It's not a diet it's a ..

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  • barbecuesauce
    barbecuesauce Posts: 1,771 Member
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    "Eating clean" and "lifestyle change" are frilly buzzwords. I lost my weight while eating more whole foods than some clean eaters I know. I restricted my calories and now I'm trying to find maintenance, so no lifestyle change here.

    Call it what you want, as long as your CI<CO.
  • louubelle16
    louubelle16 Posts: 579 Member
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    I agree with those who said the term "lifestyle change" is just another fad to make eating healthily sound more appealing. Personally, it irritates me a lot - just because I'm eating healthily and enjoying exercise now, whereas before I didn't do either, doesn't mean I've had a lifestyle change. My life isn't that sad that it's entirely focussed on food etc. Changing job? Yes, a new lifestyle. Moving to a new country? Yes, also. Eating more vegetables? No.
  • kgeyser
    kgeyser Posts: 22,505 Member
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    Alatariel75 wrote: »
    Eating clean is not a prerequisite to losing weight, or keeping it off.

    While eating clean is not a prerequisite, it would be interesting to see how many MFPers "clean up" their diets as part of their success. Not just eating less food, but if there is a shift in the frequency they enjoy certain highly processed or high calorie foods (in any quantity), or if they begin including more whole foods.

    Many people here may not "eat clean," but I suspect that some clean eating principles (eating more whole foods, for example) probably contribute to a lot of the success we see here. I think it would be neat see some comparisons of how people ate before and after.
  • sheldonklein
    sheldonklein Posts: 854 Member
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    And while we're at it, let's stop talking about "journeys."
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    azucker88 wrote: »
    It's not a diet, it's a lifestyle change!

    Why can't it be both? A diet just means that you are intentionally eating less than your maintenance calories in some way, which I am doing.

    Personally, how much eating less is a "lifestyle change" probably depends on what specific changes you make. I cooked a lot and ate nutritious meals before, so that part isn't really a "lifestyle change." I'm back to being more mindful and include a lot more intentional activity in my life, so that is a "lifestyle change," I guess, although my "lifestyle" involves much beyond eating and working out. I think I am prioritizing health and activity higher in my list of priorities, so that's a change.
    Crash diets do not work, for long term results.

    I generally agree. You can't think something is just temporary and doing something non-sustainable doesn't work.
    Eating clean, and healthy will help you lose weight and/ or maintain your weight, but really it's a lifestyle change not a diet.

    "Eating clean" means nothing--or at least it means different things to different people. The most common definition is cutting out "processed" foods, and personally I don't see why avoiding the smoked salmon I ate this morning or yogurt or other processed items that I find helpful in meeting my nutrition goals would be helpful to losing weight.

    I agree that eating healthy can help and am very much in favor of that myself, although it's not necessary if someone isn't interested/motivated.
    Mini vent.

    Prompted by what? Just curious.

    My own pet peeve isn't the term "diet"--which again I just think means eating at a deficit--but the bizarre "journey" thing. Journey to what? Why is it a journey?

    Ah, well. ;-)
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    sheldonklein wrote: »
    And while we're at it, let's stop talking about "journeys."

    Heh, you beat me to it!
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    kgeyser wrote: »
    Many people here may not "eat clean," but I suspect that some clean eating principles (eating more whole foods, for example) probably contribute to a lot of the success we see here. I think it would be neat see some comparisons of how people ate before and after.

    I don't see why something so normal and common as eating lots of whole foods (or lots of vegetables, for that matter) should be considered a "clean eating principle." Nor is caring about nutrition a "clean eating principle." I do these things (and did when I was getting fat--I do eat better and more mindfully, but it has nothing to do with "processed foods," which is an enormously broad category).

    I also dislike the term "clean up ones diet" when what is really meant is "eating in a healthier fashion." Sure, I do the latter (although again I ate vegetables and no fast food prior to losing weight--the assumption that fat people must eat poor quality foods and not just too many calories is annoying), but that has zero to do with "eating clean" or "cleaning up" anything. I don't have any need to justify the merits of my own diet by calling foods others eat--or foods I eat, like cottage cheese or ice cream (both processed)--"unclean."
  • sheldonklein
    sheldonklein Posts: 854 Member
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    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    sheldonklein wrote: »
    And while we're at it, let's stop talking about "journeys."

    Heh, you beat me to it!
    "Great minds . . ." etc.
  • azucker88
    azucker88 Posts: 108 Member
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    This didn't mean to come across self righteous or rude or insensitive, but I've read a lot of people trying to lose a lot of weight( 50 or more lbs) and they do these crash or fad diets, I don't think it's realistic to keep the weight off after using these methods. If you just incorporate healthy eating into your lifestyle while working out I feel that's more sustainable for long term success, again it's just my opinion and every one is entitled to their own. And I think lifestyle change is a fitting word, not a fad word for a lot of people. I think this because a lot of people spent a lot of their days obsessing about food, and how much and what they were going to eat next, and over indulging, myself included until I decided to completely change the way I saw food and made this change, food is a struggle for alot of people. Before I was depressed, and binge ate and wasn't active, so yea, this was a lifestyle change for me. :)
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,626 Member
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    I think people use the words "lifestyle change" too loosely. Simply cutting back on the amount of food one eats is not a lifestyle change.

    Calling a "diet" a "lifestyle change" is done too often. If you want to change your whole lifestyle, that means doing more than eating less food.

