So what's the difference between a ''diet'' and....

balletpolegirl

So what's the difference between a "diet" and a "sustainable life change"?

Just interested to see different people's opinions of the 2 after the "I'm happier heavier" post.

TheGymGypsy

Diet- short term, often vigorous, even dangerous.
sustainable lifestyle change- something that can be committed to for a life time, meaning permanently adopting healthier behaviors without overdoing it.

KenziesFrenzies

In my opinion, diets have an expiration date. Sustainable life changes (obviously) do not.

reality_girl

Success

BoxingChick

I think a "diet" is a major change to your normal eating patterns including cutting out entire food groups and your favorite foods to try to fit into that dress at the end of the month or look better in a bathing suit for vacation......

a "sustainable life change" is eating healthier for the rest of your life, eating in a way that you don't feel punished and that you can maintain....for me that means eating chicken wings and drinking beer when I want.. but then getting back to eating better the next day.

KarenJanine

A 'diet' = temporary

Sustainable life change = sustainable, i.e. can be maintained.

Illini_Jim

A diet is what you do to fit into a pair of pants for a wedding. A lifestyle change forces you to look at why the pants don’t fit to begin with.

TheGymGypsy

Oops double post

bajoyba

It's all a matter of perception.

I shy away from the word "diet" because it gives people the impression that I'm restrictive in my food choices, eat minimally, and only choose "healthy" things because I'm trying to lose weight, which is definitely not the case. I eat at a moderate calorie deficit, which is what I tell people when they ask.

"Sustainable life change" is pretty descriptive and self-explanatory, but it irks a lot of people's taters.

DebbieLyn63

Technically 'diet' is simply what you eat.

Diet is normally used for a temporary time period where you restrict your calorie intake in order to lose weight.

Anytime you are trying to lose weight, you are on a 'diet' in my opinion.
There are good diets and bad diets.

Lifestyle changes is what you will need to maintain said weight loss.

Doesn't matter how quickly or slowly you lose weight, if you don't make some permanent changes, you will gain the weight back.

neandermagnon

In my opinion, diets have an expiration date. Sustainable life changes (obviously) do not.

^^^ this

going on a diet = short term measure that you do to lose weight, before returning to your old bad habits that got you fat in the first place, and people tend to have an all or nothing mentality so they're all ultra strict when they're on a diet, then they get to a point where they just revert back to the old bad habits

lifestyle change = something that's easier to follow but you can stick to it long term.

of course not everyone uses the words like this, to some, "going on a diet" is a long term lifestyle change, as in they switch from dieting to maintenance and plan to do the maintenance phase for the rest of their life............ but the vast majority don't, they see it as a temporary thing and their life's going to be all unicorns and rainbows when they reach that magical weight, but it's not, and they gain the weight back, only to go on another diet.....

neandermagnon

Doesn't matter how quickly or slowly you lose weight, if you don't make some permanent changes, you will gain the weight back.

^^^^ totally this. So the permanent changes need to be ones that don't make your life hellish, or you'll end up like the woman in the "happier when heavy" blog post mentioned in the OP

vvvalentines

Absolutely nothing. A "diet" is just a way of eating.

If we're going for the MFP "definition," then a "diet" is "a way of eating I don't like."

JesterMFP

For a lot of people on here, it's the same thing, different name.

imo, "going on a diet" is a temporary thing you do until you get to the weight you want to get to, before you go back to normal. A sustainable lifestyle change is a permanent change (although it could later be superseded by other changes). Could be a big change, or a small one, but it's something that is likely to stick long-term. There may be goals involved, but the lifestyle change doesn't stop when the goals are reached.

DebbieLyn63

In my opinion, diets have an expiration date. Sustainable life changes (obviously) do not.

^^^ this

going on a diet = short term measure that you do to lose weight, before returning to your old bad habits that got you fat in the first place, and people tend to have an all or nothing mentality so they're all ultra strict when they're on a diet, then they get to a point where they just revert back to the old bad habits

lifestyle change = something that's easier to follow but you can stick to it long term.

of course not everyone uses the words like this, to some, "going on a diet" is a long term lifestyle change, as in they switch from dieting to maintenance and plan to do the maintenance phase for the rest of their life............ but the vast majority don't, they see it as a temporary thing and their life's going to be all unicorns and rainbows when they reach that magical weight, but it's not, and they gain the weight back, only to go on another diet.....

