Living the Lifestyle -- Wednesday, 10/19/2016
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beachwoman2006
Posts: 1,214 Member
Everyone says it, but just how do you do it? How do you take the guidelines of the WW program and turn them into a lifestyle you can live every day...from now on? That is what we are here to explore. Each weekday, a new topic is offered up for discussion. Newbie? Join in! Veteran? Join in! Your thoughts may be just what someone else needs to hear.
Monday –- Podkey (Bob)
Tuesday -- Misterhub (Greg)
Wednesday -- Beachwoman2006 (Cindy)
Thursday -- Calvin2008 (Brian)
Friday -- Al_Howard (Al)
Today's Topic: What IS the "lifestyle"?
There are some people here who were never on the WW message boards so they may not understand how this thread came to be. In fact, some people may not even have been a member of WW so may not understand the "lifestyle" thing. At one point, WW's theme, if you will, was It's Not a Diet, It's a Lifestyle.
What is YOUR perception of the whole lifestyle thing?
Monday –- Podkey (Bob)
Tuesday -- Misterhub (Greg)
Wednesday -- Beachwoman2006 (Cindy)
Thursday -- Calvin2008 (Brian)
Friday -- Al_Howard (Al)
Today's Topic: What IS the "lifestyle"?
There are some people here who were never on the WW message boards so they may not understand how this thread came to be. In fact, some people may not even have been a member of WW so may not understand the "lifestyle" thing. At one point, WW's theme, if you will, was It's Not a Diet, It's a Lifestyle.
What is YOUR perception of the whole lifestyle thing?
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Incorporation of healthy choices into every aspect of one's life, which transcends only weight loss. These are choices that will be kept in place from now on - not disappearing once the weight loss is at a desired level.0
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Lifestyle means it is part and parcel of how I live my daily life. Unlike other diet plans/schemes with WW I was able to figure something out in a few weeks time that I could live with long term. I added back in moderation some craft brew and chocolate.
To suggest WW is not a diet is of course somewhat misleading. What we eat daily is our diet. Also portion control doesn't go away nor are we "cured". The difference for me is that on WW I do eat real foods I enjoy if differently. I do enjoy special catered dinners. On other plans like Atkins I just couldn't get in enough metamucil to keep me regular and don't even get me started about Nutri-sys and their boxed foods where I learned absolutely nothing.
I agree that to some extent in trying too much to be "trendy" WW has gotten away from some of the basics. Trust me in moderation sugar and carbs are not evįl. I have been living with style this way for over 8 years now . It is a different journey for everyone.
More than just "on plan" "off plan" "all or nothing" approach . Hard to explain and of course it would be nice if I was magically "cured" and didn't need vigilance but that wasn't an expectation of mine from the get go.
OK enough rambling.
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For me, living the lifestyle is being mindful of what I eat and adding enjoyable exercise. That means I have to track my intake daily. If I don't track my intake, I very quickly slip back to my old habits.
This just happened to me when I had relatives come and stay with us for a week. Everything went out the window because I didn't anticipate having any problems. So no plan and no preparation for healthy filling meals and no tracking. And after they left I didn't jump right back to tracking. So I'm up a good 5 lbs and haven't tracked since they left.
I just don't have the lifestyle nailed down yet and nothing is intuitive. Guess I'm going to have to start closing the kitchen after dinner and track, track, track.1 -
Lifestyle means that I have habits firmly established that support my desired weight and fitness. I actually got the exercise habit firmly established long before the dietary habits. I've been a regular attendee at my fitness center since May 2001. The dietary habits finally got much more entrenched when I started WW at Work in June 2011. I haven't missed a day of tracking since. I track the good, the bad, and the truly ugly days.
As was previously mentioned, I have no illusions that I am cured. I thought I was cured when I was 16 and lost 40 pounds. HAH. Took me many more journeys up and down the scale to finally attain weight maintenance at age 50. But that weight maintenance will only be sustained by sticking with my healthy habits.1 -
Lifestyle for me means that there is no end date. I can't rely on a pre-packaged food program, cut my calories to an unsustainable level, or temporarily eliminate foods/ food groups because those strategies only result in temporary weight changes. If I make a change to my diet, it has to be something I am confident I can do for the rest of my life.
For example: I taught myself how to cook so that I can control what ingredients go into my food. It's something I plan on doing for the rest of my life and it allows me to incorporate more vegetables/leaner proteins.
Another example is I always set aside calories for a daily treat. If I don't budget a treat, I start to feel deprived and then I want to eat ALL THE TREATS! Not having a daily treat is not sustainable for me, so I make it work.1 -
As noted by gadgetgirl, lifestyle means that I have or am developing habits that support my desired weight, or weight loss in my case, and fitness. Lifestyle means I am in control of my daily choices of sustenance, and focused on limiting the occurrences of emotional eating or bingeing. It is a journey. I am very aware that my bad habits can and will crop up from time to time. Being in control does not mean perfection to me. It means that by living the lifestyle I choose, I am aware of the dietary choices and fitness choices I make every day. It is up to me to choose appropriately based on my desired weight and fitness level.0
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It's not a diet (something you do for awhile) but a lifestyle (something you incorporate into your forever).0
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Now it's my turn
I was looking for a plan that would fit into MY lifestyle. And my lifestyle DOES include fast food. Always has and always will. When my son was younger and living at home, I did cook most nights. Once he was gone (and I was also divorced), it just didn't work for me to cook a full meal every night. I needed a plan that was going to allow me to still have fast food when I wanted it.
