what is a "lifestyle change"?
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Keladelphia wrote: »I don't really use the wording "lifestyle change" but I consider myself to have made one.
I didn't consider it a lifestyle change for a long time though, probably for a year or two after I lost the weight and stopped dieting. I don't necessary think of a lifestyle change as not having an end date because I think someone could always have another lifestyle change, it's not necessarily a one and done thing.
The difference for me between when I was on a diet, even when I was in maintenance and when it became a lifestyle change when when healthy choices became what I did without thinking about it. When going to the gym daily became something I wanted to do because I truly enjoyed it and couldn't imagine missing it, not because I wanted to lose or maintain weight. When I'd go to dinner at a restaurant and order a simple meat and vegetable dish instead of a giant Alfredo pasta dish because I wanted to eat the meat and veggies not because it was what I thought I should eat to maintain or lose weight. When I gave up drinking booze 90% of the time because it no longer interested me and I realized I hated the way I felt not because I was scared of consuming calories. Overall I guess experiencing a "lifestyle change" was when I started living a healthy lifestyle without thought instead of making healthy choices if that makes any sense. Under my personal definition someone could essentially maintain a healthy weight forever but still not have made a true lifestyle change.
I've been a fan of your for some time, and this just illustrates why. I hope I'm able to get to that point one day. Good post, and great job.1 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »I see people talk about changing their lifestyle or making a lifestyle change, as opposed to dieting. What does that even mean? Admittedly, it's one of those terms like "fitness journey" that makes me cringe. But I'm trying to be open minded here... help me understand.
For me, this is absolutely a diet. I'm managing what I eat and how much I eat based on my goals. It requires almost constant attention, and I don't see that ever changing (unless I completely throw in the towel at some point). What am I missing?
I don't mind it as much as "journey," which is a term that just seems stupid and euphemistic to me, I mean WHAT is it even supposed to mean?
But yeah, I like the term diet. SOMETIMES you need to make a real lifestyle change (becoming active, learning to cook and working it into your life, paying attention to food and nutrition from NEVER thinking about how you ate), but for most I bet that basic lifestyle doesn't change just because you eat less, or even better.
I was active most of my life, stopped being active (and gained weight) and when I got active again -- which was my main change -- I didn't think of it as a change, but going back to normal. I cooked and cared about nutrition before losing weight and so that wasn't a lifestyle change, I just got more mindful about what I was eating and limited portions and didn't snack -- a diet and later watching what I eat.
I've caught myself about to type "journey" a couple of times, and always change it to "situation." For some reason calling things situations makes me laugh.1 -
Keladelphia wrote: »I don't really use the wording "lifestyle change" but I consider myself to have made one.
I didn't consider it a lifestyle change for a long time though, probably for a year or two after I lost the weight and stopped dieting. I don't necessary think of a lifestyle change as not having an end date because I think someone could always have another lifestyle change, it's not necessarily a one and done thing.
The difference for me between when I was on a diet, even when I was in maintenance and when it became a lifestyle change when when healthy choices became what I did without thinking about it. When going to the gym daily became something I wanted to do because I truly enjoyed it and couldn't imagine missing it, not because I wanted to lose or maintain weight. When I'd go to dinner at a restaurant and order a simple meat and vegetable dish instead of a giant Alfredo pasta dish because I wanted to eat the meat and veggies not because it was what I thought I should eat to maintain or lose weight. When I gave up drinking booze 90% of the time because it no longer interested me and I realized I hated the way I felt not because I was scared of consuming calories. Overall I guess experiencing a "lifestyle change" was when I started living a healthy lifestyle without thought instead of making healthy choices if that makes any sense. Under my personal definition someone could essentially maintain a healthy weight forever but still not have made a true lifestyle change.
I've been a fan of your for some time, and this just illustrates why. I hope I'm able to get to that point one day. Good post, and great job.
Thank you, I hope for that for you as well.
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I'm sorry to make OP cringe, but whether we call this a lifestyle change, a fitness journey, or a firm decision, it is completely different from January 24, 2016 and more than half a century preceding that date.
I will deliberately exercise. I will count my calories. I will act like I want to live.4 -
Keladelphia wrote: »I don't really use the wording "lifestyle change" but I consider myself to have made one.
I didn't consider it a lifestyle change for a long time though, probably for a year or two after I lost the weight and stopped dieting. I don't necessary think of a lifestyle change as not having an end date because I think someone could always have another lifestyle change, it's not necessarily a one and done thing.
