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People who struggle with dieting, however, often delude themselves about how much they eat. In fact, at times you might deliberately try not to notice what you're eating because you know you would feel bad if you really paid attention. For example, you might eat a pint of ice cream standing at the freezer or finish an entire bag of chips while watching TV. It's as if part of you believes, If I'm not fully conscious of what I'm doing, it's okay to keep eating.

You might tell yourself that what you're eating doesn't really matter -- that is, the calories don't count if you're only eating the crumbs in the bottom of a bag of cookies, the icing that's left on the cake cutter, or a broken piece of pretzel. Maybe you justify eating too much because you're eating out, celebrating, or vacationing. Or you might make the excuse that you should eat something because it's free or someone is urging you to eat.

You can also fool yourself in other ways. You might use eating something that you shouldn't have as an excuse to eat even more. Perhaps you've said to yourself, Since I strayed from this diet, I may as well blow the whole day. So you eat and eat, promising yourself you'll start again tomorrow.

The Beck Diet Solution

As you read this, you can probably see how this kind of thinking doesn't make good sense. Yet, in the moment, your sabotaging thoughts override your rational mind. Recognizing and responding in a helpful way to these sabotaging thoughts is a key component of this program. You'll be practicing this skill daily.

characteristic 5

You Comfort Yourself with Food

When thin people are emotionally upset, they don't turn to food for distraction or solace. It just doesn't cross their minds. If anything, they tend to lose their desire to eat.

On the other hand, when you're distressed or bored, you might immediately want to grab food. Eating can distract you from your negative feelings and soothe you. In fact, there are certain foods -- chocolate, for example -- that contain substances that release "feel good" chemicals in your brain.

The problem, of course, is that you feel better only momentarily. What happens as soon as you're finished eating? You still have to deal with the problem that made you upset. And, on top of that, you feel bad that you strayed from your diet. You become self-critical, undermine your confidence, and feel even worse than you did at the start.

The Beck Diet Solution

Instead of trying to comfort yourself with food, the Beck Diet Solution teaches you to calm down in other ways: by using distraction and relaxation techniques, by countering your sabotaging thoughts, and by solving the problems that were associated with your negative emotions in the first place.

characteristic 6

You Feel Helpless and Hopeless When You Gain Weight

When thin people gain weight, they don't usually see it as a catastrophe. They figure that they'll simply watch what they eat for the next few days or increase their exercise. They have confidence that the scale will go back down.

You're probably different, though. What goes through your mind when you see on the scale a higher number than you'd expected? You probably have such thoughts as, I can't believe it! This is terrible! I'll never lose weight!

Thin people have faith in their ability to make good decisions about what, when, and how much they're going to eat -- and to follow through with these decisions. Even when they eat more than usual, such as at a party, they're confident that they'll return to a more controlled way of eating afterwards.

You, however, may have constant sabotaging and demoralizing thoughts that undermine your confidence. When you overeat, you might believe that you'll never be able to control your eating.

The Beck Diet Solution

This program teaches you many techniques to prevent overeating. But, equally important, it also teaches you how to learn from your eating mistakes and to recommit yourself to your diet right away. When you do so, your confidence grows. You'll know that you can immediately recover from slips and control your eating and weight.