Tip: don't call it a 'diet'

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gemw1010
gemw1010 Posts: 7 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
A 'diet' has an end date. Call it a 'lifestyle change'. Being healthy and getting fit is for life not just for a short while. Tell people that your not on a diet because your eating a salad. Tell them that your just being healthy and that a salad is all you need! If they think eating a salad at lunch is 'odd' and clearly because your 'on a diet' then they don't understand how to live life healthily and that you dont need a meal deal or sarnie and crisps every day to be eating 'normal'.

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  • DemoraFairy
    DemoraFairy Posts: 1,806 Member
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    To an extent this is true, but it's not just a lifestyle change, it's both a diet and a lifestyle change. I'm going to carry on being calorie conscious for the rest of my life, yes, but I'm not going to eat 1200 calories a day for the rest of my life. That aspect of it does have an end date.
  • gemw1010
    gemw1010 Posts: 7 Member
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    Oh for sure! This is just a tool to help you learn really!
  • DemoraFairy
    DemoraFairy Posts: 1,806 Member
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    Yeah, I just get a bit annoyed because the phrase 'it's not a diet it's a lifestyle change' is quoted so often on here with people saying this isn't a temporary thing, and I always think 'well, it is kinda temporary', so felt like I had to point it out haha. But yeah if you go straight back to how you were before the weight will just come back on again.
  • Whitezombiegirl
    Whitezombiegirl Posts: 1,042 Member
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    For me its temporary too. My usual eating style promotes good weight mangement. I put a couple of pounds due to an anomaly (greif/ conveniance foods). They are gone now so it's back to normal for me. I was raised being calorie concious- I knew the calorie content of most things as a child- so it's just normal for me. I just like logging on this site.
  • PinkPixiexox
    PinkPixiexox Posts: 4,142 Member
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    I don't tell people anything - if they ask if I'm on a diet i'll respond with "Why do you ask?".

    I used to consider myself on a diet purely because I was doing things totally differently to my non-calorie counting friends - I was also on quite a restrictive calorie plan of 1200 which made me miserable. It was definitely a 'diet' back then.

    Now i'm on a nice solid 1500 and any I don't use up during the week, I bank for the weekend and I LOVE it. This truly IS a lifestyle change now and I love making good choices and still being able to EAT :)
  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
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    I think it is a diet and it does have an end point. The end point comes at goal weight then you move on to maintenance.
    I think people can call it anything they like as long as they are moving closer to their goals.
  • noobletmcnugget
    noobletmcnugget Posts: 518 Member
    edited September 2015
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    As far as I'm concerned, dieting is anything that involves a calorific deficit. So yes, in my mind I'm on a 'diet' and it does have an end point, at which time I'll increase my calories to maintenance.
  • CattOfTheGarage
    CattOfTheGarage Posts: 2,750 Member
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    It's one of these things, isn't it? Some people find it helpful to call it a "diet", others find it unhelpful.

    For me, the word "diet" is unhelpful, because I need to keep aware that as my weight goes down, my calorie demand will go down as well, so there will be no golden day when I can go back to regularly stuffing my face like a pig. Stuffing my face like a pig, at the moment, is an occasional treat, and that's how it's going to have to stay.

    I also avoid the word because I have a small daughter who I am trying to bring up with a healthy attitude towards food, and I do not want her to think that "Mummy is on a diet", as that will become conflated with all sorts of unhealthy attitudes and behaviours as she gets older.

    What I am doing is a million miles from the South Beach Diet or the Cabbage Soup Diet or any of that nonsense, and I don't want to send mixed messages. I eat. I try not to eat too much. When I get heavier than I want, I eat a bit less. If I was lighter than I wanted to be, I'd eat a bit more. That's all.
  • dammitjanet0161
    dammitjanet0161 Posts: 319 Member
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    I don't let myself think of being "on a diet". For me it's not necessarily much of a lifestyle change either because I was eating pretty healthily before joining MFP - I was just eating a bit too much of it sometimes and not being mindful of the calories in things like alcohol and restaurant meals.

    I find it more helpful to call it "watching what I'm eating" - knowing how much my intake needs to be to lose and to maintain, and using MFP to keep a track of it. If I go over my cals so be it, but at least I'm aware of it and am better at reining things in quicker.
  • choppie70
    choppie70 Posts: 544 Member
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    I also just say I am watching what I am eating or that I am trying to be more conscious of what I am putting into my body. Yes, I am eating around 1200 net calories a day now, and that will not always be the case, but I will always have to be conscious of what I am eating to maintain my weight after I have met my goal.
  • karenrich77
    karenrich77 Posts: 292 Member
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    That's what I say, I say my lifestyle cause it's no diet lol
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,207 Member
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    For me, as well ... it is a diet.

    It will continue to be diet (consuming fewer calories than I burn) until I reach my goal, and then it will cease being a diet. I have absolutely no intention of making a lifestyle out of consuming fewer calories than I burn.


    In my situation, my normal lifestyle was pretty good. Generally speaking I ate a decent diet and exercised a reasonable amount ... I just consumed slightly more than I was burning. So my take-away from being here logging my calories and exercise is that I need to eat slightly less or burn slightly more to maintain.

    And I am really looking forward to finishing the diet, and getting back to normal again. :) Only ... just a very slightly modified normal.

  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
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    I use the word diet...because it is my diet. I don't have to be in a deficit for it to be my diet. That's what it is if I'm losing, maintaining, or gaining.

    Life style change sounds corny to me.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    I guess it just depends on what your definition of 'diet' is. For me it's food restriction, so yes, it's a diet, and yes, it's pretty much a permanent diet.

    I mean, sure, you could call it a lifestyle change if you want... but that gives it a sort of positive connotation that I don't approve of, because I don't find anything positive to having to restrict myself (let's be honest, I will NEVER be able to eat the way I want again without gaining weight back) and go to bed hungry most days. So 'diet' works fine for me.

    And I've been maintaining for over a year now.

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