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The Complete Beck Diet for Life: The 5-Stage Program for Permanent Weight Loss
Bestselling author and weight-loss expert Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., has inspired thousands of dieters to lose weight and keep it off using the power of Cognitive Therapy. Her techniques emphasize preparing the mind and changing eating habits before making changes to the food you eat. Now, for the first time, Dr. Beck outlines the next step on the road to success: a specific, balanced diet plan that teaches how to eat thin to ensure that weight loss lasts a lifetime. 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.
386 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2008
156 people are currently reading
139 people want to read
About the author
Judith S. Beck
46 books160 followersDr. 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.
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 and outreach.
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.
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 and outreach.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
April 23, 2015
Can I just start by saying how depressing it is to read a book about not eating? The author writes that she used her methods to lose 30 pounds. Judging by her author photo she is quite thin. I really wonder if she is staying below her set point by sheer force of will, because the book reflects more than a touch of disordered eating, or at least disordered thinking about food. First of all, it is not an exaggeration to say that the word "guilt(y)" shows up on every.single.page of the book. I started paying attention and in a random 12 page sample it appeared at least once on every page. The words "weak," "(out of) control" and "bad about myself" appear on probably every 4th page. There is just a whole lot of moral and eating-disordered language about the very practical task of feeding yourself.
Many of her "patient anecdotes," or more properly her interpretations of her alleged patients' experience, are utterly f*ing depressing. Here is Michael, from page 87. He "completed a 10 mile bike ride for a charity. He had never done anything like that before. He felt elated and proud and, without quite realizing it, raced through the lunch that was provided, hardly noticing what he ate. He then didn't feel satisfied and took seconds--which showed up on the scale the next day." I mean, seriously, you can't cut the guy who did a 10 mile ride some slack? She recounts the agony of another dieter who "popped a baby carrot into her mouth" while making her son's lunch. Again, seriously?
Beck says that her method is based on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, which she states her father invented (I did not fact check), and she is a PhD and professor of Psychiatry. However, the book ignores recent psychological findings. She talks a lot about whether one is going to strengthen one's "resistance muscle" or one's "giving-in muscle." (Again with the moralizing bad/weak/guilty person language.) However, it's pretty firmly accepted in psychology at this point that there is a limit to self-control, termed "ego depletion" (interesting interview with the originator of the concept and term in the Atlantic here). Meaning, you can work your resistance muscle...until you just can't anymore. She simply does not recognize this, even though one of her "patient anecdotes" about a woman who went to dinner with friends, stuck to her diet, and then came home and had a healthy snack of bananas and nuts exactly illustrates the principle. Beck told the story as one of shame and guilt.
All of this is leaving aside the "Advantages Deck," the things you want to come true by not eating, almost all of which are about being more socially acceptable and looks, with only glancing references to health
The insane thing about Beck's insanity is that the actual diet she proposes is totally sensible. It has you cut only 200 calories per day below what's needed to maintain your current weight and the lowest caloric level it provides for is 1600 (if you want to go below that, she recommends talking to a dietitian)--and it goes all the way up 2400. No foods are off limits; you are allowed one treat of 150-200 calories, depending on your calorie level, per day. I'm not crazy about her 3 meals and 3 snacks model, as I would rather have larger meals, but that's just personal preference. She also has more grains/starches in her plan than I like, as I'd rather have more olive oil with my sauteed veggies than a slice of bread; but again, personal preference and her plan follows reasonable guidelines in terms of percentages of protein, fat, and carbs. The recipes are mostly made with whole foods rather than sciency "diet" ingredients.
So there is really no reason that it should be an entire book about not eating--you're eating plenty! But you would really never know that from the text. The text is so parsimoniously miserly that you would think the accompanying diet is a 400 calorie liquid shake once a day.
She also has some good techniques, such as eating mindfully while enjoying every bite of food, planning your meals and snacks, and waiting a while after you eat to let your satiety hormones kick in and noticing that you really do feel full even if you didn't after finishing. She emphasizes losing weight slowly, and says it doesn't matter how long it takes to come off because you're taking it off for life.
But even things that should be useful, such as distinguishing between hunger and non-hunger (page 75) are about not eating. If you identify yourself as not-hungry but having some other reason for wanting to eat, you are to tell yourself, "This isn't hunger. I'm definitely not going to eat." But if you identify yourself as actually stomach hungry...yeah, you still don't eat. I mean, maybe you shouldn't necessarily eat every time you feel hungry, but why bother to distinguish between the two states if the outcome is the same?