Yeah, for me, I will be on a diet the rest of my life. If I ever get complacent and think I don't have to watch my calories or weight, then the pounds will creep back on.
But I have made peace with that after 30 years of rebellion.

cwolfman13

When people use the term diet, they're often using it as a verb and it implies that there is some starting and then stopping point...there is a finish line and a point in time when you will be "done." In reality, diet is a noun and should infer a sensible and sustainable way of eating that would optimally promote proper nutrition and health, not just losing weight.

Health, nutrition, fitness, etc are lifetime endeavors...there is no finish line...you aren't "done" until you're dead. That's what makes lifestyle change so difficult...it is difficult for people to actually conceptualize that...most people have a really difficult time seeing the bigger picture and get wrapped up in the minutia of day to day and put all of their stock into the number on the scale and pretty much miss the boat entirely.

kellyskitties

I generally dislike both descriptions. I see diet differently because I'm a medical person - discussing someone's diet is just a discussion of what they eat to me. So if someone is "on a diet" - so what, we are all "on a diet" - to me that's just a definition of what you consume. What I'm doing doesn't have a name - I've built it as I went to meet my own needs/wishes. So I can't say I'm on a specific "diet."

Lifestyle changes and sustainable whatever's - sounds oddly dramatic to me - I'm more likely to just say what I'm doing. Changes I make today may get dropped next month when I make more tweaks to my plan. It's a process of finding my best answer. The choices may change - so it's not permanent and rigid but is more plastic to me than a lifestyle change. I think that implies I will do it just like this from now on.

I also think lifestyle is overused now. It's getting attached to every fad diet marketing campaign - so now nothing is a diet and EVERYTHING is a lifestyle change.

I also don't say I'm eating healthy - define healthy? Depends on your criteria. Everything you can name has pros and cons. Nothing is completely healthy or unhealthy - depends on individual needs doesn't it? Healthy for me would kill a dialysis patient. Healthy for someone with diabetes isn't necessarily how I need to eat to be healthy. There is no one healthy.

SOOO I just call it a series of tweaks. I started at one point and began to tweak... I can tell you what I do, I can generally tell you why, but it doesn't really have a name, an author, a celebrity backer or a book you can buy for the directions.

Sjenny5891

A sustainable life change is exactly that. A change you can expect to be able to continue for life.

"Diet" is usually called a CRASH DIET for a reason. You do it to drop an unreasonable ammount fast so you can go back to whatever you was doing wrong in the first place. I see this frequently in the form of pills or shakes you are supposed to take for 30 days.

mahanaibu

I fight for the poor word "diet."

It has been squished out of its original meaning, and then vilified because others misused it.

"Diet" means a regular way of eating. the Mediterranan diet is not something you do for a wedding or to fit into pants. It is the way that many people of the Mediterranean eat. same for the grain-based diet or range-based diet of cattle.

That's all it means. A diet is supposed to be a sustainable way of eating. It's supposed to mean the food choices that you regularly pick. Wouldn't it be great if we could restore the word, and the way it is followed, to the original intent?

cingle87

For me neither it means the exact same thing

mank32

over the past couple of years i have changed my "diet" from one that was a bit on the light and healthy side but fairly typical of the average american "diet" to one that is much 'cleaner' and more healthy (e.g. less processed foods, fat, and sugar, more fruit and veg, etc.).

i have never been 'on a "diet."' I am not 'on a "diet"' now.

"diet" = what one (regularly, typically) eats

chatogal

Diet is the food we consume on a regular basis whether it be a vegan diet, high protein, fast food, reducing, diabetic or whatever. Lifestyle is what we do in our everyday lifes. Change in lifestyle can incompass a whole host of things including changes to our diet!

TArnold2012

A diet is what you do to fit into a pair of pants for a wedding. A lifestyle change forces you to look at why the pants don’t fit to begin with.

^^^^^ Exactly going to repost for my supporters.

justal313

So what's the difference between a "diet" and a "sustainable life change"?

Just interested to see different people's opinions of the 2 after the "I'm happier heavier" post.

When you stop saying "I can't" and start saying "I don't" you've moved from diet to sustainable life change.