”
  • It’s impossible to lose weight without making some mistakes along the way.
  • Let me figure out what led to my going off plan—especially the sabotaging thoughts that got in the way—so I can avoid the situation in the future.
  • If I get right back on track now, following my eating plan and using all my Beck Diet Solution skills, I’ll lose weight again.
  • If I use this weight gain as an excuse to give up, I may never achieve the advantages of weight loss—feeling better, being healthier, etc.
  • (Now go read my list of reasons to lose weight and ask myself how important each one is to me.)