She wants you to be batsh!t and high maintenance in restaurants, and asserts that "all successful dieters and maintainers" are the same about ordering crazy things off-menu (her late 90s touch of assuming that consomme is still on restaurant menus everywhere was amusing), sending back food if a drop of butter has touched it, and bringing your own spray salad dressing (remember that?). But if you go to a restaurant, that is objectively untrue. People of normal and thin weight in general eat restaurant food as it is presented on the menu and served from the kitchen. She doesn't allow for transfer of calories between days of the week. I don't know enough about the science here, but I suspect (given the evidence regarding intermittent fasting, for example) that a big restaurant meal one day and a smaller meal the next is just fine.
Perhaps my review is unfair because I am not the target audience. I do not have disordered overeating thoughts and behaviors for the most part, and maybe she is trying to reach that audience. But I really can't recommend this book to anyone to whom a healthy, non-moralizing relationship with food is important.
Many of her "patient anecdotes," or more properly her interpretations of her alleged patients' experience, are utterly f*ing depressing. Here is Michael, from page 87. He "completed a 10 mile bike ride for a charity. He had never done anything like that before. He felt elated and proud and, without quite realizing it, raced through the lunch that was provided, hardly noticing what he ate. He then didn't feel satisfied and took seconds--which showed up on the scale the next day." I mean, seriously, you can't cut the guy who did a 10 mile ride some slack? She recounts the agony of another dieter who "popped a baby carrot into her mouth" while making her son's lunch. Again, seriously?
Beck says that her method is based on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, which she states her father invented (I did not fact check), and she is a PhD and professor of Psychiatry. However, the book ignores recent psychological findings. She talks a lot about whether one is going to strengthen one's "resistance muscle" or one's "giving-in muscle." (Again with the moralizing bad/weak/guilty person language.) However, it's pretty firmly accepted in psychology at this point that there is a limit to self-control, termed "ego depletion" (interesting interview with the originator of the concept and term in the Atlantic here). Meaning, you can work your resistance muscle...until you just can't anymore. She simply does not recognize this, even though one of her "patient anecdotes" about a woman who went to dinner with friends, stuck to her diet, and then came home and had a healthy snack of bananas and nuts exactly illustrates the principle. Beck told the story as one of shame and guilt.
All of this is leaving aside the "Advantages Deck," the things you want to come true by not eating, almost all of which are about being more socially acceptable and looks, with only glancing references to health
The insane thing about Beck's insanity is that the actual diet she proposes is totally sensible. It has you cut only 200 calories per day below what's needed to maintain your current weight and the lowest caloric level it provides for is 1600 (if you want to go below that, she recommends talking to a dietitian)--and it goes all the way up 2400. No foods are off limits; you are allowed one treat of 150-200 calories, depending on your calorie level, per day. I'm not crazy about her 3 meals and 3 snacks model, as I would rather have larger meals, but that's just personal preference. She also has more grains/starches in her plan than I like, as I'd rather have more olive oil with my sauteed veggies than a slice of bread; but again, personal preference and her plan follows reasonable guidelines in terms of percentages of protein, fat, and carbs. The recipes are mostly made with whole foods rather than sciency "diet" ingredients.
So there is really no reason that it should be an entire book about not eating--you're eating plenty! But you would really never know that from the text. The text is so parsimoniously miserly that you would think the accompanying diet is a 400 calorie liquid shake once a day.
She also has some good techniques, such as eating mindfully while enjoying every bite of food, planning your meals and snacks, and waiting a while after you eat to let your satiety hormones kick in and noticing that you really do feel full even if you didn't after finishing. She emphasizes losing weight slowly, and says it doesn't matter how long it takes to come off because you're taking it off for life.
But even things that should be useful, such as distinguishing between hunger and non-hunger (page 75) are about not eating. If you identify yourself as not-hungry but having some other reason for wanting to eat, you are to tell yourself, "This isn't hunger. I'm definitely not going to eat." But if you identify yourself as actually stomach hungry...yeah, you still don't eat. I mean, maybe you shouldn't necessarily eat every time you feel hungry, but why bother to distinguish between the two states if the outcome is the same?
She wants you to be batsh!t and high maintenance in restaurants, and asserts that "all successful dieters and maintainers" are the same about ordering crazy things off-menu (her late 90s touch of assuming that consomme is still on restaurant menus everywhere was amusing), sending back food if a drop of butter has touched it, and bringing your own spray salad dressing (remember that?). But if you go to a restaurant, that is objectively untrue. People of normal and thin weight in general eat restaurant food as it is presented on the menu and served from the kitchen. She doesn't allow for transfer of calories between days of the week. I don't know enough about the science here, but I suspect (given the evidence regarding intermittent fasting, for example) that a big restaurant meal one day and a smaller meal the next is just fine.
