What is the big deal about the Beck Diet Solution?

cyaneverfat

I've seen the book mentioned a lot of times in the forums and have read about a third of it.

Alot of it seems like woo to me like about always sitting down to eat.

What struck me is when they mentioned thin people as either not being interested in food or as watching their diets very carefully.

Thoughts?

yirara

I've never heard of this book. But what's wrong with sitting down when eating and taking the time for it rather than wolfing food down in a rush inbetween whatever?

snowflake954

Sitting down to eat and enjoying it are not woo. I live in Italy and that's one of the strong points---eating a meal seated with family. It's part of the Med diet. However, I am not familiar with the book.

azkunk

Sitting down to eat increases your mindfulness around eating. It’s a task to train your mind to stop the mindless eating like having an extra slice of cheese or meat while standing at the counter making a sandwich.

cyaneverfat

I just thought it was calories in, calories out.anything else is secondary. They also stressed the importance of breakfast, even though many people successfully fast?

snowflake954

cyaneverfat wrote: »

I just thought it was calories in, calories out.anything else is secondary. They also stressed the importance of breakfast, even though many people successfully fast?

CICO does rule, but there are many ways to do that. Standing and eating may cause you to eat more, mindlessly, and quickly, and forget to log it all. Breakfast, in my opinion is just a personal choice. Funny, I can jog on an empty stomach, but cannot swim--I feel lightheaded.

Lietchi

snowflake954 wrote: »

cyaneverfat wrote: »

I just thought it was calories in, calories out.anything else is secondary. They also stressed the importance of breakfast, even though many people successfully fast?

CICO does rule, but there are many ways to do that. Standing and eating may cause you to eat more, mindlessly, and quickly, and forget to log it all. Breakfast, in my opinion is just a personal choice. Funny, I can jog on an empty stomach, but cannot swim--I feel lightheaded.

The thing is: CICO does rule, but not everyone loses weight by counting calories. So eating more mindfully can be a strategy to decrease calorie intake for people who don't log. As can other tips you might find in dieting books (for example: using smaller plates,...). That doesn't mean it would work for everyone, but it's not utter nonsense.

Unfortunately, a lot of nonsense goes along with the less nonsense ideas, like breakfast being important, or needing to eat many smaller meals throughout the day to 'increase metabolism'...

tinkerbellang83

cyaneverfat wrote: »

I just thought it was calories in, calories out.anything else is secondary. They also stressed the importance of breakfast, even though many people successfully fast?

Just because it's secondary doesn't mean it's irrelevant. CICO is the balance required, but there are many things that can affect an individual's ability to achieve that.

Such as the example you gave of the recommendation to sit down at the table to eat - whilst it won't affect CICO directly, it may affect satiety and improve the individual's relationship with food, weight loss for a lot of people is more of a psychological issue than a physical one, if you have a better relationship with food and take time to enjoy the flavours, texture and digest it properly then it can help reduce the urge to snack or boredom eat. The same recommendation for eating at the table is given when treating binge eating.

Like others said, like most blanket advice, it's not going to work for everyone but it might work for a lot of people, particularly those who have a poor relationship with food.

wunderkindking

As everyone else - CICO is the principal but ways to feel satisfied and achieve that in a sustainable way are going to vary. I absolutely sit down and eat meals. Not because it affects calorie burns but as above it makes me pay attention and really NOTICE that I am eating and have eaten, meaning I'm more satiated.

Also, honestly, it means I do less of it. No eating while standing around bored but, instead, having to get my food, put it into a container that it didn't come in (ie: not eating chips out of the bag), carrying it away from the location the container is, sitting down and eating it makes it much, much more likely for me to assess: 1-) if I really want it, 2-) if I really want more of it. If I stand at the kitchen counter and eat chips out of the bag while doing something else it's 0 effort, and I"m just going to keep doing it. Having to work, even a little, to open the bag, put some chips in a bowl, carry it downstairs, sit down, eat it, and carry and wash that bowl is JUST ENOUGH for me to often decide "lol, I don't want some chips that bad."

basically, I am lazy and I make it work for me and those dumb little rules work to make that happen.

yirara

cyaneverfat wrote: »

I just thought it was calories in, calories out.anything else is secondary. They also stressed the importance of breakfast, even though many people successfully fast?

It looks like nobody really knows this book, thus we can't comment on whatever is written inside. Breakfast is totally up to you, as is all meal timing. Losing weight is all about cico. And about building good habits surrounding food. This will help you to keep the weight off. How you do that is up to you. Sitting down with the family or friend and eating together is one such way. Thus it's not woo. It's a way to value food and to enjoy it, instead of quickly eating something on the go. But of course this also doesn't work for everyone.

ahoy_m8

I did read the book. And I thought it had good insights. It's been a while but IIRC, it provides a Cognitive Behavior Therapy framework and a million techniques to try that may or may not be helpful. I thought she did a good job with the framework. And many of the techniques aimed at raising self awareness were helpful, I thought. I did think towards the end all the techniques were variants of "just say no" and not of interest to me, personally. But hey, it's a buffet. Take and use what is helpful to you. Leave what isn't.

ahoy_m8

cyaneverfat wrote: »

I've seen the book mentioned a lot of times in the forums and have read about a third of it.

