Tip: don't call it a 'diet'

gemw1010

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'.

DemoraFairy

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

Oh for sure! This is just a tool to help you learn really!

DemoraFairy

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

That's what I say, I say my lifestyle cause it's no diet lol

Machka9

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

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

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.