The difference for me between when I was on a diet, even when I was in maintenance and when it became a lifestyle change when when healthy choices became what I did without thinking about it. When going to the gym daily became something I wanted to do because I truly enjoyed it and couldn't imagine missing it, not because I wanted to lose or maintain weight. When I'd go to dinner at a restaurant and order a simple meat and vegetable dish instead of a giant Alfredo pasta dish because I wanted to eat the meat and veggies not because it was what I thought I should eat to maintain or lose weight. When I gave up drinking booze 90% of the time because it no longer interested me and I realized I hated the way I felt not because I was scared of consuming calories. Overall I guess experiencing a "lifestyle change" was when I started living a healthy lifestyle without thought instead of making healthy choices if that makes any sense. Under my personal definition someone could essentially maintain a healthy weight forever but still not have made a true lifestyle change.
Good post and very accurate...1 -
It means to create a new way of living. so that you don't have to count calories eaten or burned. to make better choices everyday without thought just like with used to with our bad decisions. It means you no longer hunt for a close parking spot at the store or restaurant. that you walk more and play on your phone less. when thinking about what to do for the weekend you don't automatically think of going out to eat, but maybe going for a hike or taking your dog for a walk or whatever outdoor activities you are into. making healthier choices automatically so that it becomes your lifestyle rather than a chore.0
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for me it is a lifestyle change. Logging, weighing daily. Plus, not pigging out and eating everything I wanted to without thinking about it like I used to.0
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When I decided five years ago to lose weight I went on a diet (verb) - a period of caloric restriction.
My overall diet (noun) didn't change, it just shrunk a little for a while.
That's wasn't what I would call a lifestyle change, it didn't really need to change - I was the same person doing the same things, I just had to eat a little less.
I retired last September - now that's what I call a lifestyle change.
(And it's bloody marvellous!)
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When I decided five years ago to lose weight I went on a diet (verb) - a period of caloric restriction.
My overall diet (noun) didn't change, it just shrunk a little for a while.
That's wasn't what I would call a lifestyle change, it didn't really need to change - I was the same person doing the same things, I just had to eat a little less.
This is where I'm at. How much or how little I restrict simply depends on my goals at any given time. But it's still always a restriction (even when I'm bulking).0 -
Ok, plan for now: make sure I have a bouillon first thing in the morning instead of a cup of tea. Though I just realised that they aren't really high sodium in the UK either. Meh. But that's ok. I can put in more salt. Actually, drinking something like this first thing sounds utterly delicious!
Back to GP: anyway. But first a business trip to Brazil that I'm currently preparing. With currently no proper public transport from work to GP it would take too long. I'll make an appointment in three weeks (provided I survive driving in Brazil on a weekend fun trip
)
Food at work: difficult. I might take more apples along. Fairly low calorie (kind of), and they give me something to chew on if I get the munchies. I thought about carrots, but for some reason they always rot away after 3 days. I'll have a look in the veggy aisle once I'm back. Maybe there's something else.
Just worked out and it went fairly well actually. Did this workout 3x (32 minutes) https://litealloy.com/workouts/516 without jumping, and cleaned a 10kg kettlebell in the first exercise.
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my lifestyle change is me eating fruits and veggies all day instead of doritos and coca cola all day
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Theoretically, it's adopting habits and acquiring knowledge about nutrition and fitness that you will continually use for the rest of your life to avoid making the same mistakes that got you to where you started. In practice, people just kinda use it wherever to describe whatever they're doing at this minute. It's a bit of an empty buzzword at this point, though I think it was useful initially to try and explain to some people that they can't just drink Slimfast shakes for a month, then go right back to whatever they were doing prior and not expect this issue to come up again.
I don't really consider my diet a lifestyle change because I won't be eating at a caloric deficit forever. I haven't really gained any new knowledge on how healthy eating and fitness works. I just wasn't particularly practicing it before due to mental health issues (I suppose a psychiatric intervention would be considered a lifestyle change, but it's probably not the kind most people on this site are talking about). I haven't changed the composition of my diet at all since it was never particularly unhealthy. I just changed the quantity. When I'm done losing weight, I'll adjust the quantity again.
Granted, I wasn't extremely overweight to begin with (was getting close to BMI definition of obese, but wasn't there yet), so my whole treatment didn't require a drastic turnaround of my lifestyle and habits. Furthermore, the (somewhat unique) circumstances that lead me to gain weight in the first place may not ever repeat themselves, and if they do, I reckon it will call for going through this whole process all over again, as I will probably have bigger problems than weight gain if that ever happened again. I imagine real lifestyle changes directly related to fitness and nutrition are necessary for people who have chronic, serious bad habits and a lot of weight to lose.
For the record, my favorite term for this whole process is "treatment", because that's how I see it. Clinical and necessary, but without the sentimentality. This works with who I am as a person because I prefer the hard facts and numbers, the "what I need to do" of it. Some people prefer the whole emotional, spiritual "journey" take on weight loss, which is fine for them, but doesn't personally motivate me.2 -
While everything being effortless is a holy grail, it's not achievable for everyone and everything. A lifestyle, by definition, is the things you usually do. It says nothing about the level of effort required to do these things habitually. As long as you do some things differently and can do it sustainably, your lifestyle has changed. Different people will be able to achieve different degrees of effortlessness.
Think someone who gets a job and has to wake up early for it. Some people just get used to it become people who wake up early every day effortlessly even on weekends, others can get up and go to work every single day for years but still need to resist hitting the snooze button and would sleep in given the chance.5 -
Keladelphia wrote: »I don't really use the wording "lifestyle change" but I consider myself to have made one.
I didn't consider it a lifestyle change for a long time though, probably for a year or two after I lost the weight and stopped dieting. I don't necessarily think of a lifestyle change as not having an end date because I think someone could always have another lifestyle change, it's not necessarily a one and done thing.
The difference for me between when I was on a diet, even when I was in maintenance and when it became a lifestyle change when when healthy choices became what I did without thinking about it. When going to the gym daily became something I wanted to do because I truly enjoyed it and couldn't imagine missing it, not because I wanted to lose or maintain weight. When I'd go to dinner at a restaurant and order a simple meat and vegetable dish instead of a giant Alfredo pasta dish because I wanted to eat the meat and veggies not because it was what I thought I should eat to maintain or lose weight. When I gave up drinking booze 90% of the time because it no longer interested me and I realized I hated the way I felt not because I was scared of consuming calories. Overall I guess experiencing a "lifestyle change" was when I started living a healthy lifestyle without thought instead of making healthy choices if that makes any sense. Under my personal definition someone could essentially maintain a healthy weight forever but still not have made a true lifestyle change.
Love this, great post. Instead of calling it a "lifestyle change" its more like growing/changing as a person and your actions reflect your new goals.
And by the way, AMAZING profile pic! (not in a creeper way, just very impressed!)
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Sorry, somehow ended up in the wrong thread.3
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Keladelphia wrote: »I don't really use the wording "lifestyle change" but I consider myself to have made one.
I didn't consider it a lifestyle change for a long time though, probably for a year or two after I lost the weight and stopped dieting. I don't necessarily think of a lifestyle change as not having an end date because I think someone could always have another lifestyle change, it's not necessarily a one and done thing.
The difference for me between when I was on a diet, even when I was in maintenance and when it became a lifestyle change when when healthy choices became what I did without thinking about it. When going to the gym daily became something I wanted to do because I truly enjoyed it and couldn't imagine missing it, not because I wanted to lose or maintain weight. When I'd go to dinner at a restaurant and order a simple meat and vegetable dish instead of a giant Alfredo pasta dish because I wanted to eat the meat and veggies not because it was what I thought I should eat to maintain or lose weight. When I gave up drinking booze 90% of the time because it no longer interested me and I realized I hated the way I felt not because I was scared of consuming calories. Overall I guess experiencing a "lifestyle change" was when I started living a healthy lifestyle without thought instead of making healthy choices if that makes any sense. Under my personal definition someone could essentially maintain a healthy weight forever but still not have made a true lifestyle change.
Love this, great post. Instead of calling it a "lifestyle change" its more like growing/changing as a person and your actions reflect your new goals.
And by the way, AMAZING profile pic! (not in a creeper way, just very impressed!)
Haha I don’t take it as creepy I appreciate your kind comment0 -
how about we call it an "evolution"...0
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It's mostly my diet. I am making a real effort to count my calories here and will do so in maintenance. I didn't cut out any foods but I seriously limit the stuff that made me gain weight. For me, that means only having pasta occasionally instead of every day, swapping out the bun for lettuce if it's not a super amazing bun ect... A nice dessert once a week and a low cal, small treat during the week. I am much more mindful of what I am eating, reading labels, thinking if I really need that extra helping ect...I also work out 6 days a week and try to make sure that I am paying attention to moving more at home too. There are all things that aren't too hard for me, and I definitely plan on doing this forever!0
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"or me, this is absolutely a diet. I'm managing what I eat and how much I eat based on my goals. It requires almost constant attention, and I don't see that ever changing (unless I completely throw in the towel at some point). What am I missing?"
This.^^^^. This is a lifestyle change. You are managing what you eat and how much based on goals.2 -
Living differently than you used to. I am guilty of saying "journey" ect, but i know no other way of saying it. Maybe life habit changes? Just my 2 cents I guess.1
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