Alot of it seems like woo to me like about always sitting down to eat.

What struck me is when they mentioned thin people as either not being interested in food or as watching their diets very carefully.

Thoughts?

Please say more about what struck you re: bolded.
My thoughts: I have noticed people make a lot of assumptions. Many are not true. E.g. all fat people are lazy and all thin people can eat whatever they want without gaining. I fall into the "thin & watch very carefully" bucket, and it's amazing how much I hear, "Oh it's so easy for you" or "You're so lucky," even from my own family members who know I work at it. For me it takes discipline. Sometimes it takes more effort than it feels it should, but it's always worth the effort to me for my body to feel good.

wunderkindking

ahoy_m8 wrote: »

cyaneverfat wrote: »

I've seen the book mentioned a lot of times in the forums and have read about a third of it.

Alot of it seems like woo to me like about always sitting down to eat.

What struck me is when they mentioned thin people as either not being interested in food or as watching their diets very carefully.

Thoughts?

Please say more about what struck you re: bolded.
My thoughts: I have noticed people make a lot of assumptions. Many are not true. E.g. all fat people are lazy and all thin people can eat whatever they want without gaining. I fall into the "thin & watch very carefully" bucket, and it's amazing how much I hear, "Oh it's so easy for you" or "You're so lucky," even from my own family members who know I work at it. For me it takes discipline. Sometimes it takes more effort than it feels it should, but it's always worth the effort to me for my body to feel good.

This. One of the biggest revelations for me through this is the fact that while I always felt everyone ate more or less like I did - because they posted about their treats, or I saw them eating out - for me eating 'like that' was standard, and daily.

For them it was a very occasional thing

AND in many cases they had much more activity in their lives re: hobbies that just didn't occur to me to account for.

They're working at it. I just didn't see/hear them working at it and assumed my eating habits were pretty normal based on seeing their "special event" eating.

Bad assumption.

cwolfman13

cyaneverfat wrote: »

I've seen the book mentioned a lot of times in the forums and have read about a third of it.

Alot of it seems like woo to me like about always sitting down to eat.

What struck me is when they mentioned thin people as either not being interested in food or as watching their diets very carefully.

Thoughts?

I can't speak specifically to that book other than from everything I've heard, it is a CBT (Cognitive Behavior Therapy) approach to food and diet. Again, I don't know anything about this book specifically, or the author, or how well the author conveys CBT concepts, or how well the author can run people through the CBT paces...but CBT is definitely not woo. I've used CBT for my generalized anxiety disorder and more recently for alcohol use disorder and I've been sober now for longer than I have ever been sober in the last 20 years.

CBT is all about altering thought and behaviors that are deeply rooted in our subconscious. For example, eating and food to relieve stress...or in the case of alcohol for me, "alcohol helps me relax" (it actually doesn't). These kinds of things are learned behaviors and can have deep roots in our subconscious minds and CBT is a really well established and beneficial technique for analyzing many of our subconscious truths and providing clarity as to where and how these truths laid root and whether or not they are actually truths at all. This ultimately can bring about more awareness and conscious mindfulness about behaviors we typically engage in at a subconscious level.

Again, I know nothing about this book in particular, but knowing what I know about CBT in general, something like "always sitting down to eat" would, I gather, be a mindfulness technique for someone who tends to eat on the go a lot...or eats emotionally or because of stress, etc...to stop...sit down and eat their meal and experience it outside of stress or emotion, etc.

In regards to "thin people either not being interested in food or watching their diets very carefully...I'm wondering if there isn't an interpretation disconnect here. As in, maybe the author isn't talking about a non interest...but rather, the fact that many "naturally lean/thin" people don't have a deep emotional relationship or issue with food. It isn't that they aren't interested or don't like a good meal...it's just not a big emotional thing. I fall into that camp...I've been pretty lean most of my life...I actually love food and enjoy a good meal and enjoy sharing food with friends and family for celebration, etc...but I have no emotional ties to food...I don't have any kind of "relationship" with food at all...it's just there...it tastes good and I enjoy it and it keeps me going. I don't stress eat...I don't comfort eat...I rarely boredom eat, snacking and such is minimal...pretty much a three squares a day kind of guy, etc. I'm just not emotionally attached to food like someone who learned subconsciously a long time ago (likely from watching a parent) that somehow food will make everything better if they're stressed or sad, etc...but that doesn't mean I'm "disinterested". And while I don't have that kind of relationship with food, I certainly did with alcohol. In a way, when I was drinking, alcohol was like my best friend...I couldn't imagine celebrations without it...I couldn't imagine getting through a stressful occasion without it...I couldn't imagine dealing with a bad day that left me feeling down without it, I couldn't imagine just hanging out with my people friends without it, etc.

CBT changed my entire perception and mindset around alcohol, and I would imagine it could have the same, very profound affect on disordered relationships with food and bringing about more awareness and mindfulness. Again, I know nothing about this book specifically...but CBT can have a very profound impact on many aspects of one's life.

cyaneverfat

Thank you to everyone who has commented so far 🙂. I would type longer responses but I no longer have a computer.