The Complete Beck Diet for Life: The Five-Stage Program for Permanent Weight Loss
The Complete Beck Diet for Life: The Five-Stage Program for Permanent Weight Loss
Based on the eating choices of her most successful dieters and maintainers, The Complete Beck Diet for Life provides a step-by-step approach to weight loss by helping readers successfully navigate the 5 stages of learning to eat thin. Each stage teaches a different skill necessary for losing weight and keeping it off. It starts by first helping dieters change their thinking so they can make permanent changes in their eating. When dieters are ready to change what they eat, they determine the right food plan, including comprehensive suggestions for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and bonus foods, as well as a Think Thin menu formula with 37 recipes for Phase 2 of the plan and 15 bonus recipes for Phase 4. In addition, a sample strength-training plan is provided to help shape up while slimming down; interactive elements include filling out Response Cards, completing daily eating logs, and charting progress on weight-loss graphs.
User Ratings and Reviews
4 Stars Sensible Plan… Will It Work for You?
The essential parts of the Think Thin Program that is outlined in the book goes beyond a well-balanced, healthy, enjoyable eating plan. The book teaches skills that will help motivate you every day, making yourself a priority. You learn how to cope with hunger and cravings. It gives you tips like eating slower, eating while sitting, and slowing down. It also encourages you to get organized, planning out your meals and being prepared. If you follow the advice, the tips and tricks, it is a sound dieting program.
The shortfall for me is the need to plan ahead. I want a diet that allows me to not have to spend a ton of time planning out meals and organizing snacks for the day. I don’t know if that plan exists. It is currently my own personal plan, and it is not working! I think this book is right for a select group of people. I’ve learned some things from the book that I will take with me. There are good recipes in the back and good ideas throughout. I would recommend it if you are seeking a healthy way to lose weight and are ready to get organized and truthfully plan to put yourself first in your weight loss efforts.
5 Stars Applies to All Diets
I thought that this book was terrific because it dealt with the underlying cause of people being overweight and obese. No matter what diet plan you are on, if you allow self-defeating behaviors to control you, the diet plan will fail. Judith Beck shows sure fire ways to avoid the self-sabotage before it even starts.
I have been on what seems like every diet. It always turns out that I start out great filled with ambition. I follow the diet to the letter and then… I might eat too much or make a couple of bad food choices and this is when my self-sabotage kicks in. I never thought that having index cards or notes that have a response to every excuse I might give could work. However, it works really well.
While I did not follow her diet plan, her mental strategies are sound and they work with I believe any diet plan. I believe her goal is to get you to look at food differently and to see the underlying behaviors that alter your attitude towards food. I have to finish doing some of her strategies but I know this book is a big help.
Good luck and with this book you are bound to succeed!
4 Stars Not for everyone
As someone who is interested in health, nutrition, and weight loss I read most of the diet books out there that look like they are based on healthy principles. My daughter and I followed the Beck Life Diet (which is not a diet per se) and we have come to the conclusion that this will absolutely work but without the guidance of a Martha Beck such as her weight loss clients receive, it was difficult for us to keep up the practices detailed in the book. One of the things you are supposed to do is to find a “coach” to keep you accountable. I asked my mother and my daughter asked her boyfriend to fill this function which is crucial to the program. The trouble was that neither of them really understood their role (even after explanation and looking over the book) nor were they sold on the program or really committed even though they both care about us. There is a fair amount involved in the program and we decided that, if we were to try this again we would get a larger group together (maybe 5 or so people) and meet weekly and be each other’s coach.
2 Stars Nothing Really New
To be honest, this book didn’t contain anything new or profound. I didn’t come across anything that has not already been published elsewhere. With that said, if you’re new to dieting or haven’t read many weight loss books, this book would serve as an ideal foundation around which to build your program. If you’re a diet and nutrition book junkie like me, you’ll wonder why you spent the money.
5 Stars Best diet book ever
I have read many diet books and this one has to be simply THE most helpful. It helps with the psychology of dieting. It is no good going on a diet if you can’t stick with it. This book helps give you the mind set you need to stick to better eating habits for life. I didn’t use the acutual diet as I don’t like to eat red meat and wheat products, but I still am overjoyed I read the book as I lost weight just adopting the principles. For the first time in my life I feel I have the ability to stick to an eating plan.
Filed under: Weight Loss Book Reviews
