So, why do I want to lose weight? Your reasons might be different, but here are some that resonate with me (and my rating of how important each one is to me):

• I’ll be more attractive to others, especially Daniel: important
• I’ll be able to keep up on the bike: very important
• I’ll get more compliments: somewhat important
• I’ll feel better, physically and mentally: important
• I’ll feel more in control: important
• I’ll prove I can achieve difficult goals: important
• Daniel will think I’m awesome : very important
• I’ll enjoy food in a healthy way: somewhat important
• I’ll make other women look like slackers in comparison : somewhat important

The next step is to actually write these reasons on my card in order of importance, and set up a reminder system that will ensure I look at the card at least twice a day. The author places great emphasis on actually doing this, rather than just thinking about it. After all, if you can’t do a simple exercise like this, you probably won’t do any of the hard work of weight loss.

I’ve made three copies: one to carry, one to post on the bathroom mirror, and one for my computer monitor. This will ensure I look at them many times a day, and I will commit to reading the one on my computer every time I check my email (that’s a lot!).

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I don’t remember how I first heard about this book, but it was probably one of many that I find while playing on Amazon (I know, some people play cards, and I play on Amazon…). My general Amazon policy (central to me actually retaining some of my income) is that I only buy books that aren’t available at the library. In this case, it meant I waited on hold for this book for a month or two, and that I need to decide whether to buy it or not in the next few days, since I have to return it on July 5th.

The premise of the book is straightforward: it’s difficult or impossible to maintain the healthy behaviors that result in weight loss if you don’t change the way you think. Dr. Beck’s father is also the father of the Cognitive Therapy school of thought, and this book is essentially Cognitive Therapy applied to weight loss.

The Beck Diet Solution is made up of six weeks’ worth of daily exercises. The first two weeks are focused on preparing to diet. I’m already dieting, but Dr. Beck says it’s incredibly important to do those, regardless of current dieting status. That makes sense because those weeks are about establishing the habits and knowledge that help with actually sticking to a diet.

Week three is about understanding your body while dieting—learning to accurately interpret its signals and be realistic about progress. Week four deals with sabotaging thoughts (a major focus of the book, based on the introductory chapters), while week five tackles various challenges that can ruin a diet (food pushers, eating out, traveling, and emotional eating, among others). Finally, week six is about fine-tuning your dieting skills for the long haul.

I’ll have more feedback as I go through the book, but my first impression is good. As I mentioned, I’ve got some issues with food and taste, so I hope that working through this book will not only help me see food more accurately but will also help me want to make changes for the better.

The Amazon reviews for this book are very encouraging. Reviewer after reviewer reports success, and many of them are the “I tried everything, nothing worked, and then I found this” type. I also like that the book is compatible with any diet (since I like to try them all!) and develops lifetime skills. I’ll be working through some of the exercises here on the blog (when it makes sense to do them that way) so you’ll be able to see if the book might be helpful for you as well.

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