I never wanted to completely change my lifestyle because I was happy with it. Yes, I did make some changes as far as the type of "fast food" I had. But one of my favorite things in the whole world (food-wise) is a really GOOD cheeseburger. You know the kind that's thick and greasy and drips all over you while you're eating it. I still allowed myself to have those, but not EVERY night and sometimes not even every week. I did find that I could use 93/7 ground beef at home and, by adding a tablespoon of olive oil to about a pound of meat, I could get a SIMILAR taste. Veggie burgers? No way. Turkey burgers? ABSOLUTELY NOT. When I want a burger, I want a BURGER.
Same with chocolate. When I want chocolate, I want GOOD chocolate. Things like Milky Ways and Snickers don't do it for me. I'm not into milk chocolate. I guess I'm a chocolate snob. I want DARK chocolate when I have chocolate. I will, on occasion, eat something like Dove dark chocolate; but usually I'll spend the extra money and buy the REALLY good chocolate. One thing I miss about living in Raleigh is the Godiva chocolate store
I also found that having a small amount of the really good chocolate satisfied me. I know I rant about chocolate all the time, but I really don't have it very often.
Anyone who was around on the WW message boards knew how I felt about counting points. I couldn't imagine doing that for the rest of my life. Yes, I did it when I was following the myriad of points-counting plans that WW had; but I hated every minute of it. Once I found the Core plan, I was a very happy camper because that allowed me to not only eat enough things for which I didn't have to count points to keep me "full", but also to give me the flexibility to have that cheeseburger once a week. Or that dark chocolate when I was having the craving for it.
It's been more than 12 years since I reached goal and, while I'm a little over goal right now, I'm very satisified with MY lifestyle. I would never change MY lifestyle to fit the WW lifestyle. I did that twice before to lose the weight and it didn't work. This has. If something isn't broken, don't fix it.0 -
I'm not going to sit by idly while Cindy bad mouthes Milky Way bars. ;-)
But I pretty much agree with everything else said above.0 -
This time is the first time I am Living a NEW Lifestyle. I joined WW the first time around 1975 at age 28 and lost weight. But then I went off WWers and gained it back. I went on/off WW, Atkins and many other fad diets over the years.
This time when I joined at age 65 I have actually changed my lifestyle and will never have to go on a diet again.
Many of the things I have changed I have learned from GoaD. I have changed so many things since Jan 2013 that they are now permanent healthier choices that are automatic and easy for me to live with.
Living the Lifestyle for me means that I will never have to go on a diet ever again.0 -
I like Cindy's comment, except I love my Snickers bars; have one with my lunch on every wilderness hike I take. I too, refuse to deny myself the pleasure of a really good burger (if you're ever in Tumwater, Wash., eat at the Red Wagon). But I have learned to pay attention to the larger picture of what I eat over the course of a day, a week, a month. I monitor my weight and make constant course corrections to keep it where I want it to be. That is the lifestyle I follow.0
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Likely sounds nutty but in my darkest time I thought this- go far into the woods. Take a stationary bike, and only enough food to last the winter on a strict diet. This was pre Biggest Loser.
I had a wife and 2 kids. I wasn't able to go out in the woods to lose weight. But I got a great thing from the fantasy. I could imagine it working. It would work. It was then that I realized the problem wasn't losing weight, the problem was living my life. This was years before I started WW.
When I got to WW the Lifestyle just clicked. It wasn't just a diet, it was a way to be in the world while losing weight and keeping it off. It is a set of habits and there is no end point unless you want to regain what you've lost. But to me it wasis a program for being in the world with a better plan than "just say no." Which is the the typical diet strategy.1 -
Well, having (choosing) Greek yogurt for a late-night snack instead of salami or pastrami (not even in the house any more), for one thing... Had to reflect last night when I was doing just that!
I think it boils down to making informed choices that are consistent with my overall goal of maintaining a body and mind healthier than the one I had before I started the program. While this obviously includes better food choices, it does not rule out any particular food or drink. I choose, but I choose wisely, most of the time. And when I choose to indulge, it's in the context of enjoying an indulgence once in a while.
Part and parcel with the food choices is enjoying the numerous benefits that came with weight loss. I choose these too and I realize I don't enjoy them if I choose to go back to my old habits. So, increased self-confidence, exploring more, moving easier and better health are part of the rewards package for living the lifestyle.
When I started WW, I really thought I'd lose my weight and go back to my old life. Fortunately, I didn't know any better. It didn't take long for me to grasp the reality (and absurdity) of that. I have reluctantly embraced the fact that as @crewahl told me, I'm not cured; I'm a fat guy in remission. It's OK. As long as I choose to live the lifestyle, I will enjoy all the benefits of it.0 -
The lifestyle is continuing to do the things you did while losing versus meeting a goal weight and then slowly returning to old habits. The lifestyle is different for everyone, you have to build what works for you while you lose weight and remember that you will continue to do it for the rest of your life. I never put a timer on my weight loss and I think that helped me evolve the lifestyle I needed to live to remain at goal. Although at goal for over three years now...I still tweak the lifestyle fairly regularly as other things change.0
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The tag line is binary, but the concept isn't. So, sometimes it really is about lifestyle- mindfulness, prioritization and making the better choice more often than not. Other times it's all about committing to the drudgier counting (whether points or calories), forgoing certain foods (or skipping a snack when I would otherwise have one) and, yes, even tracking.
I haven't managed to succeed without both components. Though I suppose I wish I could.0
