It's NOT a Diet rather a Lifestyle Change

ScaledArtistHair
ScaledArtistHair Posts: 10 Member
edited May 2017 in Motivation and Support
It always cracks me up when people ask why I eat the way I do. Often times I'm told "you should enjoy life a little bit more and Splurge the calories". I often smirk & say, " I do but I'd rather have a healthy eating lifestyle then spend my time in the doctor's office to be put on medications to fix condition(s) that can easily be controlled with a proper diet.
I know throughout the years I have gone through many fad yo-yo diets only to find myself not well. And even now I fall off the proverbial wagon now and then. Believe me I feel it in so many ways. But it's about getting back on that wagon and pushing forward and accepting that we're human while finding a strong support group that makes it all worthwhile :)
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Replies

  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,179 Member
    Your co-pay co-paid for your doctor's vacation home and your doctor doesn't invite you to join your doctor for vacations. Therefore, co-paying sucks. Get healthy and quit co-paying. Buy your own vacation home.
  • crazyycatladyy1
    crazyycatladyy1 Posts: 156 Member
    edited May 2017
    I love everyone's input.
    When I refer to the phrase "lifestyle change", it was geared more towards those who have chronic illness, auto-immune disease, diabetes, (type I & II), cancer, heart disease, etc. Where making an overhaul in their eating habits & exercise regime is key to improving/surviving life rather than turn to medication to manage everything.
    From a personal perspective... I found that I had to make a "lifestyle change". Would I love to throw my face into a pile of pizza, takeaway, and sweets every day? You bet your a** I would! Lol. However the direct consequences would be crucial to my health. So this is why I say "It's not a Diet rather a Lifestyle change. "

    I lost the extra weight after finding out I was a prediabetic, but I didn't make any big changes to my lifestyle. I just started eating the appropriate amount of calories for my weight management goals. I still eat all the foods I like though and haven't cut anything out.

    Curious how a lifestyle change or change of diet relates to cancer, (besides someone quitting smoking )?
  • Macy9336
    Macy9336 Posts: 694 Member
    I agree it's a lifestyle to live healthy. But it's not a one time change and that's it you're set for life. I find myself adapting/changing my lifestyle as I get older to stay healthy. I'm not twenty any more so cannot do the same activities or to same level. I also can afford to eat better than I did when twenty!!
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    "Lifestyle change" has become a marketing tool, it's meaningless now. SlimFast Lifestyle, 1200 calorie lifestyle....yeah right.

    I haven't lost sight of what it is supposed to mean. Some people DO need a lifestyle change. I have yo-yo dieted for years. Sure I can lose weight doing low carb, or exercise only when I'm trying to lose weight but that doesn't keep the weight off (for me). My lifestyle change is not huge - it's to stop snacking whenever I feel like it and pick my butt up off the couch on a regular basis.
  • thewindandthework
    thewindandthework Posts: 531 Member
    edited May 2017
    I do have a diet, I'm just not on a Diet. That bugs me.

    However, I have actually changed my lifestyle. I am paying attention to what I eat, and (especially) how much of it I eat. I'm much, much more active than I have been in decades. I have been doing it for much, much longer than I've ever stuck with any Diet or fitness plan. And I have no intention of stopping. I might give MFP a rest after I've hit and maintained my goal weight for an extended period, but my awareness of my body's needs isn't going anywhere.

    Yep, for me it's a lifestyle change. There are perhaps people who use that phrase to sell things (marketers have always been diabolical geniuses, that's nothing new), and there are perhaps people who use the phrase to describe yet another short-term obsession (folks who either overestimate their commitment or fundamentally misunderstand the word lifestyle). But those people don't have any effect on what I have done with my own life.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    Meh, for me it was a diet. I made very little change to my lifestyle.
  • bizgirl26
    bizgirl26 Posts: 1,795 Member
    Well I am still in the lowering body weight stage so due to calorie deficit I consider it a diet however it is a lifestyle change as even when I am in maintenance I have to keep in mind what got me here and I have to stay focused for the rest of my life so I am never overweight again . If I don't change forever I will become overweight again but I wouldn't think I was dieting so to speak once I am maintaining.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,179 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »

    There's decent research evidence now suggesting that regular exercise materially reduces risk for metastatic recurrence of breast cancer. It wouldn't surprise me if there were a similar effect for at least the types of cancer that are more common in the same people (colorectal, ovarian, etc.), though I know of no research to support that.

    For me, exercise was also part of what was required to regain my strength, vitality and happiness after surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. Others' mileage may vary.


    That fits with the idea that most cancers cannot metabolize fat. By exercising, one depletes their body's supply of glycogen, which cancers prefer to eat.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,133 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »

    There's decent research evidence now suggesting that regular exercise materially reduces risk for metastatic recurrence of breast cancer. It wouldn't surprise me if th ere were a similar effect for at least the types of cancer that are more common in the same people (colorectal, ovarian, etc.), though I know of no research to support that.

    For me, exercise was also part of what was required to regain my strength, vitality and happiness after surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. Others' mileage may vary.


    That fits with the idea that most cancers cannot metabolize fat. By exercising, one depletes their body's supply of glycogen, which cancers prefer to eat.

    In the case of breast cancer, some of the researchers believe it has to do with estrogen levels, which are also affected by exercise. Some breast cancer tumors require estrogen to grow, some don't. The exercise effect is independent of obesity, though obesity can also play a role in metastasis (also believed to be estrogen-related). Lots of unknowns, though, as of my last in-depth reading on the subject.
  • GaleHawkins
    GaleHawkins Posts: 8,159 Member
    It always cracks me up when people ask why I eat the way I do. Often times I'm told "you should enjoy life a little bit more and Splurge the calories". I often smirk & say, " I do but I'd rather have a healthy eating lifestyle then spend my time in the doctor's office to be put on medications to fix condition(s) that can easily be controlled with a proper diet.
    I know throughout the years I have gone through many fad yo-yo diets only to find myself not well. And even now I fall off the proverbial wagon now and then. Believe me I feel it in so many ways. But it's about getting back on that wagon and pushing forward and accepting that we're human while finding a strong support group that makes it all worthwhile :)

    @ScaledArtistHair you nailed it with that term. It was not until 2014 that I stopped dieting forever to lose weight after 40 years yo-yoing back to 100%+ regains every time that lower weight and better health came my way. No more cravings makes my WOE (Way Of Eating) since Oct 2014 successful and easy to do at the age of 66. I still had a pity party at first but when I realized my old way of eating was leading to my premature death in my case but eating for better health was not only was giving me better health and weight management but that my new WOE also tasted better.

    Best of continued success and welcome to the MFP forums.
  • linsey0689
    linsey0689 Posts: 753 Member
    there will almost be negative people. I normally smile and say thanks for the advice.
  • GaleHawkins
    GaleHawkins Posts: 8,159 Member
    stealthq wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »

    There's decent research evidence now suggesting that regular exercise materially reduces risk for metastatic recurrence of breast cancer. It wouldn't surprise me if there were a similar effect for at least the types of cancer that are more common in the same people (colorectal, ovarian, etc.), though I know of no research to support that.

    For me, exercise was also part of what was required to regain my strength, vitality and happiness after surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. Others' mileage may vary.


    That fits with the idea that most cancers cannot metabolize fat. By exercising, one depletes their body's supply of glycogen, which cancers prefer to eat.

    Cancers can and do metabolize fat. They are highly dependent on it. In a glucose rich environment, most preferentially use glucose for energy to spare the available fatty acids for anabolic purposes (exceptions for prostate cancer and leukemia - they utilize fat preferentially). In a glucose poor environment, they will use fatty acids as primary fuel. This is something rarely seen in cell culture because the predominant media used is glucose rich and very fat poor in comparison to human blood and most tissues.

    Cancer cells also significantly upregulate lipogenesis and some also upregulate lipid scavenging because they utilize more fat than is typically available for membrane biosynthesis and other functions. Limiting fatty acid availability has an inhibitory effect on cancer proliferation*.

    *Lipid metabolic reprogramming in cancer cells, Oncogenesis (2016)
    nature.com/oncsis/journal/v5/n1/full/oncsis201549a.html

    One eye opener from studying cancer and its behaviour for the past 2-3 years is how cancer can and will adapt to just about any environment change we can make. I do think reversing cancer is a possibility. Key to prevention is to develop a high number of Mitochondria and keep them health along with not overing loading the immune system as I see it today. Working to lower my CRP test results is a current goal of mine to lighten the burden on my immune system.