I haven’t been cooking (or posting) much these past few weeks due to one of the most stressful winter holidays I’ve ever had, including a death in my family, three cases of the flu and various other emotional losses and stressors. I did get some reading in though. I picked up an old favorite, The Beck Diet Solution, and got really excited about this book again.
I found the Beck Diet Solution about two years ago when I was going through a tough time with my lower carb version of the Low Oxalate Diet. Let’s just say I was feeling a bit angry and sorry for myself, and I wasn’t making consistently good food choices. It wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t good either.
The self-sabatage ended when a friend recommended I read the Beck Diet Solution. I was skeptical, as you might be, but she endorsed it so glowingly I decided to give it a try. Best. Decision. Ever. I back her endorsement 100%.
When you read the title, you’ll notice the words “train your brain to think like a thin person” and other references to losing weight. But this book is not about losing weight. It’s about applying cognitive therapy techniques to the process of following a diet, any diet, in order to reach and maintain your health goals. Just mentally replace the words “lose weight” with “gain health,” and you’ll be amazed how much the book applies to you.
Do any of these scenarios sound like you?
– You felt upset and thought eating a high oxalate treat would make you feel better.
– You were too tired to cook, so you opted for fast food instead.
– You were too polite to turn down the high oxalate dessert your friend baked.
– You were at a party and felt like treating yourself.
– You felt overwhelmed by the requirements of your diet.
– You gave in to temptation then blamed yourself for being weak.
– You felt deprived by your diet.
– You ate something you hadn’t planned to eat, so you gave up watching your oxalate content for the day and ate anything you wanted.
– You felt like you couldn’t control your eating.
If you are dealing with any of these feelings and scenarios, you are not alone. Learning to take control of your eating and to feel good about your healthy diet is a learned behavior, not something people automatically know how to do. The great thing about the Beck Diet Solution is that it teaches you how to take control and to release feelings of anger, deprivation or resentment surrounding your diet. It teaches you techniques for resisting temptation, giving yourself credit, finding support, stopping emotional or stress eating, and rethinking your relationship with food. I especially liked how each section gave examples of sabotaging thoughts associated with dieting and eating along with ways to replace the sabotaging thoughts with helpful, positive thoughts. I admit I’ve had most of these sabotaging thoughts at one time or another, and gaining ammunition against them has really helped me.
The book is set up in ten chapters that each address a stage in the dieting process, such as getting ready, responding to sabotaging thoughts, overcoming challenges and fine-tuning your new skills. It takes the dieter through 60 days on your diet, giving you a new skill for each day. A few of these skills are directly related to losing weight, but most can be applied to any dieting situation to improve health, whether it includes weight loss or not. The first time I worked through the Beck Diet Solution, I was only concerned with getting my oxalate intake under control again, but the second time I added weight loss and hypoglycemia control to my goals and found the techniques equally applicable to each goal. It was probably easier to work through the book with weight loss goals along with oxalate goals because it made it easier for me to apply the language to both situations, but both ways worked.
The techniques taught in this book were exactly what I needed to feel confident and in control again. They also helped me to release most of my feelings of deprivation and resentment surrounding my dietary choices. I highly recommend it to any low oxalate dieter who feels like they need help resolving the common dieting scenarios listed above.
Where to find the Beck Diet Solution:
I checked out The Beck Diet Solution from my local library the first time I read it. Unfortunately, it was a very popular book and I had to return it before my 60 day program was over, but I had read enough to know that I wanted to finish the program and could benefit from having the book on my shelf. You might want to check your library first. My local book store didn’t carry the book and could only order it for the list price, but you may have better luck than I and find a deal. I ended up ordering the book on Amazon. US readers can purchase The Beck Diet Solution here, UK readers can purchase The Beck Diet Solution here, and Canadian readers can purchase The Beck Diet Solution here. Take care and happy Low Oxalate Dieting!
link {UK readers use 
; Canadian readers use 
}. You may also make a purchase through my Amazon search engine below, or through any of the suppliers below. I will receive a small commission (with no extra charge to you.) Thank you!