Is it a journey, a lifestyle change, or just using common sense?

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  • bluworld
    bluworld Posts: 135 Member
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    If weight loss were common sense, then no one would be over weight.

    Weight loss is called a journey to indicate it will take a while.

    It's called a lifestyle change to indicate it works best with other lifestyle choices, such as increased physical activity. The term also refers to the fact that new eating habits after weight loss need to be formed, because if you return to pre weight loss eating, you will experience the same pre weight loss weight gain.

    Initial weight loss is easy. The first 10% practically falls off. The next 10% walks away. It's after that things come to a crawl, those 100 hidden calories make a difference, and weighing your food and accurately tracking calories become important.

    Common sense can't tell you how lunges will improve the over all function of your legs, or how fantastic your butt will look after doing squats. Common sense will not create a lifelong appreciation for new foods, new cooking methods, and new satiation levels. Don't forget, "common sense" created Dr
    Oz.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,218 Member
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    I think of what I'm doing right now as a slight course correction.

    I've been slender, even underweight, most of my life. I've also been very, very active for much of my life.

    However, in the past 4 years, I've been less active. I adjusted my diet to match my lack of activity, and it took me 4 years to put on 15 kg, so I was pretty close ... but just off a bit.

    So ... just fixing the 15 kg and making a slight readjustment ... a dietary tweak ... a course correction. :)
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    I don't understand the "journey" terminology at all.

    I tend to think it's common sense, but making common sense (and the various things that make it easier--like having food on hand when you need it, making exercise a priority and being able to fit it in) actually easy to do requires adding some habits and dropping some others, which for me was part of revising my lifestyle somewhat.
  • ArkMom35
    ArkMom35 Posts: 225 Member
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    It's a journey learning to adapt to a new lifestyle of using common sense?
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    edited April 2015
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    It is actually a series of little lifestyle changes guided by common sense.
  • snickerscharlie
    snickerscharlie Posts: 8,578 Member
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    bluworld wrote: »
    If weight loss were common sense, then no one would be over weight.

    Common sense simply isn't, though. ;)
  • LiveLoveRunFar
    LiveLoveRunFar Posts: 176 Member
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    While you are losing weight it is a journey....you lose weight you discover you can do more things, you reflect on success and whats getting your there, a lot of self introspection, it's a lifestyle change when the practices you've incorporated in your daily life to make those changes becomes habit....self reflection, learning,choices, activity every day almost to the point you don't even think about doing it anymore you just do it. When the thought of NOT doing it just seems silly.
  • bluworld
    bluworld Posts: 135 Member
    edited April 2015
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    The terminology is like Catholic vs Anglican thelogical debate. In the end, it's all the same thing.


    I'm an atheist, so, I just call it diet and exercise.
  • booksandchocolate12
    booksandchocolate12 Posts: 1,741 Member
    edited April 2015
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    It's more than just common sense. It's common sense in that eating at a calorie deficit is a simple concept to understand. But as simple as it is to understand, how easy is it to implement?

    Saying, "You can lose weight! It's just common sense!" is kind of insulting, implying that those who struggle with their weight are somehow too stupid to see how "easy" it is. Like I said, the concept is easy to get; implementing it is not so easy. It requires more than common sense. It requires a change in habits--some of them built over a lifetime. So I guess you could call that a "lifestyle change".

    Whatever you call it, I wouldn't simplify it by saying that it's just common sense. There are so many facets to weight loss. Understanding the concept "just eat less" is only one of them.
  • rosebette
    rosebette Posts: 1,660 Member
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    I don't like the word "journey" unless one is talking about a spiritual journey, or if it applies to someone who is seriously overweight or obese who is making major changes. For those people it is often a journey toward health and sometimes even self-discovery and identity as they become used to their new body size and shape (the same might apply for people recovering from ED who are restoring a healthy relationship with food). For those who just have 10-20 lbs. to lose or just want to reshape our bodies, calling weight loss a "journey" trivializes the experience of those who have experienced serious impact due to issues with food. I don't mind the term lifestyle change because even for those of us who don't have much to lose or are of normal weight, we are changing our lifestyle if we are choosing to watch both the quantity and content of what we eat. I would say it's more complex than just "common sense." CICO can be called "common sense," but an overall healthy diet is much more than just CICO.

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