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

I have read many books over the years in an effort to break my overeating/yo-yo dieting patterns and I think this book might have actually helped me to do so.

The book uses the principles of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy to help you train yourself to have a better relationship with food and approach dieting in a sensible and realistic way. The book does not contain a food plan - you select two sensible diets of your choice - instead it gives you the tools to follow your chosen diet plan successfully. It is set out with some explanatory chat first and then a daily journal (covering 42 days) with a separate concept for each day, a to do list and space to write your own solutions/responses etc. Although you have to undertake to put some time aside everyday it didn't take me more than 10-20 mins each morning to read and think out my strategy. A lot of what Dr Beck says is just common sense but it made me question some of my old assumptions and unhelpful ways of thinking that i had taken to be true for a very long time. Whilst following the programme I lost 10 pounds and since completing it I have found it easy to continue to follow the principles and have lost a further stone in 9 weeks. It is still early days but the weight has stayed off and it has not been as difficult as usual to maintain. I feel more positive than I have done in a long time.

The book will not take the place of therapy for anyone with serious food issues but for those of us who have just got lost over the years in a dieting haze this book is perfect. Cannot recommend it highly enough.

OK first off - my review is NOT based on just reading the book and thinking 'Oh that sounds wonderful'. I read the book 6 months ago and now I weigh 28lbs less than I did then. So I'm writing with that experience to back up my thoughts here!
First of all, this book is NOT a diet book; you have to choose two diets to use with it (they have to be healthy diets, which aim for a 1-1.5lb loss per week, not a crash-diet). This book aims to give you the psychological tools that you need to succeed with the diets you have chosen.
The two diets I used were: 1. WeightWatchers online (that was my primary diet) and 2. Audrey Eyton's F2 diet (that was my 'back-up' plan for when I couldn't count points, as the WeightWatchers diet requires you to).
So - this book is a step-by-step, 'deal with your obstacles' course: it teaches you how to deal with sabotaging thoughts such as 'It's my birthday, I DESERVE a treat', or 'Just one biscuit won't matter'. It also teaches you that hunger is not an emergency! One day, you even have to go without food between breakfast and dinner, just so that you learn that you won't die from hunger. You also have to write everything down that you eat (that's true on the WeightWatchers programme too), and plan what you are going to eat the day before. A big lesson that I learnt (sounds very obvious, but it's true!) is that life ISN'T fair - there ARE some people who can eat a lot more than me and stay slim, but I can't: tough. If I want to be slim, I have to accept my limits.

I didn't stick to all of her advice, but I certainly used a lot of it to help me stick to WeightWatchers when I felt hungry, bored, fed up etc; etc;. And now I'm 28lbs lighter and ready to embark on the 'maintenance' phase.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is serious about losing weight and who is prepared to tackle some lessons which at first sight may sound rather strange, but which actually do help you to stay the course.

Good luck to everyone else!

For years I have wondered why I knew pretty much everything about dieting and exercise but felt utterly powerless to put what I knew into practice. The gap between knowledge and action was incredibly small, but for an unknown reason I was unable to bridge it. It's early days, but I think this book may have provided that bridge. I've put myself in Dr Beck's hands and am following the 6-week activity plan to the letter. So far so good. Worth a look, especially if you've been going up and down the diet rollercoaster for years.