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Thinking thin can help you be thin

‘The Beck Diet Solution’ says your mind is the key to weight loss

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‘The Beck Diet’
April 12: Keeping that weight off might be linked to how you think. TODAY host Meredith Vieira reports on a new diet.

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updated 4:19 p.m. ET April 12, 2007

Are you one of those people who thinks dieting is too hard? Have you tried every fad diet out there and still failed? Or even if you have managed to drop some weight... Inevitably you've packed it back on ... And then some? The solution may be putting your brain on a diet. Judith S. Beck was featured in an TODAY segment, discussing her approach to dieting, which she wrote about in her new book, “The Beck Diet Solution.” Beck told TODAY: “Dieters give themselves a million excuses for not sticking to their plan And what they need to instead when they see tempting food is think to themselves, how much do I really want to eat this food?” Beck goes on to say: “You have no choice, you can't be thin and eat a whole cheesecake. You can't be thin and have the cheesesteak and fries.” Read an excerpt of her book:

Chapter 1: The Key to Success
If you’ve had difficulty losing weight or have lost weight in the past only to gain it back, did you blame yourself (I’m too weak ... I’m not motivated enough), your body (There’s something wrong with me ... I just can’t lose weight), or your diet (This just didn’t work for me)?

I’m happy to tell you that there’s a completely different reason that you haven’t been successful. You just didn’t know how to diet. Once you know how to diet, you’ll step on the scale and see a lower number reflected week after week after week. You’ll drop clothing sizes. You’ll experience all the wonderful benefits that come along with a slimmer body: more energy, more confidence, better health, and improved self-esteem, as well as fewer aches and pains. You can have all of this—and continue to have it for a lifetime. It doesn’t ever have to slip away from you as it may have in the past. You can end the weight loss–regain cycle —permanently.

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You can do all this once you learn how to continually follow a diet.

The Beck Diet Solution teaches you how to avoid cheating; how to resist tempting food, even if it’s on the table right in front of you; and how to cope with hunger, cravings, stress, and strong negative emotions without turning to food for comfort. You’ll also learn how to motivate yourself to exercise, even if you’re not naturally inclined to do so. You’ll discover how to do all the things you need to do to diet successfully—by changing the way you think.

Most dieters who end up in my office have been on and off diets for years. They all have one thing in common: They don’t know how to think like a thin person. People who struggle with weight loss have a mindset that sabotages their efforts. For example, they often have such thoughts as:

  • I know I shouldn’t eat this, but I don’t care.
  • It’s okay if I eat [this food] just this one time.
  • I’ve had such a hard day. I deserve to eat this.
  • I can’t resist this food.
  • I’m upset. I have to eat.
  • I ate something I shouldn’t. I may as well blow my diet for the rest of the day.
  • This is hard. I don’t want to keep dieting.
  • I’ll never lose weight.

If any of these thoughts sound familiar to you, you’re the perfect candidate for the Beck Diet Solution. This program teaches you how to talk back to your sabotaging thoughts in a convincing way. When you hear that little voice in your head say, Oh, just eat it ... It won’t matter, you’ll be able to tell yourself, Yes, it does matter ... I want to be thin ... Every time I eat something I’m not supposed to, it makes it more likely that I’ll give in again in the future ... It matters every single time ... I’m just trying to fool myself ... If I eat it, I’ll get a few seconds of pleasure, but then I’ll feel bad ... I can resist this ... I want to lose weight much more than I want a few seconds of pleasure.       

The Beck Diet Solution is a psychological program, not a food plan. It doesn’t tell you what to eat—you can choose any nutritious diet you want. That’s because any reasonable diet will work for you if you have the right mindset. The Beck Diet Solution teaches you how to get yourself to eat the way you’re supposed to eat. It shows you how to talk back to the I don’t want to, I don’t have to, or I can’t voice in your head.

To choose appropriate foods and to use appropriate eating behaviors consistently and permanently, you have to learn how to make permanent changes in your thinking. With the comprehensive, step-by-step program in this book, you’ll be able to stay on your diet, lose weight, and maintain your weight loss for life.


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