    I've made lifestyle changes and I'm dieting. Dieting is just one part of the many changes.
  • ponycyndi
    ponycyndi Posts: 858 Member
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    "Diet" is the term for what you eat. So if you eat, you're on a diet. Even if you gain weight, even if you're not human.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    Nah, if you eat you "have a diet." Being "on a diet" means intentionally eating less than you need to sustain your weight.
  • barbecuesauce
    barbecuesauce Posts: 1,771 Member
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    azucker88 wrote: »
    This didn't mean to come across self righteous or rude or insensitive, but I've read a lot of people trying to lose a lot of weight( 50 or more lbs) and they do these crash or fad diets, I don't think it's realistic to keep the weight off after using these methods. If you just incorporate healthy eating into your lifestyle while working out I feel that's more sustainable for long term success, again it's just my opinion and every one is entitled to their own. And I think lifestyle change is a fitting word, not a fad word for a lot of people. I think this because a lot of people spent a lot of their days obsessing about food, and how much and what they were going to eat next, and over indulging, myself included until I decided to completely change the way I saw food and made this change, food is a struggle for alot of people. Before I was depressed, and binge ate and wasn't active, so yea, this was a lifestyle change for me. :)

    The odds aren't in your favor no matter what method you choose. Seriously. But being more active than I was before, as well as holding myself accountable for what I eat, are how I intend to maintain my weight loss.

    I think part of the problem with viewing it as a "lifestyle change" is that people expect things to change that aren't necessarily going to. You specifically mention binge eating and depression. Those things are not going to be cured by eating better or losing weight. I can certainly vouch for the depression.

    We could be arguing semantics here, but I hope you realize that the things in you that are broken now will still be broken when the weight comes off.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,626 Member
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    ponycyndi wrote: »
    "Diet" is the term for what you eat. So if you eat, you're on a diet. Even if you gain weight, even if you're not human.
    In America, when people say they're "on a diet," they mean that they're losing weight...or trying to.

    Some people here don't even know that "the foods you eat" are called "your diet." In fact, they advise people who do counseling on food to avoid using the word "diet" and to say "foods you eat" instead so that people won't freak out.

    It's kinda wacky, but true. :)
  • Lourdesong
    Lourdesong Posts: 1,492 Member
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    My own pet peeve with "lifestyle change" is that I associate it with Susan Powter (the Stop the Insanity chick), from her infomercials from like 20 years ago. "It's not a diet! It's a way of life!" is mass diet industry infomercial-speak to me. I used to watch late night infomercials because I liked the before and afters they showed even if I wasn't interested in the product.

    But I get what regular people mean by it, that you need consistent sustainable habits for lasting success, etc. That they don't want to nor think they should feel like they're dieting (in a deficit).

    But all the same, someone saying they're dieting doesn't necessarily mean they're doing some fad or crash diet to achieve a deficit either.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    azucker88 wrote: »
    This didn't mean to come across self righteous or rude or insensitive, but I've read a lot of people trying to lose a lot of weight( 50 or more lbs) and they do these crash or fad diets, I don't think it's realistic to keep the weight off after using these methods.

    I didn't think it came across as any of those things; I just didn't understand the context (and had to make my usual point about the "clean eating" thing, as it's a personal mission, even if it is akin to tilting at windmills).

    I don't think a crash or fad diet would work for me, in large part because it's important for me to have a goal beyond just weight loss (like improving health or an athletic achievement) and because I don't think it would be sustainable--they all sound so horrible and I like food.

    I don't really like the "lifestyle change" terminology, but it doesn't bother me that others like and use it.
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
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    So many people with too much time on thier hands that care way too much about meaningless things.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    azucker88 wrote: »
    This didn't mean to come across self righteous or rude or insensitive, but I've read a lot of people trying to lose a lot of weight( 50 or more lbs) and they do these crash or fad diets, I don't think it's realistic to keep the weight off after using these methods. If you just incorporate healthy eating into your lifestyle while working out I feel that's more sustainable for long term success, again it's just my opinion and every one is entitled to their own. And I think lifestyle change is a fitting word, not a fad word for a lot of people. I think this because a lot of people spent a lot of their days obsessing about food, and how much and what they were going to eat next, and over indulging, myself included until I decided to completely change the way I saw food and made this change, food is a struggle for alot of people. Before I was depressed, and binge ate and wasn't active, so yea, this was a lifestyle change for me. :)

    I think that most people here would agree with you that crash diets don't work. I don't see anything wrong with telling people not to crash diet. But instead your OP seems to be dictating the terms we all can and cannot use and that's not going to sit very well around here.

    I do call it a diet. I'm dieting when I drop my calories below maintenance and maintaining when I eat at maintenance. I avoided weight loss for a very long time because I knew that it had to be a "lifestyle change" and I wasn't ready for that. I understood "lifestyle change" to mean giving up everything that I loved, the foods, the sedentary hobbies, etc. in favor of some perfect fitness life that doesn't exist. If more people like the posters here had been around to tell me that I could eat the foods I wanted in portions that fit my goals and lose weight, I might have saved myself years of weight gain.

  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
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    Theres always a lot of preachy smugness associated with this. Some days its true other days it cna feel like a diet. I can see why people say it but bleeeugh.

    Nope disagree about journey I think its a very useful metaphor. Lol at self certification of great minds. Pretentious.
  • jaga13
    jaga13 Posts: 1,149 Member
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    louubelle16 wrote: »
    I agree with those who said the term "lifestyle change" is just another fad to make eating healthily sound more appealing. Personally, it irritates me a lot - just because I'm eating healthily and enjoying exercise now, whereas before I didn't do either, doesn't mean I've had a lifestyle change. My life isn't that sad that it's entirely focussed on food etc. Changing job? Yes, a new lifestyle. Moving to a new country? Yes, also. Eating more vegetables? No.

    THIS!

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