The Beck Diet Solution: Train Your Brain to Think Like a Thin Person [Hardcover]

Judith S. Beck (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 20, 2007

This time, its going to be different.

This time, you are going to diet successfully, lose weight with confidence, and, most importantly, keep it off forever.

That's because The Beck Diet Solution is the first book that teaches dieters how to apply the proven benefits of Cognitive Therapy to dieting and weight loss: how to think differently, change your eating behavior, and lose weight permanently. In fact, Cognitive Therapy is the only psychological method shown to help dieters keep off excess weight once they lose it.

The Beck Diet Solution will change the way you think about eating and weight loss forever!

Written by world-expert Cognitive Therapist Dr. Judith S. Beck, The Beck Diet Solution is a remarkable six-week program that gives you all the tools you need to train your brain to think like a thin person. This breakthrough approach, which works in tandem with any nutritional diet plan shows you how to make the kinds of positive, long-term thinking and behavioral changes necessary to lose weight and to maintain your weight loss, not just for the short run but for the rest of your life!

Simply put: The Beck Diet Solution teaches you the skills you need to diet successfully and to keep the weight off permanently.


You will discover Dr. Beck's strategies for ensuring long-term weight loss based on over 20 years of successfully coaching dieters in her practice including ways to:
Learn to stick to any diet.
Make cravings go awayfast!
Resist tempting foods.
Deal with trigger eating situations.
Say, No, thank you, to food pushers.
Put an end to emotional eating.
Conquer every excuse to overeat.
Find time to exercise.
Lose weight and keep it off for a lifetime!

Give yourself the mental and emotional foundation you need to succeed with The Beck Diet Solution.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Can thinking and eating like a thin person be learned, similar to learning to drive or use a computer? Beck (Cognitive Therapy for Challenging Problems) contends so, based on decades of work with patients who have lost pounds and maintained weight through Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). Beck's six-week program adapts CBT, a therapeutic system developed by Beck's father, Aaron, in the 1960s, to specific challenges faced by yo-yo dieters, including negative thinking, bargaining, emotional eating, bingeing, and eating out. Beck counsels readers day-by-day, introducing new elements (creating advantage response cards, choosing a diet, enlisting a diet coach, making a weight-loss graph) progressively and offering tools to help readers stay focused (writing exercises, to-do lists, ways to counter negative thoughts). There are no eating plans, calorie counts, recipes or exercises; according to Beck, any healthy diet will work if readers learn to think differently about eating and food. Beck's book is like an extended therapy session with a diet coach. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"* 'The most empowering diet secret ever' - O, The Oprah Magazine * 'The Beck Diet Solution is the only diet book I would recommend to firends. Her honest straightforward, no-nonsense approach can not only transform your body, but change your mind and your life - permanently. Beck is the the go-to expert for anyone looking for a sane, healthy way to lose weight and keep it off.' - Rachel Combe, Elle magazine health columnist * '....that's because it's perhaps the best diet book ever to focus on the psychology of permanent weight loss.' - Newsweek" --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Oxmoor House; 1 edition (March 20, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0848731735
• ISBN-13: 978-0848731731
• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 1 x 9.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (194 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #36,061 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., is an eminent clinician and educator who previously served as director of Clinical Services at the Center for Cognitive Therapy and now serves as president of Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy. She is also clinical associate professor of psychology in psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. She received her doctoral degree from Penn in 1982.

Dr. Beck directs the three major functions of Beck Institute:

Professional education and training in cognitive therapy
Clinical care
Research

Professional activities

Dr. Beck divides her time among administration, supervision and teaching, clinical work, program development, research, and writing. She has been a consultant for several National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) studies, has developed widely adopted assessment scales for children and adolescents, and has presented hundreds of workshops nationally and internationally on various applications of cognitive therapy. She is also a Distinguished Founding Fellow and Past President of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy.