Perhaps my review is unfair because I am not the target audience. I do not have disordered overeating thoughts and behaviors for the most part, and maybe she is trying to reach that audience. But I really can't recommend this book to anyone to whom a healthy, non-moralizing relationship with food is important.
October 15, 2016
I really like this book because it teaches you to eat like a thin person. Since June have lost 16lbs, I did not follow her diet but did just the first phase, which is a behavioral change in losing weight.
July 1, 2009
The book has some good ideas about reinforcing positive life habits and thinking around better nutrition and health.
May 15, 2022
One of the better diet books I have read … very prescriptive, perhaps too prescriptive in areas?
I liked the book. It was very prescriptive and very detailed. In many ways that the level of detail and prescription was very good. There were lots of areas it seemed too prescriptive. I thought the mental / self-talk parts were excellent, especially as each had action steps and checklists … and re-check evaluations. Lots of the extreme detail in the worksheets and daily lists of “to-do” was far too prescriptive and I felt not appropriate or doable. It seems to me, guidelines for these would have been more appropriate. All things considered it is a useful book and many of the parts will be useful on a daily basis.
I liked the book. It was very prescriptive and very detailed. In many ways that the level of detail and prescription was very good. There were lots of areas it seemed too prescriptive. I thought the mental / self-talk parts were excellent, especially as each had action steps and checklists … and re-check evaluations. Lots of the extreme detail in the worksheets and daily lists of “to-do” was far too prescriptive and I felt not appropriate or doable. It seems to me, guidelines for these would have been more appropriate. All things considered it is a useful book and many of the parts will be useful on a daily basis.
December 12, 2023
NOT great on KIndle
I like the premise and the book, but I can only recommend this on Kindle if you want it as a backup to the actual book because worksheets that are part of the plan cannot be easily printed from a Kindle book, but of course can be photocopied from a physical book quite easily.
I like the premise and the book, but I can only recommend this on Kindle if you want it as a backup to the actual book because worksheets that are part of the plan cannot be easily printed from a Kindle book, but of course can be photocopied from a physical book quite easily.
November 14, 2017
It took me a while to finish this book, and even so, I skimmed it. Still, there were some good ideas. I'm working on finding a diet buddy.
Read
January 8, 2024Very informational follow up to the Beck Solution. I read it to reinforce my commitment to getting healthier.
September 28, 2014
Based on the principles of CBT(cognitive behavior therapy), this book offers insight on sabotaging thoughts that prevent dieters from sticking to a modified eating plan in order to meet their weight loss goals. More of a self-help book aimed at teaching one to change erroneous, unrealistic thoughts, the book has useful information for anyone looking to learn how to reach a goal. There is a no-nonsense eating plan designed for dieters at differing levels of caloric needs. The diet offers food choices from easy to get, reasonably-priced foods. I recommend to those looking for a motivational boost in their weight loss efforts.
March 21, 2009
This was a really good book. She is interested in behavioral psychology and has you do lots of experiments to prove to yourself that you can, for example, resist a food you crave (by setting it in front of you and then throwing it away) and you can be hungry and not freak out (by not eating between breakfast and dinner for a day). It sounds a little weirder than it is -- I thought it provided lots of good food for thought (no pun intended) about how and why we eat thoughtlessly and get into poor habits.
Read
September 16, 2013this book started out strong and then I just wasn't feeling like it was resonating for me. So my bookmark is about half way through, and I'm bringing it back to the library. I think that the concept of the flash cards, starving yourself to identify hunger signals, and dealing with your rebellious streak just rubbed me the wrong way. I'm sure it's super helpful for some people, just wasn't for me.
June 20, 2015
Another good book by Judith Beck. Provides an actual food plan for someone who wants it as well as helpful checklists and tracking sheets. I still feel that her basic concepts are more thoroughly covered in The Beck Diet Solution and the Diet Trap Solution, but this is an easy, structured way to start integrating the Beck Diet skills into your life.
January 29, 2011
Interesting approach to weight loss - fix the reasons why you eat too much, and you will lose weight. Didn't work for me - I wasn't willing to put in the time and effort. It involves daily checklists and I have enough going on without checking another 20 item list every day
Read
April 14, 2009Skimmed it. There were a few good tips to think about and adapt to your eating habits.
February 12, 2011
If you pick the right foods from this book, you will definitely always be full! It's a great diet to follow for making a life long change to eating healthier.
June 29, 2011
Excellent.
January 12, 2012
This very helpful book addresses the self-sabotaging thoughts that keep diets from working. I've lost almost 15 pounds so far using the skills in this book.
March 3, 2013
This is an excellent guide for how to be prepared to talk to yourself when you are tempted to overeat or to eat foods you have already decided you want to avoid.
August 7, 2012
Helpful, practical ideas for coping with negative thoughts and defeating behaviors.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews