The Four Day Win

by BECK, MARTHA

• ISBN13: 9781594866074
• ISBN10: 1594866074
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-12-26
• Publisher: Rodale Books

Summary

The woman Psychology Today calls "the best-known life coach in America" shatters the myth that willpower is an effective weight-loss tool and introduces a revolutionary approach to lifetime leanness based on a series of "4-day wins" that work with any weight-loss program Substitute a good habit for a bad one and stick to it for just 4 days, and it begins to feel normal. That's the surprising discovery that holds the key to lifetime weight control, according to life coach and New York Times best-selling author Martha Beck. Not a conventional diet or exercise program, The Four-Day Win combines evolutionary logic, psychology, and neuroplasticity (the ability of the brain to restructure itself, which suggests ways to reshape our bodies) with strategies and success stories'”plus large doses of humor and an insightful, straightforward approach to teach the principles required to reverse weight issues. Drawn from hundreds of hours interviewing weight losers'”in both her discussions with private clients and her groundbreaking consulting work for Jenny Craig'”Dr. Beck reveals: '¢ why willpower-based dieting is doomed to fail '¢ how to step out of the conflict between the rule-making Commander (who bans all our favorite foods) and the rule-breaking Resistor (who gives in to cravings) and reach the Watcher, who is our happiest self '¢ what the latest research into the mind-body connection reveals about how our emotions affect our eating Breaking down the weight-loss marathon into 4-day intervals, Dr. Beck provides effective strategies for changing the behaviors that make us fat. And if there is a relapse, readers take comfort in knowing they are just 4 days from turning it around.

Author Biography

MARTHA BECK, PhD, is a life coach and monthly columnist for O, The Oprah Magazine. She is the author of the bestsellers Finding Your Own North Star: Claiming the Life You Were Meant to Live and the memoir Expecting Adam. She lives in Phoenix, Arizona.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xi
Why Are You So Damn Fat?	1	(8)
Four Days at a Time	9	(11)
How To Be Skinnier In 4 Days	20	(4)
The Transtheoretical Model and the Piggly Wiggly Problem	24	(9)
STAGE 1: PRE-CONTEMPLATION
The Polar Bear Effect: Why Resistance Is Futile	33	(7)
This Is Your Brain on Diets: The Fattening Way to Lose Weight	40	(8)
The Body Whisperer: Getting Your Subconscious Mind on Your Side	48	(8)
The Creature and the Computer	56	(9)
Thinking About Thinking About It	65	(10)
STAGE 2: CONTEMPLATION
The Most Important Weight-Loss Skill in the History of the Universe	75	(7)
Learn to Return to the Place of Thinner Peace	82	(8)
How to Stop Eating When You Can't Stop Eating	90	(7)
Make Love, Not War: Living in the Place of Thinner Peace	97	(7)
How Not to Be a Big Fat Liar	104	(8)
Not Always So: From Fathead to Open Mind	112	(7)
Beware the Permanently Helpless Dalmatian Reptile	119	(9)
Researching Your Life: Your Weight Lifeline	128	(17)
STAGE 3: PREPARATION
Fat Rat Park: Identifying Your Natural Environment	145	(10)
The Three B's: Building Your Own Rat Park	155	(7)
Fat Is a Social Disease: Getting Support for Your New Life	162	(8)
Eat Whatever the Hell You Want: Preparing to Eat Less	170	(15)
Bury a Bunch of Bones: Developing Abundance Brain	185	(8)
Trash the Treasure, Don't Treasure the Trash	193	(7)
Flavors for Flouting Famine Brain: Weirdly Compelling New Diet Research	200	(7)
What's My Motivation?: Making Moving Easier	207	(9)
You're Getting Verrrry Sleeeepyyy . . . : Avoiding Burnout	216	(9)
You Need New Moves: Preparing to Move More	225	(10)
Packing Your Parachute: Preparation Checklist	235	(8)
STAGE 4: ACTION
Creating Your Daymap: The Second Most Important Weight-Loss Skill in the History of the Universe	243	(7)
``Move More'' Daymap Adjustment: Edging into Exercise	250	(8)
Eating Daymap Adjustment: Feeding Your Soul	258	(7)
I Will Fight No More (And Eat a Bit Less) Forever: Actually Losing Weight	265	(14)
STAGE 5: MAINTENANCE
Trim-Tabbing Along the Middle Way: Staying Thin No Matter What	279	(12)
STAGE 6: RELAPSE
Getting Back on the Horse: Relapse and Recovery	291	(10)
STAGE 7: CELEBRATION
Determination Yields De Termination: Celebrating Freedom	301	(8)
Appendix The 4-Day Win Jump-Start Weight-Loss Program	309