Publications

Dr. Beck has written nearly 100 articles and chapters on different aspects of cognitive therapy. She is the author of the primary text in the field, which has been translated into 20 languages, as well as books, workbooks, and pamphlets for consumers. Her publications include:

Cognitive Behavior Therapy: Basics and Beyond (2nd ed)
Cognitive Therapy for Challenging Problems: What to Do When the Basics Don't Work
The Oxford Textbook of Psychotherapy
Cognitive Therapy of Personality Disorders
The Beck Diet Solution: Train Your Brain to Think Like a Thin Person
The Beck Diet Solution Weight Loss Workbook
The Complete Beck Diet for Life

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

404 of 418 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Making it Happen April 2, 2007

By minniecatt

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I have lost 90 pounds using the principles and techniques in this book. How can that be true when the book has been out for only one week? No tricks here - early in 2006 ( a year ago) I began a self-designed plan of eating right and exercising based on 2 things: 1. my many years of familiarity with every new diet and nutritional research discovery regarding weight loss; and 2. participation in a cognitive therapy-based group called DBT which teaches skills to increase emotion regulation, interpersonal effectiveness, etc. A couple of months ago I started getting the Amazon plogs regarding Dr. Beck's new book, and I enthusiastically pre-ordered. After almost a year of steady weight loss and working my way up to walking 3 miles a day (with Leslie Sansone DVDs)I had stalled out at minus 90 lbs, and need to lose about 30 more pounds. Receiving the book, I was amazed, because almost everything I did to motivate myself over the last 13 months was contained in this work. Of course, the principles are set forth much more methodically, professionally, and with more of a well-developed theoretical basis, than in my home-made plan, but every sentence in the Beck Diet rings with honesty, integrity, thoughtfulness, compassion and hope.

To be more specific, the book does not contain a "diet" and you are told to find a suitable nutritious food plan to follow, along with an exercise plan of your own. The strategies presented in the book do indeed 'talk' you through cognitive retraining techniques which change your thoughts about food and eating and hunger: identifying positive outcomes; ways to make a choice NOT to indulge; how to effectively deal with set-backs and limit the damage done; how to say no to friends /family who show love by sharing good food (I'm Italian; I know a LOT of them!)

Interestingly, in the first 2 weeks you don't diet at all - this is time spent planning and strategizing to re-train your thoughts. This involves completing motivational cards where you write statements to counteract any sabotaging thoughts that will come up. I found the process to be so similar to the strategies I used when I was successful in meeting the inevitable temptation, so I know that it works "in action."

On the 15th day you start your eating plan, and each day you have a checklist for reviewing the motivational materials (Advantage Cards, for example, list what YOU want to accomplish in losing weight.) Some of the basic concepts are to pre-plan for dangerous situations, acknowledge your accomplishments even if not perfect, and realize that resisting hunger and cravings is possible when you commit to using the skills Dr. Beck presents.

I have read many, many books both on weight loss and psychology, and this book is "the one" for me, and I hope for you. You have to be willing to think ahead about eating, hunger and cravings. You have to commit to following the techniques daily. If you do, this WILL WORK!!!!

I am going to be bold enough to add one additional technique that worked very well for me, and that is to "Redefine Your Treats." I admitted to a friend one day that I am basically 'treat-driven.' That is, I feel deprived and inferior in some way if I can't have a dessert, or eat a hearty portion of food. So I redefined treats - to me now it is buying bottled water; drinking Harry and David Tiramisu Coffee (no calories!!); playing Sudoku on the computer for 20 minutes. I feel like I'm indulging but it has nothing to do with actual food. So if you are "treat-driven" like me, try defining and then indulging in your own rewards.

Reading this book made me feel positive; it made me feel like I can make it happen to lose the remaining pounds; it made me admire and respect Dr. Beck for producing a non-judgmental, encouraging, 'mindful' book that is written in an engaging style. I recommend it with 90 stars and more to come.

181 of 185 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars THE Diet Book for me! May 15, 2007

By B. BESER

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Six to eight years ago, I stopped spending money on diet related products. Because nothing has worked for me. Maybe initially they seemed they were working, but it was just temporarily. I saw one diet book, while I was just browsing around on amazon, "you on a diet", I thought I might wanna try that, thinking like "who knows maybe this is the thing for me", so I bought it. Even though I spent lots of money on diet products, as a book, "you on a diet" was the first book for me on dieting. And, in couple of months I purchased some other diet books, hoping one would include the missing ingredient on those.

