The Eat Clean Diet Recharged! - Getting Motivated

I thought I'd fill you in on The Eat Clean Diet Recharged! by Tosca Reno. It’s sensible and some of the principles of the diet are as follows:
• Eat six small meals a day – each meal to have a combination of lean protein and complex carbs
• Eat breakfast everyday
• Eat 2-3 servings of healthy fat every day
• Drink 2-3 liters of water each day
• Adhere to proper portion sizes
• Carry a cooler packed with clean food
Now, I have to admit, I started this diet half heartedly 11 days ago. I feel I had my motivation sucked out of me after spending six weeks on the Beck Diet Solution and only losing 3 lbs. I have since had a long talk with myself and asked why I started to do this in the first place. I want change and I'm not going to get it doing the same old thing. I have to persevere!

I also have had to change some of my diet selections. I was really looking forward to sinful delights like chocolate and ice-cream on The Devil’s Diet by Anita Lover. When the book arrived in the mail, I anxiously began reading it only to discover The Devil’s Diet requires you to cheat on your spouse for weight loss motivation. Well, I no longer have a spouse and if I did, I wouldn’t cheat anyway!

I don’t think I’ll be doing The Biggest loser either. I found the version I picked up was rather vague when discussing food substitutes. For example, 3 ounces of chicken is equivalent to how many eggs or ounces of fish or beef?

So You Think You’re Fat & Ugly Diet by Donald Wayne Eaker seemed to have some information that was a bit outdated. Under suggested fats, it recommended margarine but said to use olive oil only sparingly. Most diet experts today would agree with using olive oil sparingly simply because its fat but would prefer it be used more so than margarine.

My search is back on for healthy but different diets. If you have any suggestions, let me know. Wish me luck this month with my weight loss!

The Beck Diet Solution - Final Results

I'm so done with The Beck Diet Solution by Judith S. Beck, Ph.D. In fact, I haven't even followed the daily writing exercies for the last week. I thought the idea of this book was to deal with emotional eating but I don't think it really gets to the heart of the issue. Every time you have a sabotaging thought in regards to dieting, you are to write a positive response on a card - know as your Advantage Response Cards. You are then supposed to read the cards back to yourself when you have more sabotaging thoughts. If I did this each time I had a negative thought about dieting, I'd be spending by whole day reading these cards.

Dislikes - Daily writing exercises of a sentence or two on a new topic each day were not enough to reinforce new behaviours. The book didn't really get into great detail as to why some people are emotional eaters and how to deal with the root of the problem. Yes, some of us eat because we're stressed, angry, sad, frustrated, etc. but why do some of us turn to food under these circumstances and others don't? Perhaps I'm looking for too deep of an answer but I think emotional eaters hide behind their food and fat and I was hoping to find out why.

Likes - One writing exercise I did find helpful was writing down the advantages to losing weight and posting them by my bathroom mirror so I could read these advantages to myself several times each day. Doing so made me excited about the possibility of being lean and fit. Who doesn't want to have more confidence, self-esteem, be able to buy fashionable clothes and feel good about yourself when you look in the mirror?

I think I would have prefered working on 5 or 6 concepts in this book and spending a week on each one. I think new behaviours would have been reinforced then. I really can't remember what exercise I did on any given day.

Stats for the The Beck Diet Solution
Weight - lost 3 lbs
Bust - lost 1"
Waist - lost 1"
Hips - lost .5"
BMI - 32.39

Totals to date
Weight - lost 15 lbs
Bust - lost 2.5"
Waist - lost 4"
Hips - lost 2.5"
Initial BMI was 35.22 - down 2.83 to 32.39

I've had to make some changes to my diet choices. One of the books had outdated information and another book was not clear on food choices and amounts. The third book, The Devil's Diet by Anita Lover really is sinful. I was hoping that the title implied I could eat chocolate and ice-cream but instead the author encourages you to cheat on your spouse for weight loss motivation. Well, I no longer have a spouse bit if I did, I wouldn't cheat anyway! My next diet choice is The Eat Clean Diet Recharged by Tosca Reno. I may do some cheating on my diet but not on my spouse...if I had one!