No kidding. You know that while I was losing weight, I read dozens of diet books, doling them out over the weeks to keep myself motivated, and trying to take something valuable out of each one. I’ve mentioned a few of the ones I found particularly helpful. But I’ve not gone right out and recommended the main approach of any of them. Till now.
A few days ago I wrote that I’d had a chance to skim through The Beck Diet For Life by Judith S. Beck, that I had seen some things in there that reminded me of myself, and that I would buy the book and write a longer review.
Well, I’ve got it. And for once, I’m going to recommend, with complete and whole-hearted enthusiasm, Chapters 1-4.
Why only Chapters 1-4? Um, because that’s as far as I’ve read. These chapters take you through “Stage 1” of the five-stage program. I know nothing about the other stages yet. But I am telling you, the preparatory stage and Stage 1 are that good. Judith Beck could have packaged them up as a book all on their own and sold them. Indeed, I am beginning to think that it might be a good idea for people who decide to get the book and follow the program to pretend that Stages 2-5 don’t even exist, at least until they’ve read and implemented Stage 1 — which is all about putting habits and skills into place, and doesn’t include any advice at all about what or how much to eat.
I’m going to summarize the book in a minute, but first I want to tell you why am I so excited about it.
Reason number 1. Because I see myself there. So many of the things I did to abolish gluttony from my life — it’s almost as if Dr. Beck has written a set of instructions for how I did it. Not what to eat—but how to think, and especially, how to get over the fear of hunger.
Here is an excerpt that is an example of near-perfect alignment with my experience and thoughts:
It’s important for dieters to know that hunger is normal and most people without weight problems get hungry, often a little while before meals… Most diet programs encourage you to avoid hunger. Some tell you to eat when you feel hungry and to stop eating when you feel full. The problem with that is you are likely to confuse hunger and non-hunger, at least sometimes…. Some diet programs encourage you to fill up on such “free foods” as raw vegetables to avoid hunger. The problem with that advice is that you never learn to tolerate the very normal sensation of hunger…
Phillip doubted his ability to tolerate hunger, and he engaged in certain unhelpful behaviors to avoid it. He was always thinking about how, when, and where he could get food, in case he got hungry before his next meal. He consistently overate at meals to ensure that he wouldn’t feel hungry later on. He kept extra food in various places—his car and office desk—just in case he got hungry. He was continually giving himself the message that it was bad to be hungry, that he couldn’t tolerate hunger. This incorrect thinking is exactly what I want to free you from!
(See my post from the “Gains” series, “What’s wrong with me,” and compare.)
How does Dr. Beck suggest that would-be dieters learn to tolerate real hunger without feeling panicky? She recommends they perform a series of “experiments” in which they get hungry on purpose, and write down what happens — keep a record of their level of discomfort over the hours that pass without food. Her instruction is to keep doing this experiment until the would-be dieter is able to “go from breakfast to dinner without eating and without feeling panicky,” and until the would-be dieter is completely convinced that “hunger is not a big deal—it’s only mildly uncomfortable… it comes and goes.”
This is very close to what I did, feeling my way through the experience with no guide. It seems to me that Dr. Beck’s version is better designed than mine, which isn’t surprising because while chemical engineering is an excellent all-around background for all sorts of problem solving, it is just possible that a cognitive behavior therapist might have some insights into the field that I don’t.
Dr. Beck advocates almost the same set of behavioral changes that I went through, albeit with some differences in how she implements them. Daily motivational thinking: check. The daily weigh-in as a piece of useful information: check. Eating slowly and paying attention to food: check. Setting small goals and consciously noticing successes several times a day: check. Learning to tolerate hunger: check. It’s all there. Those of you who want to do “what I did?” This is is definitely a way to do it. I love the way she is advising readers to really take the time to learn about what works and what doesn’t. It is definitely a lifetime approach, rather than a quick fix. And that’s exactly what I tried to do, and succeeded: I changed my life.
Reason number 2. Anyone, and I mean anyone, can do the first part — pregnant, nursing, medical problems, none of it is a barrier to beginning the program. (Some of the “experiments” might have to be skipped or modified.) The preparatory stage and Stage 1 of the program don’t involve an eating plan or calorie restriction, though Dr. Beck encourages readers to make good food choices if they want while following even if it doesn’t make sense to “diet” right now. It is all designed to work on your attitudes, fears, and habits.
(Dr. Beck does suggest that people who suffer from an eating disorder, depression, anxiety, or other psychological problem seek treatment from a mental-health professional before beginning the program. It sort of underscores how different this plan is: most plans advise you to check with a doctor for physical ailments that might preclude you from starting. This program is about your mind and behavior.)
Reason number 3. The program strongly appeals to my engineering brain. It is clear, and it is organized step by step, with “tasks” to complete before moving on to the next stage. Some of the tasks are collected into groups, and she says you can be working on several tasks at once, but (as they are numbered and presented in a specific order) you can surely master them one at a time — which strikes me as the wisest course. Baby steps.
Reason number 4. If you follow this program and do exactly what she says to do—and I can find no reason to recommend deviating from her plan through Stage 1—it will take a good long while. I’m guessing that if I had followed her program beginning from before I started to lose weight, it would have taken me three or four months at minimum to master all the skills. Someone with a more serious and out-of-control eating problem would likely take longer.
I am saying that I think it is a good thing that this program progresses very slowly. I do not think it will do anyone any good to rush it. Gluttony problems, like mine,* have to be abolished for life — there is plenty of time to slow down and do it right. Overweight, the visible manifestation of the gluttony problem, will follow in time.
Reason number 5. It is a cognitive-behavioral approach, but it is entirely compatible with leaning on the Lord for help. This is not, of course, a “Christian Weight Loss” book. Dr. Beck doesn’t get into discussions of gluttony as a kind of sin; but neither does she absolve the reader of personal responsibility. The program cannot work without some degree of personalization: The would-be dieter has to come up with his own motivating statements and reminders of values, of reasons to change behavior. It was obvious to me as I read through the preparatory tasks and the Stage 1 steps where the would-be Christian dieter can (and should) consider how the skills and tasks fit into living out his or her vocation in Christ. I can write more about that in another post if it seems necessary.
* * *
OK, now, here is an executive summary of the approach. I’m going to crack open Stages 2-5 just long enough to give you an overview of the whole program.
Overall structure of the plan is as follows. In each of these stages a very specific, quantifiable behavior-based goal is defined, and the “student” must reach that milestone before moving on to the next stage. In Stages 1-4, these end goals appear near the end of the chapter under a heading “Before You Move On.”
- A preparatory stage in Part 1 of the book – several tasks to complete before starting
- Stage 1 – Building cognitive skills and habits
- Stage 2 – Introducing “the diet” and practicing sticking to it
- Stage 3 – Dealing with challenging situations
- Stage 4 – Learn flexibility and prepare to move into maintenance
- Stage 5 – Skills to maintain, to get re-motivated, and to turn around relapses
I would suggest not reading ahead past the stage you’re on.
A bit more detail about the preparatory stage and stage 1:
The preparatory stage has 10 tasks. I would suggest doing them IN ORDER and one at a time. Dr. Beck specifically enjoins the reader against assuming that these things can be figured out “as you go along.” They include gathering materials, setting a small goal, make time, get a “diet buddy” (I wish she’d used a less light-hearted term for a supportive person to be accountable to, because this strikes me as seriously important). Basically, you’re assembling all the things, people, and circumstances that are within your control and that you will need to build the skills in stage 1.
Stage 1 has 9 success skills to master before beginning the diet plan. A daily check-off sheet is included, and you are not supposed to move to Stage 2 until the check-off sheet is completed perfectly for seven consecutive days. I would suggest beginning with each new skill and mastering it before moving on to the next one. A few of the skills will take a minimum of several days to master, and I can easily see many people taking several weeks mastering just one skill. As an example, I know it took me a couple of months to learn to identify hunger accurately, when I was trying to figure it out on my own. I could probably have done it a bit faster on Dr. Beck’s plan, if I was devoting my full “dieting” attention to that skill rather than several skills at once.
That is as far as my review goes for now. I’d like to add one thing — if you have been following my series of posts, and you decide to give the Beck program a try, would you please drop a comment in the box to let me know? I’m interested enough in the program that I’m thinking of going through the steps myself, adapted a bit to help me with maintenance rather than weight loss.
*[Editing note. Years and years later, I wish I’d done a better job distinguishing gluttony from other problems with food, like clinical eating disorders and other kinds of compulsiveness.
I want to emphasize that, whereas I identified some behaviors in myself that probably qualified as self-centered gluttony in the technical sense, I am not and never have been qualified to make that distinction for anyone else.
I hope to add some commentary to all the posts that have this problem as I find the time to review them. Here’s a more recent post where I acknowledge some of the problematic material I wrote and set new ground rules for myself going forward.]
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