battle of the beck books!

Jump to Comments

Not really. But sort of.

Just before starting this blog I bought two books that claimed they would help re-wire my brain such that I would be able to end my contract as poster girl for yo-yo dieting. One was Four Day Win by Martha Beck and the other was The Beck Diet Solution by Judith Beck. (The authors are not related, as far as I know.) After spending quality time with both, I found I much prefer the Martha Beck book, Four Day Win. Let me explain why.

Judith Beck, in her book The Beck Diet Solution, takes a very task oriented approach. The book is made up of chapters consisting of daily tasks – for a total of 6 weeks. There is no research demonstrating the efficacy of said tasks in the book, although it does state that the approach is based on clinical research. Many of the daily tasks will be very familiar to those of us who have done some reading on losing weight. Each day you add a new strategy and as the days go by, the shear number of tasks on your daily to-do list seems to me to become overwhelming. The first two weeks of the program are designed to prepare you for dieting with tasks like: eat slowly while sitting down, plan and write down everything you eat, get rid of temptations in your environment, and consider the advantages of losing weight. On Day 15 you actually begin the diet of your choice. If you have made it that far.

There were definitely some strategies I liked in this book – like enlisting a diet coach, writing down your goals, relaxation strategies and self-talk strategies. I also think a lot of her strategies were just standard issue weight loss tips that have been around forever – like park your car at the far end of the parking lot so you get in more walking. Does that really have anything to do with cognitive therapy?

But while there are some good strategies in The Beck Diet Solution, there was an underlying tone of negativity and condescension throughout that made the book less palatable. Partly, as Jen notes in her comments on the book, there is a fatalistic, heartless air to it. Basically, I gleaned a few nuggets from this book, but much of it didn’t speak to me. You can read an excerpt and see if you find the same sour note.

In contrast, Martha Beck’s The Four Day Win is full of heart. She takes an “I’ve been there” approach and her book has more of a narrative structure – with liberal doses of humour throughout. Although at first I found it hard to believe she had ever suffered from a weight problem given she has been quite thin as long as I’ve been aware of her. But as I read the book, it became apparent as she shared her personal experiences that she had authentically experienced the same problems around food and eating that so many of us women do – whether it shows up as being overweight or some other eating disorder. So on that level, the book feels like a friend sharing what has worked for them.

At the same time, she describes numerous research studies that flesh out the points she is trying to make. The critical thinker in me finds this invaluable. I am fascinated by the workings of the human brain and find that having that knowledge bolsters my confidence in the techniques presented. She also goes deeper than the surface behaviour and asks the reader to explore what thoughts and emotions are behind the behaviour.

One of the core concepts in The Four Day Win is about cultivating mindfulness – which is a way of saying being awake and aware of what is going on in the present moment – as opposed to being on autopilot. This was one reason why I liked it so much. I am familiar with this territory through my years as a student of yoga (and eastern philosophy as an offshoot of that). Beck calls this mindfulness “the watcher” in her book and puts her own spin on it. It is a form of meditation, in situ. I believe that this is definitely a big key in rewiring the brain. And there are many studies that show it.

I also think that Martha Beck’s approach as a life coach also spoke to me more than the “barely beyond behaviourism” approach of Judith Beck. All the research and reading I’ve done on motivation as well as my own recent training as a life coach have really cemented in my mind the importance of connecting to the bigger truth of what you want your life to be and your dreams for yourself.

Just to contrast the two books, here is an example of how they each approach the topic of “forbidden food”:

Judith Beck:

Remove your personal temptations. Open all of the food cabinets and, if at all possible, give away or throw out the foods that could tempt you to go off your diet plan.

Martha Beck:

If you’re following a published fitness program, it probably includes instructions about removing all forbidden, fattening foods from your house. This is one of the most common things I hear from diet advisors. Personally, I’ve never seen it work.

First of all, removing all fattening food from your house to make yourself eat less is about as effective as Prohibition was in making American’s drink less. If we crave unhealthy food (and everyone with famine brain does), we’ll get it and eat it. Remember the guys in the Ancel Keys study, who became obsessive bingers after a few months of dieting? They didn’t start out fat or binge-prone, though they all had plenty of food available. It was limiting their food intake, once they’d gotten good and hungry, that caused them to obsess about forbidden food, to hunt it, hoard it, steal it and eat up to 10,000 calories of it at a single sitting. Deprivation, not available food, pushes people into famine brain.

To sum up, The Beck Diet Solution doesn’t feel like a solution at all, but is largely comprised of the same advice dieters have been hearing for years. I have no doubt it works but I don’t see it as the long term change-my-brain approach I am looking for. I certainly can’t see myself following it for life. The Four Day Win, on the other hand, combines research in both mind and body (she discusses Seth Roberts‘ work, for example), individualized approaches, psychological responses and offers ways to really change how one relates to food and connects it all to the bigger picture of whole life satisfaction.

I’m sure each book has it’s audience and what works for some doesn’t work for others. But I know which one I’m going to be keeping on my nightstand.

7 Comments

Filed under book