Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | REPORTING IN (not really) - Sand

I don't do Phase 3 (go straight from Phase 2 to Phase 4) so this post is only for the use of anyone who may want to try my approach and wants to know what Phase 3 involves. The explanation is long, confusing, and boring, so there's really no need to read this unless you're that anyone.

I'm doing a behavior modification approach to lose weight. This approach is based on Stay Slim for Good by Zalman Amit and E. Ann Sutherland, copyright 1976. The idea is to control not what I eat but how I eat. There are 7 phases in the program and each phase has a specific behavior or behaviors to be learned. I learn the new behaviors for each phase and must do them successfully for 7 days. (If I fail one day, the 7 days start all over again.) Once I have 7 successful days at one phase, I move to the next phase and the new behaviors for that phase.

Success is measured by points. I get points for my mistakes so the fewer points the better. Based on the points, I get a "grade" of Excellent, Good, Fair, or Start Again.

In the plan laid out by Amit and Sutherland, I would begin Phase 3 after successfully completing seven days of Phase 1 (here) and seven days of Phase 2 (here). However, I'm not doing Phase 3; instead, I'm skipping right to Phase 4. Just in case anyone is following the Amit/Sutherland approach and wants information on Phase 3, I describe it here.

Phase 3 is "Shopping and Storage". These are the new tasks for this Phase:

Shopping

- Shop only one day per week.

- Eat before you go shopping.

- Make a shopping list before you go shopping.

- Do not vary from this list. Direct substitutions are allowed for unavailable items (no soy milk, buy rice milk instead) and for items on sale (pears are on the list but peaches are on sale) but no extra items can be added. If you forgot to put something on the list, live without it.

- Do not buy snack or convenience food. You must buy food that requires some preparation such as unsliced bread rather than sliced bread. You must not buy "junk" food such as potato chips, chocolate bars, and salted nuts. (You see why I'm not doing this Phase. Anyone who classifies chocolate as "junk" is insane.)

Storage

- Food must stored so that no food is exposed to view. All food should be stored in nontransparent plastic containers, paper bags, or aluminum foil. Label the packages to know what's in them. Cover all the food in your kitchen now. When you get home from shopping, cover all the food you've bought. Every time you get food out to eat, you must cover it up again when you put it away.

In Phase 3, points are assessed as follows:

On Your Shopping Day

If you didn't eat before shopping, score 5 points.
If you didn't prepare a shopping list, score 5 points.
If you bought any items not on your shopping list, score 5 points.
If you bought any snack (prepared, junk) foods, score 5 points.

Every Day

For every item you did not store correctly after using, score 5 points.

In addition, you must still do the recording tasks you learned in Phase 1 and continue to score any errors there and still do the eating time regulation tasks you learned in Phase 2 and score any errors there. Your total score each day is a combination of points from the Phase 1 tasks; points from the Phase 2 tasks; and points from the Phase 3 tasks.

On non-Shopping Days, the scoring ranges for Phase 3 are:
0: Excellent !
1-18: Good

19-39: Fair

40+: Start Again

On your once-a-week Shopping Day, the scoring ranges for Phase 3 are:
0: Excellent !
1-18: Good

19-44: Fair

45+: Start Again

As you've figured out by now, the scoring at each Phase is cumulative, reflecting scoring for all the tasks learned previously. This means that since I skip Phase 3 my scoring for subsequent Phases doesn't include the Phase 3 tasks. Thus what constitutes a Good, Fair, or Start Again day for those Phases is different than it would be if I did include the Phase 3 tasks and my posts on those Phases will give my scoring ranges. However, for anyone who wants to try this approach and wants to include Phase 3, here are the scoring ranges for the subsequent phases including the Phase 3 tasks.

For Phase 4, the scoring ranges (including the Phase 3 tasks) are:
0: Excellent !
1-25: Good

26-49: Fair

Non-Shopping Day - 50+: Start Again

Shopping Day - 55+: Start Again

For Phase 5, the scoring ranges (including the Phase 3 tasks) are:
0: Excellent !
1-30: Good

31-54: Fair

Non-Shopping Day - 55+: Start Again

Shopping Day - 60+: Start Again

For Phase 6, the scoring ranges (including the Phase 3 tasks) are:
0: Excellent !
1-35: Good

36-59: Fair

Non-Shopping Day - 60+: Start Again

Shopping Day - 65+: Start Again

Phase 7 is a little different. There are new tasks but they're optional so the scoring is the same as for Phase 6.

Whew!

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[Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate. - Sandra Boynton]

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