This book,Beck Diet Solution was just released, and was at the best sellers list. I read the description. It sounded very promising, but since, at that moment I already had couple of diet books which none of them really fit in to my problem, I was skeptical. For two weeks, everyday I read the reviews, trying to see if some of the reviews was gonna convince me. I finally got it, I am so glad I did. Because that was the kind of help I was looking for.It is tryin to solve my physchological problems about eating and it is triying to re-program my brain about food.

I knew myself, I can never count calories, I can never follow a menu plan written by some other people, I can never count my steps, I can never count carbohydrates, etc...etc... My diet should be without all these stuff. So that's why this is the book for me.

She, the author asks you to make your eating plan, or if you want you can use any diet that already is out there. For me, I created my own eating plan.

Then, she just teaches you some skills which is the missing skills in people who struggle with weight and skills which all the thin people has. And these skills/behaviors are not difficult to adopt. All you need to do is just practice, practice and practice... until they are your habits. Everyday, for fourty two days, you keep learning one skill at a time, until you complete all of them in that given order. You may take your time if you need, as she suggests. For example I am in my 13th day, but it has been already 23 days since I had started. Some examples of the skills are, first day you write down the reasons you wanna get thin; third day, you learn and practice sitting down whenever you eat; fifth day, you start to practice to eat slowly, and so on. At the end of the program, you have all the equipment to think like a thin person, and to be a thin person. So far I have lost 6 pounds, and I feel like I will be able to follow my plan for a long time. She gives you that confidence. She sounds very sincere about the advice she gives. And she just takes you step by step through the journey and to the very end of the journey. With other diet books, I felt like I am just left somewhere with the tons of information I did not know what to do with, or maybe they just dictate you what to do, or sometimes have fun with your eating habits, and you feel insulted and hopeless. But in this book, BDS, I felt some love and caring about the people, she sounds like she truly wants you to lose weight.

By the way, I never write a review even though I enjoy reading them. That's how happy I am, it made me write one:) I hope this review is helpful for the people who cannot decide whether to buy it or not.

86 of 88 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Guide for Motivated Dieters who want to make lasting changes April 15, 2007

By Scott VonDuhn

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I am a medical student and have a bachelor's degree in psychology. It is widely known in both medicine and psychology that Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is the most successful type of therapy intervention, which is why I decided to give this book a try to help myself with dieting.

Much has been made about the reasons people eat. I've heard obese people on TV say, "Food was my best friend," or "I ate to fill a void." This book does not focus on the emotionally-based underlying reasons for eating that may plague a minority of overweight people, but rather the more mundane reasons that most overweight people have for overeating - boredom, fear of hunger, cravings, etc.

The book provides very useful ways of countering overeating do to various causes. Dr. Beck asks the reader to change both sabotaging thoughts (the cognitive portion) and sabotaging behaviors, such as eating quickly and eating standing up (the behavioral portion).

The book provides a day to day guide with predetermined goals and homework assignments. You must be motivated and very willing to submit to following someone else's advice. In addition, as the other reviewers have pointed out, the book does not give you specific advice for what to eat or to avoid. You must pick a separate diet to follow.

I am about half way through the book and I feel that it has definitely helped me to control my overeating. I tend to eat out of boredom in the evening. I lacked the willpower to deny myself the snacks that I knew I didn't need. Now, I look at my advantage card (which is a list of reasons I want to lose weight) whenever I feel like snacking in the evening. The book also made me realize that I ate something right before I went to bed because I was afraid that I might be hungry later. I used this "fear of hunger" as an excuse for eating when I wasn't actually hungry. As the author points out, food is almost always around, so it hardly ever makes sense to eat just to avoid getting hungry. The author really does a great job of examining the reasons why most people overeat and gives solutions for how to overcome those sabotaging thoughts by countering them with more rational, helpful thoughts.

I had been trying unsuccessfully to diet prior to starting this book. Now, since I got it 7 days ago, I have lost 2 pounds. I am recommending this book to my family and friends, and in the future I will recommend it to my patients.